Kodi 21.0 Omega/NextPVR 21.1.0 PVR & Live TV Group Manager

[bouilliabai]

Kodi 21.0 Omega, pvr.nextpvr-21.1.0

This is happening on 2 different Android boxes, one ARMv7, the other AArch64. It's unclear whether the problem is with the NextPVR client, Kodi 21.0, or possibly even a sync issue with the NextPVR server.

Since Kodi Nexus, the All Channels group has changed from listing Hidden TV channels (n) and Visible TV channels (n) in the rightmost two columns to Ungrouped channels (n) and Channels in All Channels (n) respectively. These 2 columns for All Channels are still editable by short press selecting a channel to move it from one to the other, however, in other groups defined on the NextPVR server, selecting a channel by short press has no effect on either list. Furthermore, the Ungrouped channels (n) table is empty for each group, when it should include all active channels not in that group. Creating a new custom group in the group manager allows active channels to be moved between the ungrouped and grouped columns, however inactive channels are still shown under "Ungrouped", and selecting one of these channels causes it to disappear entirely.

Because the NextPVR server resets channel data each time the channel list on a device is updated, and IPTV channel data can change frequently, it is preferable to manage channels and groups within Kodi. Unfortunately, the issue described renders this process more difficult than it was previously.

[mvallevand]

The all channels group is managed by kodi so this would be for the kodi forum

[bouilliabai]

That's only part of the problem and a relatively minor one at that. Not being able to manage NextPVR groups from within the Group Manager is the larger issue. That and the curious behavior of the available channels for new groups created in the Group Manager.

[mvallevand]

Any group management done in Kodi is managed by Kodi and support would be by Team Kodi, NextPVR just sends it's groups.

Perhaps what Kodi is using as a key is changing when you rescan

[bouilliabai]

Indeed, a quick test with the IPTV Simple Client shows that group management is broken in Kodi Omega. No big surprise - after all, playback of DVD IFO files and ISO images was botched, now fixed in the nightly builds, and awaiting 21.1 for it to be implemented in a released version.

Meanwhile, the original question remains. While channels on tuner devices may not change very often, that is not the case with IPTV. But when the channels are updated in the NextPVR server, all settings on the Channels tab, including group affiliation, are lost. I get that the data is simply being read from the respective m3u files, but in the the case of hundreds or even thousands of channels, it could take hours to reconfigure the channels to ones liking. It seemed that the easiest way around this would be to manage channels and groups within Kodi and copy the TV.db file from one installation to another. What other approach might you suggest?

[mvallevand]

Sub would need to comment but for the next version, which btw won't support your Win 7, Microsoft's choice not sub's, he fixed an issue losing epg mapping on rescan maybe groups are also impacted.

Martin

[sub]

Meanwhile, the original question remains. While channels on tuner devices may not change very often, that is not the case with IPTV. But when the channels are updated in the NextPVR server, all settings on the Channels tab, including group affiliation, are lost.

It's not really clear what you're describing. When channels are first imported into NextPVR, they're assigned a channel id, name, number etc. These are not changed if you later use the 'Update Channels' button. I don't know what Kodi is using for their group management, but I'd assume channel id. This doesn't change when you update the channel list.

[sub]

FYI, let me repeat here a common bit of advice I often give...

When you're using IPTV, and you initially go to import channels from an m3u url, I'd recommend (before saving the channel list) that you use the channel group filter to untick all the groups and only tick those you actively want to import ("US Documentaries" or whatever). It's better to have a list of a couple hundred channels, instead of 24,000 channels you're never going to use. NextPVR will run significantly better, and be more responsive, without all this useless crap filling your database etc.

Another couple of useful bits of info:

- If something changes about your IPTV channels, like the stream urls, you can hit the Update Channels button, but hit Cancel rather than Save when you see the channel list. The existing channel streams would have been updated. The only thing that is changed in this scenario is the streamUrl (like if your username/password channel in the url, or if the server address changes etc). Everything else about the channels is unchanged.

- If you later want to add a few channels, do the 'Update Channels', tick the checkbox at the top of the list to unselect all the channels, then only tick the few channels you want to add (or use the groups filter if you want to add an entire group). Then hit Save. The newly selected channels will be added to your existing channels.

[mvallevand]

Sub my comment was more about the prerelease fix where epg mapping was being lost on a rescan. I forgot that for my Internet radio list I was losing groups every rescan even if the m3u didnt change, I thought it could be related

Martin

[bouilliabai]

It's not really clear what you're describing. When channels are first imported into NextPVR, they're assigned a channel id, name, number etc. These are not changed if you later use the 'Update Channels' button. I don't know what Kodi is using for their group management, but I'd assume channel id. This doesn't change when you update the channel list.

This behavior does not involve Kodi. Disabling a channel in the NextPVR web UI by unticking the checkbox next to it in Settings - Channels does not prevent it from reactivating when the channels are updated and saved. Similarly, customized channel details and group associations are lost. Furthermore, Auto Merge does not appear to be working between different providers, and it's just as well because I'd rather set that up on a case by case basis and not have recording forced from the highest priority device and play back from the lowest priority device.

Your advice is duly noted and much appreciated. In fact, it leads to a workable solution for updating channels while preserving existing customizations, even if the playlist links have changed. Will look into it further at a later time. Thanks.