Unable to communicate with recording service

[EuroSong]

Dear NextPVR developers,

I just installed a fresh copy of your software (latest version). I was able to see my tuner devices and successfully scanned for channels. However when I try to actually watch live TV, I get the error message "Unable to communicate with recording service".

I checked the NPVR log file, and it appears that the relevant entry is:

2016-01-03 21:30:02.541 [ERROR][1] Unexpected socket exception calling StartStream(): System.Net.Sockets.SocketException (0x80004005): No connection could be made because the target machine actively refused it 127.0.0.1:8968

This suggests some kind of internal port blocking: however I can not see what. I checked Windows Firewall, and confirmed that NextPVR was ticked as an allowed program. I then tried turning off Windows Firewall altogether - however the error still remains.

I have installed the program on a stand-alone computer: just trying to watch on localhost, so no network involved.

Please help. Since Microsoft has stopped support for Windows Media Centre, I can not install Windows 10 yet until I find a viable alternative which allows me to watch & record live TV on my computer. So far, no PVR software has worked properly.

Thanks.

[johnsonx42]

usually that error just means the recording service isn't running. in the npvr program group there's a "start npvr service" icon... click that, and check whether it works. If not, post logs (there's a button in Settings->General to zip the log files).

[EuroSong]

Hmm... seems that was it, thank you. Dunno why the service had not started since installing it!

Anyway, although there is no longer an error, I'm just getting a black screen when trying to view any channel. There is no sound either. I gather this has something to do with the decoders - however I have tried other decoders and nothing is working.

My tuner (USB PCTV tuner) works perfectly with Windows Media Centre, and also with SichboPVR (although that has its own issues, which is why it's not a proper solution for me) - so I know that the decoders *are* present on my system. In WMC I can watch SD and HD channels (MPEG and H.264) perfectly. Any advice please?

Logs zipped and attached (if you still need them).

[Reddwarf]

Hmm... seems that was it, thank you. Dunno why the service had not started since installing it!

Anyway, although there is no longer an error, I'm just getting a black screen when trying to view any channel. There is no sound either. I gather this has something to do with the decoders - however I have tried other decoders and nothing is working.

My tuner (USB PCTV tuner) works perfectly with Windows Media Centre, and also with SichboPVR (although that has its own issues, which is why it's not a proper solution for me) - so I know that the decoders *are* present on my system. In WMC I can watch SD and HD channels (MPEG and H.264) perfectly. Any advice please?

Logs zipped and attached (if you still need them).

Which decoders are you actually using? It might be helpful if you post a screenshot of your decoder settings screen.

[sub]

2016-01-03 22:54:16.912 [DEBUG][1] adding audio renderer: Multichannel (M-Audio Delta Audiophile)

The first thing you should do is put your audio renderer back to default.

What version of Windows are you running?

[Graham]

... I gather this has something to do with the decoders -

Lots of us use SAF to install a set of decoders (and some utility software) that work in all parts of the known universe ... http://forums.nextpvr.com/showthread.php...post414049

Send a forum private message to Hoborg and ask for the "unlocked " version that has the "best" decoders.

[EuroSong]

Thanks guys. I was about to post some screenshots of my decoders, however it occurred to me that it did not seem like there were as many present as there ought to be - as I have several codecs on my system which were not showing up in the list. I therefore decided to re-install ffdshow, and now I'm happy to report that I have both video and audio for the SD channels.

Unfortunately however, audio still eludes me on HD channels. I'm in the UK, and I understand that the Freeview HD channels use AC3 encoding. In the ffdshow setup, AC3 is listed as a supported format, however neither the "libavcodec" nor the "liba52" settings produce any results.

I then looked up AC3 codec separately, and installed AC3 Filter (http://www.ac3filter.net). However when setting NPVR to use this, there is still no audio on the HD channels.

Sub: I put my audio renderer back to default. No changes. I am on Windows 8.1.

Here is what I currently have (screenshots of NPVR Decoders settings):

MPEG1:
[ATTACHMENT NOT FOUND]

AC3:
[ATTACHMENT NOT FOUND]

HE-AAC (whatever that is):
[ATTACHMENT NOT FOUND]

Thanks!

[Graham]

I'm in the UK, and I understand that the Freeview HD channels use AC3 encoding.

UK HD is HE AAC ... many of us use LAV for audio (there are reports that LAV Video does not play well ... but your mileage may differ) ... http://forum.doom9.org/showthread.php?t=156191

I suggest that you set MPEG1 Audio and HE AAC Audio to LAV and leave all other audio set to disabled/default.

[EuroSong]

Hey hey... looks like LAV is working! Excellent, thank you

Now the issue is that I'm trying to integrate it with Kodi, which sort-of works but it sometimes freezes when changing channels. But I don't know if that's anything you guys would know about: if it's to do with the NPVR back-end or if it's a Kodi problem.

Thank you for your help so far!

[Graham]

... integrate it with Kodi, which sort-of works but it sometimes freezes when changing channels.

I suggest that you start a new thread in the Kodi sub-forum and post NextPVR and Kodi logs ... http://forums.nextpvr.com/showthread.php...post480931