Live Tv Does Not Work

[kylet]

When I try to watch Live Tv I get a blank screen. I've read through the forums and the most common reason relates MPEG 2 Decoder. It would appear I have decoders that should work, or that have worked for others.

Logs are attached.

TV Tuner is pinnacle PCTV 80e, which next pvr had no problem discovering during set-up.

Using Windows 10.

Thanks for any suggestions.

[johnsonx42]

recordings working ok?

disable all the decoders except mpeg-2 video, mpeg audio, ac3 audio. retest using channel 24.4 since that's one the seems to get a solid signal lock, many of your channels didn't.

also check for a setting on one of the misc screens, called "use alt osd with missing video", make sure that is NOT checked.

post logs again if still no joy.

[kylet]

Thanks buddy. Disabling those other decoders did the trick. Not all the of the 13 MPEG decoders that show up actually work, but luckily a couple of them do now, namely the PCTV Systems MPEG decoder which is from the manufacturer of the TV Tuner. Recording work fine now too.

Now on to the next challenge, which is trying to get it to integrate with Plex.

[johnsonx42]

Thanks buddy. Disabling those other decoders did the trick. Not all the of the 13 MPEG decoders that show up actually work, but luckily a couple of them do now, namely the PCTV Systems MPEG decoder which is from the manufacturer of the TV Tuner. Recording work fine now too.

Now on to the next challenge, which is trying to get it to integrate with Plex.

great that you have it working.

for the decoders, NextPVR just asks windows "what decoders are registered to play media type mpeg-2 video" (or whichever media type is at hand), and then lists all that come back. Some decoders are hobbled to only work with specific software, even though they register for general use; others just don't work properly for whatever reasons, or only handle certain video resolutions (like the old windows xp mpeg-2 decoder could only handle SD video). a couple of decoders absolutely known not to work are blacklisted inside NextPVR, but for the most part it lets you sort out what decoders work well for you.

you may find a decoder that seems to work well at first doesn't handle skipping well, or doesn't tolerate channel changes well, etc. they're not all designed for just-in-time delivery of a livetv stream, or for abrupt stream changes. YMMV.

as to Plex, if you look in the community announcements forum you'll see there's a supported Plex channel for NextPVR.

[kylet]

great that you have it working.

for the decoders, NextPVR just asks windows "what decoders are registered to play media type mpeg-2 video" (or whichever media type is at hand), and then lists all that come back. Some decoders are hobbled to only work with specific software, even though they register for general use; others just don't work properly for whatever reasons, or only handle certain video resolutions (like the old windows xp mpeg-2 decoder could only handle SD video). a couple of decoders absolutely known not to work are blacklisted inside NextPVR, but for the most part it lets you sort out what decoders work well for you.

you may find a decoder that seems to work well at first doesn't handle skipping well, or doesn't tolerate channel changes well, etc. they're not all designed for just-in-time delivery of a livetv stream, or for abrupt stream changes. YMMV.

as to Plex, if you look in the community announcements forum you'll see there's a supported Plex channel for NextPVR.

Great info! Thanks again.

[willied86]

Like Kylet, I also have a PCTV Systesm 80e mini stick with an HP Windows 10 PC. Until Release 3.6.6, I never had any issues playing Live TV. Now, Live TV starts then quickly gets hidden behind either the TV Guide Grid or the Live TV menu. If I randomly click around the screen, the Live TV box will show up as if it is embedded in the TV Guide Grid. I then click on the embedded video and then it will go full screen but then the TV controls and guide data are hidden. If I click in the right place, by dumb luck, I can change channels, stop Live TV, etc. But, it is really hit or miss.

I fully reset my computer last weekend, 09APR16, and reinstalled Windows 10, PCTV Sytems Software for 80e mini stick, and Next PVR 3.6.6. Everything worked! But, just for two days. Yesterday, the same problem came back . In previous verions of NextPVR I never had this issue. I really feel that there is a bad bug in this release that causes this issue. Or, after reinstalling Windows 10, it ran an auto update a few days later that then conflicts with NextPVR 3.6.6.

But, the native PCTV Sytems software works fine as does the Emby Plugin, even watching Live TV on Roku. But, I cannot watch Live TV without difficulty using the actual NextPVR 3.6.6 software?? Crazy, I know. I cannot figure this out. Any ideas.

For EPG data, I normally use digital ATSC over the Air (New York City).

[mikeh49]

From post #2 of this thread:

also check for a setting on one of the misc screens, called "use alt osd with missing video", make sure that is NOT checked.

post logs again if still no joy.

[johnsonx42]

@willed86, this is a completely unrelated issue... why not start your own thread?