TV Flakyness - Advice Please (1 Viewer)

[Lomax]

TV-Server Version:
MediaPortal Version: 0.2.2.0
MediaPortal Skin: BlueTwo Wide
Windows Version: Vista Ultimate
CPU Type: AMD Athlon 64 x2 AMD 3600+
HDD: 2 x Seagate SATA-300 80GB (RAID 0)
Memory: 1GB DDR2-533Mhz Generic
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-M61PM-S2
Motherboard Chipset: NVidia nForce 430
Motherboard Bios: AWARD
Video Card: MSI NX7300GS-MD256EH
Video Card Driver: ForceWare v158.18
Sound Card: Realtek ALC883 (onboard)
Sound Card AC3: SPDIF
Sound Card Driver: Microsoft
1. TV Card: Leadtek Winfast DTV1000 T
1. TV Card Type: DVB-T
1. TV Card Driver:
2. TV Card: Leadtek Winfast DTV1000 T
2. TV Card Type: DVB-T
2. TV Card Driver:
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:
MPEG2 Audio Codec:
Satelite/CableTV Provider:
HTPC Case: Antec Fusion
Cooling:
Power Supply: Antec Ultra-quiet 430 Watt
Remote: Microsoft MCE Remote
TV: Sony Bravia KDL40X2000
TV - HTPC Connection: HDMI


Hi all,

I've got MediaPortal working well with pics, music, DVDs, and Divxs. Whilst it is a little sluggish (certainly compared to more established software like XBMC) it works well.

I've now turned my attention to TV, and I must say I've found it unusable. Channel changes are slow and often "trip up". Sometimes I watch channel A, switch to channel B (which takes a good few seconds), only to be presented with what I have just watched on channel A again. It is as if channel A gets streamed, then I change channel, and MP just goes back to the start of what it has just streamed. Often times, after MP trips up a few times, it gets to a state where it errors upon changing channel (with a message "Unable to start Timeshifting - unknown Error Occured")

Sometimes I get no sound. Change channel and the sound (sometimes) returns.

The purpose of this post, is to get some other users feedback on TV performance in MP. I'm thinking that I'm getting crapness perhaps because of my new, but cheap, tv tuners. I'm also thinking that some of the crapness may be because I'm running Vista - perhaps I should try all this out under Windows XP?

Any thoughts, opinions, or suggestions regarding my issues would be appreciated. I 'd also like to hear about others experience with TV functions in MP, because I'm not sure whether this is just the current state of MP, or whether it is my setup.

Regards,

'max

 

[Muldini]

Hey,

first of all, damn I'd kill for your TV
What is "slow" in your opinion for a channel change? It usually takes 1-2 seconds here.
The channel changing issues are known and currently being worked on, can't find the thread right now, though.

/edit
Links:
https://forum.team-mediaportal.com/channel_switching_timeshift_buffer_problem-t22494.html
http://mantis.team-mediaportal.com/view.php?id=1038

Kind Regards,
Muldini

 

[stryker]

I have an SVN from about two weeks ago: (multiseat)

My issues of irritation are:

1) change to a channel and get the general "cannot timeshift" message. (funny but a fix is to start recording the channel then a few seconds later choose to watch the recording).

2) choppy stream. Sometimes a channels picture and sound is choppy asif there were network issues. (I have of course ruled out server, network, client).

3) Booking a series to record only works for the episodes that fall in the current EPG. As time goes on and the EPG is updated further episodes are not tagged.... this one is a pain.

I know I've not provided specifics on my hardware, but I figure this thread will benefit if people read it rather than fall asleep.

 

[mrkaras]

I changed to tve3 mostly because on tve2 I would get the timeshigting error if I turned the TV off and then tried to turn it back on

there have been several mentions and I too have the problem that changing channel goes back to the start of the time shift buffer

I rarely (but it has happened) get things like no sound, no picture with sound or sound out of sync.

if the record series does not tag extra episodes that sound like a serious issue, that menu item completely doesn't work, it would be the same as record once, I haven't seen that but I have changed versions enough recently that I could have missed it.

 

[Lomax]

OK, i've reformatted and installed XP SP2 + all updates and installed latest MP + TV3 builds.

The issues I'm left with are:

Channel changes often give "Cant Timeshift Error" and I always end up watching from the start of the timeshift buffer when changing channels. MP completely trips up if I change channels. I plan to try and reproduce these issues in a more accurate way so I can make some more useful bug reports.

What would cause this? MP? My tuner cards?

Can anyone out there say that their MP TV setup works beautifully, or is everyone having these sorts of issues?

 

[mrkaras]

Time shift error: not very often but does happen.
watching start of time-shift buffer: usually happens, not always but almost. turn the TV off before changing channels to work around that.
MP completely trips up: not sure what you mean but sometime MP will seem to freeze for no apparent reason (only one user ever gets this, suspect key thrashing related)
I think all your problems just listed are MP related, personally I think the MP team is much better at adding features than fixing bugs (not trying to offend anyone here)
I dought anybody has there setup working beautifully unless they use it in a limited role, most issues seem to be TV related.

on your previous issues, the choppy streem could be lots of things. try single seat, the preview in the server setup, using VLC, CODECs and the quality of your signal (I have found that a lot of TV cards are not as strong as you would think).

When my TV guide updated the new programs were flagged correctly although the info on the scheduled recordings window did not show the right description or times, I haven't seen weather they actually record or not and one if them has changed time but still got flagged.

 

[Lomax]

Thanks a lot for your feedback. From your comments, and some other threads I've been reading, I'm thinking that what I'm experiencing is just the way MP is at the moment.

I'm going to try using the old v2 tv engine and see if that improves things. I mite even grab the MP source tree and have a poke around myself so I can learn a bit more about how this pig flies!

Everything besides TV is working well for me.

Regards,

'max

 

[mrkaras]

sounds like a good idea, just watch out, I changed to TVE3 because TVE2 says "can not start timeshifting" if you turn the TV of and back on (using the TV on button). hopefully you don't get this.