Client/Server and Netoworking

[madcat]

Sub - this was part of a discussion we had in the past - but there was one question I don't think you've answered:

I know that the fact I'm using wireless is problematic to begin with, but still...
So - LiveTV is totally "unwatchable". There's like 1FPS (Even if wired is twice or 4 times better - still I don't see how it will become normal).

But the question is: how come watching recordings works perfectly while watching LiveTV doesn't work?

Oh - and the other question was: which of the two (streaming/sharing) requires less network resources/bandwidth? so I'll stick to the one I have more chances with...

Thanks

[sub]

But the question is: how come watching recordings works perfectly while watching LiveTV doesn't work?

LiveTV does substantially more I/O than playing back a recording. The directshow components I use for live tv are actually expecting to be operating on files on the local fast filesystem, so dont really optimise the process of reading data, and are continuously reading data form different parts of the file to track currect movie duration etc. This works "well" on a local hard, works "ok" on a fast network, and works "poorly" on a slow network.

Oh - and the other question was: which of the two (streaming/sharing) requires less network resources/bandwidth? so I'll stick to the one I have more chances with...

I'm not sure, I pretty much exclusively use stream mode.

[madcat]

Ok, but then, if LiveTV is actually in shift-mode? then isn't that like playing a recording? how different is it? both are, in the bottom line, playing some Mpeg2 file, no?

[sub]

The timeshift live tv differences were what I described above.

When you're watching live tv in timeshift mode its continually reading small chunks of data from the current playback position and small chunks from the end of the file (because of the way MPEG works, with no indexes, alot of this data is thrown away). Contrast this with playing a recording, where the data is just read in chunks from the beginning of the file to the end of the file in sequence (unless you skip).

In summary, these components were designed for use with local files, but we manage to get away with using them on fast network for client/server mode even though they not designed for this purpose. In theory a much better scheme could be developed, but it'd be quite a time commitment to develop the new directshow compoents.

[stustunz]

i got wireless working first time in 2 years
make sure firewalls are off (for set up perposes)
use streaming
have to run the same version of gbpvr on all machines

seemed to start working after making the changes the link below
i had given up getting it to work and decided to do a web streaming over network
and what do you know once i made the changes i could watch live tv
plus if you cant get your wireless to work if you set up EWA you can watch live content from their
plus i often use this to program the guide from web page aswell
http://gbpvr.com/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Utili...min#stream

[agidius]

I have noticed I cannot watch any recording over the network if the file is in use on the server.

live TV is in use because it is currently being recorded.
also if one of my selected shows is being transcoded to Xvid. I am keeping the original recording for use in GBPVR, and the Xvid file is for other uses. but because the transcoder is using the file, I cannot watch it until it is done.

occasionally, I will be watching a recording, and it will suddenly drop to 1 frame per second. after some research, I discovered it happened when the antivirus did a sweep of the file I happen to be watching. I changed a few settings on the antivirus and that doesnt happen anymore.

[madcat]

seemed to start working after making the changes the link below
i had given up getting it to work and decided to do a web streaming over network
and what do you know once i made the changes i could watch live tv
plus if you cant get your wireless to work if you set up EWA you can watch live content from their
plus i often use this to program the guide from web page aswell
http://gbpvr.com/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Utili...min#stream

EWA is nice, and I use it sometimes, but it's not a replacement for a GBPVR client. It's not something I can do from a couch with a remote.

I have noticed I cannot watch any recording over the network if the file is in use on the server.

live TV is in use because it is currently being recorded.
also if one of my selected shows is being transcoded to Xvid. I am keeping the original recording for use in GBPVR, and the Xvid file is for other uses. but because the transcoder is using the file, I cannot watch it until it is done.

occasionally, I will be watching a recording, and it will suddenly drop to 1 frame per second. after some research, I discovered it happened when the antivirus did a sweep of the file I happen to be watching. I changed a few settings on the antivirus and that doesnt happen anymore.

I don't have AV on both client/server...

The server is on wireless. Now, when I had a client on a wired connection, I managed to get it working. Not perfect, some delayes, but it was possible to watch TV.
Now, that my client is also on wireless (2 wireless segments), it is impossible. It's a different client machine, the whole setup in the house has changed (and so did GB-PVR version), so it's hard to compare. But somehow, my feeling is that if it worked fine with one wireless "leg", then 2 legs may make it slower, but not down to 1fps.
I wonder what else I can do (except drill the entire house for wires. this will happen, when we buy our own house, not doubt.)

[stustunz]

well that is a bit different then i see why you are having issues now
i know stuff all about networks isnt their a way of direct linking the 2 ie missing out the router

[stustunz]

Client machine settings to try for streaming im curious to see if you can get it going
can you post your client config file for me to compare
one more thing i reckon was wrong on mine is in config do a find on "tcp" and see if it says localhost if it does change it to the name of your server
then kill recording service and gbpvr tray and restart them

check you dont have default under any of the playback settings mpeg audio decoder etc


the difference between wired and wireless is that wired goes both ways at the same time Duplex so thats why it effectively slows things down by 4 times maybe in your case although file sharing should work fine streaming might struggle