Documentation for setting up client/server?

[dtronvig]

[SIZE="3"]Okay, so I have v0.99.5 installed and I'd like to set up client and server. I haven't set up client/server under the old version or the new, and the info on the wiki "may or may not be compatible with this new feature".

Is there some basic documentation collected somewhere for setting up client/server under the current version?

Thanks,
Drew[/SIZE]

[sub]

There isnt really any documentation on this, but for most people its been pretty straight forward. Usually people just install GB-PVR on the client machine, go to the capture source tab and tick the 'act as client' checkbox, then key in the server name and UNC path to the shared GB-PVR directory on the server.

[dtronvig]

Sounds good. Mind if I add that on the wiki?

Thanks,
Drew

[dtronvig]

Okay, I'm trying to set it up, but at this point when I start GB-PVR the rainy logo box flashes on and off in a fraction of a second but the main screen doesn't come up. There's no GB-PVR application running, but I have the RecordingService and Tray processes running. I'm guessing this means I don't have it set up right.

Not having a clue how the client machine would act as a client using Streaming, I'm trying File sharing. The server has the network name Musicbox, and its D: drive is shared as D and mounted on the client machine as M:. I've tried a few variations, but here's what I have at the moment:

On the server, I've set the Recordings Directory and the LiveTV Buffer Directory to D:\. I have one Video Library Directory, D:\, named Video.

On the client, under Capture Sources, I have Configure as client Using File Sharing. The server is Musicbox. Recordings Share, TV Buffer Share and Database Share are all M:\ (I've also tried setting the Shares to \\Musicbox\D\, with the same results). Under Directories, Recordings Directory and Live TV Buffer Directory are both set to M:\, and the sole Video Library Directory is M:\, with the name Video.

I've turned off all firewalls.

So clearly I'm missing something. Do I need to specify a UNC with some particular GB-PVR name? Would it be better to use Streaming, and if so what would I put as the Database Share?

Thanks for any guidance,
Drew

[sub]

zip and attach the logs and I'll take a look.

Would it be better to use Streaming, and if so what would I put as the Database Share?

I prefer streaming. The database share should be a unc path to the server which is sharing is gbpvr directory (something like \\server\gbpvr)

[dtronvig]

I'll try the streaming method. In the meantime, here are the logs.

Thanks,
Drew

[sub]

A couple of things.

1) server name should be "Musicbox" instead of "\\Musicbox"
2) You've entered the share as \\Musicbox\D\ but this is not the GB-PVR directory shared on the server - I'm guessing its the "D:" drive on your server. What you need to do is share your GB-PVR directory (ie, c:\program files\devnz\gbpvr)

[dtronvig]

Aha.

Let's say I share c:\program files\devnz\gbpvr as GBPVR. Should I mount \\Musicbox\GBPVR as a volume on the client machine and use that volume for the Shares or should I just use "\\Musicbox\GBPVR" for the shares?

Thanks very much for your help,
Drew

[sub]

You dont need to map the drive on the client, just specify \\Musicbox\GBPVR for the database share.

[dtronvig]

Okay, I have it working with streaming now, though the stream is struggling a little. I get some dropped frames and occasionally frozen video for a second or two. Are there pointers somewhere for smoothing that out?

GBPVRRecordingService.exe on the server is never using more that 5% of CPU. Is this the process that's sending the video? I have a gigabit connection between the server and client. The client has a 2GHz Pentium M and dual monitors. The video on the original window is very choppy, which is not a problem but might be a symptom of something. The full-screen video on the second monitor is pretty good, but still drops frames. Should I expect some limit for the stream speed and adjust the capture bit rate until it's smooth?

Any suggestions would be welcome.

Another question: With the client machine using streaming, are the local Directories used at all or are they now irrelevant?

Thanks,
Drew