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+--- Thread: [Subjective] What is the best/most stable PVR backend (/showthread.php?tid=244899)
[Subjective] What is the best/most stable PVR backend - rykr - 2015-10-22
I know this is completely subjective but that is what I"m looking for, your opinion.
What is the best PVR backend for Kodi? Best is defined in many different ways - fastest, easiest to setup, easiest to maintain, greater compatibility with tuner cards, etc. I know all of this. Just wanting to get some opinions.
Thanks!
RE: [Subjective] What is the best/most stable PVR backend - negge - 2015-10-22
fastest: tvheadend
easiest to setup: probably not tvheadend, but it's worth it in the long run
easiest to maintain: tvheadend, there is very little maintenance to do
tuner compatibility: every backend that runs on Linux can use any tuner that works on Linux, same vice versa on Windows
stability: tvheadend - I've been running it for 121d 0h 54m without a restart (previous run was for ~70 days and I only restarted because I updated it)
RE: [Subjective] What is the best/most stable PVR backend - FernetMenta - 2015-10-23
VDR + VNSI is the most robust PVR solution regarding playback.
RE: [Subjective] What is the best/most stable PVR backend - rykr - 2015-10-23
ok, that's two inputs. Thanks so much. Looking for any other input people want to give
RE: [Subjective] What is the best/most stable PVR backend - MikeB2013 - 2015-10-23
Mythtv backend is another option (Linux). I have used it for several years with no major problems.
I run the 0.28pre version (still in development), official release is 0.27/5.
Kodi integrates well (pvr.mythtv addon) with 0.27/5 and 0.28pre versions.
I use Kodi on Linux (ubuntu), Windows 10, and Openelec (Raspberry Pi2)
Mike
RE: [Subjective] What is the best/most stable PVR backend - Tobor - 2015-10-23
For Windows - NPVR. Excellent support from the developer, great support community.
For Linux - MythTV (Mythbuntu). Setup may seem daunting because there are so many setup options, but there are guides available that simplify the process.
Both are robust, set-it-and-forget-it options that I have used extensively.
Tobor
RE: [Subjective] What is the best/most stable PVR backend - Spellman - 2015-10-23
I came from the world of MCE, so MCE Server is where I started, but after Microsoft switched guide providers it was a nightmare. It started randomly not recording new airings, but always seemed to record reruns (micorsoft's problem, not the backend) and I also finally wanted to get away from using an htpc and crappy extenders. I picked up a HDHomerun tuner, and I already had a Synology Nas so I gave DVBLink a try and it has been rock solid. Having a pvr not tied to a computer that needs updates and maintenance has obvious benefits. I still have some quibbles here and there about how the recordings play on some devices, but those issues have nothing to do with the backend and are issues with the devices themselves (framerate...cough...interlacing...cough...amazon). There are some changes Kodi has made to PVR in Jarvis that at this time DVBLink has not implemented yet. They have stated that they will make updates after Jarvis makes it to beta. Everything seems to be working as it should though.
I should mention that I gave tvheadend a try but for some reason it couldn't find my tuner. I tinkered for a few minutes and gave up and moved on to DVBLink.
RE: [Subjective] What is the best/most stable PVR backend - oldtvwatcher - 2015-10-24
I used Mythbuntu for a couple of years and recently switched to TVHeadEnd. TVHeadEnd just seems easier to set up and configure (not that either are particularly easy if you've never done it before) but also Mythbuntu just always seemed a lot buggier and less user friendly. Also, be aware that if you are thinking about using the MythTV frontend on some systems, the problem is that the backend and frontend versions must match. So if you install Mythbuntu and it has (as an example) Myth version 0.25 but your frontend systems are newer and you can only find Myth version 0.27 or 0.28 in their repositories, the newer version frontends won't connect to the older version backend. Finally, I have a satellite card and Mythbuntu could not find it or use it but TVHeadEnd found it and uses it with no problem. It was just too many headaches like that, that caused me to give up on Mythbuntu.
Ultimately the decision often comes down to what will work with your hardware (but be sure you're installed any required drivers or software before giving up. For example, you must install software or drivers before TVHeadEnd will recognize a HDHomeRun device or a TBS Technologies tuner card, and those are just two I know of that require additional software). Besides all the possibilities that have been mentioned so far, if you don't mind running Windows on your backend there's always the possibility of using MediaPortal.
RE: [Subjective] What is the best/most stable PVR backend - bibi - 2015-10-26
On Linux, tvheadend is the easiest, but I noticed some issues with my tuners.
vdr+vnsi is the stablest, for the explanation , ils simple : Fernetmenta.
RE: [Subjective] What is the best/most stable PVR backend - Rjsachse - 2015-10-27
I think a list of available features and benefits of the different pvr addons will be good in the PVR (wiki)
I have tried wmc server thats works great but stopped after win 10 has no more support for wmc
Then I tried nextpvr was great what I tested. Had to install other stuff for the fm radio, I stopped using after I noticed it doesn't have a disk quota to delete old recordings. If the disk was full it won't record new shows. Not good for me.
Now I am testing mediaportal tv server and allnseems great. Good plugins like tv wish list and power schedule. Seems great now but support seems low in the kodi forums
What I'm looking for is great series record with options like record this time everyday, record this show everyday on this channel or on all channel's plus padding and keep until features like till I watch or until I need sapce or keep 5 episodes ect... but once a schedule is set to be abke to change thise settings to. Plus wish list and disk quota. Most of these features you can only find is you install and trial and error.
So this is my success so far on windows with kodi ovr.
Hope it helps somewhat.
RE: [Subjective] What is the best/most stable PVR backend - sub3 - 2015-10-27
(2015-10-27, 05:48)Rjsachse Wrote: Then I tried nextpvr was great what I tested. Had to install other stuff for the fm radio, I stopped using after I noticed it doesn't have a disk quota to delete old recordings. If the disk was full it won't record new shows. Not good for me.It doesn't want to make decisions for you about what is safe to delete. You can easily tell you want to only keep x recordings when scheduling a show those. ie, you might want to only keep the 5 most recent episodes of a particular show. When it records a 6th episode, the oldest is auto deleted. You can also update these settings after the fact.
You can also set up multiple recording volumes, and have it spread the recordings between them.
RE: [Subjective] What is the best/most stable PVR backend - Rjsachse - 2015-10-27
(2015-10-27, 06:06)sub3 Wrote:(2015-10-27, 05:48)Rjsachse Wrote: Then I tried nextpvr was great what I tested. Had to install other stuff for the fm radio, I stopped using after I noticed it doesn't have a disk quota to delete old recordings. If the disk was full it won't record new shows. Not good for me.It doesn't want to make decisions for you about what is safe to delete. You can easily tell you want to only keep x recordings when scheduling a show those. ie, you might want to only keep the 5 most recent episodes of a particular show. When it records a 6th episode, the oldest is auto deleted. You can also update these settings after the fact.
You can also set up multiple recording volumes, and have it spread the recordings between them.
Yes I respect it don't want to delete for you and you can set max recordings but in some cases and with a family I don't want it to fill up with junk coz other members don't delete. Just not right for my setup
Mediaportal can too spread recoded series over multiple volumes
RE: [Subjective] What is the best/most stable PVR backend - rykr - 2015-10-27
Thanks for all the input so far. Please keep it coming.
So far I have tried NextPVR and MediaPortal. NextPVR was way easier to setup than MP and the guide data "just worked" . It also supports "recording new show only in a series". However it's channel tuning and channel change speeds on my Ceton card are much slower than MP.
However MP makes it much harder to handle guide data and doesn't support series link recording.
I think today I"m going to try Argus. AIUI Argus can either handle it's own recording or can use the MP recording engine.
RE: [Subjective] What is the best/most stable PVR backend - oldtvwatcher - 2015-10-27
Well, for what it is worth, look at the post count for each of the forums at http://forum.kodi.tv/forumdisplay.php?fid=167
Windows Media Center (WMC) has the most posts, at 9,234. The next highest is Tvheadend with 6,936, followed by MythTV with 4,703. Next in line are VDR (2,956), IPTV Simple Client (2,680), MediaPortal (2,339), and NextPVR (2,108). All the rest have under 2,000 posts.
Now what that means is open to debate. The ones with the highest post counts may be the most popular, and the fact that WMC and TVHeadEnd are at the top of the list makes me think that might be the case. But you could also look at it another way, and say that those are the ones for which users require the greatest amount of assistance. Yet another way to look at it would be that if a project has its own support forums that are very effective in helping users resolve issues, users will be less like to post in the Kodi forum requesting assistance. So for example, even though MediaPortal is rather popular it doesn't get as many posts in the Kodi forum because they have their own forums where users can receive help, often in a quite timely manner. Conversely, it's sometimes rather challenging to get effective help in TVHeadEnd's forums (many questions simply go unanswered), so that might inflate the post count here a bit.
Regarding "series link" recording, if you are trying to find it exactly as it's offered on cable or satellite PVR's, that might be a little bit hard to find. What you will typically see is a way to set it so it will record a show at a specific time, or within a specific range of times (could be "any time") or one specific channel, or a group of channels (or any channel). But what I have not found, at least in TVHeadEnd, is a way to say that if a specific episode has previously been recorded to not record it again. MythTV did have this capability but I just could not ever get past that thing of different versions of the frontend and backend not working with each other, and it had several other flaws that caused me to abandon it after using it for over a year.
RE: [Subjective] What is the best/most stable PVR backend - Rjsachse - 2015-10-28
(2015-10-27, 18:56)xbmclinuxuser Wrote: Regarding "series link" recording, if you are trying to find it exactly as it's offered on cable or satellite PVR's, that might be a little bit hard to find. What you will typically see is a way to set it so it will record a show at a specific time, or within a specific range of times (could be "any time") or one specific channel, or a group of channels (or any channel). But what I have not found, at least in TVHeadEnd, is a way to say that if a specific episode has previously been recorded to not record it again. MythTV did have this capability but I just could not ever get past that thing of different versions of the frontend and backend not working with each other, and it had several other flaws that caused me to abandon it after using it for over a year.
MP has a great plugin called TVWishList it has the option to not record shows you already got.
Also great for series link