New Problem - Zombie Recording

[Lao Pan]

Do when know when the next set of changes will occur? Will we have the new version of NextPVR by then? Also, what's the recommended way to re-tune so we don't have to set up the whole channel structure again? Some guidance would be great.

After today's update (Mendip TX) the next planned change is in 2019 - then we have 3 separate changes in 3 months :eek:

This was the way I done it -->https://forums.nextpvr.com/showthread.ph...post521124

Right click scan results / disable all - then tick the ones you want. I found the DVB-T channels ended up in the 700's and needed changing in Channel Details, but the DVB-T2 Channels got the correct numbers :confused:
But I haven't set up the recordings again yet - work got in the way.

If you need the Mendip ini -->https://forums.nextpvr.com/showthread.ph...post520766

[Graham]

Do when know when the next set of changes will occur?

This webpage might tell you ... http://www.a516digital.com/p/freeview-updates.html

Will we have the new version of NextPVR by then?

Sadly, Sub's family insist that he earn enough to pay his share of the rent ... so NextPVR takes second place behind his day job ... so we have to be patient and trust that there will be updates even though it's tricky to forecast when they will arrive.

Also, what's the recommended way to re-tune so we don't have to set up the whole channel structure again? Some guidance would be great.

Select a tuner and do a scan. NextPVR will highlight new channels in the scan results and shows as "updated" any channels that have "changed". NextPVR does not delete channels that are no longer being broadcast.

My experience has been that a rescan does the job. All of my tuners are DVB-T on the same aerial. It has been my habit to rescan one tuner ... export channels on that tuner and then re-import the channels on each of the other tuners. This sometimes does a less than perfect job of merging multiple instances of the same channel.

An alternative is to delete channels on all tuners except one. Rescan that one tuner and NextPVR should offer to copy the configuration when you select one of the now empty tuners.

[bicbasher]

COM7 and COM8 are behind my issues which aren't zombie recordings, but the NDigitalHost.exe losing contact, so have missing recordings or NRecord.exe not working. Since I've stopped recording from those channels, it's been fine.

Will just have to be patient for now and wait for the next release.

[andrewj]

Hi,
First, quick update on the core problem. Setting CollectEIT to false seems to have stabilised recording BBC4 - I managed a complex set of overlapping recordings last night with no problem. I'll continue to monitor but that looks like the simple work-around as long as you're using SchedulesDirect or similar.

Second, re the re-tuning question, the issue is that NPVR remembers recurring recordings in terms of channel number, not name. Hence when BBC4HD moved from channel 798 (or something like that) to 106, I lost a load of recordings until I could go through the recurring recording list, delete the old versions and re-add them, and I had a real issue with programs like The Sky at Night which are only shown once a month and not necessarily in the EPG on any given day. Is there any easy way around this, i.e. to tell NPVR "anything I had on channel 798 please now look at channel 106"? Is there an XML file to edit or similar?

Thanks
Andrew

[Lao Pan]

Hi,
Second, re the re-tuning question, the issue is that NPVR remembers recurring recordings in terms of channel number, not name. Hence when BBC4HD moved from channel 798 (or something like that) to 106, I lost a load of recordings until I could go through the recurring recording list, delete the old versions and re-add them, and I had a real issue with programs like The Sky at Night which are only shown once a month and not necessarily in the EPG on any given day. Is there any easy way around this, i.e. to tell NPVR "anything I had on channel 798 please now look at channel 106"? Is there an XML file to edit or similar?

AFAIK NPVR actually uses the Channel OID Number from the database, not the Logical Channel No, so the best bet would be to go into settings and export recordings which will give you a recurring recordings xml file in Public NPVR. Then open the NPVR.db file with SQLiteSpy or similar and use the Channel Table to get the OID No for each Channel and edit the xml file with the new OID. Delete all the recurring recordings then import recordings from the edited xml file. I would back up the database first just in case it all goes wrong :eek:

[Graham]

... go into settings and export recordings which will give you a recurring recordings xml file in Public NPVR. Then open the NPVR.db file with SQLiteSpy or similar and use the Channel Table to get the OID No for each Channel and edit the xml file with the new OID.

I suspect that this may not be necessary ... Yesterday, I used the retune as an opportunity to tidy my list of channels ... I deleted all channels on each tuner device ... Re-scanned one tuner and accepted NextPVR's offer to copy the configuration to each other tuner. I then updated the EPG and this re-scheduled all of my Recurring Recordings (this channel, this time slot). I had not expected the Recurring Recordings to schedule because of the changes to the internal channels numbers in the database ... but, the recordings all appeared in the Pending list as normal ... I saved a copy of the Recurring export xml before I began ... I have checked and the the oid channel numbers in the database have changed ... The one exception was a one-off recording of a single show which failed with a message about the channel having moved.

I also had problems when BBC4 HD moved but I suspect that this was because NextPVR did not do a good job of "moving" the channel and I finished up with two BBC4 HD channels with two different oids. I suspect that this was a one-off problem so I am ignoring it.

It may be that the Sky at Night could be recorded using a Recording Type of "All episodes on this channel" or "All episodes, all channels". A tick at NextPVR Settings --> Recordings "Avoid duplicates where possible" should avoid recording the same show twice if you have season and episode data in your EPG source (or some other data that NextPVR uses to avoid duplicates that I cannot now remember).

[andrewj]

Thanks. I'll wait until the next change and see if the automatic process works.

[Lao Pan]

I've just reinstalled DVBGuide for the first time in about 5 years, producing an xmltv file from the DVB-T epg on one Mux only (PSB1) and Bulk mapped the Channels - only needed to set 4 or 5 manually.
Collect EIT set to false now so should be less problems.

Don't have to rush with the next release just for me Sub

[Graham]

... I deleted all channels on each tuner device ... Re-scanned one tuner and accepted NextPVR's offer to copy the configuration to each other tuner. I then updated the EPG and this re-scheduled all of my Recurring Recordings (this channel, this time slot). I had not expected the Recurring Recordings to schedule because of the changes to the internal channels numbers in the database ... but, the recordings all appeared in the Pending list as normal

As you were ... The cognoscenti will not be surprised to read that the above is all bollox.

It appears that what actually happens is ... NextPVR schedules pending recordings at the last EPG update before deleting channels and adds pending recording entries to the database. After the channels have been deleted and re-added in a re-scan, the pending recording entries are still in the database but they do not actually trigger a recording because the channel with the oid in the pending entry no longer exists. The recurring recording records are also still in the database and do not cause new pending recording entries to be created because the oid in the recurring database entries also do not now exist.

In short, after deleting all channels and re-scanning to re-add channels ... it is necessary to delete all pending recordings and to delete and re-add all recurring recordings (which is what I had expected before I managed to confuse myself and misinform everyone else).

[andrewj]

OK, that's what I was afraid of. This is where the problems with BBC4 started, especially with programs which are not necessarily "on" in the next two weeks.
Is Lao Pan's solution the one which will work without having to delete and start again?
Andrew