Lost 2 Channels

[Rich A]

Overnight I lost both ESPN and ESPN2 for some reason.  They tune but all I get is a black screen and no audio.  System is a small HTPC that has been running 24/7 without any major issues for the last few years.  

Using an HDHR Prime 3-tuner cable card tuner.  All channels subscribed channels are working fine.  But not those two. 

I do not think this is a NextPVR issue ..

I have the same problem when using the HDHR live view program (silicon dust's program).  All channels work but not ESPN or ESPN2.  Same thing .. no error but just a black screen w/no audio.  

Now here is the strange thing.   We also have an Xfinity (Comcast) DVR and that DOES display and record ESPN and ESPN2 just fine.  So I'm thinking there has to be something going on with Comcast and their line up ??   I am using Schedules Direct for my EPG and that checks out okay.  I checked the channel numbers against the Xfinity DVR lineup and all the channel numbers are the same.  It looks like my cable card for some reason just decided to not decode those two channels any more?  I have started a thread on the Silicon Dust support forum also.  Waiting to hear from them before I submit a support ticket to Comcast. 

Everything worked last night .. I first noticed the problem earlier this afternoon.

[sub]

My guess is that the cable company has change the DRM on those channels.

You can probably view the HDHR web page while it's trying to record ESPN and see what it says. ie, it could say it's copy protected or something.

[Rich A]

Normally if I try to view a channel I'm not subscribed to, I get an on screen warning. But in this case no warnings etc., just blank screen with no sound. I also ran the HDHomeRun View app. (live TV viewer) and I don't get any warnings etc. there and get a black screen BUT I do get sound. Both these channels are HD.

Although I don't have the SD versions of those channels mapped to my NextPVR channel list, I also found I could view the SD version channels with video and sound okay using the HD Homerun Live view app.

[BrettB]

Normally if I try to view a channel I'm not subscribed to, I get an on screen warning.  But in this case no warnings etc., just blank screen with no sound.  I also ran the HDHomeRun View app. (live TV viewer) and I don't get any warnings etc. there and get a black screen BUT I do get sound.  Both these channels are HD. 

Although I don't have the SD versions of those channels mapped to my NextPVR channel list, I also found I could view the SD version channels with video and sound okay using the HD Homerun Live view app.

I'm wondering if the cable company may have changed the physical channel/tuning info for these channels. I think that the Prime gets that information (i.e. the mapping between the logical channel number that the user sees and the actual, physical transmission frequency/channel) when it does a channel "scan". Again, I think that--unlike a NextPVR ATSC/QAM scan where it actually tries tuning to each channel to see if there is a signal--the Prime's cable card "scan" ("Detect Channels") simply gets a list of the mappings from the cable company's transmission. I don't think that the Prime updates its mappings dynamically. So if the cable company moves channels around, you need to reconfigure that mapping in the Prime.

So, my suggestion would be to try going into the Silicon Dust's HDHR Setup/Config and doing a "Detect Channels" on a Prime tuner. When you do that, also look through the list for those channels and see if they have either the AVC (H.264) or DRM (copy protected) flag. Also note the logical channel number in the first column. As long as the logical channel number is the same, I don't think you'd need to make any changes/rescan in NextPVR.

[Rich A]

I'm wondering if the cable company may have changed the physical channel/tuning info for these channels. I think that the Prime gets that information (i.e. the mapping between the logical channel number that the user sees and the actual, physical transmission frequency/channel) when it does a channel "scan". Again, I think that--unlike a NextPVR ATSC/QAM scan where it actually tries tuning to each channel to see if there is a signal--the Prime's cable card "scan" ("Detect Channels") simply gets a list of the mappings from the cable company's transmission. I don't think that the Prime updates its mappings dynamically. So if the cable company moves channels around, you need to reconfigure that mapping in the Prime.

So, my suggestion would be to try going into the Silicon Dust's HDHR Setup/Config and doing a "Detect Channels" on a Prime tuner. When you do that, also look through the list for those channels and see if they have either the AVC (H.264) or DRM (copy protected) flag. Also note the logical channel number in the first column. As long as the logical channel number is the same, I don't think you'd need to make any changes/rescan in NextPVR.

 Thanks Brett,    
   I've checked and the channels in question are not DRM.  I've run the complete HDHR Prime set up .. Checked my Schedules Direct line up .. did everything I could in the HDHR Prime area (including checking for latest firmware).  Forgetting about NPVR for the moment .. I tried everything possible to get the HDHR live view application to play those two channels .. and just dealing with the Silicon Dust HDHR environment still can not get those two channels to show video.  BUT the HDHR live view program does have sound .. no video.  Note .. I added the standard def. versions of those channels to my HDHR line up  and they play fine.  They (the SD versions) also play fine in NPVR.  

Back to NPVR .. blew everything away .. re-set up and rescanned ..  just for kicks set up a test with 440 channels in a new channel line up.  438 channels (some paid normally drm, and regular .. SD & HD all work EXCEPT just ESPN and ESPN2 HD.

I'm lost .. Going to go back to my normal setup and will live with the SD versions of those channels for now until I can figure this out.   Don't why out of 440 channels ONLY those two won't play in BOTH NPVR and any other programs including the Silicon Dust HDHR Prime dedicated viewing programs.  

One other note .. the Comcast DVR does work.  And I CAN use my HTPC to stream ESPN and ESPN2 by logging into my comcast account and streaming those channels over the web.   But cannot view them with NPVR or even the HDHR View app.  I might re-install the Silicon Dust HDHR Prime DVR application just to see if that works.  (tried that when it first came out as a test and then removed it)

[Rich A]

Three hours with Comcast support this morning.  Worked my way up through to the highest tier of support (3rd level  tech) and they confirmed the problem BUT can NOT fix it.  They see that I'm getting all four of the ESPN digital channels I'm subscribed to but also see that 2 of them show no video .. ESPN and ESPN2.  They are stumped.  Tomorrow I will remove the actual cable card and bring it to the local Comcast service center for exchange.  Meanwhile they have their "engineers" working on it.  440 channels ... all working fine .. and only ESPN and ESPN2 do not work.  Sigh ..  meanwhile I've re-enabled the SD versions of those channels (which DO work) so I can watch the NY Giants Football team loose again ..  <grin>

[Rich A]

Spent the day working with Silicon Dust (HD Homerun Prime manufacturer)  They checked my Prime device and had me do a recording from a cmd prompt and send them logs and the sample video.  I did that and was surprised to see that the recorded test video was perfect.  No problems.  Both video and audio were normal.  They got back to me and said there was nothing wrong they could see.  And YET .. using THEIR "view" program I still get NO video.  I did more testing .. 

I found I could get their HD Home Run View program work normally and actually display video by installing the latest version of Video Lan.  (VLC)  I guess my default media player couldn't display the espn video at all and when I installed VLC then I was able to see video in the home run view application.  So is this a codec problem?  Something has changed with the video I'm getting from Comcast for (only) ESPN and ESPN2.  I'm going to putz with the codecs in NPVR .. been using all LAV for everything for a couple years now without issues.  First thing to try will be see if there is an updated version of the LAV codecs.  If not, I'll try some other codec set.

Also of note .. I've found that NPVR is recording normally .. no errors .. but when it's done I'm left with a zero byte file? I've seen this before. Not sure if it's related to prior times I've read about it here. I'll do a search here on the forum to see some examples.

[sub]

Also of note .. I've found that NPVR is recording normally .. no errors .. but when it's done I'm left with a zero byte file?

Has the channel number changed since it was originally scanned in NextPVR? With an HDHR Prime it basically asks for the stream by channel number.

[Rich A]

Also of note .. I've found that NPVR is recording normally .. no errors .. but when it's done I'm left with a zero byte file?

Has the channel number changed since it was originally scanned in NextPVR? With an HDHR Prime it basically asks for the stream by channel number.

Nope still 1205 and 1206 as it's been for some time.   I checked with my schedules direct account and it shows those channel numbers which match what I have here on the  NPVR program.  But ?? what if 1205 and 1206 are not correct?   No that can't be .. I also re-ran the hd home run prime setup yesterday and all the channel numbers were okay and the same as npvr (which I updated anyway and added a few new channels)

[sub]

I'd go to the tuner status page on the HDHR web app, and compare what it's saying when NextPVR is recording that channel vs the HDHR utility. ie, it'll tell you what channel number, what DRM status, whether there is a signal lock, and data rate etc. (or take screenshots of both, and post them here)