1.29.0 Unintended programme scheduling on "Upcoming Episodes" panel (1 Viewer)

CyberSimian

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    I recollect someone else reporting this problem, but I cannot now find the relevant post. In this thread I want describe the symptoms of the problem, and what (for me) is a usable work-around.

    The problem manifests itself as the UP and DOWN buttons on the remote control or keyboard causing programmes listed in "Upcoming Episodes" to be unintentionally scheduled to record. Selecting a future programme in the EPG displays on the "Upcoming Episodes" panel all occurrences of that programme found in the EPG. Pressing the DOWN button on the remote control or keyboard causes the programme that had the focus to be scheduled to record. Pressing the UP button followed by OK in order to cancel the booking causes the programme to be cancelled, and then 2-3 seconds later it is scheduled again. :eek:

    For many years I have used an HDMI cable to carry video and audio to the TV. But my old Nvidia card has (I think) a bug in its driver, whereby sometimes on wake from hibernation or restart of the system, video in MP plays but without audio. The fix for this is to exit MP, start the Nvidia Control Panel, disable audio over HDMI and click "Apply", then re-enable audio over HDMI and click "Apply". MP then works correctly.

    In trying to eliminate the above sound problem, I decided to route digital audio from the HTPC to a separate DAC (contained in a Cambridge Audio CXN), and from there analogue audio to the amplifier. My HTPC is one of those that exhibits the so-called "silent stream bug". This causes the first few milliseconds of discrete sounds to be lost, and makes MP skin sound effects unusable. But I wondered whether using a different DAC (not the one in the TV) would solve this, so I enabled skin sound effects in "MP Config". Bizarrely, it is this that causes the unintended programme scheduling on "Upcoming Episodes". :confused:

    So, the solution to the unintended scheduling is to disable skin sound effects.

    If this were a common problem, I am sure that there would be numerous reports on this web site. So there must be some other conditions that are necessary in order for the problem to manifest itself. My guess is that it is using separate digital audio that makes this problem possible. I suspect that the vast majority of users these days use digital audio over HDMI (and so won't encounter this problem).

    Why using separate digital audio should cause unintended scheduling of programmes on "Upcomng Episodes" when skin sound effects are enabled is perplexing to say the least -- it just seems too improbable to be true, and yet it is repeatable on my system. :eek:

    -- from CyberSimian in the UK
     

    framug

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    Hello,

    Your problem seems to be really weird :confused:
    Because my HDMI output is broken, I actually use VGA.
    I will change my GFX card when price will be lower, actually they are mad !! :rolleyes:
    Then, I don't use a separate DAC like you but, an analog cable plugged into TV input audio, no audio over HDMI.
    Tested XMAS skin with or without skin effect, I don't have the same behaviour than you.
    All is woking fine here.
    Can't it be a skin problem ?
    Or a bad remote or input device config ? (ie : a UP or DOWN generate a RECORD action in particular cases).

    C.U.
     

    CyberSimian

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    Can't it be a skin problem ?
    As you may recollect, I use my own customised skin. So to eliminate that as the source of the problem, I re-enabled skin sound effects and tried the DWHD and Titan skins. Both skins exhibited the same problem. :(

    Or a bad remote
    I use a remote control that uses the Centarea HID, so to eliminate that as the source of the problem I switched to my MCE RC6 remote control. It exhibited the same problem. :(

    On the plus side, I discovered that DWHD and Titan produce button sound effects as normal. This indicates that the DAC in my Cambridge Audio CXN does not suffer from the silent-stream bug that the DAC in my Sony TV exhibits. :)

    Unfortunately, for some reason my customised skin is not generating skin sound effects, even though they are defined in the config file for the Centarea HID. :(

    -- from CyberSimian in the UK
     

    CyberSimian

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    Unfortunately, for some reason my customised skin is not generating skin sound effects, even though they are defined in the config file for the Centarea HID.
    I have been able to solve this problem. :)

    My customised skin is based on the (very) old "DefaultWide" skin (not the current "DefaultWideHD"). I have never changed the sound files, so it was still using the old DW sound files. Evidently these don't work with the current sound players in MP, as replacing those files with the ones from DWHD re-instated the button sound effects. (y)

    However, I am still getting the unintended scheduling of programmes in "Upcoming Episodes" if skin sound effects are enabled, so that problem remains to be solved. :(

    -- from CyberSimian in the UK
     

    CyberSimian

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    I don't use a separate DAC like you but, an analog cable plugged into TV input audio, no audio over HDMI.
    I have just tested the following arrangement on my system:
    • I went into Windows "Playback Devices" panel and disabled all of the devices except for the loudspeakers, which I enabled and defined as the default device.
    • I enabled skin sound effects in "MP Config".
    • I connected the headphone output of the HTPC to the line input of my analogue amplifier.
    This arrangement generated the MP button sounds but without causing the unintended scheduling on "Upcoming Episodes". :)
    • After exiting MP, I went back to the Windows "Playback Devices" panel, enabled the SP/DIF device, and defined it as the default device.
    This generated the MP button sounds, but caused the unintended scheduling :(. So this problem is specific to the SP/DIF output.

    Some additional observations:
    • It looks as though after UP or DOWN is pressed on "Upcoming Episodes", an ENTER is injected into the system 3 seconds later. This causes the line with the focus to become scheduled (if not already scheduled), or to become descheduled (if already scheduled).
    • I tried using UP and DOWN in "Recorded TV". If an ENTER is injected into the system 3 seconds later, this would start playback of the recording with the focus, but this did not happen.
    • After confirming that the unintended scheduling was occurring, I went into "Music" and played a FLAC file. On return to "Upcoming Episodes", the unintended scheduling no longer occurred.
    -- from CyberSimian in the UK
     

    framug

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    I have just tested the following arrangement on my system:
    • I went into Windows "Playback Devices" panel and disabled all of the devices except for the loudspeakers, which I enabled and defined as the default device.
    • I enabled skin sound effects in "MP Config".
    • I connected the headphone output of the HTPC to the line input of my analogue amplifier.
    This arrangement generated the MP button sounds but without causing the unintended scheduling on "Upcoming Episodes". :)
    To be more precise about that and, because you quoted me before, for the moment and until new HDMI GFX card, analog cable is plugged in my input TV, after that, digital optical output SPDIF from TV goes to optical IN from my 7.1 AV receiver. (ie TV decode what and if needed and give it an external numeric entry to AV receiver wich change it as DD, Dolby, 5.1, 7.1, prologic, or DTS, blabla, ...)

    • After exiting MP, I went back to the Windows "Playback Devices" panel, enabled the SP/DIF device, and defined it as the default device.
    This generated the MP button sounds, but caused the unintended scheduling :(. So this problem is specific to the SP/DIF output.

    Some additional observations:
    • It looks as though after UP or DOWN is pressed on "Upcoming Episodes", an ENTER is injected into the system 3 seconds later. This causes the line with the focus to become scheduled (if not already scheduled), or to become descheduled (if already scheduled).
    • I tried using UP and DOWN in "Recorded TV". If an ENTER is injected into the system 3 seconds later, this would start playback of the recording with the focus, but this did not happen.
    • After confirming that the unintended scheduling was occurring, I went into "Music" and played a FLAC file. On return to "Upcoming Episodes", the unintended scheduling no longer occurred

    Then, you talked about "remote" since my previous post but, what about "device config" I wrote about ? (ie : a UP or DOWN generate a RECORD action in particular cases).

    I mean "actions" defined there (if any) :

    zz1.png

    Remeber, debug logs give many informations when and where MP goes, it can help, for sure ! ;)
     

    CyberSimian

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    I mean "actions" defined there (if any) :
    Here are the definitions of my UP and DOWN buttons; the definitions that take effect in the tests are the "No condition" definitions:

    up_button.jpg down_button.jpg

    I have attached a debug log file from one of the tests. I started MP, displayed the EPG, selected a future programme that had multiple episodes, and then on the "Upcoming Episodes" panel I pressed DOWN and UP in various combinations, which produced the unintended scheduling. The programme that I selected was 101 East.

    For the Centarea HID, button code "40" is DOWN, and button code "38" is UP. You can search for Centarea in the log file to find all of the button presses.

    I do not discern anything unexpected in the log file. I notice that after each UP or DOWN there is a "Mixer:" line giving unintelligible information, but that is presumably MP generating the button sound. In the Centarea HID, the button code for the RECORD action is "10082", which does not occur in the log file.

    -- from CyberSimian in the UK
     

    Attachments

    • bad_sched.zip
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    framug

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    I do not discern anything unexpected in the log file. I notice that after each UP or DOWN there is a "Mixer:" line giving unintelligible information, but that is presumably MP generating the button sound. In the Centarea HID, the button code for the RECORD action is "10082", which does not occur in the log file.
    Then, "Mixer" line is not here when "skin sounds" setting is disabled ?
    Right ?
    Then, we could imagine that "presumably MP generating the button sound' would be "for sure".
    Maybe is there really a bug in your audio driver ?
    Generating an "Enter" action when, not needed ?
    No clue other than trying differents audio drivers....
    Also, it's the end of this year, I try to do my best to help you till now but, I will not be here until some times.
    I wish you all the best for the next year.
    Happy 2022 next year. :)
     

    CyberSimian

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    I have done some more investigating of the unintended scheduling problem (but no solution yet). Some points:

    (1) Initially I thought that this was a problem with the SPDIF digital audio output. But I have now tested HDMI with sound effects enabled on MP 1.29, and HDMI exhibits the same unintended scheduling. :(

    (2) @joecrow tested his system with the testcase described below, but he did not find a problem. :) :confused:

    (3) I have MP 1.24 installed on both 32-bit and 64-bit Windows 7 in separate partitions on my HTPC, so I tested those. Both versions of MP 1.24 exhibited the problem. :(

    (4) I have MP 1.18 installed on 32-bit Windows 7, so I tested that. It did NOT exhibit the problem. :)

    (5) I compared the "MediaPortal.xml" files from MP 1.29 and 1.18, but they are too different for the comparison to be useful. However, this did lead me to look at the volume OSD (the setting for "defaultVolumeOSD" differs between the two files).

    (6) I enabled the MP volume OSD, and noticed a strange effect:

    (a) On the "Home" panel, using the UP/DOWN buttons:
    • Moves the focus immediately. (y)
    • Plays the button sound effect immediately. (y)
    • Displays the volume OSD immediately (the OSD stays on screen for 4 seconds). (y)
    (b) On the "Upcoming Episodes" panel, using the UP/DOWN buttons:
    • Moves the focus immediately. (y)
    • Plays the button sound effect immediately. (y)
    • Displays the volume OSD 1.5 seconds after the button press. (n) :mad:
    • Displays the red dot 1.5 seconds after the button press. (n) :mad:
    (7) I tried all combinations of enabling and disabling the MP volume OSD and the Windows volume OSD, but all combinations exhibited the problem.

    (8) I still don't know what is causing this problem, but the fact that the display of the MP volume OSD is synchronised with the unintended scheduling, and not synchronised with the playing of the button sound effect, suggests that the problem is related in some way to the processing of the volume OSD (well, maybe).

    If one of the developers wants to investigate this, I will produce a log file, but I think that extra debug logging will be required, as the current debug log does not provide much of a clue (see the log file attached earlier). It seems that this problem is dependent on MP settings, or Windows settings, or the HTPC hardware, so it may not be reproducible on other systems (it may be that I have a particular combination of hardware that causes this problem to occur).

    Does MP have a sound expert? @azzuro ?

    -- from CyberSimian in the UK

    Testcase:
    Note: it does not matter if your system suffers from the "silent stream" bug.
    • Start "MP Config" and enable skin sound effects and the MP volume OSD.
    • Start MP and display the EPG.
    • Select a programme that is in the future and which has several occurrences in the EPG, and press the OK button. The "Upcoming Episodes" panel is displayed.
    • Wait for 10 seconds to see if a red dot appears adjacent to the episode that has the focus.
    • Press the DOWN button and again wait for 10 seconds. If you suffer from this problem, a red dot will appear on the item that has the focus.
    • Press DOWN again and wait 10 seconds. Another red dot appears. And so on.
    • If you now press UP, the red dot is removed.
    • At the end of testing, remember to disable skin sound effects, and cancel any of the unintended recordings that are still scheduled.
     

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