NextEnd v5 trial release

[mvallevand]

NextEnd for v5 is available on the NextPVR wiki.  It was bit tricky because the v4 release required an external dll for JSON and I had to hunt down the source.  I also wanted to see if I could figure out how to distribute a minimum installation using NextPVR's files which works on all environments without requiring all the files that a typical .netcore app requires. 

For those that don't know what NextEnd is I refer you to the wiki for information and usage instruction https://github.com/sub3/NextPVR/wiki/NextEnd


Installation instructions

A. If you install the Windows Netcore 3.1 runtime on Window 64 or use any other platform 

1. Unzip attached zip file into a folder Plugins/NextEnd in the v5 user data folder.  Case is important outside windows.  I kept the v4 upper case, but that will likely change.
2. If you aren't running in C:\Program Files\NPVR  edit NextEnd.runtimeconfiguration and change the C:\Program Files\NPVR to your binary folder keeping the trailing blanks
3. On linux it might be tougher you also need to run this

Code:

sed -i 's/\"\/\"/\"\/opt\/nextpvr\/system\/\"/g' NextEnd.deps.json

Note that only the dep installer is supported at this time.  If you use another install directory you need to update the NextEnd.runtimeconfig.json file and the other instructions to match your configuration.

4.  For Docker the User folder is what you set /config to and the sed command is

Code:

sed -i 's/\"\/\"/\"\/app\/\"/g' NextEnd.deps.json

B.  If you don't install the Window Netcore 3.1 on Windows

1. Create a folder Plugins/NextEnd in the v5 user data folder
2. Unzip  attached zip file into the NextPVR v5 program folder
3. Delete NextEnd*.json from the program folder

For PostProcessing

Windows 64

A style
C:\Users\Public\NPVR-data\Plugins\NextEnd.exe  options

B style
C:\Program Files\NextPVR\NextEnd.exe options

Linux use $ for for parameters and chmod +x sh files

/opt/dotnet/dotnet /var/opt/nextpvr/Plugins/NextEnd/NextEnd.dll options

(or update for your configuration if you aren't using the deb installer)

Docker use $ for for parameters and chmod +x sh files

dotnet /config/Plugins/NextEnd/NextEnd.dll options

Martin

[VCR58]

Hi Martin,

I get this when v5 starts with the NextEnd bat files I used.

[9] Starting: C:\Users\Public\NPVR-data\scripts\PostStartup.bat
[12]
[12] C:\Users\Public\NPVR-data\scripts>start /b "" "C:\Users\Public\NPVR-data\Plugins\NextEnd\NextEnd.exe" --monitor
[13] A fatal error occurred, the required library hostfxr.dll could not be found.
[13] If this is a self-contained application, that library should exist in [C:\Users\Public\NPVR-data\Plugins\NextEnd\].
[13] If this is a framework-dependent application, install the runtime in the default location [C:\Program Files\dotnet] or use the DOTNET_ROOT environment variable to specify the runtime location.
[9] C:\Users\Public\NPVR-data\scripts\PostStartup.bat has exited

Attached are the bat files I used.

Rex

[mvallevand]

Rex, did you edit runitime data in step 2? If so could you pass it to me too please.

Martin

[VCR58]

Rex, did you edit runitime data in step 2? If so could you pass it to me too please.

I'm using the default folder C:\Program Files\NPVR for the v5 binaries so I did not edit the file but here it is.

Rex

[mvallevand]

From the command prompt, if you change into the binary folder

CD: /d "C:\Program Files\NPVR
and then run
start /b "" "C:\Users\Public\NPVR-data\Plugins\NextEnd\NextEnd.exe" --monitor

does it work?

If not what about

SET DOTNET_ROOT="C:\Program Files\NPVR"
start /b "" "C:\Users\Public\NPVR-data\Plugins\NextEnd\NextEnd.exe" --monitor

Martin

[VCR58]

From the command prompt, if you change into the binary folder

CD: /d "C:\Program Files\NPVR
and then run
start /b "" "C:\Users\Public\NPVR-data\Plugins\NextEnd\NextEnd.exe" --monitor

does it work?

If not what about

SET DOTNET_ROOT="C:\Program Files\NPVR"
start /b "" "C:\Users\Public\NPVR-data\Plugins\NextEnd\NextEnd.exe" --monitor

Martin

I tried them both and got the same error message as before.

Rex

[mvallevand]

If you run

copy "C:\Program Files\NPVR\hostfxr.dll" C:\Users\Public\NPVR-data\Plugins\NextEnd

does it work then?

If so I have to decide whether to document this or create a symbolic link if that works but let's see.

Martin

[VCR58]

If you run

copy "C:\Program Files\NPVR\hostfxr.dll" C:\Users\Public\NPVR-data\Plugins\NextEnd

does it work then?

If so I have to decide whether to document this or create a symbolic link if that works but let's see.

Martin

It still failed but this time I got a different error message...

[12] C:\Users\Public\NPVR-data\scripts>start /b "" "C:\Users\Public\NPVR-data\Plugins\NextEnd\NextEnd.exe" --monitor
[13] It was not possible to find any compatible framework version
[13] The specified framework 'Microsoft.NETCore.App', version '2.1.0' was not found.
[13] - Check application dependencies and target a framework version installed at:
[13] C:\Users\Public\NPVR-data\Plugins\NextEnd\
[13] - Installing .NET Core prerequisites might help resolve this problem:
[13] https://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkID=...lcid=0x409
[13] - The .NET Core framework and SDK can be installed from:
[13] https://aka.ms/dotnet-download
[9] C:\Users\Public\NPVR-data\scripts\PostStartup.bat has exited

Rex

[VCR58]

I downloaded and installed .NET Core 2.2 from MS and restarted v5. This time no error messages. Logs show a nextend-monitor.log was created so I think it's running.

[VCR58]

Also, I no longer need hostfxr.dll in the Plugins\NextEnd folder as NextEnd starts up without it. Looks like I just needed the .NET Core runtime.

Rex

I discovered later that hostfxr.dll does need to be in Plugins\NextEnd folder