Shows not recording (1 Viewer)

Floorhor

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My recording cue shows the proper times and dates, but some are not recording properly. I record one 30 minute show, and it does fine. But I record a 60 minute show, and it records about 15 minutes. Another in a line of 'What gives? things with this program.

Also, I missed the Chelsea game today because this thing didn't record it, even though it was on the schedule. It may have been because my computer was asleep. WMC had no problem waking up my computer. Is this something I'm going to have to live with?
 

mm1352000

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    Hello again

    But I record a 60 minute show, and it records about 15 minutes. Another in a line of 'What gives? things with this program.
    Obviously that's not normal. If it was, nobody would use MediaPortal.
    Are you sure you haven't got other software installed (including WMC) that could be taking over control of the tuner and therefore interrupting recordings? That's the most likely thing. Second most likely is signal dropouts.

    Also, I missed the Chelsea game today because this thing didn't record it, even though it was on the schedule. It may have been because my computer was asleep. WMC had no problem waking up my computer. Is this something I'm going to have to live with?
    Well, what have you done to ensure that the PC will wake? With MediaPortal you'd normally need to enable the PowerScheduler plugin for both client (MediaPortal) and TV Server. If you haven't done that then I'm not surprised your PC slept through.

    In general, I fully understand that this is turning into a bit of a saga for you. We are here to help.

    Two things you can do to help yourself:
    1. Use the resources we provide such as the wiki. For example:
    http://wiki.team-mediaportal.com/1_...rver_Configuration/13_Plugins/Power_Scheduler

    2. Learn to post log files every time you report a problem.
    http://wiki.team-mediaportal.com/1_MEDIAPORTAL_1/16_Support/3_Forums/2_Log_Files
    When you don't, it forces us to attempt to guess what's wrong. We're just as likely to guess wrong as right, thereby wasting your time and ours.

    Regards,
    mm
     

    Floorhor

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    The is nothing indicated in 'Next Wake Up Time, even though there are recordings scheduled. From plowing through the 'speak' further, I see this:

    If nothing is indicated in Standby prevented by then your system will go to standby not later than the configured time (here: 30 minutes).

    If there are entries that should not be there you should check these. Sometimes TV card drivers prevent standby even after TV watching or recording is finished. In this case you can try running the command powercfg /requestsoverride to prevent these drivers from blocking standby forever. If this does not help, you have to activate the PowerScheduler forces system to go to standby when idle option in PowerScheduler's Advanced tab.

    For wake up problems it can be useful to call powercfg /waketimers to see if and which schedules are active for automatic wake up and if these are consistent with the PowerScheduler wake up settings.

    Since I'm not a programmer, what does this mean and does it have bearing on my situation? There is a mountain of information here and a thousand steps to mess up.[DOUBLEPOST=1439126628][/DOUBLEPOST]Also, WMC doesn't show anything scheduled. How would I know that it's taking over? No other programs use the tuners to my knowledge. As to the drop out hypothesis, I would assume it would record dead air or garble, like WMC did, yet still be for the specified time. Since the recordings are a fraction of the time, I wouldn't that's the problem.
     
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    mm1352000

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    Since I'm not a programmer, what does this mean and does it have bearing on my situation? There is a mountain of information here and a thousand steps to mess up.
    Honestly: I don't know. I'm not a PowerScheduler expert. A screenshot of what you're looking at (I mean the plugin, not the wiki) would be helpful.

    You installed/enabled the TV Server plugin, right? ...and then restarted the TV service (manual control section of TV Server configuration) as required to activate a plugin?
     

    Floorhor

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    I had been starting and stopping the programs so much, I would have thought it would have reset, recombobulated, rematriculated, or resomethingorothered. So I restarted the computer and now there is a wakeup scheduled!

    Where does it say I have to restart the TV service in the power scheduler write up? Was I just expected to know that? Maybe I shouldn't have dropped Electrical Engineering in my junior year in favor of Mechanical Engineering. Maybe they would have taught that. My frustration and my time is mine I know, but isn't just a smidgen of it justifiable?
     

    mm1352000

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    I had been starting and stopping the programs so much, I would have thought it would have reset, recombobulated, rematriculated, or resomethingorothered. So I restarted the computer and now there is a wakeup scheduled!
    LOL, the traditional PC restart for the win! :D

    Where does it say I have to restart the TV service in the power scheduler write up? Was I just expected to know that? Maybe I shouldn't have dropped Electrical Engineering in my junior year in favor of Mechanical Engineering. Maybe they would have taught that. My frustration and my time is mine I know, but isn't just a smidgen of it justifiable?
    When you enabled the plugin and attempted to move to a different section of configuration you should have seen a popup saying (and I quote the code):
    The activated plugins will be started after you restart the TVService manually

    This is not something that is specific to the PS plugin. It applies to all plugins. No engineering degree needed for that. Can't be much more obvious... so in this case I feel your frustration is not fully justifiable (assuming you ignored the popup).
     

    mm1352000

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    Missed this update...

    Also, WMC doesn't show anything scheduled. How would I know that it's taking over?
    You wouldn't. However I know from past experience helping other people that it has an EPG grabber that uses tuners periodically in the background. Therefore if you haven't disabled the WMC services (refer to the third party checks section in TV Server configuration) then you're leaving yourself open to this problem occurring.

    As to the drop out hypothesis, I would assume it would record dead air or garble, like WMC did, yet still be for the specified time. Since the recordings are a fraction of the time, I wouldn't that's the problem.
    You're assuming that MP intended to stop the recordings early... and that's almost never the case. As I said previously, log files would help to illuminate what is going on... but obviously I don't have access to them since you haven't posted them.
     

    Floorhor

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    Speaking of restarting curing ills, have you seen The IT Crowd on NetFlix? It'll kill you! Love the 'Friendface' episode. "The Work Outing' is one of the funniest shows I've seen.

    Anyway, here's what the dialog box should say in addition to the existing statement:

    1. Click 'OK' on this box.
    2. Choose 'Manual Control' in the "Whatever is a meaningful name to non-programmers' menu.
    3. Click on the 'Stop Service' button.
    4. The button will change to 'Start Service', indicating the service was successfully stopped.
    5. Click on the 'Start Service' button.
    6. The button will change to 'Stop Service', indicating the service was successfully started.
    It's little things like this that can make the experience so much better...and easier for you guys! I've already run into a dozen of these little things that left me guessing the next step and deciphering insider speak or wading through dozens of posts, written by insiders who assume the customer knows a lot more than the customer knows. You don't want a housewife, accountant, or mechanical engineer guessing next steps!

    To wit, if WMC is so want to conflict, it would seem that running a check on this every time MP or one of the configuration programs starts would be a very wise and customer friendly thing to do, not to mention less time dealing with idiots like me. Then the non-insider can choose to disable WMC, dismiss the box, and/or check never to show box again, so at least he knows (without significant amounts of research time) that when strange things start happening, maybe disabling WMC will do the trick.

    The 'Do not ask again' option may be troublesome because clicking that option on the pop up where Standard or Expert mode is chosen when starting MP Configuration doesn't seem to keep it from popping up every time. Maybe it's not possible to make that happen which begs the question why have it there in the first place. Seein's how I'm not a programmer, I don't know. I'll just guess!

    If MP continues to cut my recordings short, I will be glad to get a log to you. Please indicate a method for doing this. I know the mechanics of generating the log (if only by the luck of noticing the 'MP Watchdog' title on one of the dialog boxes in the blog and recalling seeing a shortcut to it on my desktop, and guessing this is what I should run), I just wouldn't know how to generate one that would be significant to this issue. Does this make sense? When do I start the log? When do I end? What methodology would you employ in this situation?
     

    mm1352000

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    Speaking of restarting curing ills, have you seen The IT Crowd on NetFlix? It'll kill you! Love the 'Friendface' episode. "The Work Outing' is one of the funniest shows I've seen.
    No, unfortunately I can't say I have. I'll have to look it up. :)

    Anyway, here's what the dialog box should say...
    I fully take your point. Believe me, I'm so over coming to peoples' rescue and explaining things over and over again. That's not intended to be a reflection on our experience/discussion. Rather, just a general comment that I'm aware MP has a lot of usability issues. I've been working on a new and greatly improved version of TV Server that attempts to remedy as many of the problems as possible. For example, when you enable or disable a plugin, you no longer have to restart the TV service. What a novelty, right?!? But seriously, the little things add up. Unfortunately that version is just not ready for general release yet. I mention all this just to emphasize that I do get what you're saying. It just takes time to fix all the nastiness properly.

    To wit, if WMC is so want to conflict, it would seem that running a check on this every time MP or one of the configuration programs starts would be a very wise and customer friendly thing to do, not to mention less time dealing with idiots like me. Then the non-insider can choose to disable WMC, dismiss the box, and/or check never to show box again, so at least he knows (without significant amounts of research time) that when strange things start happening, maybe disabling WMC will do the trick.
    Yes, quite possibly a good idea. The only wrinkle in that plan is that some people migrating to MP want to keep their recordings running on WMC while they tinker with MP setup. Even then though, warning them is a sensible thing to do. Mind if I borrow your idea? ;)

    If MP continues to cut my recordings short, I will be glad to get a log to you.
    Yes, please do. :)

    Please indicate a method for doing this. I know the mechanics of generating the log (if only by the luck of noticing the 'MP Watchdog' title on one of the dialog boxes in the blog and recalling seeing a shortcut to it on my desktop, and guessing this is what I should run), I just wouldn't know how to generate one that would be significant to this issue. Does this make sense? When do I start the log? When do I end? What methodology would you employ in this situation?
    Yes, the watchdog is the appropriate tool. Use option 3 to export all existing log files to zip at any point within 24 hours or so after the recording has finished. It would help if you could ensure that TV Server log verbosity/level is set to debug. That's a setting found in the general section of TV Server configuration. TV Server will need a restart (same as the plugin procedure thing) to apply that change too.
     

    Floorhor

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    I watched a couple of recorded shows, both recorded perfectly btw, and only had one hang up when I FF through commercials. So apparently WMC was the culprit to most of the ills. If I have some extra time and the pain of killing MP in Task Manager rises, I'll send a log to you to check out.
     

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