Issues watching one channel, new problem

[Ricknextpvr]

In the past few days, I have not been able to watch NBC Nightly News.  If I try to watch via the TV directly, live, it's fine.  With NextPVR, I normally start watching a few minutes in, and skip commercials.  Now, when I click on it, nothing happens,  If I try to watch live via NextPVR, nothing happens.  Watching CBS or ABC news, no issues.

My first guess was weak signal, but watching live via the TV directly says that's not it, coupled with watching the channel after the news ends works fine.  Now, with the little I understand about DRM, I'm wondering if they're encoding something that my old HD HomeRun boxes can't decode, but the TV can.  But why would they encode one program?  We watched a few nights ago without issue, as well as a program recorded on the same channel, Transplant, without issue.  So it seems to just be the Nightly News.  

I've attached the logs to see if they show anything (news is 6:30PM tonight), but if there's anything I should look at during the broadcast please advise.

I had looked into updating to the newest HD HomeRun boxes to take advantage of my 4K TV, but it appeared to me that they're having DRM issues also, and it would simply be wasted money.  It's also unclear to me how many shows are broadcast by the major networks in the top resolution.

I've been exploring things in planning for the demise of Windows 10, trying to figure out the best long term solution that doesn't break the bank.  I was thinking switching to Linux Mint on the same PC I'm using now (assuming I can figure that out).

Any insight into my current problem is appreciated.

[mvallevand]

You NBC issue is signal related, you might need a rescan or some antenna changes

2025-06-29 18:27:08.686 [DEBUG][4] locked=0, present=0, strength=0, quality=0 (took 0ms to check)

The only DRM is on ATSC 3 channels which won't impact ATSC, except sometimes ATSC1 is on weaker towers.

I would suggest using the Silicondust HDHR utility "C:\Program Files\Silicondust\HDHomeRun\hdhomerun_config_gui.exe" and seeing if you can tun NBC on physical channels 32 or on another frequency. If it finds it you need to rescan in NextPVR

Martin

[Ricknextpvr]

Thanks Martin, that is exactly the logic I was following, until I realized that the same channel records fine for the show midweek, and right after the news. How can there be no signal at 6:27 yet a signal exists at 7:15?

Update:

I have 2 HD HomeRuns. Each with 2 tuners. On 3 of the tuners, I can tune to 32. On the 4th tuner, it won't do anything but 20...

[mvallevand]

I wanted you to check the app to see if it was consistent and good quality. The successful views took a few seconds to lock which is a lot for ATSC

Martin

[Ricknextpvr]

The one tuner issue seems to have resolved itself. I have rescanned both in NextPVR, then deleted and refreshed the channel guide.

As an experiment, I have set recording tonight for the 6PM local news, then the 6:30 National News, then the 7PM game show. It will be interesting to see what, if anything, has issues.

Signal strength isn't the problem, NBC is 66%, as is ABC which works fine.

[Ricknextpvr]

So, I successfully recorded, and could watch, the 6PM local news.

At 6:32 or so, I attempted to play the ongoing recording for the 6:30 news.  It would not play.  I attempted to watch it live.  Nothing.
I switched to live on my TV, and it plays fine.
I then switched to watch on HD HomeRun and it PLAYED FINE.

My recordings are all set to start 3 minutes early, and end 5 minutes after.  So, I then went back to the 6PM recording of the local news, and fast forwarded to 6:30, and saw the first few minutes of the national news just fine.   

Once the 6:30 - 7PM slot has passed, it shows the 6:30 recording as "Failed" due to no signal.

Similarly, I went to the recording I setup of the game show that starts at 7PM, and it picks up the last few minutes of the 6:30 news.

One other thing to note.  Up until the beginning of June, this was the National News with Lester Holt.  Then, Tom Llamas took over, so I had to delete the programmed recordings and setup new ones, because the title of the show changed.  It recorded fine for weeks.  The issue began recently, so the recordings were working fine at first.

I'm stumped.  I've proven that the issue resides in NPVR I believe, because the HD HomeRun software lets me watch it.  Yet, NPVR plays it just fine as part of the 6PM recording.  And, it's not the recording of the show that's the issue, because it won't let me watch it live either via NPVR.

I am intrigued as to the next steps.   I would delete the pending recordings, exit the program, enter the program, and re-setup the recordings.  But I will await your input.

Thanks much!

[mvallevand]

This time it wasn't a signal error it was a driver error

2025-06-30 18:55:25.458 [DEBUG][4] Unexpected error on ATSC put_TunerRequest: 0x8000FFFF

Perhaps reinstall your Silicondust drivers.

Martin

[Ricknextpvr]

What I don't understand is why the shows on either side of it record fine, AND they both capture the same content (first minutes and last minutes)?

Why would a driver issue exist just a 6:30 on NBC?

[mvallevand]

You have two HDHR devices with two tuners each. Not only does this mean that they have different characteristics but it mean you have at least one splitter, maybe more.

When you rescanned 103A3306-0 did you empty out and copy the new scan to the other tuners? This is not automatic.

Note you don't need to scan all the way to channel 68 scanning to 36 is good enough in 2025. Also you can save time and not set the EPG mapping to SD rather that ATSC

Not this in logs your NBC channels isn't even on all your tuners, (which could be because of a weak signal).

Code:

2025-06-28 19:28:01.853    [DEBUG][28]    StartStream(7222:NBC - WDIVDT 4)
2025-06-28 19:28:01.854    [DEBUG][28]    looking for capture source (in reverse priority order)
2025-06-28 19:28:01.854    [DEBUG][28]    checking: IPTV (http://...)
2025-06-28 19:28:01.854    [DEBUG][28]    checking: HDHomeRun Device 1042E174
2025-06-28 19:28:01.854    [DEBUG][28]    checking: HDHomeRun Device 1042E174
2025-06-28 19:28:01.854    [DEBUG][28]    checking: HDHomeRun Device 103A3306
2025-06-28 19:28:01.854    [DEBUG][28]    enabled and present
2025-06-28 19:28:01.854    [DEBUG][28]    does not have channel
2025-06-28 19:28:01.854    [DEBUG][28]    checking: HDHomeRun Device 103A3306
2025-06-28 19:28:01.854    [DEBUG][28]    enabled and present
2025-06-28 19:28:01.854    [DEBUG][28]    does not have channel
2025-06-28 19:28:01.854    [DEBUG][28]    checking: Silicondust HDHomeRun Tuner 1042E174-1     (QAM)
2025-06-28 19:28:01.854    [DEBUG][28]    enabled and present
2025-06-28 19:28:01.854    [DEBUG][28]    does not have channel
2025-06-28 19:28:01.854    [DEBUG][28]    checking: Silicondust HDHomeRun Tuner 1042E174-1     (ATSC)

Martin

[Ricknextpvr]

Yes, I scanned one new tuner, then copied to the other 3. I did this today, June 30th, so that log info is obsolete. That is why I provided the new log info.

I just went in and deleted the program and set it up again. Let's see why tomorrow brings.