TV Playback/Recordings stops reproducable after 10-70 Seconds (Signal Quality drops to zero) (1 Viewer)

Hotkey

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    Hi There,

    first: This is a new attempt to solve the problem which is also described here: https://forum.team-mediaportal.com/...when-recording-watching-other-channel.129335/
    As i've some new insights i created a new thread in order to get things straight. Hopefully this is OK for the mods.

    Short: My Problem:
    On my HTPC Server i've got the problem on some-channels, that the TV-Playback/Recording stops after 10-70 seconds (approx.). This happens only after a longer time of inactivity (e.g. every evening when the TV(Server) is used firstly. If it happens, it is reproducable on every Tuner (4 Quad Tuner and 1 single DVB-S, see Profile for details).
    The channels i'm having this issue with are all on the same frequency, transponder, polarisation, symbol rate. (See Screenshot "Channels")
    After the first occurance of the problem, there's no further problem for the rest of the evening (at least for hours) on any of these channels.

    Test-Setup:
    I'm using the "Manual Control" to investigate this issue. I choose the first of the Tuner in the list, select one of the problematic channel and hit "Start TimeShift". The Signal Level goes to 93 and the Signal Qualitiy to 83. The TS packets processes starts to increase.
    After 10-70 Seconds (roughly) the Signal Quality drops from one second to the other to zero and stays there (waited for some 15 Minutes). The log will then be filled with
    "[2016-03-01 19:53:47,934] [130f3f10] [a34] - Recorder:pid 1ff Continuity error... 1 ( prev 7 ) - bad signal?".
    I then hit "Stop Timeshifting" and can continue with the other Tuners, all showing the same behaviour. Afterwards, when i Start the Timeshift a second time no matter on which Tuner, the Signal Quality Stays constant and never dropps again (for the evening).
    See Screenshots "OK" and "Problem"

    Reproducable: (HTPC Server normally runs 24/7)
    • Wait some hours (e.g > 12h), Tune one of the channels: Signal Quality Drops after 10-70 Seconds and stays until retuned
    • Restart TV Service after initial Problem: No Problem, Signal Quality stays constant
    • Reboot Windows: No Problem, Signal Quality stays constant
    • Shut down Windows, unplug power for ~10 Minutes: No Problem, Signal Quality stays constant
    • Let the TV-Service/HTPC Server Idle for > 30 Minutes: No Problem, Signal Quality stays constant
    • Let the TV-Service/HTPC Server Idle for > 2 hours, > 4 hours, > 8 hours: To be checked

    Other information:
    I've had this problem on my HTPC-Server, which was initially a Win7 Operating system (former Gamer-PC). I then switched to Win10 "on the fly". For some reasons i know took the time to do a clean/fresh installation from scratch, again 64 Bit Windows 10 Home on a new SSD HD. The Environment changes, the problem stays.
    At least the single Tuner Card was previously used in a single seat HTPC PC (same household). With this setup i didn't hat this problems.

    My Question:
    I'm completley lost here. I've no idea what might causes such a problem. Would it make sense to try a DVB-S Card of a different Vendor? I've also contacted TBS Support but no answer so far.
    As the problem is reproducable (at least after some time of waiting):
    Is there anything i can provide which might help to solve the problem? From my naive view some sort of a "Auto-Retune after 5 Bad signal in sequence"-Function would probably do the trick for me. This is what i do manually when the problem arises, but this won't work for scheduled recordings :) These simply stop and are leaving me with some 50 seconds recording :)

    Thanks:
    For reading until here :) I hope that this problem will be solved in the end.

    Logs
    I've attached the tswriter.log from one of the attemps, the intersting positions are:
    Code:
    [2016-03-01 19:51:43,786] [130f3f10] [1484] - CDiskRecorder::Flush() - Throttle to 32336 bytes (max)
    [2016-03-01 19:51:43,792] [130f3f10] [1484] - Recorder: TIMESHIFT start of audio detected
    [2016-03-01 19:52:13,698] [130f3f10] [1484] - Recorder:Pid 1ff Continuity error... f ( prev b ) - bad signal?
    
    
    [2016-03-01 19:53:20,206] [130f3f10] [a34] - CDiskRecorder::Flush() - Throttle to 32336 bytes (max)
    [2016-03-01 19:53:47,934] [130f3f10] [a34] - Recorder:Pid 1ff Continuity error... 1 ( prev 7 ) - bad signal?
    
    
    [2016-03-01 19:54:37,176] [130f3f10] [914] - CDiskRecorder::Flush() - Throttle to 32336 bytes (max)
    [2016-03-01 19:55:00,941] [130f3f10] [914] - Recorder:Pid 1ff Continuity error... 5 ( prev b ) - bad signal?
     

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    mm1352000

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    Hotkey, please provide the full TV service log file.
     

    Hotkey

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  • July 18, 2007
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    Unfortunately i deleted the old logs during my attempt to reproduce the error. So i'll have to wait until it is reproducable again. Sorry
     

    Hotkey

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    I tried to reproduce the problem this Morning (but it worked) and also later this day (worked also). But now roughly 24h later the problem was reproducable on two of the tuners.
    I've attached the logs this time. Hope the info helps.
     

    mm1352000

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    Unfortunately your testing seems to be too inconsistent to draw any conclusions.

    I tried to reproduce the problem this Morning (but it worked)...
    How can you be sure when you only tested tuners 6 and 7. Why did you not also test 3, 4 and 5?

    ...and also later this day (worked also).
    I assume you mean the tests you did at approximately 18:30. You only tested tuners 5 and 6. Again, why did you not also test 3, 4 and 7?

    But now roughly 24h later the problem was reproducable on two of the tuners.
    I assume you mean the tests you did at approximately 19:30. You only tested tuners 3 and 4. Again, why did you not also test 5, 6 and 7?


    In my opinion, with these kinds of problems the testing needs to be very thorough. You should test all tuners... and I would also suggest to test other channels. Based on the current information and results, right now I cannot be sure that the problem really affects all tuners (maybe it's only tuners 3 and 4 - you have no evidence of problems with tuners 5, 6 or 7) or that the problem only affects transponder 10832H (I did not see you try channels from other transponders such as this one)...


    Last comment...
    In the failed test with tuner 3, the TsWriter log file shows some entries like this:
    [2016-03-02 19:34:43,376] [11a90f48] [1c90] - Recorder:pid 1ff : Discontinuity header bit set!

    Normally such entries are strong indications of signal strength/quality problems. The discontinuity header bit would only be set by the tuner, whereas other continuity errors like this:
    [2016-03-02 19:34:43,486] [11a90f48] [1c90] - Recorder:pid 1ff Continuity error... 8 ( prev 9 ) - bad signal?

    ...can be caused by other factors such as HDD load.
     

    Hotkey

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    Thank you for your reply.
    I've only tested some of the tuners on purpose. I'll try to explain why:

    Intially i tested alle Tuners on this channel, and all Tuners failed in sequence. Unfortunately i have no logs from this test. As described in the opening post the problem is gone for each Tuner after the first failure for some hours (how long is what i want to find out)....

    Why no other channel was tested:

    ... So if i tune afterwards again, the previosly failed Tuner will not fail anymore. With this knowing it wouldn't help to check another channel since every channel will work now for the next hours. Of course i could tune to another channel before the failing one next time. (will do this).
    Besided: In the past year running this server, the problem only occures on the mentionend channels so far (See screenshot "channels" in the opening post)

    Why not all tuners have been tested:
    I've got the knowing, that after the arise of the error the tuner will "be good" for an unknown time (multiple hours). So i'm guessing that also a successfull "Tune" will reset the timer until the error occurs again. So if i tune all tuners successfully i might not find the pattern after which the error arises again.
    So my intention was to produce the Error at time X and then test the 5 individual tuners after different idle-times: E.g. first Tuner after 4hours, second after 12hours, third after 14hours and so on.
    If i do this for all Tuners each time, i'll need 4 days for this test.
    Of course, maybe the problem lies in the Satelite-Distributor and the Tune of one tuner will "reset the timer" for all the others.

    Long story short: I'll test all Tuners next time. (Currently all are working).

    About "strong indications of signal strength/quality problems.":
    Yes, as described and visible in the Screenshot the quality-indicator drops from 83 to zero from one second to the other and never returns until i Stop and Retune. Afterwards it stays constant for hours.

    Factor HDD-Load:
    The System is only used by the HTPC-Server and no other action has taken place. So far no Anti-Vir is installed and i tried three drives for Timeshifting so far (HDD, Samsung SSD and now a new Samsung SSD). Maybe the Board (4-5 years old) has an Issue, but the following facts are arguments against a HDD Issue:
    • Error occurs only during the first 70 seconds or never that day/evening
    • Error occurs only on this channels and never on others
    Next Steps:
    • I'll go on with the tests and will now first tune to an unproblematic channel for 1-2 Minutes and will then switch to the problematic one. I'll then repeat these steps for every tuner and will post the logs if the error arises again.
    Again, thanks so far
     

    Hotkey

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  • July 18, 2007
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    Hi Again,

    i've made another test this evening (find logs attached). This time only one Tuner (which i haven't tested this morning) produced the error once, and managed to run without error afterwards.
    History for the logs (see also Screenshot for reference):
    1. Card 7: Tune Pro7 HD, waited for some time, no error
    2. Card 7: Tune Vox HD (problematic channel), waited for some time, no error
    3. Card 6: Same procedure as before, Pro7 - Vox, no erros
    4. Card 5: s.o.
    5. Card 4 Tune Pro 7 HD: No error
    6. Card 4 Tune Vox HD: Error: Signal Quality dropped to zero and stayed there
    7. Card 3 Tune Pro 7 HD: No error
    8. Card 3 Tune RTL HD (also problematic channel), no error
    9. Card 3 Tune VOX HD: No error
    10. Card 4 (the previously failed tuner): No error/discontinues for 5 minutes now. It will run fine until next evening. This is where i made the reference Screenshot
    Meanwhile there was one Tuning for ARD from the HTPC Client which was my Wife :) Also no error there.
     

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