[sin360]

I just installed the latest version and it's working really well. My epg didn't import over from MP on the last build. I was looking through the keymap is there a way to map a button to the epg since I have a guide on button my remote?

Thanks

[Fry7]

First of all: THANK YOU!!!

Just updated my htpc running your last Dharma-PVR with your yesterday's Eden-build after updating mepo-tv-server to v1.2.2 - and I am very pleased that everything's just working fine without any error yet.

[mardup]

Hi Margro...

Like others, a very BIG THANK for the time you spent for giving us live TV on XBMC ...

I updated XBMC to your last eden beta build (26/12/2011), and Mediaportal to v 1.2.2, both on the same computer

Since, I can't see live TV with TSReader PVR client
With FFMPeg client , all is OK ...

Any idea of what i have missed ?

Thank you

[makavelitha]

Live TV with the TSReader MP PVR Plugin works fine for me!

But i had similar problems on the first start, i've activated the TSReader Plugin and then Live TV, and then a message popped up "No PVR Plugin activated.", i've rebooted my HTPC and after that it worked! Always remember, this is still a beta, so bugs are guaranteed

Btw, can anyone tell me the MP Keyboard Keys (Hotkeys) for the "Record" Button? I need it to assign it to my MCE Remote!

[XBMCUser4657]

Hey Guys,

I just spent several days working on my new HTPC build, and I wanted to give a few pieces of feedback...

To the gent who mentioned that you can't get the SpotyXBMC2 if you build the PVR branch, that is incorrect. I just cloned the SpotyXBMC2 git, then updated the PVR branch right on top of it. There were only 2 conflicts, and since they were related to music script files, I let the SpotyXBMC2 versions win instead of the PVR versions.

So now I have a pretty awesome setup with tons of functionality (hulu, spotify, blu-ray, pandora, PVR). I'd have to say that the PVR is easily the most fragile bit that I've tried to implement. In trying to figure out the very best way to integrate live tv and PVR functionality into my XBMC setup, my research turned up the following:

1. Best Tuner Hardware: HD Homerun
   
2. Best Antenna: Radio Shack Outdoor ~$50 jobber
   
3. Best TV Server Backend For Windows: MediaPortal TV Server
   
4. Best Way to Integrate EPG: MediaPortal XmlTv Plugin with mc2xml.exe
   

I got everything up and running on the Eden Beta, and it's working pretty nicely. A few notes on the issues that I've found:

1. No timeshifting! This is a huge hole in functionality, especially since reading forum posts indicates that it does in fact work for MediaPortal TV Server, and it was removed due to problems with compatibility with other TV Server backends. Can we add a configuration option to the MediaPortal add-on to enable this? What about a workaround? This single issue is very close to a complete deal-breaker for me.
   
2. No Series Recording! This is something that we definitely need ASAP. In real, practical use cases, I can't be constantly going out and scheduling one-off recordings of shows that I want to watch on a weekly basis. I'm also talking about being able to define the name of a show and checking to make sure you're not recording repeats (as opposed to just saying "record every friday from 9:00pm to 10:00pm). If the show is off-season...I don't want to record the time slot.
   
3. The EPG Timeline is very sketchy. I almost always get 6/13 channels displaying in my EPG Timeline. For channels that don't show in the Timeline, I can switch to the station and see all of the forward-programming in the Channel EPG view. This indicates to me that the data is there, it's just not properly displayed in the Timeline view. Again....using the Timeline is absolutely critical to this functionality.
   
4. The Streaming/Buffering of Recordings causes glitching/pixelation and general tomfoolery. I note that I have perfectly recorded programs when I watch them locally on the server, and I am confident that I don't have bandwidth issues since I'm completely wired. Recordings playback nicely until I try to FF or RW them. Then I get a lot of buffering/pixelation/glitching. I have a feeling that the playback/buffering needs some smoothing.
   
5. The Recordings folder isn't flattened by show. Seems easy to implement and adds a necessary degree of polish.
   
6. Channel switching is very slow. It takes anywhere from 5-15 seconds to switch channels. I can probably live with this, but faster would be better.
   
7. Some customization options don't work as expected. For instance, I went to re-order my channels, and (I think) that it actually just re-named the channels and left them in the same order. This messed up my mappings, and I had to reset the PVR database to get it back. I find that I need to leave a lot of the options well-enough alone, or risk screwing up all of my customizations (like channel names and icons) and starting over.
   

If there is anything I can do to help with error logging or whatever, just let me know. If there are any workarounds, solutions or timelines for fixes for these issues, I would really appreciate the knowledge

I think that Timeshifting, Series Recording and the EPG issues will likely force me into windows media center for live tv for the time being. I really, really want to be able to use XBMC for everything, so I'll be keeping a close tab on the development here.

Thanks for all of the development so-far! It seems to me like this functionality needs to be considered as a major fully-supported feature upgrade for XBMC. I can't imagine many other more visible and impactful enhancements than a good, fully-supported PVR front-end.

[ypzilon]

The TVServerXBMC-plugin works fine for me, but just on the FTA-channels.
On Mediaportal I'm using acamd and MDAPI-filter. Any ideas how to get the rest of the channels to work?

[Dam0]

ive been testing latest beta 2 pvr build, and seems stable, thanks

also updated mp to 1.2.2

however, the shceduler exports the date format to the tv server (mediaportal) in incorrect date format... ie i have had schedules for eachday this week

03/02/2012
04/02/2012
dd/mm/yyyy

currently xbmc home screen says " next recording is on 03/02/2012 "

which to me looks suspiciously like mm/dd/yyyy

thanks in advance,
Dam0

[makavelitha]

any news for apple tv 2? the standard Eden RC1 Build works like a charm on ATV2, but i want PVR Support...

[xbmcsan]

Hi

Posting for the first time, so i hope to be on the right place here. If not, please tell me where to go.

---------

Windows 7 Ultimate- 64-bit operating system
Digital Devices Cine CT (V6) Dual DVB-C / DVB-T HDTV Tuner

Installed
xbmc-11.0-Eden_rc2_pvr-margro.exe
MediaPortal_Setup_1.2.2_FINAL.exe
MediaPortal_v122_TVServerXBMC_plugin_bin_rev110.rar Updated MediaPortal_v122_TVServerXBMC_plugin_bin_rev112


Everything works fine except recording of series.

To record a series I do the following steps:
1. Search in EPG the series and add the timer
This creates in MediaPortal - TV Server Configuration - Schedules an entry of Type Once with PreRecord 1 mins and PostRecord 17 mins as set as default values in XBMC settings.
To see correct settings in MediaPortal - TV Server Configuration i had to exit and start it each time new.

2. go to the timer and edit the day. to 'Mo-Di-Mi-Do-FR-_-_' ok;
This reflects in the timer overview at first an entry that shows like 'Mo-Di-Mi-Do-FR-_-_ ab dd.mm.yyyy von hh:mm bis hh:mm' and everything seams ok.
But this creates in MediaPortal - TV Server Configuration - Schedules an entry of Type WorkingDayswith correct start time but PreRecord 60 mins and PostRecord 60 mins. No idea where the 60 mins are coming from.

3. If you go again to the timer overview the entry looks like '_-_-_-_-_-_-_ ab dd.mm.yyyy von hh:mm bis hh:mm' the days have gone?

4. If you edit the timer again like under 2.
This creates in MediaPortal - TV Server Configuration - Schedules an entry of Type WorkingDays with correct start time but
PreRecord 3600 mins and PostRecord 3600 mins. No idea where the 3600 mins (60*60) are coming from. With each change of the Timer
the value increases by *60.

If the change of PreRecord and PostRecord would not happen, all would work fine.

Any Ideas how to fix it?

Regards

xbmcsan

[wileecoyote]

Margro,
I noticed MediaPortal released 1.2.3 today. Should we dare upgrade? The TV Server (TsReader.ax) has been updated and TV playback is much smoother.

[tommymsw]

I am just looking for information on settings to get this working on an XBMC system that does not have the TV card attached to it. Example: I have this up and running in my living-room on the system with the capture card installed, would like to know how to configure it on the XBMC in the bedroom? I believe you don't need to connect an antenna to each system, but I have no idea how to configure this. Thank you

Never mind... Just took a few restarts!

[falkoz]

Hi,

my xbmc.log just told me to contact Marcel Groothuis. I hope this forum is one of the possible ways ;-)
I use the TVServer Plugin in my XBMC with a MediaPortal Streaming Server. It works very good, while I'm watching on my TV. When I try to watch on my beamer, which is connected with a usb-to-wireless VGA adapter (it's called Ezair), I only get a black screen (but I can still hear the channel). I tried different resolutions (800*600, 1024*768, 1440*900, 1280*1024 - my TV works with 1080p which I cannot choose for the beamer) all with the same result. This in my XBMC log:

18:58:16 T:2788 NOTICE: DVDPlayer: Opening: pvr://channels/tv/Alle TV Kanäle/0.pvr
18:58:16 T:2788 WARNING: CDVDMessageQueue(player):ut MSGQ_NOT_INITIALIZED
18:58:16 T:4040 NOTICE: Creating InputStream
18:58:17 T:4040 NOTICE: Creating Demuxer
18:58:18 T:3008 ERROR: PVRClient - PVR::CPVRClient::SignalQuality - exception 'Access violation' caught while trying to call SignalQuality() on addon 'MediaPortal TV-server (192.168.178.35):192.168.178.35:9596'. please contact the developer of this addon: Marcel Groothuis
18:58:21 T:4040 ERROR: Previous line repeats 2 times.
18:58:21 T:4040 NOTICE: Opening video stream: 0 source: 256
18:58:21 T:4040 NOTICE: Creating video codec with codec id: 28
18:58:21 T:4040 NOTICE: CDVDVideoCodecFFmpeg::Open() Using codec: H.264 / AVC / MPEG-4 AVC / MPEG-4 part 10
18:58:21 T:4040 NOTICE: Creating video thread
18:58:21 T:4040 NOTICE: Opening audio stream: 3 source: 256
18:58:21 T:4040 NOTICE: Finding audio codec for: 86019
18:58:21 T:4016 NOTICE: running thread: video_thread
18:58:21 T:4040 NOTICE: Creating audio thread
18:58:21 T:4040 NOTICE: Opening Subtitle stream: 4 source: 256
18:58:21 T:4008 NOTICE: running thread: CDVDPlayerAudio:rocess()
18:58:21 T:4040 ERROR: CDVDPlayerSubtitle::OpenStream - Unable to init overlay codec
18:58:21 T:4040 WARNING: CDVDPlayer::OpenSubtitleStream - Unsupported stream 4. Stream disabled.
18:58:21 T:4040 NOTICE: Opening Subtitle stream: 5 source: 256
18:58:21 T:4008 NOTICE: Creating audio device with codec id: 86019, channels: 2, sample rate: 48000, no pass-through
18:58:21 T:4040 ERROR: CSelectionStreams::Get - failed to get stream
18:58:21 T:4008 ERROR: CDVDPlayerAudio:ecodeFrame - Decode Error. Skipping audio packet
18:58:21 T:4016 ERROR: Previous line repeats 1 times.
18:58:21 T:4016 NOTICE: fps: 50.000000, pwidth: 1280, pheight: 720, dwidth: 1280, dheight: 720
18:58:21 T:4016 NOTICE: Display resolution USER : 1280x1024 @ 60.00 - Full Screen #2 (129)
18:58:21 T:4016 NOTICE: D3D: rendering method forced to DXVA2 processor
18:58:21 T:2788 WARNING: DXVA::CProcessor::Render - did not find all required samples, adjusting the sample array.
18:58:21 T:2788 WARNING: DXVA::CProcessor::Render - no usable samples.
18:58:21 T:3008 ERROR: PVRClient - PVR::CPVRClient::SignalQuality - exception 'Access violation' caught while trying to call SignalQuality() on addon 'MediaPortal TV-server (192.168.178.35):192.168.178.35:9596'. please contact the developer of this addon: Marcel Groothuis
18:58:21 T:2788 WARNING: DXVA::CProcessor::Render - did not find all required samples, adjusting the sample array.
18:58:21 T:2788 WARNING: DXVA::CProcessor::Render - no usable samples.
18:58:22 T:3008 ERROR: PVRClient - PVR::CPVRClient::SignalQuality - exception 'Access violation' caught while trying to call SignalQuality() on addon 'MediaPortal TV-server (192.168.178.35):192.168.178.35:9596'. please contact the developer of this addon: Marcel Groothuis
18:58:23 T:4008 ERROR: CDVDPlayerAudio:ecodeFrame - Decode Error. Skipping audio packet
18:58:23 T:3008 ERROR: PVRClient - PVR::CPVRClient::SignalQuality - exception 'Access violation' caught while trying to call SignalQuality() on addon 'MediaPortal TV-server (192.168.178.35):192.168.178.35:9596'. please contact the developer of this addon: Marcel Groothuis
18:58:32 T:2788 ERROR: Previous line repeats 8 times.
18:58:32 T:2788 NOTICE: CDVDPlayer::CloseFile()
18:58:32 T:2788 NOTICE: DVDPlayer: waiting for threads to exit
18:58:32 T:4040 NOTICE: CDVDPlayer::OnExit()
18:58:32 T:4040 NOTICE: DVDPlayer: closing audio stream
18:58:32 T:4040 NOTICE: Closing audio stream
18:58:32 T:4040 NOTICE: Waiting for audio thread to exit
18:58:32 T:4008 ERROR: CDVDAudio::AddPackets - failed to add leftover bytes to render
18:58:32 T:4008 NOTICE: thread end: CDVDPlayerAudio::OnExit()
18:58:32 T:4040 NOTICE: Closing audio device
18:58:32 T:4040 NOTICE: Deleting audio codec
18:58:32 T:4040 NOTICE: DVDPlayer: closing video stream
18:58:32 T:4040 NOTICE: Closing video stream
18:58:32 T:4040 NOTICE: waiting for video thread to exit
18:58:32 T:4016 NOTICE: thread end: video_thread
18:58:32 T:4040 NOTICE: deleting video codec
18:58:32 T:4040 NOTICE: DVDPlayer: closing subtitle stream
18:58:32 T:4040 NOTICE: Closing subtitle stream
18:58:32 T:4040 NOTICE: CDVDPlayer::OnExit() deleting demuxer
18:58:32 T:4040 NOTICE: CDVDPlayer::OnExit() deleting input stream
18:58:32 T:2788 NOTICE: DVDPlayer: finished waiting
18:58:32 T:2788 WARNING: Skin has invalid include: Window_OpenClose_Animation
18:58:32 T:2788 WARNING: Previous line repeats 16 times.
18:58:32 T:2788 NOTICE: CDVDPlayer::CloseFile()
18:58:32 T:2788 WARNING: CDVDMessageQueue(player):ut MSGQ_NOT_INITIALIZED
18:58:32 T:2788 NOTICE: DVDPlayer: waiting for threads to exit
18:58:32 T:2788 NOTICE: DVDPlayer: finished waiting

Someone any idea?

[thebearnecessit]

Are there many people using xbmc as a pvr successfully?

There have been no posts on this thread for months.

Even when PVR capability is built into xbmc in version 12 will this be usable on a day-to-day basis?

A guy (XBMCUser4657) at the top of this page in this thread (post 801) says that there are a lot of problems, is this the experience of other users?

He says that:

It won't pause or rewind live tv
Rewinding and Fast forwarding when watching recordings causes picture problems
It won't record series
Only half the channels show up in the EPG
It takes on average ten seconds to change channel

Surely if this is everyone's experience then it isn't really usable yet?

[wileecoyote]

XBMC PVR has come a loooong way since 5/31 (the last post before yours.) PVR support has been moved into the mainline and will be part of the Frodo (12) release.

As far as no one using it, check out these forums:

PVR Development -> http://forum.xbmc.org/forumdisplay.php?fid=136

PVR Help and Support -> http://forum.xbmc.org/forumdisplay.php?fid=167

There are many people using XBMC PVR "successfully" on an everyday basis, myself included. Your experience honestly depends on the backend, in the case of this thread Margro is developing the addon for MediaPortal and is assisting heavily with ForTheRecord and they both work great.

While it is true that currently in the Frodo nightlies you cant pause, ff or rw live TV, the developers are working hard to supporting it. In the case of recording series, if you have a backend that supports web guides (I know ForTheRecord and NextPVR do), you can use the web guide to schedule your recordings. The recordings show up in XBMC and you can watch them like any other show.

The channel change again is dependent upon which backend you use. I currently use NextPVR and channel changes are around 2.5-3 seconds. I experience about the exact same with ForTheRecord.

In my opinion it is just as reliable as MediaPortal was the last build I used (1.2.3), minus the pause, ff & rw features. The best way to find out is to try it out. Some people have a bad experience and unfortunately vent in the forums, putting off others trying it out.

[wileecoyote]

Acutally nevermind, this is a very old thread and is not really relevant to the current development.