[KNEWC] Read me first

[mvallevand]

This forum is for the support of  knewc (Kodi New Client)  If you see one of the following screens, which I call the dashboard you are using knewc and to avoid confusion I hope that everyone refers to it by name and not the the Kodi NextPVR plugin or addon which should refer to sub's excellent Kodi PVR addon  called pvr-nextpvr 


The UI client offers pretty much the complete NextPVR look and feel in Kodi using Kodi for playback in both version 4 and 5 of NextPVR



Martin

[mvallevand]

What is KNEWC

• it is a python addon for Kodi that provides access to NextPVR recordings, deletions, schedulings. search, resume logic, EPG and LiveTV via NEWA's web services in version 4 and sub's external API in v5 and the NextPVR streaming backend.
  
  
• it extends features of NextPVR to Kodi that aren't currently available in pvr-nextpvr
  
  
• it provides the UI client functionality bringing the NextPVR GUI to Kodi
  
  

What isn't KNEWC

• It is not sub's fantastic Kodi PVR addon
  
• it is not fully integrated with the Kodi TV Shows and Movies database, NextPVR is the source of all metadata and art
  
  

Why would I use KNEWC and not sub's Kodi addon?

• you really should try sub's plugin first
  
• navigation support for recordings in progress in some platforms*
  
• comskip*
  
• transcoding playback support
  
• full PVR functionality of almost all NextPVR functions in Kodi without a need for a NextPVR client
  • show and resolve conflicts when scheduling or from EPG
    
  • set recording priority
    
  • archive
    
  • sort recording lists
    
• UI client - Full NextPVR interface
  
• you dislike the Kodi GUI.
  

Why would I use Kodi and not the Windows NextPVR client?

• you use Kodi and want a PVR
  
• you want to use Kodi Audio Engine
  
• you have trouble with codecs etc on Windows
  
• excellent navigation in ts files small and long jumps
  
• want to use your phone/tablet to control your player (big for me)
  
• you want to use cheap PC. (it runs on Linux without needing $100 for Windows, also on some small Linux and Android devices, ie Pivos, RPi, FireTV.
  
• Some people find Kodi playback of NextPVR recordings is more reliable than the Windows client
  
• you want a non-windows client.
  

How do I install Kodi and KNEWC

Kodi http://wiki.xbmc.org/index.php?title=First_time_user
KNEWC https://forums.nextpvr.com/showthread.ph...#pid463553 (a few posts down)

[mvallevand]

General Usage Tips

For the most part the key actions are self explanatory but a few keys are hidden in the EPG

- the Kodi remote keys takes getting used to after NextPVR, I also suggest trying with a mini keyboard.
- hit P or Play to play directly without going into the EPG
- hit a number to enter a channel number, or Info when there are no numbers
- hit Home or Menu to jump in EPG by days and many hours
- returning while video is playing in the EPG will continue
- web client doesn't support mouse or touch actions
Here is an example of some of this
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uYPXw8wV1XU
EPG Setup
Use Setting to configure the number of hours to show and number of columns in the guide. I like 8 rows (Row Height 55) and 3 hours (Display Interval 150)

NextPVR newbies

Cancel will cancel an in progress recording and
Delete deletes a recording from disk and from the database

Watch in-progress recordings

If you save recording files to share you can navigate and use resume bookmarks

You can use Kodi's advancedsetting.xml and path substitution to your advantage to access files that you save to a C Drive or other drive paths that are shared even with linux systems

Also Hitting Escape does not stop video Stop or X to stop

Kodi Logs

Kodi logs a lot of data especially in debug mode. If I need them to debug, compress and send the kodi.log file found on you PC http://wiki.xbmc.org/index.php?title=Log_file#Location Note the disclaimers on the page that passwords of shares could be exposed. I probably need your npvr.db3 file but something might jump out at me in the logs.

Troubleshooting

If you get error message on startup and you have the correct IP in setup, ensure that you have the latest versions of NextPVR, all patches and NEWA updates and compress and post all your web logs and xbmc file in a new thread here.

[mvallevand]

Timeshifting in KNEWC

This is a v4 feature only and never worked well. This message is under construction

This feature is only available if your LiveTV recording drive is on a share or on a local drive. Also NEWA requires VLC for timeshifting.

To enable it go into Settings and choose the Timeshifting option. Two additional settings are used Pre-buffer and Post-Buffer (time in milliseconds) Pre-buffer determines how many seconds to write to disk before telling XBMC to play the file. If this value is too short, XBMC will simply play what it loads and stop. Post-buffer tells XBMC to wait after starting before playing. If this is too short the video will be pixelated as XBMC is generating errors trying to read idata that isn't saved yet.

Navigation works pretty nicely with the mouse and with direct time via numpad. The seven second rewind in XBMC also works quite well. FF and RW work but the XBMC implementation is not smooth. Also when FF if you read the end of the file it will stop.

Arrow key navigation is not like NextPVR but I found it really only useful when you have a been playing a show for a long time

Because of the way XBMC keeps track of elapsed time, I'd recommend not using pause if you are leaving the room, let it play so the time line grows and then seek back to the time you left. Navigating the timeline over commercials after this is a lot easier.

Martin

[mvallevand]

Installation Quiick Notes

Note I try to avoid requiring a new version on NextPVR whenever possible.

Installation from Repository

Before proceeding you should probably read up on Kodi repositories

https://kodi.wiki/view/Add-on_manager#Ho...repository

To install KNEWC I find it is easiest to install the NextPVR repository first.  After it is installed KNEWC will automatically download updates as patches are released.  You can configure Kodi to install automatically or prompt you for install updates.

To install the KNEWC NextPVR repository manually download the repository zip file

Code:

https://github.com/emveepee/X-NEWA/raw/master/repository.nextpvr.kodi-plugins-1.07.zip

To get the file when you are using ssh you can use curl

Code:

curl https://github.com/emveepee/X-NEWA/raw/master/repository.nextpvr.kodi-plugins-1.07.zip -O

Once the repository is installed you can install knewc and it's dependencies from the NextPVR repository that has been added.

Post installation

Onnce knewc is installed you will need to configure your NextPVR IP, PORT and PIN if you aren't running on the same PC as NextPVR.  This is done by open the configuration option for the "NextPVR New Client" addon.   

To enter configuration

From the icon right click, hit "C", or hit the context menu on your remote, or from the Kodi Main Menu

Add-ons->My add-ons->Program addon"->"NextPVR New Client"->Configure


Manual Installation

To download the plugin itself for manual installation, the current version is available here
https://github.com/emveepee/X-NEWA/releases

Install from zip and configure as above

Make sure your firewall is open for streaming from NextPVR on TCP port 8866. 

Autostart KNEWC

For those not interested in the Kodi functionality it is possible to have Kodi launch KNEWC on startup.  To do that find the Kodi addons folder http://kodi.wiki/view/Special_protocol#Available_Paths and in script.xbmc.knewc  and in there edit the file addon.xml and change    <!--extension point="xbmc.service" library="default.py"  start="startup"></extension-->  to  <extension point="xbmc.service" library="default.py"  start="startup"></extension>

Starting in Nexus the procedure has changed and you need to use an autoexec service as explained on the Kodi wiki https://kodi.wiki/view/Autoexec_Service  Attached are the files you will need.  Remember to follow the wiki and enable the add-on after installing it.

If you auto start KNEWC consider disabling pvr.nextpvr.

Additionally you can have UI Client start automatically in the add-on configuration menu.

[mvallevand]

To use comskip in knewc for recording you need to run from a share not http. Here is a note from dgeezer on how he got it working, You will need to configure the From and To according to your setup. Also Windows clients may need back slash in the From. It is also case sensitive.

Here is a copy of a simple advancedsettings.xml from my fire tv.

<advancedsettings>
<pathsubstitution>
<substitute>
<from>D:/NPVR_Record/</from>
<to>smb://192.168.1.14/NPVR_Record/</to>
</substitute>
</pathsubstitution>
</advancedsettings>

Here is the wiki page for this: http://kodi.wiki/view/Advancedsettings.xml

Also the userdata location varies based on the os of your hardware see here: http://kodi.wiki/view/Userdata

This was enough to get comskip working in knewc.

Also you probably want to tweak comskip if you don't want to cut commerials In comskip.ini use edl_skip_field=3 http://www.kaashoek.com/comskip/viewtopi...f=5&t=1381