Setting up NPVR Server? Change font size for Recrded Shows/Movie descriptions?

[mattman1968]

Just switched from W7/Media Center to W10/NPVR full-time...sorry for my influx of questions lately. Hopefully this will be the last.

I haven't found definitive instructions (at least to me) about setting up NPVR as a server. So, is it as simple as choosing the "Clients" tab, checking "Enable Web Server" and "Allow Remote Access", and choosing a web server port (80, 22, whatever...), and opening the port in my router and firewall? I believe that I read somewhere to also change the Username, Password, and PIN. Is this all correct?

From there, how exactly do I connect my client(s)? I have another desktop and laptop I would like to access the main NPVR server from. Do I just enter the same Access PIN and Username/Password? At what point would I specify the IP address and port for the server? Any clarification is appreciated, as the wiki is a vague.

Thanks!

Also, on another note, is there a way to edit the size of the font for Recorded Show descriptions and Movie descriptions? Reading it from 2 feet away on the PC is fine, but once it's on the TV it would be easier to read if I could make it larger.

[Graham]

I haven't found definitive instructions (at least to me) about setting up NPVR as a server. So, is it as simple as choosing the "Clients" tab, checking "Enable Web Server" and "Allow Remote Access", and choosing a web server port (80, 22, whatever...), and opening the port in my router and firewall? I believe that I read somewhere to also change the Username, Password, and PIN. Is this all correct?

First choose your client software ... Which software will you be running on the other computers that are not running the NextPVR Server service.

You can run the NextPVR software that is on the server computer on any Windows machine and connect from the client machine(s) to the server machine. The end result is that the client/remote machines will see NextPVR and the TV Guide and the Recordings exactly as it appears on the server machine. Other options include a web interface access via a browser ... Kodi with the NextPVR addon ... Kodi with the XNEWA interface and so on.

Running the "standard! NextPVR software on a remote client does not require any configuration at the server end except to share the folder that contains the database ... usually c:\Users\Public\NPVR. Install NextPVR on the remote computer, go to Settings --> Devices and tick on Act as client and enter the server name and sharename.

I'm pretty sure that you can try other client software on the local network without changing anything at the server end ... but someone might come along and tell us that i'm wrong.

[mattman1968]

Thanks Graham! I'll try this when I get home. FYI - my other PCs are Windows 7/10. Already installed NPVR on the laptop and could view my movie library & videos...even the recorded TV shows but that required adding them as a video folder. Your suggestion of sharing C:\Users\Public\NPVR and viewing NPVR on the client the same as the server is what I wanted to accomplish. Thanks again!

[mattman1968]

I set up my client and I guess it works. When I start NPVR it says it cannot find/connect to my server. However, it then flashes what the next scheduled recording is and I can browse/watch my recorded TV library, and even scroll through the TV Listings & watch live TV. It seems to lag, though, when selecting a show to watch but then seems to play OK. When exiting, a lot of times it hangs (not responding).
Also, it doesn't show my movie library (Movies Plugin) nor my videos library of various home movies. I know I can add the paths manually but I bring it up because it was mentioned that the client will see everything the server does. So I basically want to know if this is normal behavior or if I should try something else.

Thanks!

[mvallevand]

I am not sure how TV Listings plugin works in client mode but typically all plugins and libraries need to be manually set up on each client. You might be interested in the nlite client to avoid this.

Martin

[Graham]

I am not sure how TV Listings plugin works in client mode but typically all plugins and libraries need to be manually set up on each client. You might be interested in the nlite client to avoid this.

Martin

My bad ... I somewhat oversold the full client ... Martin is right that plugins (including TV Listings) need to be installed on each device running the full client and media libraries need to be specified for each machine at NextPVR Settings --> Media Folders.

For completeness, NextPVR stores configuration data in two files config.xml and npvr.db3 ... Full clients share the npvr.db3 and each machine has its own config.xml. The Plugins folder is also separate and on each machine.

[lost@c]

You might be interested in the nlite client to avoid this.

Martin

+1 for nlite. It works really well. It gives you the exact same look and feel as NextPVR on the server with only the inability to access settings etc.

[mattman1968]

I have played around with my clients more, and they more or less work as expected. I can view/watch my recorded shows and I have added my movies and home videos. NPVR is still slow to start and selecting tv shows is slow to respond as well. But once I am watching everything functions well.

I tried nlite but it didn't work, or I don't know what I'm doing. A cmd prompt opened and ran endlessly. No biggie, I can work with what I have.

Thanks all.

[mattman1968]

I downloaded the Nlite that sub posted on 4/13/2018 and it worked on all my machines. Don't know why the previous version would not work. Anyway, Nlite is much smoother/quicker on my clients than using the actual NPVR as a client (for me anyway). Thank you so much for your awesome work on this program/project!

3 questions:

1. When opening Nlite to full screen, the bottom taskbar is still visible as well as the top menu bar (with the X to close the window). Is there a way to go "Full Screen" to hide the taskbar?

2. Is there a way to activate OSD navigation buttons?

3. Is it possible to remote connect with Nlite? For instance if I'm traveling and I connect to wi-fi and SSH, or other, to connect to my home machine with Nlite?

[sub]

1. When opening Nlite to full screen, the bottom taskbar is still visible as well as the top menu bar (with the X to close the window). Is there a way to go "Full Screen" to hide the taskbar?

Did you try pressing Alt-Enter to switch to fullscreen mode? Best to do this when you're viewing a menu, not video.

2. Is there a way to activate OSD navigation buttons?

Not currently. This was added after I created nlite, and I think it requires a little bit extra stuff to be hooked up. I'll check what would be required.

3. Is it possible to remote connect with Nlite? For instance if I'm traveling and I connect to wi-fi and SSH, or other, to connect to my home machine with Nlite?

As mentioned in your other post, there is a "-server address:port:pin" command line that can be used to connect remotely, but since nlite streams the full bitrate streams, you'd need a good internet connection to be able to play smoothly.