Using X-NEWA

[jcjefferies]

Martin, as requested here are a few comments on v2.1.5 running under Windows and Openelec, some of which have already been mentioned:-

The Web client looks very good and only slightly slower than normal NextPVR menus but “Exit” not working means the power button is only way out in Openelec.

The absence of “Skip” in X-NEWA and the web client is a major loss for me. I gave up trying to get Comskip to work reliably when I found that four skips forward works to skip the adverts for most channels. Having to use Fast Forward to avoid the adverts is a pain!

From my normal viewing distance (9ft 6in) I don’t have a problem reading text in the default NextPVR menus but the text used in X-NEWA is smaller and I have difficulty reading some. The menu on the left is OK but is “a bit small”. The text used on the panel to the right is a little smaller so only just readable but the scrolling text used for the programme description is more difficult to read even though it seems larger. Part of the problem may be the poor contrast because of the grey background.

“Save” under "Settings" does not seem to work so have to make permanent changes under “Add-on Settings” instead.

I have not been able to get the built in WOL to work so have installed the Advanced WOL add-on.

While navigating or displaying the X-NEWA menus the server does not see itself as "in use" so it goes to sleep. On the NextPVR client just having NextPVR running prevents the server going to sleep. Mounting a server directory using XBMC file manager does prevent the sever going to sleep but only for about 90 seconds after the last action.

Equipment:- Vista NextPVR server, XP NextPVR client and XBMC client, OpenElec XBMC client, Vista Client. Different versions of Windows may behave differently!

Chris

[mvallevand]

Martin, as requested here are a few comments on v2.1.5 running under Windows and Openelec, some of which have already been mentioned:-

Fantastic thanks a lot!

The Web client looks very good and only slightly slower than normal NextPVR menus but “Exit” not working means the power button is only way out in Openelec.

I mentioned this to sub and he has added the functionality to the next version of web client (it works great!) For now the context menu key in XBMC should get you out.

The absence of “Skip” in X-NEWA and the web client is a major loss for me. I gave up trying to get Comskip to work reliably when I found that four skips forward works to skip the adverts for most channels. Having to use Fast Forward to avoid the adverts is a pain!

Skipping with the arrow keys should work as well or better than NextPVR. There are options in XBMC to configure the time of short and long skips. I think the default is 30 seconds. Perhaps you need to configure OpenElec to not use FF/RW?

From my normal viewing distance (9ft 6in) I don’t have a problem reading text in the default NextPVR menus but the text used in X-NEWA is smaller and I have difficulty reading some. The menu on the left is OK but is “a bit small”. The text used on the panel to the right is a little smaller so only just readable but the scrolling text used for the programme description is more difficult to read even though it seems larger. Part of the problem may be the poor contrast because of the grey background.

I am not sure where I am taking the original X-NEWA, as my focus is now on Web Client but as a minimum the sub-menus under All Recording will use the default XBMC skin's look & feel so it will be as "easy" to read as XBMC menus, in the next update.

“Save” under "Settings" does not seem to work so have to make permanent changes under “Add-on Settings” instead.

That is now being deprecated and will be removed

I have not been able to get the built in WOL to work so have installed the Advanced WOL add-on.

I will have to see how this ties in with Web Client.

While navigating or displaying the X-NEWA menus the server does not see itself as "in use" so it goes to sleep. On the NextPVR client just having NextPVR running prevents the server going to sleep. Mounting a server directory using XBMC file manager does prevent the sever going to sleep but only for about 90 seconds after the last action.

The connection is designed to be stateless, however there is a request every 10 seconds, so you should be able to keep awake on network activity (except of course when video is playing)

Again thanks,

Martin

[jcjefferies]

I hope the comments were constructive!! I didn't realise you were mainly interested in the Web client so some of the tests were done while in the X-NEWA menus. Your reply certainly helped me to get the WEB interface working much better last night. The problem is that XBMC is so complex and has so many settings and some functions sometimes have different names to what I was searching for.

I found the "C" key to exit from the Web client although a right mouse double click seems to do the same thing, as does the "i" key on the remote.

The solution to my "Skip" problem was simple but took some time to find. The NextPVR "Skip" forward key on the MCE remote is used for "Next" in XBMC so exits playback. I eventually found the XBMC keyboard mapping page so found that the left and right arrow keys on the remote "Skip" in XBMC which may be more logical than the keys used by NextPVR.

Using the "Windows Idle" tab on MCE Standby Tool to monitor countdown to suspend on the server, most key presses on the Web client do seem to reset the counter. However if I leave the Web Client just displaying a menu it will count down to zero and the server will shut down. The client then locks up for a while and there is no way to "Exit" apart from the power button for a minute or two. A work around could to use SmartPower which should stop the server going into suspend mode if specified IP addresses are on line.

Is it possible to add an option to delay running X-NEWA/WEB client until the server is up. I start my NextPVR clients with a batch file in Startup which checks if the server is on line and sends a WOL if not. It then waits for a reply from the server before starting NextPVR.

By using OpenElec I hope to avoid having to buy a Windows license as I have irritating problems running NextPVR under XP. I intend to use the Web client under OpenElec for the first time tonight to watch recordings!!

Chris

[mvallevand]

I do want comments on both UIs I just don't know what I am doing with x-newa It does need to be more readable but given the small number of users I am not sure its worth it.

Even if WOL isn't working (I will have to see why) if you have it enabled it adds the wait.

Martin

[jcjefferies]

I have been using the X-NEWA web client on OpenElec for several days instead of the NextPVR client. I now mostly remember to use the XBMC “Skip” key instead of the NextPVR key which is used for “Next” in XBMC so dumps you back to the menu.

I have setup OpeneElec so it now boots straight into the web client and I can confirm that the delayed start which waits until the server is up before starting the client does work but I had to use the WOL add-on.

The problem is that if no video is playing and you don’t navigate the menus for a while the server goes to sleep. To get over this I have installed SmartPower on the server which takes control of the sleep process and effectively disables MST. I have set it so as long as one of the specified Web client are on the network or the server is “busy” it won’t sleep. It took some time to get it working correctly but it seems to all work. One odd thing is that a client playing back a recording now does not keep the server awake but the fact that the client is on the network keeps the server awake instead.

The “Clear” key on my MCE remote which is recognised by NextPVR as “Esc” is so useful as it works as both “Stop” and “Back” but does nothing in the Web Client so unfortunately now have to use the correct keys!

I am probably close to ditching the NextPVR client as the Web client is working well and already more reliable as it does not suffer from the two irritating problems I have not been able to cure. So thanks for ALL your work Martin!

Chris

[mvallevand]

Both my wife and I are using web client, It still has problems with live tv ending earlier but the big advantage for me is I rarely have to kill a task which is always a problem for me, and impossible for my wife.

You should be able to program the clear to be a stop. In linux you can do it via the llircd xml file or keyboard.xml file.

Martin

[jcjefferies]

Martin I have a Startup problem with X-NEWA. If it’s setup to boot into the Web Client and if it has to wait for the server to respond before starting then I get error “Cannot play this file offline” no matter how long you wait. The same happens if I boot into X-NEWA and manually start the Web client however long I wait. If however I boot XBMC normally and start X-NEWA manually the instant the server responds then I can play the file.

I did wonder if the problem could be because my server starts serving a few seconds after it responds to a ping. If I disable a lot of unwanted services on my Vista server the delay can be over 10 seconds but it is now back to normal settings so any delay is tiny. However I did notice that when set to boot into X-NEWA it starts within a few seconds not waiting for the server and gives error saying that it cannot download the data. Even if I clear the error and “Refresh” X-NEWA so it display the data the Web client will not play any recording unless the server is “UP” when X-NEWA starts.

Chris

[mvallevand]

There is a bug in offline mode in 2.1.5 it's supposed to return you to the x-newa dashboard. unfortunately my patches noe require the next version of nextpvr and newa.

Martin

[smajor]

For what it's worth, we don't use the web client. While it's the familiar NPVR interface, it's not the native XBMC interface. Since XBMC is our primary client, having a seamless interface that matches for NPVR is nice. I know it doesn't fit PERFECTLY, but it's close. It might be form over function, but there is it.

If down the road the web client could support skins and have one to match the NPVR default Confluence skin, that would be pretty spiffy. Could leave room for the other XBMC skin devs to match their skins too; if they wanted to go that far.

[mvallevand]

X-NEWA's original purpose of providing functionality that isn't in sub's XBMC client will continue. In fact right now I am working on supporting conflicts using new functionality that sub and UJB are adding for the next version. The recordings screen will use the native XBMC skins' look and feel and I probably will do that with all the list. The dashboard is the hardes to change since I don't have the skills to give it a Confluence look let only make it even more generic.

Martin