TV signal stutters and certain channels do not tune. (1 Viewer)

[Firemogle]

Hello,

I recently got my TV server working and tuning but it seems to be dropping frames which causes a periodic stutter in both live and timeshifted picture with both video and audio. In addition a few channels will not tune at all. I looked at the manual control and tested it there and there seemed to be many discontinuities that pop up, several a second in some cases. These channels work fine on the cablebox.

My computer running the dedicated server has windows 8.1; a 4GB ramdisk for timeshifting and is tuning from a ceton 4way tuner.

Thanks for any help and let me know if there is anything else needed from me!

 

[mm1352000]

Hello Firemogle

Thanks for the report.
I'll take the second problem first as it may be easier to deal with:

In addition a few channels will not tune at all.

So, CBET HD is an example of this, right?
The log files are telling me that the channel tunes but no stream data is received:

[2014-02-09 11:32:49,155] [Log ] [68 ] [INFO ] - dvb: RunGraph
[2014-02-09 11:32:59,764] [Log ] [68 ] [INFO ] - dvb: RunGraph returns: 0xFFFFFFFE

Two questions:
1. The channel number seems a little suspicious. Is 999 the correct channel number for CBET HD?
2. Are you sure this is a "copy-freely" channel?

Second problem:

but it seems to be dropping frames which causes a periodic stutter in both live and timeshifted picture with both video and audio.
...
I looked at the manual control and tested it there and there seemed to be many discontinuities that pop up, several a second in some cases.

Indeed, I can see these discontinuities in your TsWriter and MPIPTVSource log files. When in the TsWriter log, they usually indicate low quality signal, a stressed timeshift HDD, or overheating components. When in the MPIPTVSource log... well, that narrows the focus more towards the tuner - signal quality, overheating, or maybe network connectivity issues.

Two questions:
1. What does the Ceton diagnostic tool and/or tuner web page tell you about the signal level (strength) and quality (SNR) for the channels you're having problems with?
2. Are you running a firewall or any kind of security software? If so, does it make any difference if you disable that software.

mm

 

[Firemogle]

Two questions:
1. The channel number seems a little suspicious. Is 999 the correct channel number for CBET HD?
2. Are you sure this is a "copy-freely" channel?

1) Comcast here has really weird channel numbering, that is the right channel.
2) Yes. Although I have noticed the ceton tool will occasionally flag a channel as encrypted and then back to copy freely.

Two questions:
1. What does the Ceton diagnostic tool and/or tuner web page tell you about the signal level (strength) and quality (SNR) for the channels you're having problems with?
2. Are you running a firewall or any kind of security software? If so, does it make any difference if you disable that software.

Signal for CBET is -10.1 dBmV
SNR is 21.3 dB
Temp is 59.6 C

I checked a couple other channels and that seems about right with about a 3dB.

The temp seemed high so I opened the case and will put a fan on it to see what that does, but I am just guessing there.

2) Firewall has been off since I first got the Tv server setup.

Thanks again for all your help!

 

[mm1352000]

1) Comcast here has really weird channel numbering, that is the right channel.
2) Yes. Although I have noticed the ceton tool will occasionally flag a channel as encrypted and then back to copy freely.

Okay. In that case I'm not sure how to proceed. Basically we need some way to verify that it is possible for some other software that only supports copy-freely (ie. not WMC) to view that channel. If that other software could do it then we can say it is some kind of TV Server problem and I have to start wracking my brains to figure out what is going on. Otherwise we'd know that the channel is probably not copy-freely and it isn't possible to view it in MediaPortal no matter what you do.

N-PVR or any other software that uses SageDCT, MythTV... not sure about other options. If Ceton has preview/test software like HDHR QuickTV then that would also work.

The other thing we could do is use the tuner web page to attempt to tune that channel and see what it shows for the CCI flags.

Signal for CBET is -10.1 dBmV
SNR is 21.3 dB
Temp is 59.6 C

I checked a couple other channels and that seems about right with about a 3dB.

-10 dBmV seems a little low to me. I think I've read in various places that -15 dBmV is basically unlockable and -12 is bare minimum. This might explain the discontinuities.
Have you got splitters and/or amplifiers between the cable feed to your house and the Ceton tuner input?
If so, I'd suggest you try temporarily removing them and see if it makes a difference to the readings and the discontinuities.

The temp seemed high so I opened the case and will put a fan on it to see what that does, but I am just guessing there.

Yes, that does seem high... though some computer cards - especially video cards - don't have a problem operating at those temperatures. I quote from Ceton's knowledgebase:
http://cetoncorp.com/support/index.php?/Knowledgebase/Article/View/3/0/infinitv4-temperature

The InfiniTV4 maximum supported temperature is 65C. The Ceton Diagnostic Tool will show, under the Devices tab, whether the InfiniTV card is within its proper temperature range. If your board reports high temperatures, there are numerous cooling options available. Since every computer case and configuration is different, we don't recommend any one specific cooling method, as there is no one-size-fits-all answer. You may wish to look into PCIe fans or other cooling solutions.

So you're definitely getting up there, but probably not at the limit.

2) Firewall has been off since I first got the Tv server setup.

Okay.

Thanks again for all your help!

No problem - that's what we're here for.

mm

 

[Firemogle]

Okay. In that case I'm not sure how to proceed. Basically we need some way to verify that it is possible for some other software that only supports copy-freely (ie. not WMC) to view that channel. If that other software could do it then we can say it is some kind of TV Server problem and I have to start wracking my brains to figure out what is going on. Otherwise we'd know that the channel is probably not copy-freely and it isn't possible to view it in MediaPortal no matter what you do.
N-PVR or any other software that uses SageDCT, MythTV... not sure about other options. If Ceton has preview/test software like HDHR QuickTV then that would also work.
The other thing we could do is use the tuner web page to attempt to tune that channel and see what it shows for the CCI flags.

I should have said it does this on channels that come in but stutter really bad as well. Its intermittent but it may just be part of low signal?

-10 dBmV seems a little low to me. I think I've read in various places that -15 dBmV is basically unlockable and -12 is bare minimum. This might explain the discontinuities.
Have you got splitters and/or amplifiers between the cable feed to your house and the Ceton tuner input?
If so, I'd suggest you try temporarily removing them and see if it makes a difference to the readings and the discontinuities.

Right now it is run through two splitters. Tonight I'll get a couple connectors and take the splitters out and see how that goes.

Thanks!

 

[Firemogle]

Forgot to write back, I was able to remove one split and the problem NEARLY went away, but the it was still going on to some extent. Ordered a coax amp and will report back when I get it installed.

 

[mm1352000]

Thanks for the update. Sounds like you're on your way to being sorted.

 

[Firemogle]

The amp fixed nearly all channels.. Ill look at the others and see if I can't come up with a fix as they are acting much differently than what was going on before. If not you may hear back from me.

Thanks again.

 

[RonD]

Firemogle,

you might try setting the "Don't drop discontinued packets in TsReader (can reduce stuttering)" bit In MePo Config > TV. I use OTA (antenna) and sometimes I get signal dropouts. With the bit set I see some pixelation in the video when my OTA signal has a short dropout.
http://wiki.team-mediaportal.com/1_...n/MediaPortal_Configuration/22_TV/1_TV_Client

 

[Firemogle]

@RonD

I had checked it earlier and never unchecked it.

Looking at signal levels I am pretty sure its just the signal. Everything looks great except for a few channels, and those have fairly low SNR (~10-15dB less) so this weekend I am going to try to move my modem/tv server to the closet right next to where the cable comes in and eliminate some runs, see if I can't get those channels working.