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Live TV playback frustration

 

 

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sgtbundy at gmail

Aug 8, 2012, 6:56 AM

Post #1 of 138 (1639 views)
Permalink
Live TV playback frustration

I sent a longer mail a week or so ago, but have had only one response,
so here is a more concise one.

Frequently I have issues where playback of live TV or playback of in
progress recordings errors out frequently (Unrecoverable Error
message). Commonly in the logs I have a timeout with GetFramesWritten()
from the backend (see logs below). Looking at the code the
GetFramesWritten() call seems fairly simple, working out to be just
returning a number value with no obvious locking or other reason why it
would take more than 7 seconds to return. Trying to watch the Olympics
is getting really frustrating, because this happens more commonly with
larger recordings. I have noticed it tends to be under the following
circumstances:

1. The other non-backend client starts (and sometimes stops) playback of
any other recording
2. Another unrelated recording is started or finished by the backend
3. Sometimes when a flagging job or something else dies or exits

I am using Mythbuntu 11.04 and the 0.25.1+fixes.20120714.5a51df7 mythtv
stream, however this problem has been ongoing for some time since 0.24
or earlier and through all the 0.25 updates I have done. The only unique
thing about my setup is I have a Solaris machine for storage and the
database, with the combined backend/frontend and another other client
frontend being diskless NFS machines off that solaris server. None of
the servers show any performance issues and the storage and network
performance is fine and has no errors. As best as I can tell I suspect
this is some sort of locking or contention in the backend which is
delaying the response to the frontend which then errors out. As above,
completed recordings are fine and show no issues, but I have disabled
streaming from the backend and make the frontends use NFS mounts to
access the recording files.

Can anyone suggest a course of action or some debugging that may help?

Regards,
Adrian


Aug 8 22:47:50 pvr mythfrontend[4967]: I CoreContext tv_play.cpp:378
(StartTV) TV: Entering main playback loop.
Aug 8 22:47:50 pvr mythfrontend[4967]: I CoreContext
mythrender_vdpau.cpp:587 (CheckOutputSurfaces) VDPAU: Added 2 output
surfaces (total 4, max 4)
Aug 8 22:56:44 pvr mythfrontend[4967]: I CoreContext tv_play.cpp:8793
(customEvent) TV: ASK_RECORDING 11 15 0 0 hasrec: 0 haslater: 0
Aug 8 22:56:44 pvr mythfrontend[4967]: I CoreContext tv_play.cpp:8793
(customEvent) TV: ASK_RECORDING 11 15 0 0 hasrec: 0 haslater: 0
Aug 8 22:56:44 pvr mythfrontend[4967]: I CoreContext tv_play.cpp:8793
(customEvent) TV: ASK_RECORDING 20 15 0 0 hasrec: 0 haslater: 0
Aug 8 22:56:44 pvr mythfrontend[4967]: I CoreContext tv_play.cpp:8793
(customEvent) TV: ASK_RECORDING 20 15 0 0 hasrec: 0 haslater: 0
Aug 8 22:56:44 pvr mythfrontend[4967]: I CoreContext tv_play.cpp:8793
(customEvent) TV: ASK_RECORDING 19 15 0 0 hasrec: 0 haslater: 0
Aug 8 22:56:44 pvr mythfrontend[4967]: I CoreContext tv_play.cpp:8793
(customEvent) TV: ASK_RECORDING 19 15 0 0 hasrec: 0 haslater: 0
Aug 8 22:56:44 pvr mythfrontend[4967]: I CoreContext tv_play.cpp:8793
(customEvent) TV: ASK_RECORDING 12 15 0 0 hasrec: 0 haslater: 0
Aug 8 22:56:44 pvr mythfrontend[4967]: I CoreContext tv_play.cpp:8793
(customEvent) TV: ASK_RECORDING 12 15 0 0 hasrec: 0 haslater: 0
Aug 8 22:58:31 pvr mythfrontend[4967]: I CoreContext tv_play.cpp:8793
(customEvent) TV: ASK_RECORDING 17 27 0 0 hasrec: 0 haslater: 0
Aug 8 22:58:31 pvr mythfrontend[4967]: I CoreContext tv_play.cpp:8793
(customEvent) TV: ASK_RECORDING 17 27 0 0 hasrec: 0 haslater: 0
Aug 8 22:58:31 pvr mythfrontend[4967]: I CoreContext tv_play.cpp:8793
(customEvent) TV: ASK_RECORDING 18 27 0 0 hasrec: 0 haslater: 0
Aug 8 22:58:31 pvr mythfrontend[4967]: I CoreContext tv_play.cpp:8793
(customEvent) TV: ASK_RECORDING 18 27 0 0 hasrec: 0 haslater: 0
Aug 8 23:02:01 pvr mythfrontend[4967]: E CoreContext mythsocket.cpp:534
(readStringList) MythSocket(7f1bd4613ef0:103): readStringList: Error,
timed out after 7000 ms.
Aug 8 23:02:01 pvr mythfrontend[4967]: E CoreContext
remoteencoder.cpp:99 (SendReceiveStringList)
RemoteEncoder::SendReceiveStringList(): No response.
Aug 8 23:02:01 pvr mythfrontend[4967]: E CoreContext
remoteencoder.cpp:205 (GetFramesWritten) RemoteEncoder(14):
GetFramesWritten() -- network error
Aug 8 23:02:01 pvr mythfrontend[4967]: I CoreContext tv_play.cpp:2121
(HandleStateChange) TV: Attempting to change from WatchingRecording to None
Aug 8 23:02:01 pvr mythfrontend[4967]: I CoreContext
mythpainter_vdpau.cpp:111 (ClearCache) VDPAU Painter: Clearing VDPAU
painter cache.
Aug 8 23:02:01 pvr mythfrontend[4967]: W CoreContext mythpainter.cpp:32
(~MythPainter) MythPainter: 25 images not yet de-allocated.
Aug 8 23:02:01 pvr mythfrontend[4967]: I CoreContext
audio/audiopulsehandler.cpp:320 (SuspendInternal) Pulse: PulseAudio
resume OK
Aug 8 23:02:01 pvr mythfrontend[4967]: I CoreContext tv_play.cpp:2360
(HandleStateChange) TV: Changing from WatchingRecording to None
Aug 8 23:02:01 pvr mythfrontend[4967]: I CoreContext
mythcorecontext.cpp:371 (ConnectCommandSocket) MythCoreContext:
Connecting to backend server: 10.31.8.2:6543 (try 1 of 1)
Aug 8 23:02:01 pvr mythfrontend[4967]: I CoreContext
mythcorecontext.cpp:1178 (CheckProtoVersion) Using protocol version 72
Aug 8 23:02:08 pvr mythfrontend[4967]: E CoreContext mythsocket.cpp:534
(readStringList) MythSocket(2ed35a0:72): readStringList: Error, timed
out after 7000 ms.
Aug 8 23:02:08 pvr mythfrontend[4967]: E CoreContext
remoteencoder.cpp:99 (SendReceiveStringList)
RemoteEncoder::SendReceiveStringList(): No response.
Aug 8 23:02:08 pvr mythfrontend[4967]: I CoreContext tv_play.cpp:380
(StartTV) TV: Exiting main playback loop.


On the backend:

Aug 8 22:59:03 pvr mythbackend[12372]: I TVRecEvent tv_rec.cpp:3989
(TuningNewRecorder) TVRec(17): rec->GetPathname():
'/myth/tv/1070_20120808225900.mpg'
Aug 8 22:59:06 pvr mythbackend[12372]: I ProcessRequest
mainserver.cpp:1360 (HandleAnnounce) MainServer::ANN Monitor
Aug 8 22:59:06 pvr mythbackend[12372]: I ProcessRequest
mainserver.cpp:1362 (HandleAnnounce) adding: pvr as a client (events: 0)
Aug 8 22:59:06 pvr mythbackend[12372]: I ProcessRequest
mainserver.cpp:1360 (HandleAnnounce) MainServer::ANN Monitor
Aug 8 22:59:06 pvr mythbackend[12372]: I ProcessRequest
mainserver.cpp:1362 (HandleAnnounce) adding: pvr as a client (events: 1)
Aug 8 23:00:06 pvr mythbackend[12372]: I ProcessRequest
recorderbase.cpp:386 (GetKeyframePositions)
RecBase(14:/dev/dvb/adapter1/frontend0):
GetKeyframePositions(363261,9223372036854775807,#1263) out of 32168
Aug 8 23:01:53 pvr mythbackend[12372]: I ProcessRequest
mainserver.cpp:1360 (HandleAnnounce) MainServer::ANN Monitor
Aug 8 23:01:53 pvr mythbackend[12372]: I ProcessRequest
mainserver.cpp:1362 (HandleAnnounce) adding: pvr as a client (events: 0)
Aug 8 23:01:53 pvr mythbackend[12372]: I ProcessRequest
mainserver.cpp:1360 (HandleAnnounce) MainServer::ANN Monitor
Aug 8 23:01:53 pvr mythbackend[12372]: I ProcessRequest
mainserver.cpp:1362 (HandleAnnounce) adding: pvr as a client (events: 1)
Aug 8 23:02:01 pvr mythbackend[12372]: I ProcessRequest
mainserver.cpp:1360 (HandleAnnounce) MainServer::ANN Playback
Aug 8 23:02:01 pvr mythbackend[12372]: I ProcessRequest
mainserver.cpp:1362 (HandleAnnounce) adding: pvr as a client (events: 0)
Aug 8 23:02:22 pvr mythbackend[12372]: I SystemManager
system-unix.cpp:618 (Signal) Child PID 5200 killed with Terminated
Aug 8 23:02:22 pvr mythbackend[12372]: E PreviewGenerator
previewgenerator.cpp:254 (Run) Preview: Encountered problems running
'/usr/bin/mythpreviewgen --size 0x0 --chanid 1508 --starttime
20120808184800 --verbose general --loglevel info --syslog local7
--quiet' (141)
Aug 8 23:02:24 pvr mythbackend[12372]: I ProcessRequest
mainserver.cpp:1360 (HandleAnnounce) MainServer::ANN Monitor
Aug 8 23:02:24 pvr mythbackend[12372]: I ProcessRequest
mainserver.cpp:1362 (HandleAnnounce) adding: pvr as a client (events: 0)
Aug 8 23:02:24 pvr mythbackend[12372]: I ProcessRequest
mainserver.cpp:1360 (HandleAnnounce) MainServer::ANN Monitor
Aug 8 23:02:24 pvr mythbackend[12372]: I ProcessRequest
mainserver.cpp:1362 (HandleAnnounce) adding: pvr as a client (events: 1)
Aug 8 23:02:38 pvr mythbackend[12372]: I ProcessRequest
mainserver.cpp:1360 (HandleAnnounce) MainServer::ANN Monitor
Aug 8 23:02:38 pvr mythbackend[12372]: I ProcessRequest
mainserver.cpp:1362 (HandleAnnounce) adding: pvr as a client (events: 0)
Aug 8 23:02:38 pvr mythbackend[12372]: I ProcessRequest
mainserver.cpp:1360 (HandleAnnounce) MainServer::ANN Monitor
Aug 8 23:02:38 pvr mythbackend[12372]: I ProcessRequest
mainserver.cpp:1362 (HandleAnnounce) adding: pvr as a client (events: 1)
Aug 8 23:02:54 pvr mythbackend[12372]: I ProcessRequest
mainserver.cpp:1360 (HandleAnnounce) MainServer::ANN Monitor
Aug 8 23:02:54 pvr mythbackend[12372]: I ProcessRequest
mainserver.cpp:1362 (HandleAnnounce) adding: pvr as a client (events: 0)
Aug 8 23:03:11 pvr mythbackend[12372]: N Expire autoexpire.cpp:263
(CalcParams) AutoExpire: CalcParams(): Max required Free Space: 3.0 GB
w/freq: 4 min
Aug 8 23:03:11 pvr mythbackend[12372]: W ProcessRequest
mainserver.cpp:5801 (connectionClosed) MainServer: Unknown socket
closing MythSocket(0x7fccb8b83130)
Aug 8 23:03:11 pvr mythbackend[12372]: W ProcessRequest
mainserver.cpp:5801 (connectionClosed) MainServer: Unknown socket
closing MythSocket(0x7fccb976ab10)
Aug 8 23:03:11 pvr mythbackend[12372]: W ProcessRequest
mainserver.cpp:5801 (connectionClosed) MainServer: Unknown socket
closing MythSocket(0x7fccacb07790)
Aug 8 23:03:11 pvr mythbackend[12372]: W ProcessRequest
mainserver.cpp:5801 (connectionClosed) MainServer: Unknown socket
closing MythSocket(0x7fccad849160)
Aug 8 23:03:11 pvr mythbackend[12372]: E ProcessRequest
mythsocket.cpp:358 (writeStringList) MythSocket(7fccb8b83130:-1):
writeStringList: Error, socket went unconnected.#012#011#011#011We wrote
0 of 14 bytes with 1 errors#012#011#011#011starts with: 6 382750
Aug 8 23:03:11 pvr mythbackend[12372]: E ProcessRequest
mythsocket.cpp:358 (writeStringList) MythSocket(7fccb976ab10:-1):
writeStringList: Error, socket went unconnected.#012#011#011#011We wrote
0 of 994 bytes with 1 errors#012#011#011#011starts with: 986
Olympics: London 2012[]:[]Day 12 - Session 2[]:[]Day...
Aug 8 23:03:11 pvr mythbackend[12372]: E ProcessRequest
mythsocket.cpp:358 (writeStringList) MythSocket(7fccacb07790:-1):
writeStringList: Error, socket went unconnected.#012#011#011#011We wrote
0 of 10 bytes with 1 errors#012#011#011#011starts with: 2 ok
Aug 8 23:03:11 pvr mythbackend[12372]: E ProcessRequest
mythsocket.cpp:358 (writeStringList) MythSocket(7fccad849160:-1):
writeStringList: Error, socket went unconnected.#012#011#011#011We wrote
0 of 994 bytes with 1 errors#012#011#011#011starts with: 986
Olympics: London 2012[]:[]Day 12 - Session 2[]:[]Day...


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stichnot at gmail

Aug 8, 2012, 7:09 AM

Post #2 of 138 (1620 views)
Permalink
Re: Live TV playback frustration [In reply to]

On Wed, Aug 8, 2012 at 6:56 AM, Adrian Saul <sgtbundy [at] gmail> wrote:
> Frequently I have issues where playback of live TV or playback of in
> progress recordings errors out frequently (Unrecoverable Error message).
> Commonly in the logs I have a timeout with GetFramesWritten() from the
> backend (see logs below). Looking at the code the GetFramesWritten() call
> seems fairly simple, working out to be just returning a number value with no
> obvious locking or other reason why it would take more than 7 seconds to
> return. Trying to watch the Olympics is getting really frustrating, because
> this happens more commonly with larger recordings. I have noticed it tends
> to be under the following circumstances:
>
> 1. The other non-backend client starts (and sometimes stops) playback of any
> other recording
> 2. Another unrelated recording is started or finished by the backend
> 3. Sometimes when a flagging job or something else dies or exits
>
> I am using Mythbuntu 11.04 and the 0.25.1+fixes.20120714.5a51df7 mythtv
> stream, however this problem has been ongoing for some time since 0.24 or
> earlier and through all the 0.25 updates I have done. The only unique thing
> about my setup is I have a Solaris machine for storage and the database,
> with the combined backend/frontend and another other client frontend being
> diskless NFS machines off that solaris server. None of the servers show any
> performance issues and the storage and network performance is fine and has
> no errors. As best as I can tell I suspect this is some sort of locking or
> contention in the backend which is delaying the response to the frontend
> which then errors out. As above, completed recordings are fine and show no
> issues, but I have disabled streaming from the backend and make the
> frontends use NFS mounts to access the recording files.
>
> Aug 8 23:02:08 pvr mythfrontend[4967]: E CoreContext mythsocket.cpp:534
> (readStringList) MythSocket(2ed35a0:72): readStringList: Error, timed out
> after 7000 ms.
> Aug 8 23:02:08 pvr mythfrontend[4967]: E CoreContext remoteencoder.cpp:99
> (SendReceiveStringList) RemoteEncoder::SendReceiveStringList(): No response.
> Aug 8 23:02:08 pvr mythfrontend[4967]: I CoreContext tv_play.cpp:380
> (StartTV) TV: Exiting main playback loop.
>
>
> On the backend:
>
> Aug 8 23:03:11 pvr mythbackend[12372]: W ProcessRequest mainserver.cpp:5801
> (connectionClosed) MainServer: Unknown socket closing
> MythSocket(0x7fccacb07790)
> Aug 8 23:03:11 pvr mythbackend[12372]: W ProcessRequest mainserver.cpp:5801
> (connectionClosed) MainServer: Unknown socket closing
> MythSocket(0x7fccad849160)
> Aug 8 23:03:11 pvr mythbackend[12372]: E ProcessRequest mythsocket.cpp:358
> (writeStringList) MythSocket(7fccb8b83130:-1): writeStringList: Error,
> socket went unconnected.#012#011#011#011We wrote 0 of 14 bytes with 1
> errors#012#011#011#011starts with: 6 382750
> Aug 8 23:03:11 pvr mythbackend[12372]: E ProcessRequest mythsocket.cpp:358
> (writeStringList) MythSocket(7fccb976ab10:-1): writeStringList: Error,
> socket went unconnected.#012#011#011#011We wrote 0 of 994 bytes with 1
> errors#012#011#011#011starts with: 986 Olympics: London 2012[]:[]Day 12
> - Session 2[]:[]Day...
> Aug 8 23:03:11 pvr mythbackend[12372]: E ProcessRequest mythsocket.cpp:358
> (writeStringList) MythSocket(7fccacb07790:-1): writeStringList: Error,
> socket went unconnected.#012#011#011#011We wrote 0 of 10 bytes with 1
> errors#012#011#011#011starts with: 2 ok
> Aug 8 23:03:11 pvr mythbackend[12372]: E ProcessRequest mythsocket.cpp:358
> (writeStringList) MythSocket(7fccad849160:-1): writeStringList: Error,
> socket went unconnected.#012#011#011#011We wrote 0 of 994 bytes with 10
> errors#012#011#011#011starts with: 986 Olympics: London 2012[]:[]Day 12
> - Session 2[]:[]Day...

These kinds of errors often indicate a deadlock in mythbackend. A
number of deadlocks have recently been found and fixed, with the fixes
in the 0.26 beta. These issues have been around for a long time, and
they tend to be triggered by less predictable real-time events like
watching Live TV or EIT updates.

You could try out 0.26-beta (being sure to have a DB backup first),
but that has its own set of risks.

Jim
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pieter at insync

Aug 8, 2012, 11:02 AM

Post #3 of 138 (1621 views)
Permalink
Re: Live TV playback frustration [In reply to]

<snip>
> These kinds of errors often indicate a deadlock in mythbackend. A
> number of deadlocks have recently been found and fixed, with the fixes
> in the 0.26 beta. These issues have been around for a long time, and
> they tend to be triggered by less predictable real-time events like
> watching Live TV or EIT updates.
>
> You could try out 0.26-beta (being sure to have a DB backup first),
> but that has its own set of risks.
>
> Jim
> _______________________________________________
> mythtv-users mailing list
> mythtv-users [at] mythtv
> http://www.mythtv.org/mailman/listinfo/mythtv-users
Hi Guys,

I have often wondered how many of the dev's (and users) out there are
using LiveTV, for LiveTV. Since 0.25 I have seen an increase in the
number of issues on LiveTV. One (or more - the one I am thinking about
is the program switch over freezing bug - it's still in 0.26) got
reported and I added comments, but it does appear that the number of
people (and dev's ?) watching TV is declining ?

Cheers,

Pieter
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Jim at Morton

Aug 8, 2012, 11:15 AM

Post #4 of 138 (1612 views)
Permalink
Re: Live TV playback frustration [In reply to]

On 8/8/2012 2:02 PM, Pieter De Wit wrote:
> <snip>
>> These kinds of errors often indicate a deadlock in mythbackend. A
>> number of deadlocks have recently been found and fixed, with the fixes
>> in the 0.26 beta. These issues have been around for a long time, and
>> they tend to be triggered by less predictable real-time events like
>> watching Live TV or EIT updates.
>>
>> You could try out 0.26-beta (being sure to have a DB backup first),
>> but that has its own set of risks.
>>
>> Jim
>> _______________________________________________
>> mythtv-users mailing list
>> mythtv-users [at] mythtv
>> http://www.mythtv.org/mailman/listinfo/mythtv-users
> Hi Guys,
>
> I have often wondered how many of the dev's (and users) out there are
> using LiveTV, for LiveTV. Since 0.25 I have seen an increase in the
> number of issues on LiveTV. One (or more - the one I am thinking about
> is the program switch over freezing bug - it's still in 0.26) got
> reported and I added comments, but it does appear that the number of
> people (and dev's ?) watching TV is declining ?
>
> Cheers,
>
> Pieter
> _______________________________________________
>

Very few if any Devs use live tv.

Mostly people that use DVRs for any length of time get away from
watching live tv. The advantages of recording everything you might
possibly want to watch and then then picking from what has been recorded
are many. I don't know of any advantages to watching live tv.

--
_________________________________________________________

Jim Morton

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mythtv-users mailing list
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gary.buhrmaster at gmail

Aug 8, 2012, 11:53 AM

Post #5 of 138 (1617 views)
Permalink
Re: Live TV playback frustration [In reply to]

On Wed, Aug 8, 2012 at 6:15 PM, Jim Morton <Jim [at] morton> wrote:
....
> Very few if any Devs use live tv.

That said, the devs have repeatedly said they want LiveTV to
work for those that do use it.

But without (reliable) reproducers they can test with, they have
difficulty finding and fixing the "bugs". All too often it seems
that the failures are specific to a particular configuration
(hardware/software/network/tuner) that none of the devs have.

Gary
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jaglover at gmail

Aug 8, 2012, 12:01 PM

Post #6 of 138 (1616 views)
Permalink
Re: Live TV playback frustration [In reply to]

On Wed, 08 Aug 2012 14:15:53 -0400
Jim Morton <Jim [at] Morton> wrote:

> Mostly people that use DVRs for any length of time get away from
> watching live tv. The advantages of recording everything you might
> possibly want to watch and then then picking from what has been
> recorded are many. I don't know of any advantages to watching live tv.

I beg to differ. I've used MythTV since 0.21. I do not have a TV in my
bedroom, the secondary monitor of my PC serves as a TV. And I like
watching old movies on TCM at bedtime. I do not want to record them,
just relax watching.
Plus, when watching live sports I want to see what is happening as it
is happening.

--
Cheers, Saul
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Jim at Morton

Aug 8, 2012, 12:17 PM

Post #7 of 138 (1614 views)
Permalink
Re: Live TV playback frustration [In reply to]

On 8/8/2012 3:01 PM, Saul A. Peebsen wrote:
> On Wed, 08 Aug 2012 14:15:53 -0400
> Jim Morton <Jim [at] Morton> wrote:
>
>> Mostly people that use DVRs for any length of time get away from
>> watching live tv. The advantages of recording everything you might
>> possibly want to watch and then then picking from what has been
>> recorded are many. I don't know of any advantages to watching live tv.
> I beg to differ.
That's why I said "mostly"...

--
_________________________________________________________

Jim Morton

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pieter at insync

Aug 8, 2012, 12:29 PM

Post #8 of 138 (1603 views)
Permalink
Re: Live TV playback frustration [In reply to]

> On 8/8/2012 2:02 PM, Pieter De Wit wrote:
>> <snip>
>>> These kinds of errors often indicate a deadlock in mythbackend. A
>>> number of deadlocks have recently been found and fixed, with the fixes
>>> in the 0.26 beta. These issues have been around for a long time, and
>>> they tend to be triggered by less predictable real-time events like
>>> watching Live TV or EIT updates.
>>>
>>> You could try out 0.26-beta (being sure to have a DB backup first),
>>> but that has its own set of risks.
>>>
>>> Jim
>>> _______________________________________________
>>> mythtv-users mailing list
>>> mythtv-users [at] mythtv
>>> http://www.mythtv.org/mailman/listinfo/mythtv-users
>> Hi Guys,
>>
>> I have often wondered how many of the dev's (and users) out there are using
>> LiveTV, for LiveTV. Since 0.25 I have seen an increase in the number of
>> issues on LiveTV. One (or more - the one I am thinking about is the program
>> switch over freezing bug - it's still in 0.26) got reported and I added
>> comments, but it does appear that the number of people (and dev's ?)
>> watching TV is declining ?
>>
>> Cheers,
>>
>> Pieter
>> _______________________________________________
>>
>
> Very few if any Devs use live tv.
>
> Mostly people that use DVRs for any length of time get away from watching
> live tv. The advantages of recording everything you might possibly want to
> watch and then then picking from what has been recorded are many. I don't
> know of any advantages to watching live tv.
>
> --
> _________________________________________________________
>
> Jim Morton
>
> _______________________________________________
> mythtv-users mailing list
> mythtv-users [at] mythtv
> http://www.mythtv.org/mailman/listinfo/mythtv-users
>
Hi Jim,

In a country that lags behind the US in shows aired, it's often best to
watch livetv :)

You have also "agreed" to my point. Most people have switched to DVR's and
simple watch the recordings.

Cheers,

Pieter
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bkamen at benjammin

Aug 8, 2012, 12:56 PM

Post #9 of 138 (1606 views)
Permalink
Re: Live TV playback frustration [In reply to]

Just as a vote - I watch a lot of live TV as background noise.
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greg at gregandeva

Aug 8, 2012, 1:22 PM

Post #10 of 138 (1608 views)
Permalink
Re: Live TV playback frustration [In reply to]

On Wed, 2012-08-08 at 15:17 -0400, Jim Morton wrote:
> On 8/8/2012 3:01 PM, Saul A. Peebsen wrote:
> > On Wed, 08 Aug 2012 14:15:53 -0400
> > Jim Morton <Jim [at] Morton> wrote:
> >
> >> Mostly people that use DVRs for any length of time get away from
> >> watching live tv. The advantages of recording everything you might
> >> possibly want to watch and then then picking from what has been
> >> recorded are many. I don't know of any advantages to watching live tv.
> > I beg to differ.
> That's why I said "mostly"...

Yes, but you also said "I don't know of any advantages to watching live
tv", and I would say that depends a lot on your usage patterns. With a
couple hundred channels available, it's not possible to record
"everything we might possibly want to watch". My wife enjoys channel
surfing, and with two HD-PVRs taking up the set top boxes, using MythTV
is the *only* way to get HD onto the main TV. (We do have one of the
digital converters, but that of course is SD-only and only gets the
"expanded basic" tier of channels). So there is a use case for LiveTV;
she may sit down and not have a clear idea in advance of what she wants
to watch, and she wants to decide by watching a bit of it rather than
going through listings and setting up a recording.

All that said, we are watching recordings 95% of the time. When we do
know what we're going to be watching, it is very nice to be able to skip
the commercials with a single button press, and even for sporting
events, I don't mind watching it an hour behind real time to gain the
advantage of skipping commercials. Heck, with something like the
Olympics, even NBC's "live" coverage is usually several hours behind
here in the USA.

But for that 5% of the time, it is very handy to have LiveTV available.
So "mostly" may be accurate, but "no advantages" is not. I'm sure the
devs understand this, which is why they want LiveTV to work even if they
themselves don't use it.

--Greg


_______________________________________________
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warpme at o2

Aug 8, 2012, 1:33 PM

Post #11 of 138 (1601 views)
Permalink
Re: Live TV playback frustration [In reply to]

On 8/8/12 8:02 PM, Pieter De Wit wrote:
> <snip>
>> These kinds of errors often indicate a deadlock in mythbackend. A
>> number of deadlocks have recently been found and fixed, with the fixes
>> in the 0.26 beta. These issues have been around for a long time, and
>> they tend to be triggered by less predictable real-time events like
>> watching Live TV or EIT updates.
>>
>> You could try out 0.26-beta (being sure to have a DB backup first),
>> but that has its own set of risks.
>>
>> Jim
>> _______________________________________________
>> mythtv-users mailing list
>> mythtv-users [at] mythtv
>> http://www.mythtv.org/mailman/listinfo/mythtv-users
> Hi Guys,
>
> I have often wondered how many of the dev's (and users) out there are
> using LiveTV, for LiveTV. Since 0.25 I have seen an increase in the
> number of issues on LiveTV. One (or more - the one I am thinking about
> is the program switch over freezing bug - it's still in 0.26) got
> reported and I added comments, but it does appear that the number of
> people (and dev's ?) watching TV is declining ?
>
> Cheers,
>
> Pieter
> _______________________________________________
> mythtv-users mailing list
> mythtv-users [at] mythtv
> http://www.mythtv.org/mailman/listinfo/mythtv-users
>
I can only speak for myself, but for me every new release since 0.24 is
BIG improvement in LiveTV.
While I agree with PVR arguments, IMHO stable LiveTV is critical for of
new users adoption (not small subset of new users who wants to convert
STB+MediaPlayer to converged system). This is in-fact initial promise of
MythTV: convergence.
Despite some dev's stated about rare LiveTV usage - looking on 0.25 &
0.26 commits - a lot of effort was devoted to improve LiveTV.
For me 0.25's major improvement is Daniel's rec2 branch merger. 0.26's
major improvement is EIT and stability improvements. I CLEARLY see those
improvements over poor 0.24.
Currently I have 5 phy tuners/20 virtual doing avg. 30-50 rec per day.
With stable tuners (like e.g. ptg7301) last time statistics was about 1
failed recording per 400-600 recordings.
I use LiveTV daily and 0.25 is already almost perfect for LiveTV (with
some tuning like avoiding active EIT when LiveTV is used).
Recently I started using BE with all latest recording/EIT subsystem
improvements and LiveTV seems to be perfect (few days of testing so
knocking wood).
This is great for MythTV future, as flawless LiveTV is much more
important for MythTV "buy-in" than many ppl are thinking/stating...

Regarding Your LiveTV issue I'll start with 2 photosynthesis:
-Your setup is "unfortunate" in context of existing mythtv bugs (and
probably You can play little with this)
-Your underlying infrastructure (OS, HW/tuners/drivers) are less stable
than should be

-br
Attachments: warpme.vcf (83 B)


jyavenard at gmail

Aug 8, 2012, 2:38 PM

Post #12 of 138 (1600 views)
Permalink
Re: Live TV playback frustration [In reply to]

Hi

On Thursday, 9 August 2012, Ben Kamen wrote:

> Just as a vote - I watch a lot of live TV as background noise.
> ______________________________**___________
>

My name is Jean-Yves, I'm a mythtv dev, and I use liveTv.

And I know a few more devs using liveTV...


monkeypet at gmail

Aug 8, 2012, 5:33 PM

Post #13 of 138 (1597 views)
Permalink
Re: Live TV playback frustration [In reply to]

On Wed, Aug 8, 2012 at 2:38 PM, Jean-Yves Avenard <jyavenard [at] gmail>wrote:

> Hi
>
>
> On Thursday, 9 August 2012, Ben Kamen wrote:
>
>> Just as a vote - I watch a lot of live TV as background noise.
>> ______________________________**___________
>>
>
> My name is Jean-Yves, I'm a mythtv dev, and I use liveTv.
>
> And I know a few more devs using liveTV...
>

I have been using LiveTV without any issues. There were some issues with
0.25 the first release, but 0.25/fixes fixed all my problems with LiveTV.
We watch several hours of liveTV everyday. In additional the HDHR Prime
is recording multiple shows (olympics) at the same time. No issues.


>
> _______________________________________________
> mythtv-users mailing list
> mythtv-users [at] mythtv
> http://www.mythtv.org/mailman/listinfo/mythtv-users
>
>


peter_s_d at fastmail

Aug 8, 2012, 11:25 PM

Post #14 of 138 (1584 views)
Permalink
Re: Live TV playback frustration [In reply to]

On Thu, 9 Aug 2012, Jim Morton wrote:

[snip]
> I don't know of any advantages to watching live tv.

It is easier to explain to old people. It is also better for
channel surfing - even though I disprove of channel surfing.


--
blind Pete
Sig goes here...


jan at horde

Aug 9, 2012, 1:52 AM

Post #15 of 138 (1579 views)
Permalink
Re: Live TV playback frustration [In reply to]

Zitat von Warpme <warpme [at] o2>:

> On 8/8/12 8:02 PM, Pieter De Wit wrote:
>> <snip>
>>> These kinds of errors often indicate a deadlock in mythbackend. A
>>> number of deadlocks have recently been found and fixed, with the fixes
>>> in the 0.26 beta. These issues have been around for a long time, and
>>> they tend to be triggered by less predictable real-time events like
>>> watching Live TV or EIT updates.
>>>
>>> You could try out 0.26-beta (being sure to have a DB backup first),
>>> but that has its own set of risks.
>>>
>>> Jim
>>> _______________________________________________
>>> mythtv-users mailing list
>>> mythtv-users [at] mythtv
>>> http://www.mythtv.org/mailman/listinfo/mythtv-users
>> Hi Guys,
>>
>> I have often wondered how many of the dev's (and users) out there
>> are using LiveTV, for LiveTV. Since 0.25 I have seen an increase in
>> the number of issues on LiveTV. One (or more - the one I am
>> thinking about is the program switch over freezing bug - it's still
>> in 0.26) got reported and I added comments, but it does appear that
>> the number of people (and dev's ?) watching TV is declining ?
>>
>> Cheers,
>>
>> Pieter
>> _______________________________________________
>> mythtv-users mailing list
>> mythtv-users [at] mythtv
>> http://www.mythtv.org/mailman/listinfo/mythtv-users
>>
> I can only speak for myself, but for me every new release since 0.24
> is BIG improvement in LiveTV.
> While I agree with PVR arguments, IMHO stable LiveTV is critical for
> of new users adoption (not small subset of new users who wants to
> convert STB+MediaPlayer to converged system). This is in-fact
> initial promise of MythTV: convergence.
> Despite some dev's stated about rare LiveTV usage - looking on 0.25
> & 0.26 commits - a lot of effort was devoted to improve LiveTV.
> For me 0.25's major improvement is Daniel's rec2 branch merger.
> 0.26's major improvement is EIT and stability improvements. I
> CLEARLY see those improvements over poor 0.24.
> Currently I have 5 phy tuners/20 virtual doing avg. 30-50 rec per day.
> With stable tuners (like e.g. ptg7301) last time statistics was
> about 1 failed recording per 400-600 recordings.
> I use LiveTV daily and 0.25 is already almost perfect for LiveTV
> (with some tuning like avoiding active EIT when LiveTV is used).
> Recently I started using BE with all latest recording/EIT subsystem
> improvements and LiveTV seems to be perfect (few days of testing so
> knocking wood).
> This is great for MythTV future, as flawless LiveTV is much more
> important for MythTV "buy-in" than many ppl are thinking/stating...

I wish I could agree, but for me LiveTV has gotten much more instable
since 0.25 and this didn't improve with -fixes either. I'm curious to
test 0.26 if that improves anything, since I didn't have time to track
the issues down and report them back yet. That's why I didn't complain
yet, it's useless if cannot provide more details.
Right now it's pretty much hit-and-miss whether LiveTV works, which is
kinda annoying with watching the Olympics, which is a perfect use case
for LiveTV for me. Even worse, once it fails, I can usually only
recover the BE/FE by a reboot.

> Regarding Your LiveTV issue I'll start with 2 photosynthesis:
> -Your setup is "unfortunate" in context of existing mythtv bugs (and
> probably You can play little with this)

Probably.

> -Your underlying infrastructure (OS, HW/tuners/drivers) are less
> stable than should be

Unlikely, if only the MythTV version changed that turned LiveTV from
mostly stable to mostly unstable.
--
Jan Schneider
The Horde Project
http://www.horde.org/

_______________________________________________
mythtv-users mailing list
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glemsom at gmail

Aug 9, 2012, 4:43 AM

Post #16 of 138 (1577 views)
Permalink
Re: Live TV playback frustration [In reply to]

On 9 August 2012 10:52, Jan Schneider <jan [at] horde> wrote:
>
> Zitat von Warpme <warpme [at] o2>:
>
>
>> On 8/8/12 8:02 PM, Pieter De Wit wrote:
>>>
>>> <snip>
>>>>
>>>> These kinds of errors often indicate a deadlock in mythbackend. A
>>>> number of deadlocks have recently been found and fixed, with the fixes
>>>> in the 0.26 beta. These issues have been around for a long time, and
>>>> they tend to be triggered by less predictable real-time events like
>>>> watching Live TV or EIT updates.
>>>>
>>>> You could try out 0.26-beta (being sure to have a DB backup first),
>>>> but that has its own set of risks.
>>>>
>>>> Jim
>>>> _______________________________________________
>>>> mythtv-users mailing list
>>>> mythtv-users [at] mythtv
>>>> http://www.mythtv.org/mailman/listinfo/mythtv-users
>>>
>>> Hi Guys,
>>>
>>> I have often wondered how many of the dev's (and users) out there are
>>> using LiveTV, for LiveTV. Since 0.25 I have seen an increase in the number
>>> of issues on LiveTV. One (or more - the one I am thinking about is the
>>> program switch over freezing bug - it's still in 0.26) got reported and I
>>> added comments, but it does appear that the number of people (and dev's ?)
>>> watching TV is declining ?
>>>
>>> Cheers,
>>>
>>> Pieter
>>> _______________________________________________
>>> mythtv-users mailing list
>>> mythtv-users [at] mythtv
>>> http://www.mythtv.org/mailman/listinfo/mythtv-users
>>>
>> I can only speak for myself, but for me every new release since 0.24 is
>> BIG improvement in LiveTV.
>> While I agree with PVR arguments, IMHO stable LiveTV is critical for of
>> new users adoption (not small subset of new users who wants to convert
>> STB+MediaPlayer to converged system). This is in-fact initial promise of
>> MythTV: convergence.
>> Despite some dev's stated about rare LiveTV usage - looking on 0.25 & 0.26
>> commits - a lot of effort was devoted to improve LiveTV.
>> For me 0.25's major improvement is Daniel's rec2 branch merger. 0.26's
>> major improvement is EIT and stability improvements. I CLEARLY see those
>> improvements over poor 0.24.
>> Currently I have 5 phy tuners/20 virtual doing avg. 30-50 rec per day.
>> With stable tuners (like e.g. ptg7301) last time statistics was about 1
>> failed recording per 400-600 recordings.
>> I use LiveTV daily and 0.25 is already almost perfect for LiveTV (with
>> some tuning like avoiding active EIT when LiveTV is used).
>> Recently I started using BE with all latest recording/EIT subsystem
>> improvements and LiveTV seems to be perfect (few days of testing so knocking
>> wood).
>> This is great for MythTV future, as flawless LiveTV is much more important
>> for MythTV "buy-in" than many ppl are thinking/stating...
>
>
> I wish I could agree, but for me LiveTV has gotten much more instable since
> 0.25 and this didn't improve with -fixes either. I'm curious to test 0.26 if
> that improves anything, since I didn't have time to track the issues down
> and report them back yet. That's why I didn't complain yet, it's useless if
> cannot provide more details.
> Right now it's pretty much hit-and-miss whether LiveTV works, which is kinda
> annoying with watching the Olympics, which is a perfect use case for LiveTV
> for me. Even worse, once it fails, I can usually only recover the BE/FE by a
> reboot.
>
>
>> Regarding Your LiveTV issue I'll start with 2 photosynthesis:
>> -Your setup is "unfortunate" in context of existing mythtv bugs (and
>> probably You can play little with this)
>
>
> Probably.
>
>
>> -Your underlying infrastructure (OS, HW/tuners/drivers) are less stable
>> than should be
>
>
> Unlikely, if only the MythTV version changed that turned LiveTV from mostly
> stable to mostly unstable.
> --
> Jan Schneider
> The Horde Project
> http://www.horde.org/
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> mythtv-users mailing list
> mythtv-users [at] mythtv
> http://www.mythtv.org/mailman/listinfo/mythtv-users


As stated before on this list, remember MythTV is NOT in a stable
release yet! It's still under development.
Personally I've choosen to stay with an rather old snapshot of
0.24-fixes - as it's currently the most stable solution for me.
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sgtbundy at gmail

Aug 9, 2012, 6:00 AM

Post #17 of 138 (1568 views)
Permalink
Re: Live TV playback frustration [In reply to]

On 9/08/2012 12:09 AM, Jim Stichnoth wrote:
> These kinds of errors often indicate a deadlock in mythbackend. A
> number of deadlocks have recently been found and fixed, with the fixes
> in the 0.26 beta. These issues have been around for a long time, and
> they tend to be triggered by less predictable real-time events like
> watching Live TV or EIT updates.
>
> You could try out 0.26-beta (being sure to have a DB backup first),
> but that has its own set of risks.
>
> Jim

Thanks Jim - the reason I have my storage on ZFS is so I can snapshot it
for upgrades - been bitten enough to warrant it. I will try a later
0.25 and then maybe 0.26 - hopefully can't make it much worse.

For the other comments about watching live TV - in this case unless we
wait 3-4 hours for the recording to finish we have to watch it live,
even if we are 2 hours behind. Generally my wife just picks what she
wants and most of the time watches it time shifted, but some programs
she wants to watch live (Idol/Talent shows etc) because she does not
want to be spoiled on the web. It has got to the point where if I know
she is watching a live recording I simply don't both doing anything
other than watch videos on the other frontend because I know that will
crash it, and she gets hit enough by crashes caused by other backend
activity.

As for the question of infrastructure I believe I have mine fairly well
honed after 6.5 years of using Myth. Having gone through many tuners,
changes in storage and network problems I am very confident that that is
not the problem. The storage, backend and frontend resources are not
hit hard at all. The tuners are finally stable after years of signal
issues, model changes and using development branch driver builds.
Stability of the OS and Myth itself is actually the best it has been in
a long time, but these frontend errors just really are frustrating -
especially seeing as try my best I cannot narrow down the cause.
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jyavenard at gmail

Aug 9, 2012, 8:12 AM

Post #18 of 138 (1573 views)
Permalink
Re: Live TV playback frustration [In reply to]

On 9 August 2012 21:43, Glenn Sommer <glemsom [at] gmail> wrote:
> As stated before on this list, remember MythTV is NOT in a stable
> release yet! It's still under development.

And where do you get this pearl of wisdom from now?
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tylernt at gmail

Aug 9, 2012, 8:16 AM

Post #19 of 138 (1571 views)
Permalink
Re: Live TV playback frustration [In reply to]

> For the other comments about watching live TV -
> in this case unless we wait 3-4 hours for the recording
> to finish we have to watch it live,

Why wait? Myth will let you watch a recording still in-progress. You
can start watching mere seconds after the recording starts
(personally, I would rather wait 12 minutes or so, so I could
commercial-skip).

> And I like
> watching old movies on TCM at bedtime. I do not want to record them,
> just relax watching.

I know you say you don't want to record them, but why not? Hard drives
are cheap, one movie won't take much space: you could set a rule to
record category=movies on TCM with a max recording limit of 1. Then
you'll be able to watch whatever movie is in-progress and it'll get
deleted automatically with no further action on your part. Plus,
you'll now have the option of watching a movie from the beginning (to
catch important early plot elements). And, you can play back with
timestretch for slow movies. You can also skip commercials or boring
bits. And should you discover a really great movie you might like to
watch again, or that your spouse or friend might like to watch later,
or if you just feel sleepy and want to finish it later yourself, you
can 'preserve this episode' or archive it or burn it or whatever. Or
you can export it to your mobile device for later viewing away from
home.

I agree there are valid use cases for LiveTV, but I think (IMHO) there
are many more compelling reasons to change your viewing habits
instead. Even if LiveTV were perfectly stable, leaving it behind would
be an upgrade in my book.
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glemsom at gmail

Aug 9, 2012, 10:06 AM

Post #20 of 138 (1566 views)
Permalink
Re: Live TV playback frustration [In reply to]

On 9 August 2012 17:12, Jean-Yves Avenard <jyavenard [at] gmail> wrote:
> On 9 August 2012 21:43, Glenn Sommer <glemsom [at] gmail> wrote:
>> As stated before on this list, remember MythTV is NOT in a stable
>> release yet! It's still under development.
>
> And where do you get this pearl of wisdom from now?
> _______________________________________________
> mythtv-users mailing list
> mythtv-users [at] mythtv
> http://www.mythtv.org/mailman/listinfo/mythtv-users

From using MythTV daily since 0.18.
Also, follow trac and this list... It's often quite easy to spot when
you should wait upgrading to a newer snapshot :P
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pieter at insync

Aug 9, 2012, 11:02 AM

Post #21 of 138 (1558 views)
Permalink
Re: Live TV playback frustration [In reply to]

On 10/08/2012 03:16, Tyler T wrote:
>> For the other comments about watching live TV -
>> in this case unless we wait 3-4 hours for the recording
>> to finish we have to watch it live,
> Why wait? Myth will let you watch a recording still in-progress. You
> can start watching mere seconds after the recording starts
> (personally, I would rather wait 12 minutes or so, so I could
> commercial-skip).
>
>> And I like
>> watching old movies on TCM at bedtime. I do not want to record them,
>> just relax watching.
> I know you say you don't want to record them, but why not? Hard drives
> are cheap, one movie won't take much space: you could set a rule to
> record category=movies on TCM with a max recording limit of 1. Then
> you'll be able to watch whatever movie is in-progress and it'll get
> deleted automatically with no further action on your part. Plus,
> you'll now have the option of watching a movie from the beginning (to
> catch important early plot elements). And, you can play back with
> timestretch for slow movies. You can also skip commercials or boring
> bits. And should you discover a really great movie you might like to
> watch again, or that your spouse or friend might like to watch later,
> or if you just feel sleepy and want to finish it later yourself, you
> can 'preserve this episode' or archive it or burn it or whatever. Or
> you can export it to your mobile device for later viewing away from
> home.
>
> I agree there are valid use cases for LiveTV, but I think (IMHO) there
> are many more compelling reasons to change your viewing habits
> instead. Even if LiveTV were perfectly stable, leaving it behind would
> be an upgrade in my book.
> _______________________________________________
> mythtv-users mailing list
> mythtv-users [at] mythtv
> http://www.mythtv.org/mailman/listinfo/mythtv-users
Sorry Tyler - but this really "hacks me off" about people "supporting"
free software. I see it more and more:

"Why not change your habits to fit in with the software"
"Why are you doing that - that is wrong, do this"

I often see/seen it on C programming, with regards to Linux. The people
posting (and not perhaps you in this case) don't really have an
understanding of what someone is trying to do, or simple can't see why
someone would want to do that. IMHO, that is no reason to ask someone to
change any aspect.

My case is simple - I don't want to record every program I think about.
I already have enough computers around the house so storage will be an
issue (I use NFS mounts for all my Myth storage, except
/var/lib/myhtv/livetv). We often (if not daily) pause livetv for up to 1
hour while having dinner (perfect way to get kids *not* to watch TV
while eating) then resume when everyone is back or whom ever is watching
the program.

Following 1 or more programs, the audience may change so again, livetv
is paused until they are all around. Skipping thru ad's is a major pain
atm, since comm. detection for Aus/NZ is failing (easy fix, disable it
for now). As of late, we have noticed that we fast forward, the time
jumps in 30 seconds blocks, but the video doesn't, until you reach a
magic point, then it is skipped to the next set of ad's or end of the
program.

If we are not paused, "live" livetv program transition is still painful.
I have a HDHomerun which now highlights dropped packets. Yes, this
*could* be hardware, but it worked fine in the "last stable 0.24" and
seems better now in 0.26

I am looking at splitting out the frontend/backend.

My point is/was - surely more people would have noticed this ? Esp. the
dev's that use Myth as a day-to-day TV viewing platform (Thanks JYA for
standing up :) - oh - and Adrian)

Cheers,

Pieter
_______________________________________________
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sgtbundy at gmail

Aug 9, 2012, 7:37 PM

Post #22 of 138 (1554 views)
Permalink
Re: Live TV playback frustration [In reply to]

>> For the other comments about watching live TV -
>> in this case unless we wait 3-4 hours for the recording
>> to finish we have to watch it live,

> Why wait? Myth will let you watch a recording still in-progress. You
> can start watching mere seconds after the recording starts
> (personally, I would rather wait 12 minutes or so, so I could
> commercial-skip).


Just to clarify, when I say I have live TV playback problems, I mean watching an in progress recording - I figure the only difference between this and LiveTV is how the recording is started. Earlier in the thread people were suggesting to just record everything and watch it back later, but my point is that is not always desirable particularly with live events. Typically we record everything through the scheduler anyway - its just with the Olmypics we can't sit around waiting for 4-6 hour recordings to finish to avoid these playback erroring issues.

Sorry about the out of thread reply, but struggling to switch from digest mode to subscription.



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tylernt at gmail

Aug 9, 2012, 10:03 PM

Post #23 of 138 (1541 views)
Permalink
Re: Live TV playback frustration [In reply to]

>> I agree there are valid use cases for LiveTV, but I think (IMHO) there
>> are many more compelling reasons to change your viewing habits
>> instead.

> Sorry Tyler - but this really "hacks me off" about people "supporting" free software. I see it more
> and more:
>
> "Why not change your habits to fit in with the software"
> "Why are you doing that - that is wrong, do this"

Fair enough. However, sometimes users really are wrong. Firefox's
awesomebar, for example: I griped about the bloat when it first came
out, but now I love the awesomebar and use it all the time.

Your point is well taken, however. I agree that all too often, we are
forced to work around or settle for sub-par software. But there are
sometimes two sides to that coin.

> Just to clarify, when I say I have live TV playback problems, I mean
> watching an in progress recording -

Ok, that may be a source of confusion. When I say LiveTV, I mean
hitting "Watch TV" from the homescreen. This is the feature that seems
to be um, somewhat "neglected" and/or even "discouraged" by (some of)
the devs (and myself ;) ). If I'm not mistaken, watching a program
from "Recordings" that happens to still be recording is a rather
different internal codepath for the FE player and should be
rock-stable. Sounds like the problem here is in the BE.

I re-read the first post and indeed it does mention in-progress,
previously-scheduled recordings having problems, so I find that very
disquieting. I hope the issues can be addressed soon.
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monkeypet at gmail

Aug 9, 2012, 11:30 PM

Post #24 of 138 (1539 views)
Permalink
Re: Live TV playback frustration [In reply to]

On Thu, Aug 9, 2012 at 10:03 PM, Tyler T <tylernt [at] gmail> wrote:

> >> I agree there are valid use cases for LiveTV, but I think (IMHO) there
> >> are many more compelling reasons to change your viewing habits
> >> instead.
>
> > Sorry Tyler - but this really "hacks me off" about people "supporting"
> free software. I see it more
> > and more:
> >
> > "Why not change your habits to fit in with the software"
> > "Why are you doing that - that is wrong, do this"
>
> Fair enough. However, sometimes users really are wrong. Firefox's
> awesomebar, for example: I griped about the bloat when it first came
> out, but now I love the awesomebar and use it all the time.
>
> Your point is well taken, however. I agree that all too often, we are
> forced to work around or settle for sub-par software. But there are
> sometimes two sides to that coin.
>
> > Just to clarify, when I say I have live TV playback problems, I mean
> > watching an in progress recording -
>
> Ok, that may be a source of confusion. When I say LiveTV, I mean
> hitting "Watch TV" from the homescreen. This is the feature that seems
> to be um, somewhat "neglected" and/or even "discouraged" by (some of)
>

I do this all the time, hit "Watch TV". I guess I am one of the users that
are wrong. I use a HDHR Prime with 1 cable-card, rented for $1 per month.
Now, I have frontends streaming it to multiple TVs, saving me rental fees
for the individual cable boxes. When I just want to watch sometime for a
few mins, I usually just hit WatchTV and actually watch it. No, I don't
want to record the show and I'll never watch it again later. I just want
to consume the show immediately, then forget about it. I also change
channels while watching. Is that wrong/discourage also?

One another note, I sometimes wonder what the benefit of the mythtvfrontend
is if the sole purpose of mythtv is watching recorded shows. I could do
the same with a combination of running just the mythbackend with
xbmc/myth-plugin as the frontend. Also the xbmc/myth-plugin can watch
live-tv, schedule recordings! Also xbmc just like mythfrontend will do
weather/music/pictures/videos/etc. My other set top boxes like asus/wd will
do DLNA and stream the recorded show from mythbackend.

the devs (and myself ;) ). If I'm not mistaken, watching a program
> from "Recordings" that happens to still be recording is a rather
> different internal codepath for the FE player and should be
> rock-stable. Sounds like the problem here is in the BE.
>
> I re-read the first post and indeed it does mention in-progress,
> previously-scheduled recordings having problems, so I find that very
> disquieting. I hope the issues can be addressed soon.
> _______________________________________________
> mythtv-users mailing list
> mythtv-users [at] mythtv
> http://www.mythtv.org/mailman/listinfo/mythtv-users
>


ajmccauley at gmail

Aug 10, 2012, 12:20 AM

Post #25 of 138 (1539 views)
Permalink
Re: Live TV playback frustration [In reply to]

> Personally I've choosen to stay with an rather old snapshot of
> 0.24-fixes - as it's currently the most stable solution for me.


+1

24 was rock solid. I regret the day I upgraded to .25. No good way
to roll back now (I did not realize how unstable .25 was until it was
about 1 month in to using it) I figured it would get better with
time... Not yet. .

I still love mythtv. But WAF is low right now. (Mythtv decided not
to record 12h of Olympics coverage yesterday... Does not help that I
am 9,000 miles away from home working 14h days so no time to
troublshoot)
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