New beta mvpmc dongle for N-PVR

[mvallevand]

Now that I think about it, I copied over my old settings (From using the MVP Position Plugin long ago) from GBPVR last night, after those logs were created. Perhaps that is why I wasn't seeing the popup yesterday.:o

Yes that would have done it.

The timeline problem seems somewhat random. Some shows work perfectly, while others have bizarre timelines. I also noticed this morning that when I stop a show and then "Resume" it, the total time at the right of the position bar shows up correctly, but the marker shows that it started at 00:00, even if it resumed to 20 minutes into the show. Perhaps that can help pinpoint the issue?

I have updated the beta version, mvpmc was reporting the first few time values back to NPVR incorrectly which could certainly have lead to the apparently random problem you are having.

Martin

[HarryH3]

Just downloaded it and will try it out.

Last night I switched back over to GBPVR without doing a hard reset on the MVP, so it was still running the 8/30/2010 version of mvpmc. Shows played fine, but the onscreen display was pretty messed up when I hit the blue button while watching. I suppose that had to be customized for NPVR?

The one thing I'm finding that I really miss are the tray icons that were provided by the MVP Tray Icon plugin. Without those I can't tell when it's safe to reboot the server. Has the author of that moved on to other things? Between it and Slimm GBPVR I could see everything that was going on with the server.

[mvallevand]

Just downloaded it and will try it out.

Last night I switched back over to GBPVR without doing a hard reset on the MVP, so it was still running the 8/30/2010 version of mvpmc. Shows played fine, but the onscreen display was pretty messed up when I hit the blue button while watching. I suppose that had to be customized for NPVR?

There are a few changes, the OSD is definitely one of them. As this progresses and more people try it out I will use a config.xml setting to make mvpmc aware that it is NPVR or GBPVR. I didn't want to do this yet because it's one more thing to explain.

The one thing I'm finding that I really miss are the tray icons that were provided by the MVP Tray Icon plugin. Without those I can't tell when it's safe to reboot the server. Has the author of that moved on to other things? Between it and Slimm GBPVR I could see everything that was going on with the server.

It's a chicken and egg situation. User don't upgrade because of lack of new tools, keeping the user base of NPVR low. Then there is then no spark for updating or drive for creating new versions of some of these older non-supported tools.

Frankly if I was sub reading the comments about NPVR I'd seriously consider shutting the whole project down. The irony for me is the only thing I have done for NPVR that seems to have been worth commenting on is the mvpmc support. The rest isn't very satisfying.

Martin

[HarryH3]

Your mvpmc support for GBPVR has been legendary. NPVR is having some growing pains, but that's true with any all-new software, especially when the word "beta" is involved. The whiners probably expected to just install NPVR and have it work perfectly, ignoring the beta part of things. I still have 1.4.7 installed for the family to use and only mess about with NVPR when there aren't any shows scheduled to record in GBPVR or anyone viewing a show. It's a bit of work, but it's the only way that the bugs will get worked out.

We use GBPVR only via the MVP's or once in a great while in PC client mode, so for me it's these remote streaming capabilities that matter most. Those that have an HTPC sitting under the giant HD flat screen have a different set of wants and needs.

A few observations from this mornings testing:

With todays version of mvpmc loaded I noticed that "resume" seems to always take me back to the very beginning of a show, but the left timeline counter shows a negative number. Then I pressed "Pause" and then "Stop" and everything locked up onscreen. Eventually the MVP ended up back at the main mvpmc screen. I'll attach the logs so you can have a peek.

I also noticed one other oddity with the timeline. Press the blue button then press "skip" forward. The left timeline briefly shows -00:01 and then jumps to the correct time. It may just be a quirk in the display while the new location is calculated, but thought I'd let you know anyway, just in case it's an important clue to something else.

If I let a recording play all the way to the very end there is just a black screen for quite some time before going back to the menu.

When I press "Stop" while viewing, the Close, Play, Delete popup for the show is still onscreen, but it isn't active. I also had this with GBPVR so perhaps that's just the nature of the beast.

I have "Confirm on Delete" set to "True" in config.xml, but selecting delete doesn't ask for confirmation. It just deletes the file. (This is a killer for the WAF. She gets impatient and hits multiple keypresses sometimes instead of waiting for the MVP to respond.)

That's it for now. Have a great weekend!

[HarryH3]

More logs. I had Dr. Oz playing, several minutes into the show, and pressed the "Skip" button. Instead of going forward 1 minute it jumped all the way back to the beginning of the show.

[mvallevand]

HarryH3 there is nothing in the new log, maybe you are you autostarting more than one server? I see I have a small bit to do on skipping but I need to look into your other comments in more detail later.

Thanks,

Martin

[HarryH3]

Ah, I do have it set to autostart 4 servers. I'll change it back to 1 for now, as I'm doing all my testing from one MVP. Then I'll try to get it to do the Skip function again until it goes back to the beginning of the file and post up more logs for you.

[HarryH3]

Here's another update for you, with the steps I took to get there:

Rebooted.

Killed GBPVR.

Started NPVR Tray App.

Started NPVR Recording Service.

Started MVP, this time with 1 server running.

Selected "Resume" for recorded show Dr. Oz

File started at the beginning of the show, but left timeline showed -27.xx.

Skipped ahead a few times, then did a couple of 5-minute skips (5, then skip on remote).

Pressed Skip again (without pressing a number first) and then it went back to the beginning of the show again.

Attached are the logs from just afterwards.

I hope this is helpful!

Oh yeah, should I go back and delete my earlier logs to save some disk space on subs server?

[mvallevand]

It's a bit of work, but it's the only way that the bugs will get worked out.

Agreed and I thank you on behalf of potential MVP users. My goal is to get it into the closet as soon as possible.

With todays version of mvpmc loaded I noticed that "resume" seems to always take me back to the very beginning of a show, but the left timeline counter shows a negative number.

Sub is going to need to do work work, NextPVR logic wants the first PTS and with resume it is storing the wrong one.

I also noticed one other oddity with the timeline.

There are plenty I am waiting for the next time NextPVR is updated via a patch, it has some useful info.

If I let a recording play all the way to the very end there is just a black screen for quite some time before going back to the menu.

Yes this happens on the NMT too in certain spots, you have to move a key to get a refresh.

When I press "Stop" while viewing, the Close, Play, Delete popup for the show is still onscreen, but it isn't active. I also had this with GBPVR so perhaps that's just the nature of the beast.

Thats a missing screen update typically caused by the crappy slow networking of the MVP.

I have "Confirm on Delete" set to "True" in config.xml, but selecting delete doesn't ask for confirmation. It just deletes the file. (This is a killer for the WAF. She gets impatient and hits multiple keypresses sometimes instead of waiting for the MVP to respond.)

That's a feature request for sub, although I must say even in GBPVR I miss not having the name in the dialog.

That's it for now. Have a great weekend!

You too.

Martin

[mvallevand]

I hope this is helpful!

Yes, it is all helpful, but for now we need to wait for the NextPVR update.

Oh yeah, should I go back and delete my earlier logs to save some disk space on subs server?

Personally I go back to old logs from time to time and look so I'd prefer it if users didn't Sub of course has to pay for this so I guess anyone who feels guilty can donate.

Martin