The Hit Just Keep On Coming... new problem, different day... (1 Viewer)

T^2

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So after getting things back to normal after my last episode, I uninstalled two PCI TV Tuners that I'm no longer using. To my surprise, that action seems to have screwed up TV Server. After a reboot of the computer, the HDHomerun tuners (which weren't touched) aren't showing up under TV Servers. I have to manually stop and restart the service to get them to show up and work after a reboot.

The is what it looked liked before the service restart:

2014-04-08 21_04_50-MediaPortal - TV Server Configuration.png


2014-04-08 21_06_47-MediaPortal - TV Server Configuration.png


and after a service restart:

2014-04-08 21_07_19-MediaPortal - TV Server Configuration.png


Had to close and reopen TV Server configuration to get the tuners to show up under TV Servers below:

2014-04-08 21_08_34-MediaPortal - TV Server Configuration.png


Logs taken before service restart are attached.

Whatever help you can send my way will be appreciated... Gracias....
 

mm1352000

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    Here's the problem:
    [2014-04-08 20:59:25,140] [Log ] [TVService] [INFO ] - Controller: local ip address:127.0.0.1
    [2014-04-08 20:59:25,187] [Log ] [TVService] [INFO ] - Controller: server running on Bigfoot-PC

    The TV service is starting before your NIC has been assigned an IP address. Because all the services bind to the "localhost" adaptor, they can't see the HDHomeRun on the network.

    Is your server configured with a static IP address?
     

    T^2

    Portal Pro
    December 9, 2013
    133
    10
    57
    Home Country
    United States of America United States of America
    Here's the problem:
    [2014-04-08 20:59:25,140] [Log ] [TVService] [INFO ] - Controller: local ip address:127.0.0.1
    [2014-04-08 20:59:25,187] [Log ] [TVService] [INFO ] - Controller: server running on Bigfoot-PC

    The TV service is starting before your NIC has been assigned an IP address. Because all the services bind to the "localhost" adaptor, they can't see the HDHomeRun on the network.

    Is your server configured with a static IP address?

    Yes it's set to a static IP address.
     

    mm1352000

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    Yes it's set to a static IP address.
    On NIC or in the router? Router setting is not suitable.
    If on the NIC, it would be odd... though not the first time I've seen something like this.
    The TV service is configured to depend on the RPC service. This is intended to ensure the NIC is up and assigned an IP address before Windows even attempts to start the TV service. If this is not working then you could configure the TV service start to be delayed. Even 5 seconds of delay would probably be enough. If you can't configure that, at last resort you could delay tuner detection:
    http://wiki.team-mediaportal.com/1_...ration/06_General#Delay_for_TV_card_detection

    This would almost certainly be enough to ensure your tuners are detected, but it won't be enough if you're running a multi-seat setup (ie. other PCs connect to the TV server).
     

    T^2

    Portal Pro
    December 9, 2013
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    Yes it's set to a static IP address.
    On NIC or in the router? Router setting is not suitable.
    If on the NIC, it would be odd... though not the first time I've seen something like this.
    The TV service is configured to depend on the RPC service. This is intended to ensure the NIC is up and assigned an IP address before Windows even attempts to start the TV service. If this is not working then you could configure the TV service start to be delayed. Even 5 seconds of delay would probably be enough. If you can't configure that, at last resort you could delay tuner detection:
    http://wiki.team-mediaportal.com/1_...ration/06_General#Delay_for_TV_card_detection

    This would almost certainly be enough to ensure your tuners are detected, but it won't be enough if you're running a multi-seat setup (ie. other PCs connect to the TV server).

    The NIC is setup with a static IP. Router is setup to assign the same address to MAC ID, but doesn't seem to work consistently (if memory serves). So I set the NIC to a static IP to force it to get the same IP address every time.

    Don't know how to delay a service start up. Got instructions?

    Why has this all of the sudden become a problem after removing the two PCI tuners?[DOUBLEPOST=1397012963][/DOUBLEPOST]Ok set the delay before TVServer detects card (re. wiki link above) to 5 seconds and rebooted. Tuners showed up under TV Servers. Good. Now I'm not sure I follow you about the delay not being enough if I'm running a multi-seat setup. I do have another client PC that I have MP installed on that connects to this server machine. Why would it matter if it's an issue that only occurs when the server machine boots up?
     
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    mm1352000

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    Don't know how to delay a service start up. Got instructions?
    Google is your friend. There are many ways.

    In short, on Vista and newer (I think it is Vista) Windows allows you to configure the startup type for a service as "automatic (delayed)". I'm running XP so can't provide a screenshot. However, this is done via the standard service management interface (right click on my computer, select manage, select services and applications, select TVService, right click and select properties, change startup type).

    Another option is to change startup type to manual and use a scheduled task to execute a batch script containing:
    ping 1.2.3.4 -n 1 -w [your delay in milliseconds here] >NUL
    net start TVService

    Why has this all of the sudden become a problem after removing the two PCI tuners?
    The driver(s) for said tuners booted so slow that the NIC got assigned an IP address before the TV service was started. Presumably the TV service is in some way dependent on drivers finishing loading, and the reduced delay has triggered the problem.
     

    T^2

    Portal Pro
    December 9, 2013
    133
    10
    57
    Home Country
    United States of America United States of America
    Don't know how to delay a service start up. Got instructions?
    Google is your friend. There are many ways.

    In short, on Vista and newer (I think it is Vista) Windows allows you to configure the startup type for a service as "automatic (delayed)". I'm running XP so can't provide a screenshot. However, this is done via the standard service management interface (right click on my computer, select manage, select services and applications, select TVService, right click and select properties, change startup type).

    Another option is to change startup type to manual and use a scheduled task to execute a batch script containing:
    ping 1.2.3.4 -n 1 -w [your delay in milliseconds here] >NUL
    net start TVService

    Why has this all of the sudden become a problem after removing the two PCI tuners?
    The driver(s) for said tuners booted so slow that the NIC got assigned an IP address before the TV service was started. Presumably the TV service is in some way dependent on drivers finishing loading, and the reduced delay has triggered the problem.

    I believe I got it working. In case anybody comes across this thread in the future, here is what I did. First, I simply set the delay for TV card detection in TV Server Configuration to 5 seconds. That in itself didn't appear to fix the problem. I thought it did, but when I got up this morning the Boss had already been up and tried to watch TV and found that MP was telling her that no cards were available. More negative impact to the WAF. Next, I tried setting the TV Server service to automatic delayed. That appears to work, however, the delay is about 2 minutes. I don't think telling the Boss that she has to wait 2 minutes after boot-up to be able to start MP and watch TV. Her response to that would most likely be: "I'm calling Comcast and having them install a box." Finally, I tried setting the TV Server service to manual, created the batch file as instructed, and setup Task Scheduler to run it. I set the trigger for the task to "At system startup". I also set the "Run whether user is logged on or not" and "Run with highest privileges" options for the task's security options (gave logon password when asked after clicking OK). I created the batch file in C:\ and named it TVServiceDelayStart.bat. In the Task Action setup (for Start a program) I browsed to the bat file and selected it. It was also necessary to set the Start in (optional) field to C:\ for the task to run the batch file. The batch file contains the follwing:

    ping 8.8.8.8 -n 1 -w 10000 >NULL
    net start TVService

    I used the IP address 8.8.8.8 (Google's public DNS server) instead of 1.2.3.4. IP address 1.2.3.4 doesn't appear to work.

    I initially went back and set the delay for TV card detection setting back to 0 when first trying out the bat file via task scheduler. My thinking was that if the scheduler successfully ran the batch file, then the computer had an IP address assigned which would allow the TV Server service to find the tuner when it started. Apparently my thinking was wrong because it didn't work. TV Server service started but didn't detect the HDHomerun tuners. I had to reset the delay back to 5 seconds to get it all to work properly.

    I've shutdown the computer a few times and powered it back up to test it. So far it appears to be working.

    Thanks for the help mm. As always great tech support.:)
     

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