No recordings for several days; no errors (1 Viewer)

[rsbrux]

For several days now, none of my scheduled tv recordings have been made, but there are no errors in the logs. NO channels are found but I am not aware of any change in configuration, either of the HTPC or of the cable provider. The only thing which arouses my suspicion is the patch day updates from 11 Feb., which is about the time recordings began to fail. Any hints on:

1. How to troubleshoot the current problem?
2. How to maintain a reliable configuration?

P.S. I have to revise my accusation of Windows Update, as two scheduled recordings appear to have succeeded after 11 Feb. However, I have scheduled at least half a dozen since then and don't understand why only 2 actually recorded. I have over 50 GB free on my recording HD and have disk quota and deletion of old recordings enabled.

 

[CyberSimian]

The only thing which arouses my suspicion is the patch day updates from 11 Feb., which is about the time recordings began to fail.

As I understand it, it is possible to uninstall Windows updates, so the obvious action to take is to uninstall recent updates and see if that makes a difference. I have never had to uninstall Windows updates, so I cannot tell you how to do it, but if you search the internet for "How to uninstall Windows updates", you should find numerous pages that give you the details.

Unfortunately, with the departure of mm there is no one in the MP team who knows anything about how TV Server works, so sadly it is effectively unsupported.

-- from CyberSimian in the UK

 

[rsbrux]

@CyberSimian Thanks for responding. I have indeed uninstalled Windows updates before (they broke MP under Windows 7 a few times), but no longer blame them in this case (see my P.S. above). The crazy thing is that I don't find anything suspicious in either the MP/TVserver logs or the WIndows Event logs. The only relevant info I find is in TVService.log, where it says "dvb: LockInOnSignal could not lock onto channel - no signal or bad signal" each time a recording fails. The channels haven't moved and all look fine on the TV which is connected (as it has been all along) to the same cable port as the HTPC via a splitter. Unless someone can suggesta more targeted approach, I guess I'l have to reconfigure my tuner card and rescan the channels. A real PITA, especially since I have a few other IT problems to deal with at present ;-{

 

[CyberSimian]

TV which is connected ... to the same cable port as the HTPC via a splitter.

As a test, it might be worthwhile removing the splitter, and connecting the cable directly to the HTPC, so that the HTPC receives all of the signal. If that works, it suggests that the signal level is marginal, and that (for whatever reason) the signal level has recently dropped below the HTPC tuner's ability to receive it.

-- from CyberSimian in the UK

 

[rsbrux]

Thanks for the suggestion. It seems to be working again now: no idea what the problem was.

 

[rsbrux]

I'm afraid I rejoiced too soon. Recording failed again this afternoon, and the mesaging is different (logs attached). As before, I can watch the channel in question without problems on a TV connected to the same cable feed, but MP seems unable to tune it. This time I am seeing al lot of "PMT Pid wasn't found on the PAT", which I saw a few years ago. They don't appear to be directly related to the recording failure, but I am beginning to think I need to reinstall MP. Troubleshooting would be a lot easier if recording failures were tagged as ERRORs. I don't always notice when something fails to record, as I don't remembers all the recording I have programmed, and they are no longer listed once the time slot has passed.

 

[CyberSimian]

I am beginning to think I need to reinstall MP.

This may help (another user did this for a completely different problem, and that problem was solved as a result). But but but ...

If you simply uninstall and then re-install, the MP and TV Server databases are preserved, including any corruption that may reside within. For the same reason, I think that you should not export your current settings, and then import them into the re-installed MP. There is a chance that that will import the corruption (if indeed that is the problem).

Although it will require more work, I would recommend doing the following:

• Uninstall MP.
• Delete the "Team MediaPortal" folder in "ProgramData".
• Delete the "Team MediaPortal" folder in "Program Files".
• Delete the "mptvdb" folder in the SQL folder in "ProgramData". This may depend on which SQL you are using; for "MySQL" on my system the folder is "C:\ProgramData\MySQL\MySQL Server 5.6\data\"
• Re-install MP. Don't install any additional plugins yet.
• Setup TV Server, and run it for a few days to see if it is now working OK when watching live TV and performing recordings.
• If now working OK, use a drive-imaging program to create an image of your "C:" drive, so that you can restore it in the future if things go wrong again.

Note: there is no guarantee that this will solve the problem, so it may be a lot of work for no benefit.

-- from CyberSimian in the UK

 

[rsbrux]

Thanks for the advice. Before trying it, I think i will try the slightly less drastic approach which mm recommended for the new message in this post. Wish me luck!