TV Recording Playback Freezing/Closing On Skip Or REW/FFWD (1 Viewer)

[nobbly]

MediaPortal Version: MediaPortal 1.1.0 BETA 1
MediaPortal Skin: Monochrome - Edited By Me
Windows Version: XP Pro SP3
CPU Type: Intel C2D E8400 3GHz
HDD: Samsung x 3
Memory: 2 GB
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-EP35-DS4
Video Card: ATI HD 4770
Video Card Driver: Catalyst 9.9
Sound Card: Onboard Realtek HD Audio
Sound Card AC3:
Sound Card Driver: 5.10.0000.5567
1. TV Card: Pinnacle 7010ix
1. TV Card Type: DVB-T x 2, DVB-S x 2, etc
1. TV Card Driver: 1.0.3.3 (22/12/2006 Version)
2. TV Card: Pinnacle 7010ix
2. TV Card Type: DVB-T x 2, DVB-S x 2, etc
2. TV Card Driver: 1.0.3.3 (22/12/2006 Version)
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: Cyberlink PDVD8
MPEG2 Audio Codec: ffdshow
h.264 Video Codec: Cyberlink PDVD8
Satelite/CableTV Provider:
HTPC Case:
Cooling:
Power Supply: Enermax 500 Watt
Remote:
TV:
TV - HTPC Connection: DVI

On playing back some DVB-T or DVB-S TV recordings and using the skip or rew/ffwd function of any size at specific points within the particular recording, the playback freezes, the hard disk activity light on the case goes full on, and either:

1. Playback remains frozen, with MediaPortal also frozen permanently, and MediaPortal needs to be killed; or
2. Playback & MediaPortal remain frozen for a while, from a few seconds to a few minutes, and then MediaPortal ceases to be frozen but Playback still is until the stop button is pressed; or
3. Playback instantly ends abruptly; or
4. MediaPortal crashes.

If no skipping or rew/ffwd is used at all during playback, then playback does not freeze at all in MediaPortal. If I play the TV recordings in Zoom Player with the exact same codecs, Cyberlink PDVD8 & ffdshow with the Haali Media Splitter, they play perfectly with no problems with multiple skipping and rew/ffwd.

Attached below are the logs for playing back a DVB-T recording that has symptoms similar to no.2 above. The recording starts to play fine and allows a 5 minute skip at the beginning, but then a subsequent 10 sec skip causes the picture to freeze as well as MediaPortal freezing. After a few minutes MediaPortal unfreezes and becomes responsive to key presses, but playback is still frozen at the same place as before. I then tried to skip another 5 mins whilst playback was frozen and MediaPortal again freezes. This time I kill the MediaPortal process to end it quickly.

I've had this problem in the last few MediaPortal releases - definitely with 1.0.2, and for a good few months. In previous versions of MediaPortal I did not have this problem, but cannot recall exactly when it started. I have had to resort to playing the 'buggy' recordings in Zoom Player, which play fine, but without the luxury of DVB subtitles which is quite important to me (as Zoom Player does not support DVB subtitle playback, unfortunately).

Looking at the TsReader logs, it appears that there are problems with the recordings - late frames etc. Up to a few weeks ago I was using a communal aerial that usually provides decent reception, but occasionally every few weeks or so it suffers from interference. So for the last few weeks I have been using a really good amplified indoor aerial which has provided just as good reception, except with the occasional interference from motorbikes, freezers etc, but this interference is usually very minor with just a very small part of the picture breaking up. However, whichever aerial I use I get the same playback freezing problem.

Even if the recordings have quality issues, they do playback fine elsewhere, so it appears to me that MediaPortal has got issues in handling them, probably to do with the rather strict and unforgiving TsReader.

Could someone with the knowledge have a look at this problem to see what the issue is. I can upload a 'buggy' recording if necessary (please provide instructions on how to do this).

Thanks

nobbly

 

[nobbly]

Something I forgot to mention is that I've tried different combinations of video and audio codecs and it makes no difference to the outcome. And to clarify a bit more, this does not happen with all TV recordings - as many recordings play fine with multiple skips and rew/ffwd. It seems to be about every 1 in 3 recordings at the moment. Still a pain, though.

 

[nobbly]

Have updated the following: sd video codec to Cyberlink PDVD9, ffdshow to latest stable, sound driver to latest, have tried the Blue3wide skin just in case it was a skin issue, and reconnected to the communal freeview aerial. The problem unfortunately is still there. Has anyone else got this problem, or is it just me? Could it be the TSReader having issues with the quality of my reception? The problem does not happen when watching 'live' telly as I can skip/ffwd/rew as much as I like and playback continues. Other tv programs I have have no issues with the reception.

 

[x4mer]

Try the 831 SVN if you haven't already. I was having TV freezing, & recordings closing on pause. No problems with these issues so far, since going to the latest public SVN.

 

[nobbly]

Try the 831 SVN if you haven't already. I was having TV freezing, & recordings closing on pause. No problems with these issues so far, since going to the latest public SVN.

Thanks for the tip. I tried that SVN and the latest SVN (revision-23908) and makes no difference. However, I've looked into this problem a bit more and I think I have found what's causing it.

It appears that when MediaPortal is recording a tv program, and then starts to record or timeshift a radio program on the same or any other tv card/tuner in the pc, the tv recording's quality starts to suffer exactly at the point the radio recording/timeshifting started. The MediaPortal client then has the problems, as mentioned above, playing back this tv recording exactly at the same point that the radio recording/timeshifting began. Radio can be dvb-t or dvb-s (I only use dvb). The radio recordings and timeshifting appear to be fine, although I play the radio recordings in Zoom Player as MediaPortal isn't the best for this.

I've tested this enough to be sure that it is the recording or timeshifting of radio that is causing the problem. I also tried the latest driver for my tv cards and the problem still happens (I use an older tv card driver as it performs better - channel change is much quicker). To make sure it wasn't the tv cards causing the problems, I disabled the tv cards in windows, deleted the MediaPortal database, installed 3 external usb dvb-t boxes (nebula digitv), and reconfigured the tv server. The exact same problem happened on testing, except the playback of the tv recordings just ended early after skipping/rew/ffwd at the specific 'buggy' points within the tv recordings. This therefore indicates that it is a MediaPortal tv server issue that is causing this problem during recording, as well as the MediaPortal client not being able to play back not-so-perfect recordings when other media programs can. Unless it is a problem specific to my system. This problem is also present in version 1.0.2, and I believe from memory in previous versions, as well as the latest svn's.

I recall reading a bug thread recently (but have not yet found it again) where someone mentions that MediaPortal isn't always displaying the correct total time length of some tv recordings. If this is the case, and tv recordings are sometimes being affected such that the correct time length isn't always correctly recorded within the file, then upon playback it makes sense that the client is ending playback early, or freezing etc. (NB: This suggestion might be complete nonsense!)

I have stopped using MediaPortal for any radio recording/timeshifting and now all the tv recordings play back without any problems within MediaPortal. I'm now using another tv/radio program for recording/timeshifting dvb radio, which is a bit of a pain and not ideal! Please can someone look into this and give me back my dvb radio in MediaPortal (assuming it isn't a problem specific to my system). Thanks.

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Could this issue be related to this bug - 0002505: TVserver does not always remove bad packets - MediaPortal Bugtracker?