Newbie troubles - no live TV playback and missing tvguide.xml file (1 Viewer)

[HTPCSourcer]

deleted

 

[Jules Cantwell]

Progress...

Due to the .NET messy installation status, I went and did a reinstall of Windows 8.1 Pro but got it to keep my files and settings. Seemed to work out well as I was then able to find .NET 3.5 Framework in the Add Features section and it installed no problem and my previous 'Unknown error occurred' problem has gone.

It is replaced, however, by another problem: 'Unable to play: liveX-0.ts' where the X number changes based on the channel selected. In the TV Server settings console, when I click Preview, it now successfully plays video and audio in a pop-up window. This is very positive news as it confirms the TV tuner hardware is working so I just need to figure out the cause of the issue.

Windows Update is currently installing 49 updates after the reinstall, hopefully one of those changes something that eliminates the problem, but I doubt it. In the interim, I have attached the latest logs file. What files should I generally be looking at to start trying to investigate the cause of the issues myself?

Codecs-wise, I haven't installed anything separate since the Windows 8.1 reinstall (and had uninstalled everything bar Media Player Home Cinema Classic and VLC before the reinstall), so I just let Media Portal 1.9.0 installer install LAV Filters and all codecs are set in the client-side configuration console to LAV decoder. I did try it with changing it to the Microsoft DTS decoder to see if that overcame the cannot play .ts file problem but it made no difference so I switched it back.

Thanks for any pointers on resolving what I'm hoping is the last major issue preventing live TV playback - I've been using the time in the interim to learn about other parts of MP and I think it will be excellent so can't wait to get this baby up and running!

 

[Holzi]

I think mm is able to help you now.
Just a suggestion, have you tried to install a different driver for your TV card?

 

[mm1352000]

Hello again Jules

Thank you for reporting your progress. I'm learning from your comments.

Progress...

That's great news!

What files should I generally be looking at to start trying to investigate the cause of the issues myself?

[edit: To directly answer your question... it depends on the problem. Usually MediaPortal.log, TVService.log, TsWriter.log and TsReader.log are the most useful. At least that is the case for me.]

Well, starting with TV Server...
TV Server seems to be mostly happy now apart from this error (TVService.log):
[collapse]
[2014-10-24 23:06:56,701] [Log ] [22 ] [ERROR] - Exception ystem.DllNotFoundException: Unable to load DLL 'KNCBDACTRL.dll': The application has failed to start because its side-by-side configuration is incorrect. Please see the application event log or use the command-line sxstrace.exe tool for more details. (Exception from HRESULT: 0x800736B1)
at TvLibrary.Implementations.DVB.KNCAPI.KNCBDA_CI_Disable(UInt32 m_iDeviceIndex)
at TvLibrary.Implementations.DVB.KNCAPI.CloseCI()
at TvLibrary.Implementations.DVB.KNCAPI.Dispose()
at TvLibrary.Release.DisposeToNull[E](E& o)
at TvLibrary.Implementations.DVB.ConditionalAccess..ctor(IBaseFilter tunerFilter, IBaseFilter analyzerFilter, IBaseFilter winTvUsbCiFilter, TvCardBase card)[/collapse]

I think that means you're missing either the VC++ 2008 or 2010 redistributable. It isn't a critical error at this stage, but I would recommend you check that you've got those redists installed. For MediaPortal you need the x86 (32 bit) versions. Links to the required packages can be found in the requirements section:
https://www.team-mediaportal.com/mediaportal/requirements

...however I'd probably recommend you finish with the Windows updates first and see if the error message persists before manually installing anything.

TV Server summary: aside from the above error I don't see any problem on the TV Server side. Everything seems to be running as intended and tuning is successful.


Now for MediaPortal...
After tuning succeeds (MediaPortal.log):

[2014-10-24 23:07:04,833] [Log ] [MPMain ] [INFO ] - TVHome.ViewChannelAndCheck(): View channel=TV3
[2014-10-24 23:07:06,714] [Log ] [MPMain ] [INFO ] - succeededucceeded TvControl.VirtualCard

...I see a bunch of messages like this:
[2014-10-24 23:07:06,820] [Log ] [MPMain ] [INFO ] - tvhome:startplay: waiting for TS file \\HTPC\E\Recorded TV\timeshiftbuffer\live9-0.ts.tsbuffer

That's not normal.
I suspect the security/access configuration for the share may be incorrect, and preventing MP from accessing the timeshift file.
Please can you double check that.

Regards,
mm

 

[mm1352000]

Just a suggestion, have you tried to install a different driver for your TV card?

The tuner is fine. No driver issues.

 

[Jules Cantwell]

Thanks a lot mm! Windows Update is now running another batch of updates, will report back after those have completed.

Media Portal is installed on an SSD on the C: drive. Recorded TV is on the E: drive so timeshiftbuffer is there, but as it's all on the same machine I'm not sure what the security/access configuration difference might be? That Recorded TV folder was one I used to use with Windows Media Center - I don't have Media Center installed at all now so it should not be a conflict but I guess I'll try change the timeshift folder back to C: drive, check if that works. Will also then try another new folder on E: drive, just in case there's any legacy permissions issues with existing Recorded TV folder. Idea of putting timeshiftbuffer onto E: drive was C: drive space isn't huge, but if it's generally advisable to put timeshiftbuffer on the SSD C: drive, I'll stay with that if it works.

 

[mm1352000]

Will also then try another new folder on E: drive...

That sounds like a good idea to me.

In short: I wouldn't recommend putting the timeshift or recording folder on an SSD. It is okay for a short term test, but in the longer term I'd recommend you consider another option. Why? Well, because timeshifting and recording do a lot of writing to disk. SSD life/longevity is tied to the number of write operations. The more writing you do per day, the shorter the SSD will last. It is true that having the timeshift folder on an SSD would give you slightly faster channel changes and skipping back/forward, however you're trading that off against the lifetime of the SSD. For me the tradeoff wouldn't be worth it. I'd rather have my SSD last for longer than have minimally faster channel changing.

...but if it's generally advisable to put timeshiftbuffer on the SSD C: drive, I'll stay with that if it works.

As above: it is not generally advisable. In fact, quite the opposite.

Regards,
mm

 

[Jules Cantwell]

Brilliant! I changed it to a new folder on the E: HDD and it worked!

Will go through it to filter down to channels that work (e.g. scan found many Channel 4 entries, will test cases like that to see which one to keep) and I've found at least one digital terrestial channel giving a no signal error so I'll investigate cases like that but it certainly looks like I'm up and running so I'll sleep better tonight knowing the time spent will be worth it! thanks all for the help.

 

[Jules Cantwell]

So I've now got everything up and running. I had mapped terrestial channels on the DVB-T card to DVB-S equivalents (thought it would override to use DVB-T) but those channels then wouldn't work so I went back in and edited each of them and removed the mapping. I now have all the channels I want working, have my channel groups all setup and have all the channel logos sorted.

One question is as I need to do another scan to add in BBC Three and Four as they were off air when I scanned, will this keep everything in place and just add newly found channels as additions? i.e. it won't override everything and start from scratch like Windows Media Center?

The only issue I'm left with is it's only recognising one DVB-S tuner. I can record/watch 2 DVB-T channels at the same time, but get a no tuner available error when I go to watch a 2nd DVB-S channel while recording another. I've attached logs. From scanning around the site I found a page that talks about ensuring the 'CAM available' checkbox is ticked, but don't think that's relevant here as I'm not doing any decoding. Any thoughts on what could be causing the system to only pick up one DVB-S tuner? Hopefully once that's sorted, I'll be done with all my questions as this thing is now running great.

Have to say, the ease of setting up Moving Pictures and TV Series and the stunning visuals they give is absolutely fantastic!

 

[mm1352000]

Hello again Jules

So I've now got everything up and running.

Fantastic.

I had mapped terrestial channels on the DVB-T card to DVB-S equivalents (thought it would override to use DVB-T) but those channels then wouldn't work...

Hmmm, combining channels should have worked (assumption: the uncombined channels worked before you combined them).
If you want TV Server to prefer DVB-T/T2 over DVB-S/S2 then the only way to do that is to set the priority of the DVB-T/T2 tuners above the priority of the DVB-S/S2 tuners.
http://wiki.team-mediaportal.com/1_.../TV-Server_Configuration/02_TV_Servers#Tuners

One question is as I need to do another scan to add in BBC Three and Four as they were off air when I scanned, will this keep everything in place and just add newly found channels as additions? i.e. it won't override everything and start from scratch like Windows Media Center?

That won't be a problem. TV Server won't override anything or start from scratch.

The only issue I'm left with is it's only recognising one DVB-S tuner. I can record/watch 2 DVB-T channels at the same time, but get a no tuner available error when I go to watch a 2nd DVB-S channel while recording another. I've attached logs.

Hmmm, I don't think I'm seeing this in the logs.
Logs show TV Server starts recording "The Big Bang Theory" on E4 with one satellite tuner as soon as TV Server starts.
You successfully start and view TV3 with one terrestrial tuner for 10 seconds or so.
Then you switch to BBC 2 HD, which uses the second satellite tuner.
A recording of "Flog It!" starts on BBC 2 HD, also using the second satellite tuner. Presumably this is your test recording, but remember the first satellite tuner is also being used to record "The Big Bang Theory".
Finally you try to view Channel 4 HD. With both satellite tuners in use for recordings, that's going to fail unless Channel 4 HD is also mapped to a terrestrial tuner (which it appears not to be) or unless it is on the same transponder as one of the channels which is recording (which also appears to not be the case).

In short: two satellite tuners in use for recordings => no tuner available for a third satellite channel on a different transponder.

From scanning around the site I found a page that talks about ensuring the 'CAM available' checkbox is ticked, but don't think that's relevant here as I'm not doing any decoding.

Yeah, not relevant for you as you're only dealing with free-to-air/unencrypted channels.

Any thoughts on what could be causing the system to only pick up one DVB-S tuner?

As per the explanation above.

Best regards,
mm