NextPVR not reusing tuners enough and ending live TV leases when it shouldn't

[ChaosMageX]

I have 3 HDHomeRun Connect boxes connected to a single antenna, so 6 tuners total. When I'm watching live TV via Kodi, NextPVR often steals the live TV's tuner for a scheduled recording, even though there are other tuners available, causing the TV to freeze with a Tuner No Longer Available message. NextPVR doesn't seem to be properly reusing tuners, often using 2 or more tuners for recording different shows on the same channel. Below is an example of this poor behavior, which I have tried to document as best as possible, with the logs from the evening of February 17, 2016:

It was smooth sailing until I changed the channel at 8 pm to PBS to watch NOVA. The live TV briefly changed channels, using the same tuner before and after the channel change, but then ended itself for some other reason. It was a simple matter of resetting Kodi and tuning back to the channel to successfully watch it. However, the live TV lease on the tuner was ended twice more that night before it was preempted by other recordings that shouldn't have preempted it, once at 9 pm and again at 10 pm. Here is a more detailed report:

Tuners available, ordered by priority, with corresponding NDigitalHost log names:
10438DEB-0: ndigitalhost-29.log
10438DEB-1: ndigitalhost-31.log
10422AD6-0: ndigitalhost-21.log
10422AD6-1: ndigitalhost-23.log
104259B8-0: ndigitalhost-25.log
104259B8-1: ndigitalhost-27.log

Below are short-hand records of the Settings > Status screen at critical time points, as reconstructed from screen captures and the NDigitalHost logs, with notes on the channels of each tuner and questions about its behavior:

8:08 PM (constructed retroactively from NDigitalHost logs):
Why wasn't the live TV stream leased to tuner 10422AD6-1, which was already tuned to the requested channel?

Code:

10438DEB-0:
    Live TV: C:\Temp\NOVA_20160217_20052100.ts (KUHT-HD; 8.1; 8; PBS)
10438DEB-1:
10422AD6-0:
10422AD6-1:
    Recording: E:\NextPVR\RecordedTV\NOVA\NOVA_20160217_20002100.ts (KUHT-HD; 8.1; 8; PBS)
104259B8-0:
    Recording: E:\NextPVR\RecordedTV\Supernatural\Supernatural_20160217_20002100.ts (KIAH-DT; 39.1; 38; The CW)
104259B8-1:
    Recording: E:\NextPVR\RecordedTV\Hells Kitchen_20160217_20012100.ts (KRIV-DT; 26.1; 26; Fox)

9:00 PM (constructed from a screen capture):
Why wasn't the second episode of NOVA also recorded on tuner 10422AD6-1, which was already tuned to the correct channel?
Why did NextPVR cancel the live TV lease on tuner 10438DEB-0 to record Code Black, when it could have instead used tuner 10438DEB-1, which was available at the time Code Black was scheduled to start?

Code:

10438DEB-0:
    Recording: E:\NextPVR\RecordedTV\Code Black\Code Black_20160217_21002200.ts (KHOU-DT; 11.1; 11; CBS)
10438DEB-1:
10422AD6-0:
    Recording: E:\NextPVR\RecordedTV\NOVA\NOVA_20160217_21002200.ts (KUHT-HD; 8.1; 8; PBS)
10422AD6-1:
    Recording: E:\NextPVR\RecordedTV\NOVA\NOVA_20160217_20002100.ts (KUHT-HD; 8.1; 8; PBS)
104259B8-0:
    Recording: E:\NextPVR\RecordedTV\NewsFix\NewsFix_20160217_21002200.ts (KIAH-DT; 39.1; 38; The CW)
    Recording: E:\NextPVR\RecordedTV\Supernatural\Supernatural_20160217_20002100.ts (KIAH-DT; 39.1; 38; The CW)
104259B8-1:
    Recording: E:\NextPVR\RecordedTV\Hells Kitchen_20160217_20012100.ts (KRIV-DT; 26.1; 26; Fox)
    Recording: E:\NextPVR\RecordedTV\FOX 26 News at 9\FOX 26 News at 9_20160217_21002200.ts (KRIV-DT; 26.1; 26; Fox)

9:09 PM (constructed from a later screen capture and NDigitalHost logs):
Again, why wasn't the live TV stream leased to a tuner already tuned to the requested channel, in this case the 10422AD6-0 tuner?

Code:

10438DEB-0:
    Recording: E:\NextPVR\RecordedTV\Code Black\Code Black_20160217_21002200.ts (KHOU-DT; 11.1; 11; CBS)
10438DEB-1:
    Live TV: C:\Temp\NOVA_20160217_21082200.ts (KUHT-HD; 8.1; 8; PBS)
10422AD6-0:
    Recording: E:\NextPVR\RecordedTV\NOVA\NOVA_20160217_21002200.ts (KUHT-HD; 8.1; 8; PBS)
10422AD6-1:
104259B8-0:
    Recording: E:\NextPVR\RecordedTV\NewsFix\NewsFix_20160217_21002200.ts (KIAH-DT; 39.1; 38; The CW)
104259B8-1:
    Recording: E:\NextPVR\RecordedTV\FOX 26 News at 9\FOX 26 News at 9_20160217_21002200.ts (KRIV-DT; 26.1; 26; Fox)

9:59 PM (constructed from a screen capture):
Why did NextPVR cancel the live TV lease on tuner 10438DEB-1 to record NewsFix, when it could have instead used tuner 104259B8-0, which was already tuned to channel KIAH-DT at the time NewsFix was scheduled to start?

Code:

10438DEB-0:
    Recording: E:\NextPVR\RecordedTV\Code Black\Code Black_20160217_21002200.ts (KHOU-DT; 11.1; 11; CBS)
    Recording: E:\NextPVR\RecordedTV\KHOU 11 News\KHOU 11 News_20160217_22002235.ts (KHOU-DT; 11.1; 11; CBS)
10438DEB-1:
    Recording: E:\NextPVR\RecordedTV\NewsFix\NewsFix_20160217_22002230.ts (KIAH-DT; 39.1; 38; The CW)
10422AD6-0:
    Recording: E:\NextPVR\RecordedTV\NOVA\NOVA_20160217_21002200.ts (KUHT-HD; 8.1; 8; PBS)
10422AD6-1:
    Recording: E:\NextPVR\RecordedTV\The Simpsons\The Simpsons_20160217_21302200.ts (KTXH-DT; 20.1; 19; MyNetworkTV)
104259B8-0:
    Recording: E:\NextPVR\RecordedTV\NewsFix\NewsFix_20160217_21002200.ts (KIAH-DT; 39.1; 38; The CW)
104259B8-1:
    Recording: E:\NextPVR\RecordedTV\FOX 26 News at 9\FOX 26 News at 9_20160217_21002200.ts (KRIV-DT; 26.1; 26; Fox)

10:00 PM (constructed from a screen capture):

Code:

10438DEB-0:
    Recording: E:\NextPVR\RecordedTV\Code Black\Code Black_20160217_21002200.ts (KHOU-DT; 11.1; 11; CBS)
    Recording: E:\NextPVR\RecordedTV\KHOU 11 News\KHOU 11 News_20160217_22002235.ts (KHOU-DT; 11.1; 11; CBS)
10438DEB-1:
    Recording: E:\NextPVR\RecordedTV\NewsFix\NewsFix_20160217_22002230.ts (KIAH-DT; 39.1; 38; The CW)
10422AD6-0:
    Recording: E:\NextPVR\RecordedTV\NOVA\NOVA_20160217_21002200.ts (KUHT-HD; 8.1; 8; PBS)
    Recording: E:\NextPVR\RecordedTV\13 Eyewitness News at 10PM\13 Eyewitness News at 10PM_20160217_22002235.ts (KTRK-HD; 13.1; 13; ABC)
10422AD6-1:
    Recording: E:\NextPVR\RecordedTV\The Simpsons\The Simpsons_20160217_21302200.ts (KTXH-DT; 20.1; 19; MyNetworkTV)
    Recording: E:\NextPVR\RecordedTV\Secrets of the Dead\Secrets of the Dead_20160217_22002300.ts (KUHT-HD; 8.1; 8; PBS)
104259B8-0:
    Recording: E:\NextPVR\RecordedTV\NewsFix\NewsFix_20160217_21002200.ts (KIAH-DT; 39.1; 38; The CW)
    Recording: E:\NextPVR\RecordedTV\KPRC Channel 2 News at 10PM\KPRC Channel 2 News at 10PM_20160217_22002234.ts (KPRC-HD; 2.1; 35; NBC)
104259B8-1:
    Recording: E:\NextPVR\RecordedTV\FOX 26 News at 9\FOX 26 News at 9_20160217_21002200.ts (KRIV-DT; 26.1; 26; Fox)

10:06 PM (constructed from a screen capture):

Code:

10438DEB-0:
    Live TV: C:\Temp\KHOU 11 News_20160217_22052235.ts (KHOU-DT; 11.1; 11; CBS)
    Recording: E:\NextPVR\RecordedTV\KHOU 11 News\KHOU 11 News_20160217_22002235.ts (KHOU-DT; 11.1; 11; CBS)
10438DEB-1:
    Recording: E:\NextPVR\RecordedTV\NewsFix\NewsFix_20160217_22002230.ts (KIAH-DT; 39.1; 38; The CW)
10422AD6-0:
    Recording: E:\NextPVR\RecordedTV\13 Eyewitness News at 10PM\13 Eyewitness News at 10PM_20160217_22002235.ts (KTRK-HD; 13.1; 13; ABC)
10422AD6-1:
    Recording: E:\NextPVR\RecordedTV\Secrets of the Dead\Secrets of the Dead_20160217_22002300.ts (KUHT-HD; 8.1; 8; PBS)
104259B8-0:
    Recording: E:\NextPVR\RecordedTV\KPRC Channel 2 News at 10PM\KPRC Channel 2 News at 10PM_20160217_22002234.ts (KPRC-HD; 2.1; 35; NBC)
104259B8-1:

After around 10:30 PM, most of the lower priority tuners were freed up, and NextPVR went back to behaving the way it should, reusing tuner 10438DEB-0 to record The Late Show and The Late Late Show without ending the live TV lease also using that tuner.

To further assist in diagnosing what went wrong and why NextPVR didn't manage the tuner leases as well as it should, here is a list of all the recordings I had scheduled to occur during prime time on February 17, 2016, grouped by channel:

KPRC-HD; 2.1; 35; NBC:

Code:

10:00 PM - 10:34 PM; Pre: 1; Pos: 1 :: KPRC Channel 2 News at 10PM *
10:34 PM - 11:37 PM; Pre: 1; Pos: 1 :: The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon
11:37 PM - 12:37 AM; Pre: 1; Pos: 1 :: Late Night With Seth Meyers

KUHT-HD; 8.1; 8; PBS:

Code:

7:00 PM -  8:00 PM; Pre: 1; Pos: 1 :: Nature
8:00 PM -  9:00 PM; Pre: 1; Pos: 1 :: NOVA
9:00 PM - 10:00 PM; Pre: 1; Pos: 1 :: NOVA
10:00 PM - 11:00 PM; Pre: 1; Pos: 1 :: Secrets of the Dead *
11:00 PM - 11:30 PM; Pre: 1; Pos: 1 :: The Daytripper

KHOU-DT; 11.1; 11; CBS:

Code:

9:00 PM - 10:00 PM; Pre: 1; Pos: 1 :: Code Black
10:00 PM - 10:35 PM; Pre: 1; Pos: 1 :: KHOU 11 News
10:35 PM - 11:37 PM; Pre: 1; Pos: 1 :: The Late Show With Stephen Colbert
11:37 PM - 12:37 AM; Pre: 1; Pos: 1 :: The Late Late Show With James Corden

KTRK-HD; 13.1; 13; ABC:

Code:

10:00 PM - 10:35 PM; Pre: 1; Pos: 1 :: 13 Eyewitness News at 10PM *
10:35 PM - 11:37 PM; Pre: 1; Pos: 1 :: Jimmy Kimmel Live
11:40 PM - 12:07 PM; Pre: 0; Pos: 1 :: Nightline

I accidentally forgot to schedule Nightline to record in advance, and started recording it 3 minutes after it had started.

KTXH-DT; 20.1; 19; MyNetworkTV

Code:

9:30 PM - 10:00 PM; Pre: 1; Post: 1 :: The Simpsons
12:00 AM - 12:30 AM; Pre: 1; Post: 1 :: Tosh.0

KRIV-DT; 26.1; 26; Fox

Code:

7:00 PM -  8:01 PM; Pre: 1; Post: 1 :: American Idol
8:01 PM -  9:00 PM; Pre: 1; Post: 1 :: Hell's Kitchen
9:00 PM - 10:00 PM; Pre: 1; Post: 1 :: FOX 26 News at 9

KIAH-DT; 39.1; 38; The CW

Code:

7:00 PM -  8:00 PM; Pre: 1; Post: 1 :: Arrow
8:00 PM -  9:00 PM; Pre: 1; Post: 1 :: Supernatural
9:00 PM - 10:00 PM; Pre: 1; Post: 1 :: NewsFix
10:00 PM - 10:30 PM; Pre: 1; Post: 1 :: NewsFix

* Pre-padding changed to zero by NextPVR

If there's any other data I can provide to help fix this problem, please let me know.

[johnsonx42]

There's no problem here, this is how it works. You have a very crowded recording schedule, which leaves no room for recordings to be moved around to accommodate live tv. Just because you can say "well move this one here and that one there and this other one here and it would all work" doesn't mean it's within the ability of the scheduler to do that.

A week or so ago I had a discussion about similar issues with Handy.Man, reading that thread should shed some light on why it works the way it does: http://forums.nextpvr.com/showthread.php...nel-tuners

[johnsonx42]

Also, I see several cases where you ask why wasn't LiveTV assigned to a tuner that was already recording the same channel... this is because of tuner priority. when you ask for live tv on a given channel, it goes down the list of tuners until it finds one that can deliver the given channel. it's not going to skip an unused tuner and keep looking for one that is by chance recording on the same channel.

[Handy.Man]

Depending on you setup, you can use reverse priority for Live TV,
it is located in Settings/Devices tick the Use Reverse Priority For Live TV box