2.0.3 Problem with status

[Nistrod]

Something weird is happening....

I have attached a screenshot of the System plugin. This shows three shows being recorded.

ABC2 is on a different frequency to SBS2, but is shown on the same tuner.
SBS HD is on the same frequency as SBS2, but is shown recording on a separate tuner.

The logs say The Moon was recorded on the tuner WinFast DTV 2000 DS, and dont seem to state what tuner is used for the other two shows.

I have also attached a screenshot of the Status screen. This shows the same shows, but on different tuners.

I have also attached the logs. All shows appear to have recorded correctly (subject to pre-padding issues)

Ummm, whats going on?

[imilne]

It's possibly the System plugin getting its custom names mixed up. Can you confirm if the shows shown are definitely on those channels (ie Is There Life On Mars=SBS2, Rake=ABC2, The Moon=SBS2)?

[Nistrod]

Yes, Is There Life On Mars=SBS2, Rake=ABC2, The Moon=SBS2.

But even the regular status is showing two shows on different frequencies on the same tuner.

[BrettB]

But even the regular status is showing two shows on different frequencies on the same tuner.

Is one of the shows in its post-padding period?

I have seen this when npvr decides not to honor the post-padding for one recording in favor of using that tuner for another recording. The original show continues to be "recording" on the tuner, although with 2.0.3 it no longer continues writing data out to the .ts file. Once the post-padding period is past, the recording service with then remove it from "using" the tuner and run the PostProcessing.bat file. This behavior does cause the tuner status display to be confusing.

[Nistrod]

"Is There Life on Mars" 7.30 - 8.30 ... SBS TWO ... 60 mins recorded (i.e. no post padding)
"The Moon" 8.30 - 9.30 ... SBS TWO ... 80 mins recorded (i.e pre and post padding)
"Rake" 8.30 - 9.30 ... ABC2 ... 60 mins ( no pre or post padding)

Pre = 5 min, post = 15 mins

The screenshots were taken at 8.35, so yes, it would seem so.

It looks like the System display is getting the tuners wrong.
The DS2000 twin tuners are at the top of the list, so were the ones that were probably used, as shown in the Status.

It looks like the sequence was....

• NPVR starts "Is there life on mars" at 7.30 from SBS on DTV2000 (1).
  
• It started "The Moon" at 8.25 from SBS on DTV2000 (2).
  
• At 8.30 it switched DTV2000 (1) to the ABC to record "Rake"
  

Surely, it would have made more sense to leave tuner 1 on SBS and record both shows with pre- and post-padding, and use tuner 2 for the ABC.

[imilne]

Well I'm completely lost :confused:

Perhaps sub can check the logic that System uses, but it's basically:

Code:

foreach (CaptureSource cs in CaptureSource.LoadAll())
{
  foreach (ScheduledRecording rec in ScheduledRecording.LoadAll(true))
  {
    if (rec.CaptureSourceOID == cs.OID)
    {
      // decide if it's an active recording and display

If the tuner that was assigned to record something changes part way through a recording (does that happen?) and then the info in the database doesn't update to say a recording's capture source has changed, then there's not much I can do about it.

But I'm not even sure I understand what's going on here anyway...

[Nistrod]

OK, one problem at a time.
It seems that System is always getting my tuner names wrong. I've never really looked at that bit, but with a single recording, its got the wrong tuner listed.
Looking in config.xml, it seems that the tuner names are screwed up. I have no idea how.

I currently have:
[INDENT]<Tuners>
<Tuner oid="23" name="WinFast DTV Dongle Gold BDA Filter (DVB-T)" />
<Tuner oid="22" name="WinFast DTV1000 S BDA DVBT Tuner (DVB-T)" />
<Tuner oid="20" name="WinFast DTV Dongle Gold BDA Filter (DVB-T)" />
<Tuner oid="21" name="WinFast DTV1000 S BDA DVBT Tuner (DVB-T)" />
</Tuners>[/INDENT]

which aint so!

As a result:

1. Can I change these manually?
   
2. How do I match them with Settings idea of tuners?
   
3. Why is there are list in config.xml if the database also has one?
   

[imilne]

[*] Can I change these manually?

Yes, if you want. Although I'd suggest deleting the <Tuners> section entirely which will let the System plugin recreate the list automatically the next time it runs. I'd like to know if it gets them correct or not.

[*] How do I match them with Settings idea of tuners?

If System was doing its job properly, you wouldn't have to
But if you want to be sure, you could always peek at the OIDs for the actual tuners in npvr.db3

[*] Why is there are list in config.xml if the database also has one?

It's because people wanted the ability to rename their tuners. Some names as reported by Windows (which is all NPVR uses) can be very verbose and don't display very well with a 4:3 skin for example.

At one point in time I just let the System plugin rename the actual entries in npvr.db3 but then decided that might not be safe, which is why it now maintains its own list of custom names, which is supposed to be matched back to the actual tuners via their ID. But something obviously isn't working quite right with that. I'm not sure if the IDs change if you reorder tuners, or if you add or remove them from the PC itself. It's all stuff I need to investigate.

Iain

[Nistrod]

OK, I deleted the section.
The next recording showed the correct tuner, but config.xml was not updated.

[imilne]

Perhaps it only rewrites that if you visit the Rename Tuners tab that forms part of the System plugin's Settings screen. I can't recall for sure (and don't have the source code to hand).