npvr with ceton - bright house - tv guide/channel setup

[pvrdiy]

Folks

i'm trying to setup npvr with Ceton for brighthouse in FL. I am currently running WME with Ceton and it works just fine. Only issue is livetv and streaming of recorded show to my xbmc on atv, therefore npvr :-).

So far i configure npvr to see the Ceton tuner 1 [i am starting with the first one for now] using NetworkRecorder plugin. My next challenge is to setup TV guide/channels so i can record something. Can somone point me to what do i need to do next to setup TV guide/channels? there is no capablity to scan channels as outlined in the wiki @http://www.nextpvr.com/nwiki/pmwiki.php?n=Walkthrough.ConfigureQAMDeviceWithSDEPG. This is because of the networkrecorder pluging which uses sageDCT.

One other thing, i am doing this setup to move away from monthly fees. So Schedule Direct is a no starter because of monthly fees.

Thanks and looking forward for the npvr journey.

[mvallevand]

You don't need to scan SageDCTdevices, since CableCard tuners should be one-to-one with the channel you want. The channel you use in NextPVR is configured elsewhere. To set up your channels I suggest you take advantage of the free Schedules Direct trial, on the SD web site enable the channels you want and on the NetworkerRecorder configuration, use the Import button to download the list into NextPVR. Then got to the NextPVR channel configuration map the channels to the SD EPG data. Over the next week you can migrate to another source for the EPG data, but I consider SD a bargain and worh every penny if you want to be guaranteed EPG data.

AFAIK to use the Ceton's you still need to rent cable cards and have cable OTA is the only free option.

Martin

[pvrdiy]

Hi Martin

Thanks for the tip on trial. I got my account and created channels. But nextpvr is failing to display the picture. I'm getting a black screen and voice for @5-10 sec. Then the voice is gone completely with black screen. I tried to change the codec to ffdshow but no luck.

Let me know if you have any pointers that i can look.

regards.

[mvallevand]

Does sub's patch here help?

http://forums.nextpvr.com/showthread.php...post449983

Martin

[pvrdiy]

let me try. i'm running RC3. I am attaching my logs if they help.

I also installed SAF. For the life of me [pardon my ignorance] what is the difference between these settings : rendering, video decoding & audio decoding. Why npvr has customization for each and multiple options? WMC is doing all this in fly wherein it is pulling the right codecs but with mutliple permutation & combination, there can be lot of issues. I see lot of folks complaining about live tv issues like me.

[pvrdiy]

No luck with subpatch. I tried to disable audio decoding disable to eliminate audio issue but no results. The picture will show up for a second /few frames. After that either it will freeze or go blank.

[mvallevand]

When you have a digital video is a a "stream" of audio and video mixed together. It has to be split or demuxed into audio and video pieces. In simple turns the audio goes to the decoder to turn it into audio wave that goes to the audio player. The vdieo decoders turn the compressed video into raw video that gets displayed or rendered onto your monitor. WMC has this all built in but NextPVR users need to install them themselves. Gathering and configuring all of this is one set of woes.

The Ceton's aren't fully supported by NextPVR which is why you needed SageDCT. NetworkRecorder is hooked into NextPVR, but NextPVR's live tv prefers to original stream to look the same as if sub had created himself that is another. Sub has tried something in that last patch hopefully it makes LiveTV in NextPVR itself a little better.

Finally XBMC does this itself like WMC. Unfortunately XBMC isn't able to split all the Ceton file streams properly so this causes a third source of problems.

Martin

[mvallevand]

No luck with subpatch. I tried to disable audio decoding disable to eliminate audio issue but no results. The picture will show up for a second /few frames. After that either it will freeze or go blank.

Try increasing the delay in NetworkRecorder.xml to 4500 from 2000. After that upload the logs again.

Martin

[pvrdiy]

I bumped up the delay to 6000 and some success. i can view few channels.
My magic setting:

- video rendering : VMR9, Audio rendering/MR - Default
- MPEG2: LA video decoder, H.264 = disabled
- Audio Decoders : ffdshow

i think LAV video decoder with VMR9 did the trick. None of the cybercoder decoders worked.

Now the problem is with remaining HD channels. When i tune to them, no audio just blank screen. Brighthouse/Timewarner calls them premium channels e.g. disney junior, cnbc, cnn. With WMC i faced the same issue wherein i was not able to see them till i got the Tuning Adapter. I have it now and WMC is working fine.

Which setting should i change? i tried changing all the available options in h.264 but no luck. Do i need a unique combination of MPEG2 and H.264 to get this going?

Txs for support.

[mvallevand]

Many of your channels aren't returning any data so it probably isn't decoder related. Could you enable debug logging in SageDCT restart SageDCT and send the logs (I think they are in C:\ProgramData)

Martin