Recordings Start 25-45 seconds late (1 Viewer)

[patrick]

MediaPortal Version: Release 0.2.0.0 + SVN 09-01-2006
Windows Version: WinXP SP2
CPU Type: Intel P4 3GHz
HDD: WD-80GB WD-250GB WD-300GB
Memory: 1GB
Motherboard: Gigabyte P4 Titan 775
Motherboard Chipset: Intel
Motherboard Bios:
Video Card: NVidia GeForce FX5500
Video Card Driver: 91.31 6-01-2006
Sound Card: Onboard Realtek AC97
Sound Card AC3:
Sound Card Driver: 5.10
1. TV Card: Hauppauge PVR-500
1. TV Card Type: analog
1. TV Card Driver: 2.0.43.24108
2. TV Card: Hauppauge PVR-150
2. TV Card Type: analog
2. TV Card Driver: 2.0.43.24108
3. TV Card:
3. TV Card Type:
3. TV Card Driver:
4. TV Card:
4. TV Card Type:
4. TV Card Driver:
MPEG2 Video Codec: MPV
MPEG2 Audio Codec: MPA
Satelite/CableTV Provider:
HTPC Case: Coolermaster
Cooling: Zalman CPU + case fans
Power Supply:
Remote: Hauppauge Silver
TV: RCA
TV - HTPC Connection: S-Video



1. Start MediaPortal
2. Goto My TV
3. Goto Program Guide
4. Select a program a set MP to record it
5. Back out to My TV

Recording starts late missing the begining of the show.
Watching the logs it is usually 25-30 seconds late starting, in the attached logs
it is 41 secongs late starting.
The test recording (in the attached logs) duration
reflects 29minutes 12seconds in windows explorer.

Was hoping SVN would fix this but no luck.

TIA
patrick

 

[Paranoid Delusion]

Or another way of looking at it the show started EARLY, This is an example that nothing in this World is perfect, hence the default setting of 5 minutes pre-record and post-record.

don't lose sleep on it.

 

[ziphnor]

I dont think that is what he means. If i tell MP to record a show that starts in 1 minute, then even with 5 minute pre-record it will still wait nearly 1 minute to start the recording.

 

[patrick]

Thanks for the replies!!

Or another way of looking at it the show started EARLY

Ziphnor is right, it is not that the shows are starting early,
it is that the recordings are starting late.

I pasted three different log examples below.
Each time you can see the recording is scheduled to start
on the hour but each time it is starting 53, 27, and 41 seconds late.

8/30/2006 7:58:53 PM [Info.] Recorder: Send announcement for recording:Record once Bones on 11 WDSI from 8/30/2006 8:00 PM - 8/30/2006 9:00 PM
8/30/2006 8:00:53 PM [Info.] Recorder: time to record 'Bones' on channel:11 WDSI from 8:00:00 PM-9:00:00 PM id:740 priority:2147483301 quality:NotSet Once
8/30/2006 8:00:53 PM [Info.] Recorder: program:8:00:00 PM-9:00:00 PM


9/1/2006 6:58:27 PM 919 [Info.] Recorder: Send announcement for recording:Record once Entertainment Tonight on 4 WRCB from 9/1/2006 7:00 PM - 9/1/2006 7:30 PM
9/1/2006 7:00:27 PM 975 [Info.] Recorder: time to record 'Entertainment Tonight' on channel:4 WRCB from 7:00:00 PM-7:30:00 PM id:743 priority:2147483298 quality:NotSet Once
9/1/2006 7:00:27 PM 975 [Info.] Recorder: program:7:00:00 PM-7:30:00 PM



9/2/2006 8:58:41 AM 577 [Info.] Recorder: Send announcement for recording:Record once Lilo & Stitch on 10 WTVC from 9/2/2006 9:00 AM - 9/2/2006 9:30 AM
9/2/2006 9:00:41 AM 893 [Info.] Recorder: time to record 'Lilo & Stitch' on channel:10 WTVC from 9:00:00 AM-9:30:00 AM id:744 priority:2147483646 quality:NotSet Once
9/2/2006 9:00:41 AM 893 [Info.] Recorder: program:9:00:00 AM-9:30:00 AM

Thanks again
patrick

 

[Broceliande]

I dont think that is what he means. If i tell MP to record a show that starts in 1 minute, then even with 5 minute pre-record it will still wait nearly 1 minute to start the recording.

Well I know what you're talking about. .. At least i think so
You may have to keep in mind how many processes are running while Mp is .
Each process has its own priority , and is called every X seconds.
So if you find that you're recordings start with a too long delay , try adjusting pre and post recording time values.
For sure , if you start a recording manually , you'll have to wait your command to go thru many processes before the recording effectively starts.
Last , but not least , if you have timeshifting off , you'll never be able to record what was showing before your command started.
If you have timeshifting enabled, then if you missed the show beginning, use the remote arrows to go one or two minutes before the show's beginning and start recording, then you can use right remote arrow to jump at the actual recording time , keeping the whole stream however.
If you still experience some strange behaviors , then please report it there , then we will test this further , but at this stage , i wouldn't consider this as a bug.

 

[patrick]

Thanks for the reply. I really appreciate the time it takes!!

I guess we will have to agree to disagree on this one.

For sure , if you start a recording manually...

In this instance it is happening with scheduled recordings.

You may have to keep in mind how many processes are running while Mp is .
Each process has its own priority

I understand about processes and priorities. I do not think
it is a priority issue since the multiple log entries above show
the recording starting exactly 2 minutes after the anouncement.

and is called every X seconds.

Could be.
So based on the above my recordings may start up to 2 minutes
late since that would appear to be the polling interval?

So if you find that you're recordings start with a too long delay , try adjusting pre and post recording time values.

I would consider this more of a "work around" than a solution, as it will create conflicts in a recording schedule.
Also, I feel this should be used to take into account inconsistent network
air times/durations not to correct the behavior of MP.




I still think there is somthing off, the Scheduler.cs code about
line 224 seems to know the recording is about 2 minutes away.
With process priority issues how would it be able know it would
start in EXACTLY two minutes as shown in the log.

//then send the announcement that we are about to record this recording in 2 minutes from now

Guess I will see if I can find out more.

Thanks Again,
patrick

 

[patrick]

Ok, just a followup if anyone is interested.

In SVN rev 8053 (03/20/2006) "TVCapture\Scheduler\Scheduler.cs" the code was changed

FROM:

public bool TimeToProcessRecordings
{
  get
  {
    TimeSpan ts = DateTime.Now - _scheduleTimer;
    if (ts.TotalSeconds < 10) return false;  
    return true;
  }
}

TO:

public bool TimeToProcessRecordings
{
  get
  {
    TimeSpan ts = DateTime.Now - _scheduleTimer;
    if (ts.TotalSeconds < 60) return false;  
    return true;
  }
}

Allowing recordings a window that could cause them to start
up to 60 seconds late.
There is no message in the SVN changelog as to why.

Did a special build for myself with SVN from 10/01/2006 and
changing back to 10 seconds puts it back to recordings
starting within 10 seconds of the scheduled start time.


HTH,
patrick