1.36 TBS - Subchannels - All Cards Busy (1 Viewer)

[AberDino]

I have a dedicated TV Server x64 v1.36 running on Windows 11, with a Hauppauge WinTV-dualHD tuner for DVB-T channels (Freeview) and a TBS 5520SE tuner for DVB-S channels (Freesat and others). I also have a TBS 5980, but for troubleshooting purposes I disconnected it from the system. The DVB-T tuner has priority over the DVB-S tuner, so should be used first if a channel is available on both Freeview and Freesat.

The issue I'm having is that after a random period of time, I'm unable to tune to any channel, with the message that "all cards are busy". At that point, on the TV Server, the TBS card is coloured red with a subchannel count (see screenshot attached). Interestingly, while it's in that state, I cannot tune to any DVB-T channel on the Hauppauge card either.

It happened again yesterday, so I had a look through my TVService.log file to try and work out what is happening. In the morning, I watched the skiing on ZDF (TBS card) and after that briefly switched to BBC One on the Hauppauge card. EPG grabbing commences at 13:32, Freeview first, followed by Freesat at 13:43. That's where the first anomaly is visible, note the time it takes to 'set tone state'...:

[2025-01-12 13:43:01,489] [Log ] [DVB EPG timer] [DEBUG] - Turbosight: set tone state, burst = None, 22 kHz = Off
[2025-01-12 14:41:34,301] [Log ] [DVB EPG timer] [DEBUG] - Turbosight: 22 kHz result = success

Next one:

[2025-01-12 14:41:34,433] [Log ] [DVB EPG timer] [INFO ] - dvb: RunGraph
[2025-01-12 15:47:40,595] [Log ] [DVB EPG timer] [INFO ] - dvb: LockInOnSignal ok

As it takes too long, the system then tries to unsuccessfully stop the tune request.

At 17:13, it's time to commence a recording on BBC Two. This channel is tunable from the Hauppauge card, but because the TBS card is still in the process of stopping, the recording doesn't start until 17:49:

[2025-01-12 17:13:00,137] [Log ] [scheduler thread] [INFO ] - card: WaitForCancelledTuneToFinish card: 8 / subch: 0
[2025-01-12 17:49:33,544] [Log ] [DVB EPG timer] [DEBUG] - Turbosight: 22 kHz result = success

After the recording is finished, it immediately performs the DVB-T EPG grab with the Hauppauge card, and after that gets itself into trouble again when it tries to perform the DVB-S grab with the TBS card. No errors are logged in the "TVService-Error.log" file.

At this point, stopping the TV Service from the "TV Server Configuration" Manual Control menu just hangs, and trying to stop the TVService Service is also not possible (see screenshot). The only recovery option is to restart the computer.

The issue appears to be related to the TBS card, and I'm wondering whether it is linked to the issue as posted here by @w8andc.

Attached two screenshots, an abbreviated "TVService.log" file, and the "TSWriter.log" file. I'd appreciate it if somebody could have a look at this, and I'm happy to assist troubleshooting.

 

[CyberSimian]

The issue I'm having is that after a random period of time, I'm unable to tune to any channel, with the message that "all cards are busy".

I experienced this in the past (when I had two TBS 6284 tuners in my HTPC). I don't know whether having two identical TBS cards was the problem, but I now use one TBS 6284 plus a Pinnacle 2000i. I have not encountered this problem recently. However...

There is one setting that may affect this that I have not mentioned before. Note: this is a workaround, not a fix. The setting is Tuners to try. There are separate settings for Recording and Timeshifting, and the default is 0, which means try all tuners. So this is what I think happens:

• TV Server tries to tune a channel, but for some unknown reason the tune fails and the tuner is left in a locked-up state.
• TV Server then moves on to the next tuner and tries that. That tune also fails, leaving that tuner in a locked-up state.
• TV Server then moves on to the next tuner... and so on, until all tuners are locked up.

So the workaround is to change Tuners to try to 1. My view these days is that if the first attempt to tune the channel fails, it is unlikely that any subsequent attempts using the other tuners will succeed.

-- from CyberSimian in the UK

 

[AberDino]

Thanks @CyberSimian, I will try that and see if it helps. By the way, I have the Hauppauge tunes set to pause and the TBS tuner to stop, simply because the TBS device tunes quickly to a channel while the Hauppauge device takes a bit longer. EPG grabbing is set to 'when idle' only.

 

[CyberSimian]

EPG grabbing is set to 'when idle' only.

For DVB-T/T2, EPG grabbing requires some care. You should have only one channel selected as the "grab from" channel, and BBC1 SD is recommended as it is more equitable than channels in the commercial MUXes. I don't have any experience of the DVB-S/S2 EPG, so cannot comment on the best way to grab that EPG.

If you are currently grabbing from all channels ( ), you will end up trying to grab from a part-time channel, which (I think) TV Server will not be able to tune, as there is no video datastream . Would that cause the tune to fail? Probably. Would that lock-up the tuner? Quite possibly, if TV Server is not freeing the tuner correctly (i.e. a bug in TV Server or the TBS driver).

-- from CyberSimian in the UK

 

[AberDino]

Yes, sorry, should have added that, I only have BBC1 SD selected for Freeview grabbing, and transponder 11426.5H (in the radio section) for Freesat EPG grabbing (this is a DVB-S channel). These channels are always available (not part-time) and when the cards are working well there is never an issue tuning to these channels, so I don't think tuning failures are causing the lock-ups.

 

[Pablik]

The issue must be in the TBS 5520 driver.
There is an insane 1 hour long response delay of BDA call (IKsPropertySet) to set TonesState properties.
The same problem is in SignalCheck (dvb: LockInOnSignal ok). This is done by BDA call IBDA_SignalStatistics.get_SignalLocked.
The server is unable to terminate due to ongoing BDA signal state call ([2025-01-12 20:13:00,157] [Log ] [DVB EPG timer] [INFO ] - dvb: RunGraph) - there is no subsequent response (dvb: LockInOnSignal ok).