Black Screen Live TV and Recording

[Eric8497]

Apologies for bothering you as the chances are that I am about to display my ignorance with computers... ( please be patient and take explanations slowly )

I have used Nextpvr on three computers for about a year. It has been amazingly successful and the setup guide helpful.

About two weeks ago three things happened; 

We had major wind and rain.
Freeview on main TV needed retuning.
Windows 10 did yet another update.

At some point in that sequence Nextpvr stopped recording or displaying live TV. There is a black screen for both with no audio. At first this seemed to be on one machine but it is now affecting all three.

The aerial is in the loft. The cabling seems to be in good condition so I suspect the weather is not an issue. 

The lounge has a three way splitter leading to a main TV which works fine ( signal strength 59- 61 ) and two computers with TV cards which I use as PVR. The TV card programmes still display live TV ( one is PCTV with signal strength 53, one is WinTV7 but I have not found how to check the signal yet ).

Removing cables and trying a single source rather than the splitter did not change the black screen on either machine.

We have tried retuning the channel list more than once, which did find more channels.

Recording results in a TS file of 0 size.

I previously used Microsoft DTV-DVD decoders but in case it was related to the Windows update I have tried to install LAV ( never too sure of my abilities ). They are now offered as an option on the Nextpvr decoders settings so I may have succeeded  .

Hopefully I have managed to attach the logs from this computer ( which has the PCTV card ).

There is probably a very simple explanation or a step that I have missed but I would be very grateful if I could be pointed in the right direction as I am now tying myself in knots trying to think of what to try now.

[mvallevand]

If you have 0 size recordings it is not the decoder.

I'd focus on the signal strength, but since you said Freeview needed a retune, you might actually need a new antenna based on posts I have read from UK users.

Martin

[Eric8497]

Many thanks for such a prompt reply.

I spoke to an antenna chap today who thought that it should be OK since it is inside the loft. 

Do you have an opinion about replacing the splitter with an amplifier/ splitter? I have read articles about this but some say that it may not be a good idea.

[mvallevand]

It is not the location, it is the frequencies it picks up. You should probably give more information on your location, your antenna, and on the retune you had to do so UK users might be able help you out.

Martin

[Eric8497]

Many thanks for your advice so far. I am a Tech dinosaur so all help is appreciated.

We have just had a new Aerial installed and the cabling/ faceplates checked. The signal in all areas of the house has improved dramatically. The main TV has found 52 new channels and picture quality is more stable with less pixellation so it is progress.

Unfortunately NextPVR continues with a black screen and no audio as described before on all the computers.

On a whim I tried changing the decoder to Microsoft DTV-DVD and a message appeared which stated "Microsoft DTV-DVD Video Decoder on your machine has MPEG2 support disabled. Please try another decoder". I believe that I have changed it back to LAV Video Decoder although I do still doubt if I have installed this correctly ( I did not use LAV before the current problems ). For years I have used the Microsoft DTV-DVD one so could the windows 10 update be playing a part in this? Is there a way to check if I have messed up the LAV installation?

We are in a small village in North West England using the Granada Winter Hill transmitter.

[sub]

Have you tried rescanning in NextPVR? As Martin said above, the frequencies may have changed in your area.

[Eric8497]

Yes I have rescanned twice on two of the machines, and ( after my wife prompted me ) tried restarting them also.

Thinking out loud with rescanning should I delete the existing channels first, then rescan? I presumed that they would be overwritten on the rescan but I may be incorrect.

I am sure that this will turn out to be a basic step that I have not considered as NextPVR has functioned so well for a long time.

[sub]

Thinking out loud with rescanning should I delete the existing channels first, then rescan?

It might be worth a shot at this point.

[Eric8497]

Eureka!

Deleted all channels, then rescanned. It seemed to crash during the update of EPG ( although this may have been an automatic restart ? ) and took a long time to get going again.

The channel list has dropped from 179 to 129 but I now have audio and visual on live TV. The order is all to pot but I am sure that I had to change this when I first started using NextPVR and there was a useful set up guide somewhere which I will be able to find.

Recording is a bit hit and miss so far. BBC1 recorded well ( the first 15 secs seemed to have sound out of sync with visual but it corrected itself and then seemed OK ). BBC 2 recorded a black, silent screen but I could view the programme on live TV so this may be a temporary glitch. At least there is now something showing up so I can try rescanning and updating EPG again and test other channels. I have something to work with, which is encouraging.

I do appreciate all the help and advice offered. I think it was a combination of things which caused problems and I just got myself into a circle of not knowing what to tweak to make progress.

Now where is the "donate" button... It has been an excellent program and needs recognition in some form.

[sub]

Recording is a bit hit and miss so far. BBC1 recorded well ( the first 15 secs seemed to have sound out of sync with visual but it corrected itself and then seemed OK ). BBC 2 recorded a black, silent screen but I could view the programme on live TV so this may be a temporary glitch. At least there is now something showing up so I can try rescanning and updating EPG again and test other channels. I have something to work with, which is encouraging.

These are more likely to be playback issues than recording issues. When it comes to recording, the app is pretty much just doing a dump of whatever is being recorded, so there is no opportunity for it to break the audio/video sync etc. ie, try playing that recording in another player, to see if it's in sync there.

If it's out of sync playing in NextPVR, it might come down to your choice of audio/video decoders etc.

I do appreciate all the help and advice offered. I think it was a combination of things which caused problems and I just got myself into a circle of not knowing what to tweak to make progress.

Now where is the "donate" button...  It has been an excellent program and needs recognition in some form.

Cheers (https://www.nextpvr.com/donate.html)