ubstream to MVP

[happyhammer]

cant get this to work. it works on the PC but i cant get it to stream to the MVP. i must be doing something wrong.

when i select a channel in the tv guide, the recoding icon becomes active but no stream on the MVP and it just hangs there. I'm using the supplied channel list and testing on a VLC station "Kulaks Woodshed" as this seems to work fine on the PC. and using the recommended settings:


recording parameters:
C:\Program Files\devnz\gbpvr\UbuStreamCmd.exe

{channel} out=#transcode{vcodec=mp2v,vb=1024,scale=1,acodec=mp2a,ab=192,channels=2}:duplicate{dst=std{access=file,mux=ps,url=^"{fullname}"^}}


preview parameter:

{channel}

any ideas what i'm doing wrong?

[ubu]

I don't have an MVP so I'm not sure if I can really help. Are you saying that these ExternalRecorder settings are working for you on your PC (without using the MVP)? If so, do they work in timeshift mode? I assume that, to view GB-PVR's mpeg output on the MVP, you must be running in timeshift mode.

Also, have you looked in the UbuStream log file to see if there are any errors? Make sure that the path/filename that "fullname" has expanded to is actually the correct location that GB-PVR is using for its cache file.

[happyhammer]

Apologies, i may have given erroneous info.
My GBPVR is in the attic so i normally vnc to it which may have confused me.

Timeshift is NOT working on the PC. A "ubustreamcmdexe - Application error" popup window appears when i select tvguide/watch for an internet tv station.
the message contains "application failed to initialise properly,(0xc0000142) "


the gbpovrrecordingservice log file has this:

30/06/2006 12:23:20.515 VERBOSE [6] Starting LiveTV for captureSource: 2 channel oid: 20 filename:
30/06/2006 12:23:20.515 VERBOSE [6] getValue cached value: /settings/LiveTVDirectory : D:\recording
30/06/2006 12:23:20.546 VERBOSE [6] Temporary live TV filename: D:\recording\Kulaks Woodshed programming._2_20060630_11501250.mpg
30/06/2006 12:23:20.546 VERBOSE [6] ExternalRecorder[5773521]: enter startRecording(qualityLevel:=5,filename:=D:\recording\Kulaks Woodshed programming._2_20060630_11501250.mpg,channelTuning:={4,''})
30/06/2006 12:23:20.546 VERBOSE [6] ExternalRecorder[5773521]: startProgram-StartRecording('C:\Program Files\devnz\gbpvr\UbuStreamCmd.exe','4 out=#transcode{vcodec=mp2v,vb=1024,scale=1,acodec=mp2a,ab=192,channels=2}:duplicate{dst=std{access=file,mux=ps,url=^"D:\recording\Kulaks Woodshed programming._2_20060630_11501250.mpg"^}}')
30/06/2006 12:23:30.906 VERBOSE [6] ExternalRecorder[5773521]: startProgram-NowRecording('C:\Program Files\devnz\gbpvr\UbuStreamCmd.exe','4')
30/06/2006 12:23:30.921 ERROR [6] Error starting live tv recording: Cannot process request because the process has exited.

[happyhammer]

couldn't get ubstream to work properly on the laptop either( no MVP), re-installed gbpvr and i now have timeshift working on the laptop.

So i will do the same for my live machine, i'll give an update then.

[ubu]

A "ubustreamcmdexe - Application error" popup window appears when i select tvguide/watch for an internet tv station.
the message contains "application failed to initialise properly,(0xc0000142) "

the gbpovrrecordingservice log file has this:

What does the UbuStream log file (UbuStreamCmd.log) contain at this point? The GBPVRRecordingService.log file only tells part of the story (GBPVR's interaction with the ExternalRecorder plugin). UbuStreamCmd.log tells us what UbuStream actually did.

BTW - have you tried just setting up an ExternalRecorder capture source for Kulak's Woodshed (without UbuStream)? In the UbuStream docs (and on the wiki page) I suggest this as a good way to isolate problems. That way you can separate the two plugins and it's easier to see what's going on. If you can get timeshift working with ExternalRecorder on its own then it should be relatively easy to apply the solution to running it via UbuStream.

[happyhammer]

the ubustreamcmd.log file was not being added to. This could have been because it was stopping as soon as it started. In any case, i re-installed gbpvr and am now getting some success.

the picture on the MVP is not great, blurring on fast movements, and the picture window is not fitting the TV that well, but progress all the same.
Will changing the vlc transcoder parameters help?
Also, i seem to get the vlc process remaining in the task mgr.

As a matter of interest, i have also some success on getting one of those chinese internet tv programs working, these use peer-peer,like bit torrents, if you google for TVUPlayer, its using vlc, so i can get say HBO, ESPN,etc from here in europe. If i run TVUPlayer on the GBpvr server, I just add a station with http://localhost: 8901 and use unstream to send it to the MVP.

So will start playing with settings to get the signal better on the MVP

[ubu]

Glad you got it working. Getting the ExternalRecorder part to fire on all cylinders does take a bit of fiddling about.

the picture on the MVP is not great, blurring on fast movements, and the picture window is not fitting the TV that well, but progress all the same.
Will changing the vlc transcoder parameters help?

Since I don't have an MVP, I'm the wrong person to ask. However, VLC is very configurable. The VLC forums might be a good resource. You could also try using Mplayer instead to see if that gives you better results.

Also, i seem to get the vlc process remaining in the task mgr.

That happens to me from time to time. I'm not sure why it doesn't close down properly. You could try using the Stop Recording Executable/Parameters on the External Recorder config screen and see if you can explicitly close VLC if it's still open after the recording has completed.

As a matter of interest, i have also some success on getting one of those chinese internet tv programs working, these use peer-peer,like bit torrents, if you google for TVUPlayer, its using vlc, so i can get say HBO, ESPN,etc from here in europe. If i run TVUPlayer on the GBpvr server, I just add a station with http://localhost: 8901 and use unstream to send it to the MVP.

Excellent! I'll have to try it out. What's "unstream"?

[happyhammer]

unstream is a TYPO !! meant Ubustream.

Will play around to see what i can do to get the MVP to play nice. The same stream plays well on a PC using VLC for example, so its just a case of finding if its possible to get it going well on the MVP.

[lrb]

Happyhammer - did you get the MVP playing nicely?
/Lars

[happyhammer]

no, but i have had no time to play around further with it either.

i did most testing using "kulak woodshed"

there are probably too many variables, the format of the broadcast, my internet connection speed, my gbpvr server power, no contol of how it streams to the MVP. sound and video out of sync.

Perhaps recording the internet TV channel for 5 or 10 mins first and then trying to watch it while its still recording might improve things a bit.