First recording fine after reboot, others fail

[FM5]

Windows 10. 
Current NextPVR release.
Haupauge USB tuner.

Hello.  I've been trying to figure out the problems with Sleep and failed recordings for months.  Fresh installs on three entirely different computers, etc.

But maybe it's not actually a sleep problem.  NextPVR usually (always?) records one program fine after a computer reboot.  And then the PC either goes to sleep and doesn't wake up, or doesn't go to sleep, but, either way, I think it's the next recording that is what fails. 

The NextPVR Backend Status window always shows what's going on.  The TV tuner always shows up in the window.

When it did the record a first TV show but not record a second one recently, I physically unplugged the one USB TV tuner.  And then plugged it back in.  NextPVR then showed it was recording, but the status window said it was recording a TV show I had scheduled an hour or two earlier. 

It seems perhaps that after properly recording one scheduled TV show after a reboot that the TV tuner gets stuck and won't release and then the PC 1) perhaps won't go into sleep mode, 2) won't record a second TV show.  Though for 2) it doesn't say TV tuner in use or unavailable.  It fails in some other way.

Today, I set it to record two episodes of different shows, one right after the other.  It worked fine.  

Usually when I test, I schedule it to record one 30-minute show, then 30 minutes of nothing, then schedule another 30-minute TV show.  To see if it goes into sleep mode during that middle 30 minutes. 

A powercfg request showed a Legacy Kernel Caller error.  I typed in the override command today to try that.  Haven't noticed any change.

The Hauppauge tuner driver is the latest one, from 2015.  
NextPVR and it used to work great.  Started having these problems months ago out of nowhere.  Nothing should have changed on the PC other than Windows 10 auto-updates.  Also have a second (Microtune brand) USB tuner I've tried that acts similarly.

The NextPVR PC has a simple life of pretty much only ever being used for NextPVR TV recording and playing, and only one tuner, and Windows 10 installed fresh a few times in recent months while trying to figure these problems out.  I'm assuming a Windows 10 update messed things up since it does this even after a fresh Windows 10 install on an entirely different computer.


Various failed error messages in case someone searches the forums in the future:
Failed: No connection could be made because the target machine actively refused it.
Failed: recording service not running at recording time.
Failed: The operation timed out.

[mvallevand]

I can't tell you why but on one error the tuner froze and it looks like the tuners didn't properly close down that first failed request. NextPVR can't make the tuner start though so it feels like a driver or h/w issue.

Code:

2024-10-26 11:56:09.702    [DEBUG][4]    Calling LockChannel()
2024-10-26 12:00:00.110    [INFO][5]    Got POST request: /stream/start?slipseconds=1200&target=C%3A%5CTVrecordingsA88%5CCaroline%20in%20the%20City%5CSeason%2001%5CCaroline.in.the.City.S01E05.Caroline.and.the.ATM-0.ts

Martin

[FM5]

Fixed!  Apparently. 

Short version: Was a driver problem.

Windows 10
Hauppauge 950Q USB tuner.  OTA.

I kept thinking the failed recordings were due to a failed sleep/wake up problem since if I set a recording in the TV guide and restarted the computer, it would record fine, one time.

Seemed that a Windows 10 update broke something.  It was a little surprising that the Hauppauge 950Q driver is from 2015, but, hey, it used to work fine, and if there's a problem you'd think Hauppauge would have an updated driver on their site.  I downloaded the driver again from their support page.  Still the same 2015 driver. 

BUT, then downloaded their Hauppauge Windows 10 TV PVR software because why not at this point.  It includes a driver dated 2023, and the install went far enough to install the driver before the install stopped from not having bought the software and needing a code to enter.  Looks like that fixed it.

This combo does still apparently have sleep and tuner problems if I enable Windows 10 sleep feature of "USB selective suspend sleep."  So far, working well with that disabled, including sleep. I had been trying every setting I could think of while troubleshooting what turned out to be the driver problem.  Just tossing that in in case someone searches the forum on that in the future.
-------------------------------------------------------
The above is the support part.  Here's the extended part.

Before the driver fix, I was one day from finally giving up and trying LibreElec with NextPVR since I read sleep mode works with that combo, or (preferably) try NextPVR on a typical Linux desktop if I could figure out a decently easy way to implement sleep/wake up.  I tried NextPVR on Linux years ago, but the lack of sleep/wakeup was a power consumption problem. 

I've used a couple Linux-only PVR software for a little bit in the past, and they worked, (and so have various other Windows PVR software), but NextPVR is so easy to setup, so polished, easy to use, it maps and labels all the scanned TV stations (tried a different Windows PVR recently while troubleshooting that only correctly mapped 5 out of 50 channels), lots of little UI things that are annoying or clunky or missing on other software, etc.  So, thank you.

With the driver update, NextPVR looks to be working now (again).  Records, goes to sleep, wakes up, repeat, 12 TV shows recorded fine now.  Before, it started to not do more than one, maybe two, and then the tuner would lock up. 

So, NextPVR is all fixed.  Just in time to delete it and install the new version 7.  ha!

[mvallevand]

Good, it felt like a driver issue.

There are a few caveats getting sleep to work on LIbreELEC

- you would need the new version that is not out yet
- you do your scheduling with Kodi on LE, it is Kodi stats set the start and stop times not NextPVR
- you need an RTC
- you still need devices that work with sleep

Otherwise on Linux server based wake is a pain because setting the wakeup commands needs plsu sub hasn't introduced the hook to set it. (only one wake time is allowed)

Martin

[FM5]

Second tuner Fixed.

Short version: in Device Manager, I disabled the audio driver for the USB TV Tuner.

Long version:
The 950Q in the previous posts started working properly after updating the driver found in the Hauppauge TV software.  But my second ATSC tuner was, and still is, on its old 2013 or so driver, and that's apparently as new as the driver gets.  

Mygica.  A681?  A681b?  Should be one of those.  Windows and NextPVR see it as a Microtune brand, but the original box says Mygica.

The new NextPVR 7.x was installed at this point.  I don't remember if I tried the Mygica tuner that way, or if I disabled the audio driver at the same time.  This has all been a headache for many months, and I'm avoiding messing with it more at this time.  Pretty sure when I did re-enable the audio driver for the TV tuner to test it did the "record one show then doesn't release the tuner" problem again.  Or maybe it was just having problems going into sleep mode.  Whatever it was doing, it still had some kind of problem.  So, NextPVR 7.x probably didn't magically have anything to do with fixing this stuff, and it's yet again most likely a driver fix.

The 950Q tuner shows three entries in Device Manager.  ATSC, NTSC, USB Audio Device.  The Mygica/Microtune tuner shows HDTV Digital Capture, and High Definition Audio Device.

Disabling the Audio Device driver fixed it.  Maybe that also would have fixed the 950Q before the new driver fixed it.  Regardless, I now have the Audio Device driver disabled on both tuners, and they recorded about 40 shows perfectly, both recording at the same time, with 30 minutes rest between recordings to see if the PC properly went into sleep mode, and it does.

Speaking of sleep mode, I think it only works consistently when Hybrid Mode is enabled.  And that's fine.  Just mentioning it.   

I messed with this problem on and off for many months including fresh installing Windows 10 and NextPVR on multiple different PCs, etc. So, if a future person with a similar problem is reading this, give this a try.  

My recordings have audio, so I don't know what the (now disabled) Audio Device Driver even does.  Whatever it does, it doesn't do it well.