Version 6.1.4 initial install problems

[Rich A]

Some history: Sorry for long post.  This is a mere microcosm of the extended frustration I've been going through the last several months. 

Long time user of the old version 4 application.  Was runnng for years on Windows 10 version 21H2, and after an OS update to 22H2  I started having problems with NextPVR vs. 4.   Was an old HTPC and was starting to have reliability and hardware incompatiiity problems.  So I purchased a new small forum factor PC with Windows 10 pre-installed.   BUT it arrived with Windows 11.  I'm familiar with 11 and have it installed in a couple other PCs and have not had any issues. So I kept the new PC running Win 11 and installed a fresh most recent  version of NextPVR vers 4.  At that time the  new PC was running the then current (several months ago) Windows 11  version 21H2 (which was also same version but different build I was running on the old failing  Win 10 PC).

And Nextpvr 4 was still working okay on the new PC's  Win 11, version 21H2 PC.   I had disabled all Win OS major updates for 5 months and only had the antivirus still updating as I wanted to make sure the system was stable and working to my liking.  

Then sometime later in June I decided to turn off the windows update delay and get the Win 11 OS up  to date.   There were of course MANY updates including a few critical ones AND a major OS upgrade from 21H2 to 22H2.    And  that really messed up my NextPRV version 4.   Spent a ton of time trying to get it back to normal.  Finally gave up and removed NPVR 4 entirely and cleaned the system, and  installed a copy of Nextpvr 6.1.4 (23065).

Install completed quckly and was easy, and no errors.    But NextPVR 6  is also having a few major issues.   IMHO, some of the issues might be specific to an under-powered PC.   Too small a CPU and not enough memory although the manufacture said it was good for 11 and it passes all tests.   It's only a dual core Intel Celeron, with 8 GB RAM.   The only main application being run is NextPVR and a brower.  No email or anything else.  Just as it came out of the box from the manufacturer.  NO bloatware etc added either.  

But Nextpvr is having a lot of problems with occassional playback issues.   I also found some issues that are common to both the WEB and it's Desktop GUI versions.  I prefer to use the desktop app, but it has a couple problems I can't fix.   And the Web Version has the same play back issues along with some other new problems.   I don't know where to start.   Have blown it all away and re-installed NextPVR and no joy.   I do have a backup full drive image with older 21H2 Windows verson I can restore  (which I think was working okay before the upgrade to 22H2).  But that is likely to have the same problem happen when it ultimatly starts updating it's Windows environment in the future.  

Sorry for the long post.   Should  this Windows 11 ready small PC be able to run NextPVR okay?  Looking for advice.  Note I pretty much have Nextpvr set to be a close in configuration as the old vers 4.   Same decoders and settings etc.  But I'm not familiar with NPVR 6 and can't find a lot of the old user  settings as they are no longer available.     I've attached the logs.  

With the deskop app.
1. Playback stuttering and freezing once in a while.  Intermintant. 

2. scrubbing along time line also causes stuttering, long delays and often freezes screen entirly  Both advancing the playback postion with the mouse OR keyboard direction keys are slow, with jumps, pauses and long delays for the show to continue playing and usually just freezes.  Will usially only work ONCE and  then becomes totally useless until the  time  I start watching another recorded show.   Live TV playing (no jump forward of course) seems okay.  But if I pause it and try to restart or jump ahead the problem starts again.

3. When navigating a "list" of items the program seems to loose it's "focus".   Example.  a list of say 1 2 3 where I have highlighted item #2 if I select it and try to enable one of it's options (like delete the file) it will OFTEN delete not #2 but rather the previous item (#1).  #2 still has the focus and #1 does not but the item with the focus is not the one that is changed.   I've LOST a few important recordings that way.   To "insure" the proper one gets deleted I have to move off the selected item and select another one, and then back to the wanted one and re-select that one.   Usually that crazy sequence will work and the correct Item is then deleted.   Other multiple selection issues are similar.  It's like the programming is loosing it's orignal "focus" occassionally.  Doesn't matter what I'm tring to do.   Can choose a show and it's got focus and I select to view the details of the show I actually GET the details of the privious show in the list ...not the one that was selected.  

The Web app version actually Plays better and more smoothly but also has the same problem with scrubbing along the time line or using the arrow KB keys to jump forward and back on the graphical thumbnails.  Stuttering, long pauses and many total freezes. 

But more important is that the actual playback of any recorded show does not work at all with the web version.  I get an error that the browser is blocking the play back?    

What I have to do to get the video to play is to use the "gear" icon to bring up the settings pop up which has a couple audio settings.  Then just click on "apply and restart" and THEN the video will start playing normally.   But the same other problems still exist when trying to skip forward etc.

So where do I start ?? Help !

[mvallevand]

I didn't try and digest all that but any time I read that the web player works better than the desktop client, I suspect that the user doesn't have the LAV32 bit Video decoder installed, and your logs confirm that you don't have it installed.

Martin

[sub]

Should this Windows 11 ready small PC be able to run NextPVR okay?

NextPVR itself is compatible with Win11. Infact, all my development of NextPVR v6 has been on Windows 11.

The web app should be fine on slower machines for initial setup etc. A slow machine might not be up to playback in the web app though, but that's fine - you've still got NextPVR.exe for the same UI as you were used to in v4 (but with a few changes/improvements along the way).

The Web app version actually Plays better and more smoothly but also has the same problem with scrubbing along the time line or using the arrow KB keys to jump forward and back on the graphical thumbnails. Stuttering, long pauses and many total freezes.

Are you talking about the uiclient.html web page, or player.html?

But more important is that the actual playback of any recorded show does not work at all with the web version. I get an error that the browser is blocking the play back?

By default some web browser block playback of video, because they assume it's an advert and they don't want them auto playing. It's usually FireFox user's that encounter this. See the instructions here for couple of steps to allow video to autoplay in the NextPVR web app: https://forums.nextpvr.com/showthread.ph...858&page=2

[sub]

As Martin suggested, your issues in the desktop client might be related to the decoders you're using.

Try installing the LAV decoders from https://github.com/Nevcairiel/LAVFilters...taller.exe. You need to install at least the 32bit decoders, since nextpvr.exe is a 32bit app. Then select these as your active decoders, and see if it helps.

[Rich A]

Thanks Martin and Sub. I'll take care of the LAV decoder thing. I believe I originally installed the 64-bit version. Let me address that first and I'll get back to you. Thank you for the quick response. Been a long time since we've chatted. Follow up posts will be shorter .. promise .. <grin>

Sub asked: "Are you talking about the uiclient.html web page, or player.html?"

So far I have the usual task bar "NextPVR" icon similar to vers 4 and click on that to choose from the it's options, Show Status, Web App, Desktop App, and Exit. Gone is the "restart opton". I only access those two items (Web or Desktop) I guess what you call the uiclient is browser version? but what is the desktop version ?? Is that the "player html" you are reffering to? Anyway the one that seems to playback a little better is the Web App.

I will take a look at the firefox settings .. and switch over the LAV to 32 bit version.

[sub]

. I only access those two items (Web or Desktop) I guess what you call the uiclient is browser version? but what is the desktop version ?? Is that the "player html" you are reffering to? Anyway the one that seems to playback a little better is the Web App.

Your initial post had questions/comments about both the web app, and the desktop app.

The web app, has two different players included in it. The main one is player.html, which is used when you click on a channel or hit 'watch' on a recording etc. The other is accessed via the Settings->About->UI Client button (which views the uiclient.html page in the browser). You indicated you had a slow machine, so playback in the web app may not work well for you in these web based players (since it needs to re-encode in realtime into a format that can be viewed in a web browser)

The desktop client (nextpvr.exe) is pretty much the same application you were familiar with in v4. It plays the native streams, so doesn't have the extra overhead of having to re-encode the stream. Hopefully the issues you had with it will be resolved with the LAV decoder.

[Rich A]

I think I found the problem.  I checked the LAV which should have been okay.  I originally installed both the 32 and 64 bit versions.  Thought the NextPVR program would grab the proper version.  I uninstalled it and reinstalled "only" the 32 bit version anyway, and still no joy. Also checked the browser for issues involving video etc.  In the end tried both edge and fire fox, no joy. But good news! I believe I found the problem.

I found a NextPVR settng in the "transcoder" area with options for various video encoders.  My micro PC has an integrated  Intel GPU so when I first set up this NetPVR I chose the Intel option.  The PC is only a small 2 Ghz Intel Celeron processor so just for kicks,  I switched over to use the CPU.  Made a world of difference.  Looks like all of my playback problems are gone.  I guess that motherboard based video GPU just couldn't handle it or it's driver doesn't like the new Windows 22h2 verison upgrade .  It's  feeding a 30 inch TV via it's HDMI port.  I'll have to give this configuration a good "burn in" as I have three tuners feeding the HTPC and wonder if the little CPU is gonna handle the expected load.

So far NO more stutter, or freeze or delays etc.  Can now scrub along the time line "almost" instantantly.  I really thought the integrated Intel UHD GPU would help with the video processing but I guess not.  I checked and the driver for that GPU is only a few months old.  So far so good.  Still have a problem with the "navigation" where the program is  not actually following my selections in some areas. I'll start a new thread on that one later.  Thanks  !!

[mvallevand]

The Intel GPU on Windows 11 PC with TPM should be good enough for NextPVR.exe. There is something else not quite right so run the desktop client and send the logs again.

Martin

[sub]

I think I found the problem. I checked the LAV which should have been okay. I originally installed both the 32 and 64 bit versions. Thought the NextPVR program would grab the proper version. I uninstalled it and reinstalled "only" the 32 bit version anyway, and still no joy. Also checked the browser for issues involving video etc. In the end tried both edge and fire fox, no joy.

FYI, the LAV decoders etc are only used for playback in NextPVR.exe. When you watch in the web browser, it uses the browser's built in H.264/AAC decoders.

I found a NextPVR settng in the "transcoder" area with options for various video encoders. My micro PC has an integrated Intel GPU so when I first set up this NetPVR I chose the Intel option. The PC is only a small 2 Ghz Intel Celeron processor so just for kicks, I switched over to use the CPU. Made a world of difference. Looks like all of my playback problems are gone. I guess that motherboard based video GPU just couldn't handle it or it's driver doesn't like the new Windows 22h2 verison upgrade . It's feeding a 30 inch TV via it's HDMI port. I'll have to give this configuration a good "burn in" as I have three tuners feeding the HTPC and wonder if the little CPU is gonna handle the expected load.

Ok, glad you found an option that helped.

The transcoder stuff is only used when playing in the web browser. The application needs to transcode the video into a format compatible with the web browser playback components.

So far NO more stutter, or freeze or delays etc. Can now scrub along the time line "almost" instantantly.

Great.

I really thought the integrated Intel UHD GPU would help with the video processing but I guess not.

Usually it would.

[Rich A]

The  Intel GPU on  Windows 11 PC with TPM should be good enough for NextPVR.exe.  There is something else not quite right so run the desktop client and send the logs again.

Martin

Okay thanks Martin.  Right now the HTPC is recording three shows while I'm watching a ball game live.  So this will be a good "burn in" for the next few hours. I'll be jumping past commercials a few minutes at a time for a while.  Frankly I'm amazed that the small dual core 2 gHz processor can also handle the Web UI version just fine.   I prefer to use the EXE version which works okay now, but am surprised it's working so smoothly even with the UI version.  The next few hours of recording and watching live TV should  fill up the log for you.   That ought to  give you plenty of data to examine.   <grin>   I'll send the logs as soon as the game is over in a few hours. 

I've already looked at the driver info and it definately has a problem.  LOTs of errors showing up all regarding that Intel UHD video .  There are no "details" when looking at the manufacter name etc, and various other items normally seen.  Everything is  blank.   All tests here show it's  got big problems.   I'm guessing it's a "knock off" copy of an actual Intel chip.  The PC is one of those tiny micro pcs made in China. 

I'll send you the logs but don't go crazy on this.  It's strange that I'm seeing dianostic reports of massive errors all starting the day windows ujpdated itself from version 21H2 to 22H2.  I think I'm seeing the effects of a pirated copy of the actual Intel IC.  

Oh BTW,  there is a small ham radio contest just started an hour ago.  I have  my antenna pointed at New Zealand.   If conditions are favorable  I'll say "Hi" to a few of your neighbors !!   You and Sub are in NZ right ?   <grin>