New user new install and a few "issues"

[johnsonx42]

look at post #1 of the getting started sticky linked in my signature; in the section about the EPG, I have a link to another post of mine that should get you going. I'm not sure if I mention it in that post, but the first thing to do is scan for channels which is done in the capture device setup screen. once npvr has found the channels you can receive, then you link them to the channels in the xml.

edit: on further review, yes, you do need to scan for channels first - that's why your channels screen is empty

[rkircher]

Have you read the instructions here? http://www.nextpvr.com/nwiki/pmwiki.php?...FirstSteps

Yes, those are good FirstSteps that have lead me to where I am now and caused me to ask my original question of how to tell NPVR where the xmltv.xml should be located, or where to put xmltv.xml so that NPVR can find it. That is the only detail that I did not see explicitly mentioned in the FirstSteps and that is why I thought it might be the problem.

I also did not see an instruction step that said to press the <Update EPG> button located in Settings -> Channels. Pressing the <Update EPG> button flashes a window that says "Updating EPG, please wait", there is some drive activity, but nothing changes and the channels windows remains blank. Can anyone tell me where the xmltv.xml should be located so that NPVR can find it?

[johnsonx42]

it doesn't matter where you put the file, you'll be telling NPVR where it is. but you can't do that until you scan for channels and enable the ones you want to populate the channel list. see my post (#31) at the top of this page.

[Reddwarf]

As he says, in GBPVR you pointed to the xmltv file first and gbpvr found the channels. In NPVR it works the opposite way, you scan for channels first and enable those you want, and then you tell npvr where the xmltv file is (most commonly by clicking Details-button in the channels menue in settings, but ofcource there won't be any channels to select unless you have scanned for them).

[rkircher]

As he says, in GBPVR you pointed to the xmltv file first and gbpvr found the channels. In NPVR it works the opposite way, you scan for channels first and enable those you want, and then you tell npvr where the xmltv file is (most commonly by clicking Details-button in the channels menue in settings, but ofcource there won't be any channels to select unless you have scanned for them).

OKay!, this message and #33 finally made the light bulb over my head light up and I've got the TV Guide working great with the exception of Ch 32. It is one of those not in the xmltv.xml, but there is an EPG that is transmitted on the over-the-air broadcast channel. The problem is it does not appear on the NPVR TV Guide with the Settings -> Channels set to DVB / ATSC EPG for that channel. Is there way to pickup the broadcast EPG and get it into the TV Guide?

[rkircher]

When I start Live TV, I have sound but to video picture. I am able to playback a recorded program from the .TS file so I think my video card and monitor are not the problem. The playback window has a black background and nothing else. Any idea how to get Live TV working?

[Reddwarf]

When I start Live TV, I have sound but to video picture. I am able to playback a recorded program from the .TS file so I think my video card and monitor are not the problem. The playback window has a black background and nothing else. Any idea how to get Live TV working?

What MPEG2 video decoder have you selected under Settings -> Decoders?

[johnsonx42]

you really need to post your logs when something doesn't work. sometimes we can guess based on the symptoms, but logs sure make it easier.

[rkircher]

What MPEG2 video decoder have you selected under Settings -> Decoders?

Video decoder not enabled was the problem, but still have a computer or NPvR performance problem and no usable Live TV . I disabled decoders to isolate problems, and then forgot to enable one of them after getting the TV Guide to work. The problem in Live TV is audio skips and video freezes that I don't get when playing back a recording using Windows Media Player. The longer I watch Live TV, the worse it gets and the hard drive activity really goes up until video and audio are completly crippled and useless.

When I monitor the computer's performance, the CPU Usage is 0-2% without NPVR running. When I start NPVR, CPU Utilization settles out at 35-43%, but when I run Live TV usage goes up to 87-95%. The audio and video skips must be when the CPU hits 100% and leaves gaps. After Live TV runs for about 5-minutes, the hard drive activity is 100% (HD activity light goes to ON solid) and the CPU usage then goes down. In the long run CPU usage is about 24% for a few seconds, then goes to 65% for a few seconds, and keeps repeating like that. In this long run mode, there is no sound and the picture changes every couple seconds (approx) while the hard drive light is on only about 50% - flickering on and off. The long term behavior suggests to me that that the hard drive is not keeping the CPU busy, but the hard drive is used less because the CPU is too busy with something else and does not access it much, but that's just a guess.

The computer is a Sony Vaio w/ 3GHz Pentium IV, 1.5GB DDR RAM, 400MHz FSB, but the hard drive an old 5400 rpm Maxtor. Unless it seems to you that there is some problem with NPVR or the video decoder, I will try starting over with a new hard drive. To answer your question about the video decoders, there are two shown to be available by Settings -> Decoders:
1. HCW MPEG-2 Video Decoder - I think this is Hauppauge decoder supplied with the hardware. It is the one I'm using with problems described above.
2. Sonic MPEG Video Decoder (Symphony) - I think this is from Windows Media Center, it does not work complaining about a missing MSVCR71.DLL which is on the system in 2 places, but can't be found by the software for some reason.

I can provide the logs if they would help, but they are lengthy. Should they be pasted in the message or how to send? Otherwise, any help or other information would be greatly appreciated.

[rkircher]

What MPEG2 video decoder have you selected under Settings -> Decoders?

I just discovered that the CPU usage is 40 - 50% when watching an old Gun Smoke Western rerun in BLACK AND WHITE. Maybe I just need to find a more efficient Video Decoder that requires less CPU resource than the HCW MPEG-2 Video Decoder that I 'm using now. Anybody know of a good readily available MPEG-2 Decoder, preferably a free one?