Did I find a bug? A few actually

[tesla1886]

I am wondering if I found a bug or four in the software.

1. I have ripped all of my DVDs to my PVR and then imported them (in a lengthy process) in to NPVR. Part of this lengthy process includes manually editing the XML file with the proper meta data, including the original air date. The program I wrote to edit the XML file adds the original air date and the date added as the same. With in the NPVR software on the PVR the correct date is shown, however in the web version has the date 136 years and a month or so later. For example the first episode of the Rate Patrol aired on September 13, 1966. The software has this date, however the web version has a date of 10/20/2102. Every episode for every program that aired before January 1, 1970 has similar results as shown in the images below. I get the same incorrect date on the NPVR app on two Android devices
   
2. After connecting through to the PVR through a web browser, as long as I stay connected I can do what ever I like as long as I want, days even. However as soon as I close that tab, not window I am unable to connect again even seconds later. I have to restart the NPVR service or reboot the PVR to connect again. I am able to connect to the NPVR app on two android devices with no problems
   
3. Once I do get logged in I get a blank page and have to refresh the page for it to load, in Chrome and Edge at least it seemed to load fine in Firefox when I tested it, but I usually use it in Chrome.
   
4. Lastly any program that I attempt to watch through a web browser, whether ir be Chrome, Edge or Firefox I get an error that says "Failed to start stream" even after clicking "How else can I watch my live tv and recordings?" (which only opens a new tab) beneath the play window. Internet Explorer will log in but that is about it. I assume that is because it is "dead" and has been replaced by Edge. On the NPVR app I get a message that "Transcoding Started", and am able to move the time bar but the recording never starts. Attempting to watch Live TV has similar results. On Android devices live TV never starts, through a browser I get Streaming Failed (transcoder exited).
   

PVR is running Windows 10  build 19044.1706.

Log files attached

,:00:01H

[b]Failed  Buto start requested stream[/b]

00:00:01

[b]Failed to start requested stream[/b]

[BrettB]

1. After connecting through to the PVR through a web browser, as long as I stay connected I can do what ever I like as long as I want, days even. However as soon as I close that tab, not window I am unable to connect again even seconds later. I have to restart the NPVR service or reboot the PVR to connect again. I am able to connect to the NPVR app on two android devices with no problems
   
2. Once I do get logged in I get a blank page and have to refresh the page for it to load, in Chrome and Edge at least it seemed to load fine in Firefox when I tested it, but I usually use it in Chrome.

I think that these both sound like caching problems. I'd suggest that you try doing a Ctrl-F5 for any screens which aren't appearing correctly.

[BrettB]

1. Lastly any program that I attempt to watch through a web browser, whether ir be Chrome, Edge or Firefox I get an error that says "Failed to start stream" even after clicking "How else can I watch my live tv and recordings?" (which only opens a new tab) beneath the play window. Internet Explorer will log in but that is about it. I assume that is because it is "dead" and has been replaced by Edge. On the NPVR app I get a message that "Transcoding Started", and am able to move the time bar but the recording never starts. Attempting to watch Live TV has similar results. On Android devices live TV never starts, through a browser I get Streaming Failed (transcoder exited).
   

If I'm reading your log file correctly, I think that you are trying to use NVIDIA accelerated transcoder setting and that does not seem to be working properly for you. Try changing it back to CPU first and see if the transcoding (required to watch many recordings via the web browser) works properly.

FYI: Clicking the "How else can I watch..." button at the bottom of the screen normally just adds a text box under the player showing something like the following. (The IP address will be for your sever and the recording_id will be for whatever recording you are playing.)

Code:

Some of the most common ways to watch include: NextPVR.exe (on Windows), NLite, Kodi, VLC, or the NextPVR applications on the iOS / Android app stores. For more information see http://nextpvr.com/download.html

The native stream can be watched in VLC or other players using this network URL: http://192.168.1.10:8866/live?recording_id=xxxx

If clicking that link is opening a new tab, then I'm guessing you have your browser configured to always open links in a new tab rather than respecting the default specified in the link.

[mvallevand]

For one your custom XML is buggy, certainly the start time and end time are wrong and you have Movie in Season.

Code:

2022-07-09 20:38:36.193    [ERROR][75]    Unexpected error parsing EPGEvent xml: System.FormatException: Input string was not in a correct format.
   at System.Number.ThrowOverflowOrFormatException(ParsingStatus status, TypeCode type)
   at System.Number.ParseInt32(ReadOnlySpan`1 value, NumberStyles styles, NumberFormatInfo info)
   at NUtility.EPGEvent.Parse(String xml)
2022-07-09 20:38:36.194    [ERROR][75]    xml:
<Event>
  <Title>Knight Rider</Title>
  <SubTitle>Knight Rider 2000</SubTitle>
  <Description>In the future, guns are banned and criminals are frozen for the duration of their sentences. A recent spate of killings involving handguns brings Michael Knight back to fight for justice, but he insists on the help of KITT, his artificially-intelligent car from decades ago. The only problem is that KITT has been deactivated.</Description>
  <StartTime>5/20/1991</StartTime>
  <EndTime>5/20/1991</EndTime>
  <OriginalAirDate>5/19/1991</OriginalAirDate>
  <Season>Movie</Season>
  <Episode>0</Episode>
  <Rating>Select Rating</Rating>
  <Audio>Dolby Digital</Audio>
  <Genres>
    <Genre>Action</Genre>
    <Genre>Sci-Fi</Genre>
  </Genres>
  <Cast>
    <Member>Actor:David Hasselhoff</Member>
    <Member>Actor:Edward Mulhare</Member>
  </Cast>
  <Crew>
    <Member>Director:Alan J. Levi</Member>
    <Member>Executive Producer:Michele Goldman Brustin</Member>
    <Member>Writer:Rob Hedden</Member>
  </Crew>
  <OID>0</OID>
</Event>

On Hogans Heroes I see the start time is bad and the duration is not calculated which will fail on Kodi not sure about other clients.

If you want to use the Web player as your primary player you should have converted to a web friendly format not mpeg2video with ac3 sound. Or as Brett said you should consider a direct play client.

FWIW Rat Partrol from 1967 and Lost in Space and 12 O'Clock High from 1966 are showing up OK in my EPG so it looks like you might have a bit more research in creating the XML. Personally for a project like this I would have used NextTool with NFO files.

Martin

[tesla1886]

1. After connecting through to the PVR through a web browser, as long as I stay connected I can do what ever I like as long as I want, days even. However as soon as I close that tab, not window I am unable to connect again even seconds later. I have to restart the NPVR service or reboot the PVR to connect again. I am able to connect to the NPVR app on two android devices with no problems
   
2. Once I do get logged in I get a blank page and have to refresh the page for it to load, in Chrome and Edge at least it seemed to load fine in Firefox when I tested it, but I usually use it in Chrome.

I think that these both sound like caching problems. I'd suggest that you try doing a Ctrl-F5 for any screens which aren't appearing correctly.

After closing the tab and opening and loading a new tab I have tried to refresh. I still get an error that the website cannot be found.

I just discovered if I clear the history of Edge at least (I am not ready to clear the history of Chrome) I am able to load the page. Firefox does not problem loading the page after closing an older tab with it loaded.

Seems kind of, for lack of a better word, idiotic to have to clear history before being able to open the page again. I would disable cache, but it appears cache can only be disabled when developer tools is open which is something I don't keep open or even use.

I know Firefox is different from Chrome and Edge, but don't understand why it is a problem in two of the three but not the third.

[tesla1886]

1. Lastly any program that I attempt to watch through a web browser, whether ir be Chrome, Edge or Firefox I get an error that says "Failed to start stream" even after clicking "How else can I watch my live tv and recordings?" (which only opens a new tab) beneath the play window. Internet Explorer will log in but that is about it. I assume that is because it is "dead" and has been replaced by Edge. On the NPVR app I get a message that "Transcoding Started", and am able to move the time bar but the recording never starts. Attempting to watch Live TV has similar results. On Android devices live TV never starts, through a browser I get Streaming Failed (transcoder exited).
   

If I'm reading your log file correctly, I think that you are trying to use NVIDIA accelerated transcoder setting and that does not seem to be working properly for you. Try changing it back to CPU first and see if the transcoding (required to watch many recordings via the web browser) works properly.

FYI: Clicking the "How else can I watch..." button at the bottom of the screen normally just adds a text box under the player showing something like the following. (The IP address will be for your sever and the recording_id will be for whatever recording you are playing.)

Code:

Some of the most common ways to watch include: NextPVR.exe (on Windows), NLite, Kodi, VLC, or the NextPVR applications on the iOS / Android app stores. For more information see http://nextpvr.com/download.html

The native stream can be watched in VLC or other players using this network URL: http://192.168.1.10:8866/live?recording_id=xxxx

If clicking that link is opening a new tab, then I'm guessing you have your browser configured to always open links in a new tab rather than respecting the default specified in the link.

Yes I am using an Nvidia graphics card and transcoding was being handled by it. I switched it to CPU and now  I am now able to watch via web browser and the Android app.

Am I losing the benefits of having a separate video card with this setting or was I ever getting a benefit from an expansion video card? I figured that an expansion card would be better as it took a task away from the CPU as well as freed up system memory. Was I wrong on this thinking?

[tesla1886]

For one your custom XML is buggy, certainly the start time and end time are wrong and you have Movie in Season. 

Code:

2022-07-09 20:38:36.193    [ERROR][75]    Unexpected error parsing EPGEvent xml: System.FormatException: Input string was not in a correct format.
   at System.Number.ThrowOverflowOrFormatException(ParsingStatus status, TypeCode type)
   at System.Number.ParseInt32(ReadOnlySpan`1 value, NumberStyles styles, NumberFormatInfo info)
   at NUtility.EPGEvent.Parse(String xml)
2022-07-09 20:38:36.194    [ERROR][75]    xml:
<Event>
  <Title>Knight Rider</Title>
  <SubTitle>Knight Rider 2000</SubTitle>
  <Description>In the future, guns are banned and criminals are frozen for the duration of their sentences. A recent spate of killings involving handguns brings Michael Knight back to fight for justice, but he insists on the help of KITT, his artificially-intelligent car from decades ago. The only problem is that KITT has been deactivated.</Description>
  <StartTime>5/20/1991</StartTime>
  <EndTime>5/20/1991</EndTime>
  <OriginalAirDate>5/19/1991</OriginalAirDate>
  <Season>Movie</Season>
  <Episode>0</Episode>
  <Rating>Select Rating</Rating>
  <Audio>Dolby Digital</Audio>
  <Genres>
    <Genre>Action</Genre>
    <Genre>Sci-Fi</Genre>
  </Genres>
  <Cast>
    <Member>Actor:David Hasselhoff</Member>
    <Member>Actor:Edward Mulhare</Member>
  </Cast>
  <Crew>
    <Member>Director:Alan J. Levi</Member>
    <Member>Executive Producer:Michele Goldman Brustin</Member>
    <Member>Writer:Rob Hedden</Member>
  </Crew>
  <OID>0</OID>
</Event>

On Hogans Heroes I see the start time is bad and the duration is not calculated which will fail on Kodi not sure about other clients.

If you want to use the Web player as your primary player you should have converted to a web friendly format not mpeg2video with ac3 sound.  Or as Brett said you should consider a direct play client.

FWIW Rat Partrol from 1967 and Lost in Space and 12 O'Clock High from 1966 are showing up OK in my EPG so it looks like you might have a bit more research in creating the XML.  Personally for a project like this I would have used NextTool with NFO files.

Martin

I am not using any other clients other then the NPVR default.  Will a "bad" start / end time and incorrect or no duration / length time cause that big of a problem? I have not yet fully watched any of my ripped DVD's through NPVR but at least one file does start with out issue (project is still a work in progress). Will there be that much of a benefit to adding the correct start / end times and duration. I have given thought to adding the duration / length only as another piece of meta data. Is there a duration or length tag that I can add to the XML file. When I wrote the program I pulled all the information contained in an XML file from a recording(s), I did not see a duration or length tag nor did I see the duration or the length when viewing the meta data with-in the desktop app which is why I didn't believe it would be an issue to not add it.

I don't wish to use the web player or even the app as my primary player, just as an option when I am not able to use the software, when I am not at home for example. I use Handbrake to rip the DVDs and it has an option to optimize files for the web. However, WebM, MP4 / M4V, or MKVs are the only format options it has. What is the best one to use?

Why is the date a problem only when the year is prior to 1970 and only in the web app? The same program and the same date picker was used to add the date to the XML file? Of the programs you mentioned (The Rat Patrol from 1967 and Lost in Space and 12 O'Clock High from 1966) I only added The Rate Patrol manually, I do not have or watch Lost in Space and 12 O'clock High was recorded. Why does The Rat Patrol show correctly on your system but not mine? Does it show correctly on yours in both the web and desktop app? Again, please keep in mind the issue with the date is only in the web app and only prior to 1970.

If it helps I have attached a couple of the XML files that I used to import the video files into NPVR. I have attached a season of The Rat Patrol and a season of Hogan's Heroes, season 5 which spans the years 1969 and 1970.

If it matters, the issues I listed in my original post I have whether I am accessing the web app on the PVR itself or from another system.

I apologize for being a pain in the you know what, I am just trying to figure out these issues. I am an experienced Network / Systems administrator/ However, I have no professional experience with videos or XML files. This is the first time I have done something like this. Any and all assistance is very much appreciated!

[mvallevand]

You need to use the XML format that NextPVR is expecting, that's the way it works. If it is a time use a time not a date, usually with timezone information I talked about Lost in Space simply to show that NextPVR web can display 1966 shows.

I only know of the limitation on duration with Kodi.

Attachments need to be zipped, but on this topic I won't be checking them out, since I wrote NextTool so users wouldn't have to do what you are doing.

For the format it is not just the container, for web playback it would have to be h264 deinterlaced video and aac 2 channel audio. I am not sure how the NextPVR web client determines how recording can be direct played but faststart mp4 doesn't need to be remuxed.

Martin

[BrettB]

1. After connecting through to the PVR through a web browser, as long as I stay connected I can do what ever I like as long as I want, days even. However as soon as I close that tab, not window I am unable to connect again even seconds later. I have to restart the NPVR service or reboot the PVR to connect again. I am able to connect to the NPVR app on two android devices with no problems
   
2. Once I do get logged in I get a blank page and have to refresh the page for it to load, in Chrome and Edge at least it seemed to load fine in Firefox when I tested it, but I usually use it in Chrome.

I think that these both sound like caching problems. I'd suggest that you try doing a Ctrl-F5 for any screens which aren't appearing correctly.

After closing the tab and opening and loading a new tab I have tried to refresh. I still get an error that the website cannot be found.

I just discovered if I clear the history of Edge at least (I am not ready to clear the history of Chrome) I am able to load the page. Firefox does not problem loading the page after closing an older tab with it loaded.

Seems kind of, for lack of a better word, idiotic to have to clear history before being able to open the page again. I would disable cache, but it appears cache can only be disabled when developer tools is open which is something I don't keep open or even use.

I know Firefox is different from Chrome and Edge, but don't understand why it is a problem in two of the three but not the third.

When you say "I have tried to refresh", do you mean that hit the refresh button or that you actually did what I suggested and pressed Ctrl-F5? The refresh button will only reload the page from the website, but will still use the local cache when available. The Ctrl-F5 will cause Chrome to fetch everything (including the page scripts, etc.) from the website. With browsers, it is often necessary to force a full page load after the web app code has been changed in a new version.

[tesla1886]

1. After connecting through to the PVR through a web browser, as long as I stay connected I can do what ever I like as long as I want, days even. However as soon as I close that tab, not window I am unable to connect again even seconds later. I have to restart the NPVR service or reboot the PVR to connect again. I am able to connect to the NPVR app on two android devices with no problems
   
2. Once I do get logged in I get a blank page and have to refresh the page for it to load, in Chrome and Edge at least it seemed to load fine in Firefox when I tested it, but I usually use it in Chrome.

I think that these both sound like caching problems. I'd suggest that you try doing a Ctrl-F5 for any screens which aren't appearing correctly.

After closing the tab and opening and loading a new tab I have tried to refresh. I still get an error that the website cannot be found.

I just discovered if I clear the history of Edge at least (I am not ready to clear the history of Chrome) I am able to load the page. Firefox does not problem loading the page after closing an older tab with it loaded.

Seems kind of, for lack of a better word, idiotic to have to clear history before being able to open the page again. I would disable cache, but it appears cache can only be disabled when developer tools is open which is something I don't keep open or even use.

I know Firefox is different from Chrome and Edge, but don't understand why it is a problem in two of the three but not the third.

When you say "I have tried to refresh", do you mean that hit the refresh button or that you actually did what I suggested and pressed Ctrl-F5? The refresh button will only reload the page from the website, but will still use the local cache when available. The Ctrl-F5 will cause Chrome to fetch everything (including the page scripts, etc.) from the website. With browsers, it is often necessary to force a full page load after the web app code has been changed in a new version.

I get the errors in the attached images. I have tried to reload / refresh the page using several different options including pressing the "Reload" button seen in the Chrome image, right clicking and pressing reload, pressing the reload beside the "Home" button near the URL box at the top and pressing the ctrl + F5. This is the case in Chrome or Edge. I thought Firefox didn't have this issue, however I just tried it and only got a blank page.

I do experience an issue I THINK you might be referring to. When first loading the page, I get the expected login page, login then I get a blank page and have to reload / refresh the page and everything is fine after that. 

If it helps at all I made video that hopefully is more clear then how I described the issue. The Video can be found here Issue loading NPVR in web browser. The mouse pointer didn't record but hopefully you'll be able to follow.