Searching for PVR system to migrate to

[ijourneaux]

I have been a long time BeyondTV user but I am looking to migrate to a newer platform than supports the new and upcoming tuners. Found NPVR and would like to consider but had a few questions
1. Support for HD-PVR
2. SUpport for HDHomeRun
3. Support for Adaptec USB Dual Tuner AVS-3610 (not a important long term)
4. Support for USB-UIRT
5. Support HDHomeRun Prime

This is for a ystem that will be running 24/7 by a family of 4 so reliability is at a premium.

I am also looking at MediaPortal. I consider myself an expert user but getting the tuners I have to work with MePo was a bear. I am still not sure I ahve it configured correctly

Appreciate any comments.

[soccerdad]

Give it a tryout! It is easy to set up and given your talents, you should have few issues. The program has a lot of flexibility. (and it won't cost you anything to test)

1, yes
2, yes
3? but it supports a bunch of tuners. A quick forum search should let you verify.
4 I think so but not sure. (quick forum search)
5 It is in testing now (at least the Hauppauge DCR-2650 which is the cousin of the Prime)

[johnsonx42]

1. yes
2. yes
3. yes, I'm quite sure I've seen this tuner mentioned... npvr pretty much supports any tuner with BDA drivers
4. yes, but nothing is specifically built-in. for blasting, you configure it, then tell NPVR what blaster program to call
5. yes

edit: keep in mind that you can use cable card tuners ONLY for shows/channels that the broadcaster has marked copy freely. if the CopyOnce or CopyNever bit is set, then the ONLY program that can view them is Windows Media Center.

[ijourneaux]

Thanks for the comments. I did not appreciate the possible issue with the cable card Tuners. I was trying to get away from the HD-PVR (it tends to want to stop working periodically and I have to manually power cycle it. This could be a BeyondTV issue but There have been enough messages about HD-PVR hangs on all platforms that I suspect there is something with the HD-PVR. How do you know if the CopyOnce or CopyNever bits are set?

I will give it a shot over the next few days and see how it goes. Positive or negative, I will report back. I downloaded the instlal package earlier this morning.

It is nice to see lively development.

I think I read in the forums that there isn't a direct interface to SchedulesDirect and that you have to use XML import? Is this something that can be scheduled?

[mvallevand]

Over 2+ years my HDPVR with GBPVR and NPVR has maybe required 3 power cycles. It is one of the most reliable pieces of hardware I have.

There is a direct interface to Schedules Direct.

Martin

[sub]

How do you know if the CopyOnce or CopyNever bits are set?

Most cable companies have all their channels set to CopyFreely, with premium channels (and sometimes a small handful of other channels) set to CopyOnce. I couldnt tell you exactly which channels you cable operator has set to which. If you try watching a CopyOnce/CopyNever channels in NextPVR you'll be told it is encrypted.

I think I read in the forums that there isn't a direct interface to SchedulesDirect and that you have to use XML import?

There is built in support for schedules direct. You dont need to use xmltv for this.

[ijourneaux]

ok got it installed. The HDHomeRUn and the analog tuners show up in devices but the HD-PVR doesn't. DO I need to configure something up in settings.xml file.

[sub]

No you shouldnt have to do anything for it to show up (assuming the drivers are installed).

View the Settings->Devices screen, then post the npvr.log and I'll take a look.

[ijourneaux]

THe HD-PVR had hung. Power cycled it and we are good.

[ijourneaux]

Just a brief status update.

I got most of the stuff configured last night. Still need to configure up IRSS so I can blast the channel to the cable box for the HD-PVR. I am configdent I won't have any issues with the HD-HomeRun and and Adapte Tuners.

One thing that was interesting was that the device list inccluded the HDHomeRun ASTC and QAM tuners separately (that probably makes it easy to configure) but it also lists 2 HDHomeRUn Prime tuners.