Standby/Sleep During Playback

[fla]

Maybe a diagram will explain better what I'm trying to say.

Code:

Windows Awake--------sleep delay------>SSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS
           PPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPP!!!PPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPP
NextPVR    [<-----Play channel A---------->]   [<-----Play channel B---------->]

In my diagram, windows will try to put the idle server to sleep after the configured sleep/hibernate time has passed (denoted by 'S'). Luckily NextPVR makes power requests while playing to prevent this from happening (denoted by 'P'). Unfortunately during a channel change there is a window of vulnerability where there is no 'P' (denoted by '!') which allows Windows' ongoing efforts to put the server to sleep to unfortunately succeed.

Notes:

• A fast server appears idle to Windows even while serving live TV to a LAN client.
  
• A keystroke on the server resets the sleep delay to zero giving "sleep delay" more minutes safe from sleep, but a power request clearly doesn't reset the idle timer.
  
• Delaying the "No longer active" power request described previously is an effort to remove the area marked by exclamation marks in the diagram.
  

[mvallevand]

Yes that is what I suspected but what is your unattended Windows sleep mode setting? If you used WOL to wake it and never touch the server that would be in play here.

Martin

[fla]

I unhid the unattended Windows sleep mode setting interface which was set to 2min by default. I set it to 15min just like my hibernate setting (sleep is never). It made no difference. After watching a 30min TV show, the sleep/sleep unattended/hibernate timeout is well expired and Windows jumps at the opportunity in between channels when nothing is asking for power to put the server to sleep.

My suggestion earlier was for the NextPVR service to read the power setting (sleep/sleep unattended/hibernate timeout/whichever) and delay by that amount of time the withdrawal of the power request. If a new power request arrives in the meantime to play channel B, the pending withdrawal of the power request for ending playing channel A is dropped.

[fla]

This problem is biting me again trying to use kodi on Windows. If I watch a 30 min TV program then press "Stop" then go to power and select "Exit", kodi hangs. Windows will then popup that kodi is not responding and ask if I want to force close it or wait for it to respond. If on another PC a WOL is sent to the nextpvr server seconds after the "Stop", then kodi exits normally after the server wakes up.

On libreelec you never quit kodi so I never saw this particular problem.

As requested earlier, the nextpvr server should maintain an active power request for a grace period (sleep unattended setting?) after playing/serving media stops.

[fla]

NextPVR version: 7.0.1.241229 on Windows 11

Problem: NextPVR server hibernates during playback in kodi over LAN

1. Started a 2.5 hour recording
   
2. An hour later, started playing in kodi in another room over the LAN
   
3. The playback froze when the recording ended and the server hibernated
   
4. Woke up the server with the "Advanced wake on LAN" kodi addon
   
5. Watched another 15 min and the server hibernated again
   
6. Went to the NextPVR room to finish playing the recording
   

Tested today with "powercfg /requests" and NextPVR only has active power requests during recording and Live TV but not during playback in kodi over the LAN.

It would be great if whatever power requests happen for Live TV and recordings also happened for playback over the LAN.

[fla]

I tested playing a completed recording over the LAN in a web browser (firefox Windows 10). The NextPVR server (Windows 11) has no power requests so it's not just with kodi.

Can someone confirm if there are power requests on their Windows server while playing a completed recording over the LAN with kodi or a web browser? Not Live TV or a recording in progress which do make power requests.

Code:

powercfg /requests

My CPU and disk activity in task manager on the server are almost nothing during playback so it's no wonder Windows 11 puts the machine into standby.

[Bobins]

NPVR does not create power requests during playback. To my knowledge I've only ever seen it do that during recordings (which includes live TV with time shift buffer effectively being a recording).
I too have seem my system sleep during playback of a previously recorded programme. In my case it's set to sleep just gone midnight and occasionally I'm watching something not noticing the late hour :-)
I have a scheduled task which checks a recoding isn't in progress after midnight before triggering sleep.

Ray

[fla]

Thanks @Bobins, good to know it's not just me. The original post was about standby during playback and that is still a problem today. Perhaps the code is such that making a power request during playback and maintaining it during pause would be difficult to implement.

As a workaround, users could record something unwanted during playback and cancel/delete it when done playing back just to get the power request protection that provides.

[gEd]

As a slight tangent, I have a scheduled task that wakes the PC at 5pm and sets the power profile to stay awake until 1am, which covers the period during which I would ever want to watch TV (or listen to music). Another task runs at 1am to switch the power profile to power saving so that it wakes when it needs to and then sleep after 20mins.

[mvallevand]

It is not setting power requests, the OS sends requests to sleep to NextPVR which need blocking.

If multimedia sleep sharing settings aren't being respected, with Kodi one workaround is to record from NextPVR to an always on NAS and then Kodi will play from the NAS. When the playback stops and if the server has gone to sleep pvr.nextpvr's WOL settings should wake the server up so the resume point etc can be set and you can continue on. You shouldn't need alternative WOL addons.

Martin