Testbuilds for Native MP2 TV - Updated for 10th AE Update 1 (2014-09-13)! (1 Viewer)

[mnmr]

Hi.

does this imply that transcoding is not available?

You're right, it's not yet available. There is some work going on to add this. But this will need some time to complete and no one can give you a time frame atm.
If once this is working you can use every web- browser as front-end.

Bummer. I have a crappy Sonos Playbar that doesn't support DTS, so lots of media files need audio transcoding to play with audio. That said, I can understand why transcoding hasn't been a priority.

I was considering using XBMC on top of MP2, so perhaps that offers transcoding or has a plug-in for it.

 

[Lehmden]

Hi.

that doesn't support DTS

This can be achieved by codec settings. Try AC3 filter, it has tons of options incl DTS to AC3 or Stereo transcoding...

 

[mm1352000]

Thanks for the feedback mnmr

Ok, so I have a HDHomeRun-4DC device with 4 DVB-C tuners all receiving the same signal. I scanned for channels using the first tuner, then went to channel mapping to (de)assign only the channels I can access. The Channel Mapping view features two listboxes, showing an icon (encrypted or not) and the channel name, but there is no way to sort by encryption (so I had to manually go through the list and do the ctrl-click thing to deselect them). Four times, since the multi-tuner option appears to only be for DvbIP tuners (incidentally I also have a DD OctopusNet Sat>IP tuner, but support for that is still pretty sparse). I had expected to be able to combine tuner channels on the TV Combinations page, but that also appears to be meant for DvbIP only.

Then I went to the TV Channels page, which is probably where I should have gone first to remove the channels I didn't want (only realized this as I write this, could probably have saved quite a bit of work).

It doesn't matter if the channels are mapped. TV Server will know it can't use the tuner to tune them if you don't enable conditional access.
If it were me I'd map everything to all 4 tuners and disable the encrypted channels in the TV Channels section so they don't show in the MediaPortal client.

I then ordered the channels by moving them up and down, but the tool seems not to remember this. I've created groups and the channels do appear in the order in which I sorted them in all of the named groups, but not on the Channels(xx) tab. Not sure why sorting is an option on that page if it does not remember it.

The first tab in that section is only for viewing and editing channel details; the other tabs are the actual channel groups you see in MediaPortal. The ability to order in the first tab makes it convenient to [for example] find all channels from provider x or all channels of type y. The ability to order in the other tabs makes it possible to specify the order/appearance in MediaPortal.

I couldn't find anywhere to assign new channel numbers to the channels I've mapped, so not sure what it'll look like on the client once that works.

Please could you post your log files. If your provider follows standards, TV Server should have picked up the correct channel numbers. If you want to customise I think you have to actually edit each tuning detail (a pain, I know - it is on "the list"). I note that channel number stuff in MP1/TVE3 is different to TVE 3.5 so don't follow the wiki for this. It will lead you astray.

I went ahead and deleted all encrypted channels, which was probably a mistake since I am now missing a bunch of channels that I know are not being sent encrypted - so either the encrypted flag is incorrect in the provider stream (YouSee, Denmark) or it was misinterpreted by either tuner or TvSetup. I suspect it is a provider issue though.

As above: I would simply have disabled (unticked) them. No need to delete. It is okay for channels that you can't access to be listed in the first TV Channels tab. Think of it as the pool of all channels available from your provider. The channel groups in the other tabs are the channels that you want to see in the way that you want to see them.
Also, please provide your log files [which should include when you scanned] and an example of a channel that was incorrectly detected. I'd be very interested to investigate this because TVE 3.5 should be much more accurate than MP1/TVE3 at detecting encryption status. It checks each video and audio stream; if any of them are encrypted it will mark the channel as encrypted.

TV EPG configuration forgets the "store data only for selected channels" option, but I think someone else already mentioned that.

Probably a genuine bug resulting from the change of database layer.

I don't understand what the language choices are for - do I need to pick the languages I speak or the languages the channels are being sent in?

The choice is provided to specify the languages you speak/understand. If a provider provides EPG in multiple languages, TV Server will save the EPG for the language(s) that you select. This avoids the situation of EPG showing in a language that you don't understand.

Why is there an invariant language?

The language list comes from .NET. I guess .NET 4.0 has an invariant language. No idea what it means. We know that list needs to be changed to a list of ISO 639-2 languages. It is "on the list".

Timeshifting/recording paths must be local drives, which doesn't work for me. Local space is limited so I need to use a network UNC path or drive, but the tool resets any non-local path to the default.

I think you should be able to use a UNC path. If it doesn't work it is a bug.

Timeshift configuration options are weird.. what is the purpose of configuring a minimum file count?

To set the size of your back-buffer. In other words, you can control how far it is possible to rewind/skip-back.
[edit: Minimum is effectively equivalent to your "total GB".]

It would be a lot less obscure to use minutes and/or total GB, then let the backend figure out how many files it should create.

Minutes is not possible because x GB is y minutes for one channel and z minutes for other channels.
There is a reason why things are done how they've been done. The goal is to minimise the HDD space used but maximise the timeshift buffer size. Basically the timeshift buffer size is not fixed. Normally it will be as per the minimum number of files. If you pause, TV Server will use more buffer space until it hits the maximum. If you set maximum very high you can effectively create an infinite buffer. You don't use the maximum buffer space unless it is actually needed.

Yes, I assumed as much (also considering that they were DEBUG messages). Still, it makes finding other things in the log a bit more cumbersome.

If you post your logs we can confirm that the messages are harmless and consider whether the code can be changed or logging disabled.

 

[Arnax]

Timeshifting/recording paths must be local drives, which doesn't work for me. Local space is limited so I need to use a network UNC path or drive,

RAM is also limited, but it would be ideal in my case

 

[breese]

I would also like to start this post by apologizing

Thank you for that and information on issues is always a help in finding issues.

under the impression that MP2 would act as a central proxy server

Central Media Server yes. The MP2 clients all connect to the server to look up the available resources but they have to be valid resources.
On that same note, I Client can also share a resource as Local or Global. If you make it Global, then all other clients will see it.

I am still interested in knowing more about your UPnP errors.

 

[breese]

I did a clean install of Native.
I am seeing the Error message when closing the SetupTv again. There are no other error logged that I can find.


When configuring the Plugins, the News link is messed up


I cannot find any issues with the UPnP service as others reported.
I did find it interesting that while I expected to have an error for no or creating the needed DB, it seems to have had an issue 4 times but did not log it in the ServerError.log file
System.Data.SQLite.SQLiteException (0x80004005): SQL logic error or missing database
near "DROP": syntax error

In the Client logs there is an error for Series

[2014-02-18 08:05:57,102] [2550 ] [Main ] [ERROR] - PluginManager: Error building plugin item 'SeriesTvDbMatcher' at location '/Services'
MediaPortal.Common.PluginManager.Exceptions.PluginLockException: Plugin 'OnlineLibraries' (id: 'b32504f3-4374-4640-94a1-16e1dee84c3c') cannot be locked for state dependency - it's currently changing its state
at MediaPortal.Common.PluginManager.PluginRuntime.LockForStateDependency(Boolean upgradableToWriteLock)
at MediaPortal.Common.Services.PluginManager.PluginManager.LockPluginStateDependency(PluginRuntime plugin, Boolean upgradableToWriteLock, PluginState[] statesToLock)
at MediaPortal.Common.Services.PluginManager.PluginManager.TryActivate(PluginRuntime plugin)
at MediaPortal.Common.Services.PluginManager.PluginManager.RequestItem(PluginItemRegistration itemRegistration, Type type, IPluginItemStateTracker stateTracker)

Funny thing is I had no problem importing Global shares for Movies or Series

 

[morpheus_xx]

I am seeing the Error message when closing the SetupTv again. There are no other error logged that I can find.

No error, Windows does "think" too much, but SetupTV is no installer. Message can be ignored.

I did find it interesting that while I expected to have an error for no or creating the needed DB, it seems to have had an issue 4 times but did not log it in the ServerError.log file
System.Data.SQLite.SQLiteException (0x80004005): SQL logic error or missing database
near "DROP": syntax error

Explained it already, this is expected: constraints cannot be dropped in SQLite, so they are omitted while creation. No error and log appears only on first init.

2014-02-18 08:05:57,102] [2550 ] [Main ] [ERROR] - PluginManager: Error building plugin item 'SeriesTvDbMatcher' at location '/Services'

Funny thing is I had no problem importing Global shares for Movies or Series

Sounds reasonable, as the MP2-Server does the import for global shares.

 

[MaxMan23]

Thanks Morph for your help . MP2 (last Release) is running better and better!!!!!! Great Job

 

[mnmr]

Hi.
This can be achieved by codec settings. Try AC3 filter, it has tons of options incl DTS to AC3 or Stereo transcoding...

Very nice, thanks!

I've been using K-Lite Codec Pack in the past to install codecs and tools - is that something you'd recommend?

 

[mnmr]

If it were me I'd map everything to all 4 tuners and disable the encrypted channels in the TV Channels section so they don't show in the MediaPortal client.

Check!

The ability to order in the first tab makes it convenient to [for example] find all channels from provider x or all channels of type y.

Sorting makes sense, but I was referring to the ability to move channels up/down individually or in groups to arrange them in a specific order. It took a fair bit of time to arrange the channels in a specific order, and it was not apparent that this manual ordering would not be remembered.

Please could you post your log files. If your provider follows standards, TV Server should have picked up the correct channel numbers. If you want to customise I think you have to actually edit each tuning detail (a pain, I know - it is on "the list").

I've attached the server log files generated from starting the service, performing a scan using TvSetup and closing the service.

However, I compared the scanning frequencies listed in the "Denmark YouSee Copenhagen" transponder file with an online resource listing the frequencies in use, and found a number of errors/omissions. I've created two new files, one with all frequencies in use and another with only the muxes containing FTA channels. Perhaps they could replace the existing file shipping with MP.

It checks each video and audio stream; if any of them are encrypted it will mark the channel as encrypted.

I performed a new scan using the FTA list to speed things along, and it found 23 new channels - including the ones I was missing, so all looks good!

That said, I found a channel with an odd name of "Unknown I-62351" or some such, and TvSetup became unresponsive when I tried previewing it. I've attached the ServerError.log as well to analyze this.

Probably a genuine bug resulting from the change of database layer.

Yes, I noticed you've gotten rid of that awful Gentle thing

The choice is provided to specify the languages you speak/understand. If a provider provides EPG in multiple languages, TV Server will save the EPG for the language(s) that you select. This avoids the situation of EPG showing in a language that you don't understand.

Thanks, that helps!

Timeshifting/recording paths must be local drives, which doesn't work for me. Local space is limited so I need to use a network UNC path or drive, but the tool resets any non-local path to the default.

I think you should be able to use a UNC path. If it doesn't work it is a bug.

I'll try again and let you know if I can't convince it

Minutes is not possible because x GB is y minutes for one channel and z minutes for other channels.
There is a reason why things are done how they've been done. The goal is to minimise the HDD space used but maximise the timeshift buffer size. Basically the timeshift buffer size is not fixed. Normally it will be as per the minimum number of files. If you pause, TV Server will use more buffer space until it hits the maximum. If you set maximum very high you can effectively create an infinite buffer. You don't use the maximum buffer space unless it is actually needed.

To be honest, I think that the current solution exposes "implementation details" that I'd rather not worry about. Just let me configure it in minutes and give me a worst-case estimate of the space requirements, and it'd be much more user friendly to configure.