Updating (1.0.1 to 1.0.2 and Vista x64 SP1 to SP2) Issues (1 Viewer)

[MLH01]

TV-Server Version: 1.0.2
MediaPortal Version: 1.0.2
MediaPortal Skin: Blue3
Windows Version: Vista x64 Home Premium SP2
CPU Type: AMD 4850e 2.5GHz
HDD: Seagate 320GB (OS, MP & Apps) + Seagate 750GB (Recordings)
Memory: 4GB (2 x 2GB) DDR2 800
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-MA78GM-S2HP
Video Card: Sapphire ATI HD2400XT (passive cooling)
Video Card Driver: ATI Catalyst 9.4
Sound Card: On-board (Realtek ALC889A)
Sound Card AC3:
Sound Card Driver:
1. TV Card: Hauppauge Nova-T 500
1. TV Card Type: Dual DVB-T
1. TV Card Driver: 4.3.25080.0 (21/03/2007)
2. TV Card:
2. TV Card Type:
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: MPC - MPEG2 (Gabest)
MPEG2 Audio Codec: MPC - MPA decoder filter
h.264 Video Codec: ffdshow
Satelite/CableTV Provider:
HTPC Case: Antec Fusion Remote Black
Cooling: Scythe Ninja Mini (no fan) + 2 case fans
Power Supply: Antec Earthwatts 500
Remote: MCE compatible
TV: Philips 28" CRT
TV - HTPC Connection: S-Video

Hi All.

I currently have 2 main issues, but I am not sure if they are related.

1. Since upgrading MP from 1.0.1 to 1.0.2 I get some recordings that don't stop. As a test, I tried scheduling 4 or 5 recordings manually (different channels, an hour or two apart). Often the first few recordings will be successful - the PC will resume from sleep 3 minutes before a recording is to start, start recording 3 minutes before the time in the EPG, record the program until 10 minutes after the EPG time and then go back to sleep.

BUT: at some point, a recording will start at the correct time, but not stop - it will continue to record on the same channel until I manually stop the recording. This will happen even if another recording is scheduled on a different channel some time after the dodgy recording was supposed to stop.

That then brings me to the next problem:

2. When I manually stop a recording (whether it is through the 'Active Recordings' menu or 'Scheduled Recordings' menu), MediaPortal freezes. My remote (iMON) is responsive because the animated icon acknowledges key presses, but nothing happens in the MP menu. I basically need to Ctrl-Alt-Del to go to Task Manager, select MediaPortal (which is shown as 'Not responding' in Task Manager) and 'End task'.

3. (I think I have fixed this one) When I upgraded Vista x64 from SP1 to SP2, I had no problems with the upgrade. However, MP would not record any scheduled recordings. I did some digging around in the event logs and Vista schedules, and found that when I started 'Scheduled tasks' (through Control Panel > System and Maintenance > Administrative Tools), an error dialog box would appear with a message relating to 'Feed sync task'. I narrowed it down to a scheduled RSS feed synchronization task in IE8. I disabled this in IE8 via Tools > Internet Options > Content > Feeds and Web Slices > Settings (uncheck 'Automatically check feeds...'). I then started to get successful recordings, although not all the time (see issue #1 above).

I have attached a few logs from the last couple of days. Some important times (to help track potential issues) include:
On 30 May 09
I manually scheduled recordings of programs at the following times:
10:30-11:00
11:30-12:00
13:00-13:30
13:30-14:00 (back-to-back program with 13:00-13:30)
18:30-19:00
19:00-19:30 (back-to-back program with 18:30-19:00)

Problems:
1. The 13:30-14:00 recording was still recording at 15:02. I manually stopped the recording at 15:02. MP crashed (as per problem 2 above). Ended task via Task manager. Restarted MP at 15:05.

2. MP resumed for 18:30-19:00 recording. Recorded this successfully. At 22:57, the 19:00-19:30 recording was still active. Manually stopped recording at 22:57. MP crashed (problem 2 above). Turned off HTPC overnight.

I thought that the back-to-back recordings may be causing this issue, so I deleted any schedule that had back-to-back programs (like Simpsons Hour) to see if that would prevent MP from recording 'overtime'.

On 31 May 09
I manually scheduled 4 or 5 recordings during the day, without any back-to-back programs.
One program (Ten News at Five) was supposed to record from 17:00 to 17:30, but it went overtime and I cancelled it at 19:15 - with the usual MP crash problem noted above.

So the problem of recording overtime was not necessarily due to back-to-back recordings. I am at a loss to explain this, but would like it resolved ASAP for two important reasons - if a recording is unattended, the hard disk could fill up fairly quickly, and if a recording goes overtime, it will miss upcoming recordings.

I'm hoping someone might have some time to look at the logs and provide some help. Hopefully the times I've given above will help.

Note that each of the logs include the current logs manually appended to the backup logs, in case the backup logs include anything useful.

Thanks in advance
MLH01.

 

[bart0190]

Hi,
Did you also have problems with playing (does not start) of some recorded tv? (in my case I have).
In my case there must be a problem with the recording.

A 2nd issue I encountered is that I quite often am not able to delete the recorded movie I've just watched.

I did not have other issues yet but maybe will switch back to MP 1.0.0 as at least there I didn't have this problems.

bart

 

[MLH01]

Hi bart,

I would generally have no problems with playback of recorded programs, although on occasion I'd get a program that didn't start. Not very often though (and I think it was related to a poor TV signal at the beginning of a recording, although I cannot prove this).

I can usually delete a recording during or after watching. It is only when I try and stop an in-progress recording that I get MP freezing/becoming unresponsive.

MLH01.

 

[bart0190]

Hi MLH01,
The "bad TV signal" is maybe a good assumption. I tried to start the recorded TV with VLC and came to the first pictures where it froze with artefacts (pixels) in it.
But, does MP record until the end although it has no signal?

However, with MP 1.0.0 this did not happen to me. Only sometimes it did not record at all but this was the TVService instability.

I just read in another thread that a "clean" installation instead of "upgrade" could solve some issues.
In the installer of MP I selected for sure "upgrade" (first radio active button) instead of complete installation.

Maybe this could do something good and perhaps I will give it another try as the GUI-speed and the stability (also of TVService) is much better in 1.0.2 than in 1.0.0.

br
bart

 

[MLH01]

You could be right bart. Perhaps a clean install would be better. The only hesitation I have with a clean install is the loss of settings (channel data, schedules etc.) I know there are backup utilities, but haven't been game enough to try them...

Good luck with your clean install. Let us know how you go.

MLH01.

 

[bart0190]

Well, according to some posts (and if I understood right ) it does not delete the settings.
However, I can go back to the previous state in around 10min (with my drive image).

I will let you know how it goes.

bart

Just did "fresh installation" which rembers all settings except movie, foto, music folder setting.

will check how it does now.

 

[bart0190]

Hi,
Had fresh installation of MP 1.0.2.
I encountered that my deletion problem is due to selected codec (PDVD), if I use MPV codec - no Problem.

Now with the recording: same thing 1 out of 12 recordings did not work. (can't start playing).
In the TsWriter.log I get the message

Recorder: RECORD Info : Program clock reference backward jump ( -28124 ).

which does not appear in other (working) recordings. For me it does not look like bad signal.

Can anybody see the problem?

I attached the files (reduced for the important timestamps).

thanks
bart

 

[igalan]

I've had a look at your logs, and the problem is there:

At 13:27 the recording is scheduled with the correct start and end times:

2009-05-30 13:27:06.546000 [Scheduler timer]: Recording Everybody Loves Raymond  added in _recordingsInProgressList
2009-05-30 13:27:06.547000 [Scheduler timer]: Scheduler : time to record TvDatabase.Channel 30/05/2009 
1:27:06 PM-30/05/2009 2:00:00 PM Everybody Loves Raymond

At 13:40 the previous recording stops normally, this is the sequence:

2009-05-30 13:40:05.084000 [Scheduler timer]: Scheduler: stop record TEN Digital 30/05/2009 12:57:11 
PM-30/05/2009 1:30:00 PM Everybody Loves Raymond
2009-05-30 13:40:05.089000 [19]: card: StopRecording card=1, user=scheduler326
2009-05-30 13:40:05.097000 [19]: card: StopRecording for card:1
2009-05-30 13:40:05.106000 [19]: tvdvbchannel.OnStopRecording subch=0, subch index=0
2009-05-30 13:40:05.108000 [19]: tvdvbchannel.OnStopRecording subch:0-0 tswriter StopRecording...
2009-05-30 13:40:05.114000 [19]: tvdvbchannel.OnStopRecording - not recording
2009-05-30 13:40:05.116000 [19]: tvcard:FreeSubChannel: subchannels count 2 subch#0 keep graph=False
2009-05-30 13:40:05.120000 [19]: DVB subch:0 Decompose()
2009-05-30 13:40:05.130000 [19]: FreeSubChannel CA: freeing sub channel : 0
2009-05-30 13:40:05.134000 [19]: user:scheduler326 remove
2009-05-30 13:40:05.138000 [19]: card: StopRecording setting new context owner on user 'scheduler327'
2009-05-30 13:40:05.145000 [Channel state thread]: Controller: DoSetChannelStates for 7 channels
2009-05-30 13:40:05.171000 [Scheduler timer]: ComSkipLauncher: Recording ended (D:\Recordings\Everybody 
Loves Raymond\Everybody Loves Raymond - TEN Digital - 2009-05-30 - 1_00 PM.ts on TEN Digital), launching 
program (C:\Program Files (x86)\Team MediaPortal\MediaPortal TV Server\Plugins\ComSkip\comskip.exe 
"D:\Recordings\Everybody Loves Raymond\Everybody Loves Raymond - TEN Digital - 2009-05-30 - 1_00 PM.ts") ...

At 14:10 the recording should stop, but the Scheduler misses it completely:

2009-05-30 14:09:34.295000 [Powerscheduler Timer]: PowerScheduler: lastUserTime: 13:29:43.3060 , True
2009-05-30 14:09:34.304000 [Powerscheduler Timer]: PowerScheduler.DisAllowShutdown: handler 
ControllerActiveHandler wants to prevent standby
2009-05-30 14:10:34.307000 [Powerscheduler Timer]: PowerScheduler: lastUserTime: 13:29:43.3060 , True
2009-05-30 14:10:34.316000 [Powerscheduler Timer]: PowerScheduler.DisAllowShutdown: handler 
ControllerActiveHandler wants to prevent standby
2009-05-30 14:11:34.313000 [Powerscheduler Timer]: PowerScheduler: lastUserTime: 13:29:43.3060 , True
2009-05-30 14:11:34.318000 [Powerscheduler Timer]: PowerScheduler.DisAllowShutdown: handler 
ControllerActiveHandler wants to prevent standby

At 15:02 you manually stop the recording:

2009-05-30 15:01:55.992000 [18]: IsRecordingSchedule:327 True
2009-05-30 15:01:55.994000 [18]: IsRecordingSchedule: scheduler is recording schedule on cardid:1
2009-05-30 15:02:03.604000 [29]: IsRecordingSchedule:327 True
2009-05-30 15:02:03.607000 [29]: IsRecordingSchedule: scheduler is recording schedule on cardid:1
2009-05-30 15:02:07.457000 [29]: PowerScheduler: User input detected at 30/05/2009 3:02:07 PM
2009-05-30 15:02:13.130000 [29]: IsRecordingSchedule:327 True
2009-05-30 15:02:13.133000 [29]: IsRecordingSchedule: scheduler is recording schedule on cardid:1
2009-05-30 15:02:22.944000 [29]: IsRecordingSchedule:327 True
2009-05-30 15:02:22.945000 [29]: IsRecordingSchedule: scheduler is recording schedule on cardid:1
2009-05-30 15:02:25.618000 [29]: recList:StopRecordingSchedule 327
2009-05-30 15:02:25.621000 [29]: Scheduler: stop record TEN Digital 30/05/2009 1:27:06 PM-30/05/2009 2:00:00 
PM Everybody Loves Raymond

The problem seems to be located in the Scheduler, it silently fails to detect an incoming event. But since it fails silently, it doesn't tell what's wrong either...

Do you have your log level set to debug? Please set this log level so hopefully we get some more information. Meanwhile if someone with better knowledge of the scheduler can come in, here are the relevant parts of the log files. My guess is that it fails to get the information from the database, but right now it's impossible to know why.

 

[MLH01]

Thanks for spending the time to look through my logs igalan.

I have set the log verbosity to 'debug' mode in MP config, but couldn't find one for TV server. Not sure if that will help with the TV.log. I had the 'enable extensive logging' ticked in both the TVserver PowerScheduler plugin and MP PowerScheduler plugin.

I will schedule a few recordings for tomorrow and post logs after that, with expected start/stop times for them.

MLH01.


EDIT:

An update for the following in my original post above:

That then brings me to the next problem:

2. When I manually stop a recording (whether it is through the 'Active Recordings' menu or 'Scheduled Recordings' menu), MediaPortal freezes. My remote (iMON) is responsive because the animated icon acknowledges key presses, but nothing happens in the MP menu. I basically need to Ctrl-Alt-Del to go to Task Manager, select MediaPortal (which is shown as 'Not responding' in Task Manager) and 'End task'.

Since I fixed comskip, I can now manually stop recordings without MP crashing

I believe it was related to the fact that comskip was set to initiate at the end of a recording (whether the normal end of a recorded program or at the point the user manually stops a recording, which was my case). If comskip isn't correctly set up in Vista (according to the readme file - see here, where I have explained the problem and solution in my case), then it would hang. It was probably waiting in the background somewhere for the user to allow it to run - yes UAC has struck again!

Anyway, comskip now works as expected and manually stopping recordings no longer hangs the PC.

Just checking whether I get over-recordings now. Slowly but surely ironing out my bugs