2011-08-30, 05:39 PM
I've been testing mvallevand's new Network Recorder quite successfully using firewire from my Motorola cable box prior to it being released into the "wild". Now that it's out (in the wiki under plug-ins) and I've installed the production version, here's a report.
Martin helped me clear out some debris from the previous test version. Also, he provided an updated version of Network Recorder that requires a slight work around to install and configure. Here are his instructions:
I use Schedules Direct and it imported my lineup with no problems (I only have the channels of interest enabled in the SD lineup, a total of 27). I didn't even have to map the channels as I kept the same channel numbers as the cable box.
For firewire, one uses SageGraphRecorder (SGR) to interface between the firewire drivers and the Network Recorder plug-in. The firewire drivers are from TimMMoore and are quite old, but work fine in Win7 as long as it is 32 bit; there are no 64 bit firewire drivers. Also, the Win7 firewire driver has to be rolled back to the legacy version in Device Manager before installing the timmmoore drivers. You can google on exdeus to get an updated installer of the drivers and good instructions, or just go to this link: http://home.comcast.net/~exdeus/stbfirewire/
You also need to create a graph using Graphedit on your machine for SGR to use. It needs only two filters: the firewire tuner and the NPVR file writer.
The firewire drivers package also includes a firewire channel changer that works great, at least for me. However, you need to call it from SGR using a batch file as it requires more arguments than SGR wants to provide. My install pops up the command window for a few seconds when it runs, but there are ways to hide it, I understand.
So, how does it work? In a word, great! Solid recordings and live TV. In particular, live TV is very good with no audio-video sync or choppy issues for me. It pauses and rewinds just fine. This is probably due to Sub's work on the NPVR file writer and TS reader.
This removes the final holdup for me moving to NPVR, so I'm happy. Note that my cableco has all the channels of interest in the clear, no 5C or copy protections. YMMV.
Thanks Martin for the good work on this.
Martin helped me clear out some debris from the previous test version. Also, he provided an updated version of Network Recorder that requires a slight work around to install and configure. Here are his instructions:
- Stop the NPVR recording service
- Delete npvr.db3 to start with a clean database
- Start NPVR and add and configure Network Recorder
- Start the recording service
I use Schedules Direct and it imported my lineup with no problems (I only have the channels of interest enabled in the SD lineup, a total of 27). I didn't even have to map the channels as I kept the same channel numbers as the cable box.
For firewire, one uses SageGraphRecorder (SGR) to interface between the firewire drivers and the Network Recorder plug-in. The firewire drivers are from TimMMoore and are quite old, but work fine in Win7 as long as it is 32 bit; there are no 64 bit firewire drivers. Also, the Win7 firewire driver has to be rolled back to the legacy version in Device Manager before installing the timmmoore drivers. You can google on exdeus to get an updated installer of the drivers and good instructions, or just go to this link: http://home.comcast.net/~exdeus/stbfirewire/
You also need to create a graph using Graphedit on your machine for SGR to use. It needs only two filters: the firewire tuner and the NPVR file writer.
The firewire drivers package also includes a firewire channel changer that works great, at least for me. However, you need to call it from SGR using a batch file as it requires more arguments than SGR wants to provide. My install pops up the command window for a few seconds when it runs, but there are ways to hide it, I understand.
So, how does it work? In a word, great! Solid recordings and live TV. In particular, live TV is very good with no audio-video sync or choppy issues for me. It pauses and rewinds just fine. This is probably due to Sub's work on the NPVR file writer and TS reader.
This removes the final holdup for me moving to NPVR, so I'm happy. Note that my cableco has all the channels of interest in the clear, no 5C or copy protections. YMMV.
Thanks Martin for the good work on this.
HTPC: Optiplex 7010, HDHR Prime/Avermedia Duet A188, NPVR 4.2.5, Win10 Pro
Test:
Test: