LinuxMCE Forums
General => Installation issues => Topic started by: justdeb on August 31, 2008, 09:26:53 am
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Hi All,
I tried to setup VDR and went through several different examples including this link.
* http://wiki.linuxmce.org/index.php/VDR
I get all the way through the example and everything goes through perfectly, except that when i try and watch live TV in the manner it suggests - i get a no signal message on the screen and that is it.
I then opened the VDR admin site and tried to see whether i get a picture - again no picture. If i do a clean install on my core and try to use mythtv it works perfectly.
I use the nova-T 500 card and it works beautifully under mythtv. I just want to try VDR and compare the 2.
Can anyone suggest what might be causing it not to work for me as i can't see why it should not work.
TIA
Justin
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Hi All,
I tried to setup VDR and went through several different examples including this link.
* http://wiki.linuxmce.org/index.php/VDR
I get all the way through the example and everything goes through perfectly, except that when i try and watch live TV in the manner it suggests - i get a no signal message on the screen and that is it.
I then opened the VDR admin site and tried to see whether i get a picture - again no picture. If i do a clean install on my core and try to use mythtv it works perfectly.
I use the nova-T 500 card and it works beautifully under mythtv. I just want to try VDR and compare the 2.
Can anyone suggest what might be causing it not to work for me as i can't see why it should not work.
TIA
Justin
Hmmm... are you running the setup wizard each time to 'swap' between Myth & vdr? If you are I expect the problem is in the scripts that get run from the setup wizard. There was a problem related to swapping between the two before rc2 was released... maybe that problem did not get resolved.
There are two ways around this - fix the script or avoid swapping between the two.
If you have not done to much customisation after installing your Core and your setup is not too complex the simple way forward would be to install from the DVD again and use the option retain your /home directory (ie not the one that retains your settings & /home). Then in the setup wizard after the install choose vdr and assuming your T500 is detected (which it should be) all you need to do is generate channels.conf as per the wiki instructions (and optionally do the vdradmin-am install too of course) and your done.
All the best
Andrew
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Hi Andrew,
I came across that issue in one of older posts and have just done a clean install in this case to load VDR. Everything was detected and i was able to scan for channels etc and all appeared to be working based on the instructions in the wiki. Alas when i went to vdr admin to try and view a picture i got nothing. Similarly from the core if i tried to watch tv i get the msg no signal.
I reformatted the core again and loaded mythtv option during the install and after some minor configuration settings for australia it works perfectly. I am just surprised that mythtv works without issue and yet i couldn't get VDR running.
There must be something simple or obvious that i am missing or failing to do.
I suppose my question is really focused around whether there is any benefit going to vdr over mythv?
Regards
Justin
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Hi Justin,
My first guessing is about plugins. Check their order when you restart VDR. Also you can find useful information in the /var/log/message or /var/log/syslog. Try to restart VDR and watch the logs.
As I understand watching TV via VDRAdmin interface is possible only if you run LiveTV on your core.
What else ... if you can scan channels that means that DVB card is ok. Check the logs. Maybe you'll find something there.
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Justin
You say you can tune - you are using scan -o vdr for this aren't you? And redirecting the output to a channels.conf file? Then using the web admin to upload this file into VDR? When it scans, you see it mentioning the TV chanels one by one and it generates a file that has an entry for each station?
When in VDR, call up the EPG - it must list these channels (rather than the default European ones) and that will confirm that VDR recognises the file you uploaded.
You can also do a scan and display TV from the KDE desktop in Kaffiene.
To restart VDR as Michael suggests: sudo /etc/init.d/vdr restart whilst you run tail -f /var/log/<logfilename> in another ssh session
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Hi all,
I am using scan -o vdras per the instructions in the wiki (http://wiki.linuxmce.org/index.php/VDR) and selecting au-Brisbane as it is my locality. I do see the scan listing chanels one by one.
I will check the epg later and let you know what it shows.
i will do as michael suggested and post results in a short while.
Rgds
Justin
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Hi Justin,
My first guessing is about plugins. Check their order when you restart VDR. Also you can find useful information in the /var/log/message or /var/log/syslog. Try to restart VDR and watch the logs.
As I understand watching TV via VDRAdmin interface is possible only if you run LiveTV on your core.
What else ... if you can scan channels that means that DVB card is ok. Check the logs. Maybe you'll find something there.
Your right Michael vdradmin-am will only show a Live TV pic if there is one currently displayed on the Core.
Andrew
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Hi all,
I am using scan -o vdras per the instructions in the wiki (http://wiki.linuxmce.org/index.php/VDR) and selecting au-Brisbane as it is my locality. I do see the scan listing chanels one by one.
I will check the epg later and let you know what it shows.
i will do as michael suggested and post results in a short while.
Rgds
Justin
Also try changing to another channel... do you see the correct channel name appear in the vdr channel info box at the bottom of the screen? When you change channel you may find that the Live picture works.
Andrew
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Hi,
I finally bit the bullet and reformatted the box again and only chose to install VDR from menu.
You say you can tune - you are using scan -o vdr for this aren't you? And redirecting the output to a channels.conf file? Then using the web admin to upload this file into VDR? When it scans, you see it mentioning the TV chanels one by one and it generates a file that has an entry for each station?
- YES however there is no channel 7 data.
When in VDR, call up the EPG - it must list these channels (rather than the default European ones) and that will confirm that VDR recognises the file you uploaded.
- I get nothing - i don't even get an option. I also notice if you try and change channels as suggested - i still get nothing.
You can also do a scan and display TV from the KDE desktop in Kaffiene.
- Tried that and got the channels to scan - again no channel 7 - but it was there and the channel information was on screen as well.
I also noted that when i do the following "Now that you have a good 'channels.conf' for your local DVB-T transmitter you need to load it into VDR. So just upload the new 'channels.conf' file using LinuxMCE's Web Admin site - go to Advanced –> Configuration –> VDR and use the 'Browse' button next to 'Upload custom file' to find where you created your 'channels.conf' file and click 'Upload'. Now restart vdr from the console"
- I upload the file and i get a little msg in green at the top of the screen which say 'provider updated'. That is basically - i come back to the same screen again and i now have all of the european dvb-t conf files and an option to choose on of them.
I had a look through the logs - but they seemed to be ok - is there a specific list of entries i should try and find ?
At this point it seems as though there is something fundamentally wrong in what i am doing or the vdr instructions are incomplete in the wiki as i get tv perfectly in myth (but no epg info) and also get picture in Kaffine.
Any other things i should be looking at ?
Regards
Justin
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Justin, do following:
- open two terminal windows (on the box or via ssh);
- in the first one run tail command:
tail -f /var/log/message- in the second one restart VDR:
sudo /etc/init.d/vdr restart- post here VDR messages
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Justin - if you are in Sydney, I have found even as close as Newtown I have difficulty getting Channel 7 (and SBS) as their signals are weak. What you are seeing suggests that scan is unable to lock on to those signals. In Kaffine, when you should be able to see the signal strength for Channel 7 as it scans past it. If it is significantly lower than the other channels then that could be the reason. I have found that my DVB-T card is pretty signal insensitive (Nova T 500), and I needed to get a signal booster and switch on the LNA in the card to reliably get 7 and SBS.
You didn't mention whether you restarted VDR or at least reloaded the router after uploading. Follow niteman's instructions to do that. Also, I have noticed several times that uploading a channels.conf file as you detailed doesn't work the first time. If that happens to me, I simply reupload it again, restart VDR and that usually fixes it. Perhaps just reload the router anyway.
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Test being able to see your channel using kaffeine or mplayer e.g. mplayer dvb:// once you've tuned the tuner with say tzap. You will have to install dvb-utils and dvbstream packages (sudo apt-get dvb-utils dvbstream) and generate a channels.conf file using scan point scan to the au-Sydney example.
scan /usr/share/doc/dvb-utils/examples/scan/dvb-t/YOUR_COUTRY_CODE-YOUR_LOCATION
Though you have probably already done this, as your tuning is working.
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Hi All,
I tried Nite_man's suggestion to open terminal session and i get the following information
Sep 22 21:47:48 dcerouter runvdr: stopping after fatal fail (vdr: error while reading '/var/lib/vdr/channels.conf')
Sep 22 21:47:50 dcerouter kernel: [75529.729137] printk: 249 messages suppressed.
Sep 22 21:47:50 dcerouter kernel: [75529.729142] rtc: lost some interrupts at 1024Hz.
That is basically all i get.
Given that the message is pointing to something wrong in /var/lib/vdr/channels.conf i decided to copy the contents of it.
# Australia / Brisbane (Mt Coot-tha transmitters)
# T freq bw fec_hi fec_lo mod transmission-mode guard-interval hierarchy
# ABC
T 226500000 7MHz 3/4 NONE QAM64 8k 1/16 NONE
# Seven
T 177500000 7MHz 2/3 NONE QAM64 8k 1/8 NONE
# Nine
T 191625000 7MHz 3/4 NONE QAM64 8k 1/16 NONE
# Ten
T 219500000 7MHz 3/4 NONE QAM64 8k 1/16 NONE
# SBS
T 585625000 7MHz 2/3 NONE QAM64 8k 1/8 NONE
I am surprised that it is looking here given that my file is sitting in /root/home/channels.conf. I also copied this file to /root/usr/pluto/templates/vdr/channels.conf which is the same directory as the other european templates.
Have i missed something ?
Regards
Justin
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Justin, you should upload channels.conf via admin web interface. in that case that file will be placed in the right directory - /var/lib/vdr/. Also symlink will be created in the /etc/vdr/.
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Hi all,
i just went through the instructions again and also added in something that indulis said
You will have to install dvb-utils and dvbstream packages (sudo apt-get dvb-utils dvbstream)
I did this as i have been through the instructions a number of times and it does not mention the dvbstream packages. Sure enough i added them as well and finished the instructions as per the wiki.
VDR is now working perfectly except for channel 7 - but i can live with that for now.
Should this step need to be added into the wiki as it appears in my case was the missing piece of the puzzle?
Question - I use the nov-t500 dual dvb-t card - should this now work on both cards or are there some additional steps that need to be done to ensure both tuners are working ?
Thanks to everyones help to date
Regards
Justin
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Hi all,
i just went through the instructions again and also added in something that indulis said
You will have to install dvb-utils and dvbstream packages (sudo apt-get dvb-utils dvbstream)
I did this as i have been through the instructions a number of times and it does not mention the dvbstream packages. Sure enough i added them as well and finished the instructions as per the wiki.
VDR is now working perfectly except for channel 7 - but i can live with that for now.
Should this step need to be added into the wiki as it appears in my case was the missing piece of the puzzle?
Question - I use the nov-t500 dual dvb-t card - should this now work on both cards or are there some additional steps that need to be done to ensure both tuners are working ?
Thanks to everyones help to date
Regards
Justin
You dont need the dvbstream package to scan channels and get vdr working.
The T500 will be auto-detected by the 710 kernel and both tuners will be available.
All the best
Andrew
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Hi all,
Well i have vdr running on the core with no issues. But when it comes to the md's it does not want to play and comes up with the "no Message" image. I have deleted the md's and reloaded them as suggested in other posts on the subject but it didn't work.
Is there something i need to configure against the md in the admin site or is there something i need to change in the core setup?
I realise this is a slight change in topic and thought it might be useful to keep this post complete as it will give others a complete solution to a problem that might exist.
PS - R there any brissie people who have managed to get channel 7 data - if so what info did u put in ur channel.conf?
TIA
Justin
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Justin - although VDR itself has a similar frontend/backend client/server architecture to Myth, in the current LMCE implementation it doesn't support that, so you can only have VDR and your TV card on your core. You can't view TV on your MDs.
That said, 1) there is a hack out there that totallymaxed and niteman have talked about that will allow you to do this in a limited way. And 2) totallymaxed's company has just put out a revision that will go into 0810 that implements this (among much other stuff), so you can either way, or try tackling compiling the new revision of VDR they checked into the trunk (or perhaps 0810, not sure which).
I have Pm'd niz23 as he has some instructions on this. He is in Sweden (I think) so he has just got back to me with some pre-compiled binaries and instructions he is going to wiki-ise. I told him I would point you to him - either pm him directly or let me know if you want me to pass the binaries on to you myself (haven't downloaded and looked at them yet, so not sure what is involved)
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Hi Collin,
Sweet - i will pm/msg/contact niz23 and see how he did it and failing that if i cannot get it working i will wait for 0810 to be released and go from there.
I have my wife naggin my ass and i would like to get her off my back and doing otherthings if u know what i mean!!!!
Thanks for letting me know - i will update all once i have been in touch with niz23.
Cheers
Justin
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Justin - although VDR itself has a similar frontend/backend client/server architecture to Myth, in the current LMCE implementation it doesn't support that, so you can only have VDR and your TV card on your core. You can't view TV on your MDs.
That said, 1) there is a hack out there that totallymaxed and niteman have talked about that will allow you to do this in a limited way. And 2) totallymaxed's company has just put out a revision that will go into 0810 that implements this (among much other stuff), so you can either way, or try tackling compiling the new revision of VDR they checked into the trunk (or perhaps 0810, not sure which).
I have Pm'd niz23 as he has some instructions on this. He is in Sweden (I think) so he has just got back to me with some pre-compiled binaries and instructions he is going to wiki-ise. I told him I would point you to him - either pm him directly or let me know if you want me to pass the binaries on to you myself (haven't downloaded and looked at them yet, so not sure what is involved)
Yep Niz23 is working on this for sure I spoke with him on irc yesterday. If he has pre-compiled binaries or has built the packages then they will get you up an running quickly.
Andrew
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OK, it installed completely painlessly using niz's instructions. Can't test the LiveTV streaming at this point as I don't have an MD yet. But I will certainly be testing the new UI integration and features, which is just as important to me!
Thanks for this Andrew!!
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hi all,
colin/ andrew have you a link for niz's instructions/files please.....?
tia
Ian
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hi all,
colin/ andrew have you a link for niz's instructions/files please.....?
tia
Ian
Ian,
I dont...sorry... but Colin clearly does ;-)
Andrew
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Guys!
Yes.
I have prebuilt debs for the updated VDR for i386 and amd64 together with a short howto that I have written how to get it working on core and MD.
I have let a couple of people test it with good luck so far and during this weekend I will update the howto so that everyone can use it.
Only one thing left. Host the files somewhere. I will let everyone know where to get them shortly. Hope it is solved tonight.
/niz23
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To be honest, I'm not sure I see much difference in the UI. It is in German to start with, but I'm sure I can change the language option easily enough. The DVD up/down buttons change channels as before but the main channel up/down (on the Fiire) doesn't do anything. The colour buttons still seem to call up the LMCE functions assigned to them rather than the ones in the OSD. There is still a lot of OSD menu'ing rather than integrated with LMCE's menu's.
Andrew, is there any chance you could list what features have been added/corrected so I can focus on those?
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colinjones,
the main thing that the new VDR system is accomplishing is the ability to watch live TV on a MD.
This is feature that a lot of people have been looking for.
rgds
Oliver
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To be honest, I'm not sure I see much difference in the UI. It is in German to start with, but I'm sure I can change the language option easily enough. The DVD up/down buttons change channels as before but the main channel up/down (on the Fiire) doesn't do anything. The colour buttons still seem to call up the LMCE functions assigned to them rather than the ones in the OSD. There is still a lot of OSD menu'ing rather than integrated with LMCE's menu's.
Andrew, is there any chance you could list what features have been added/corrected so I can focus on those?
Hi Colin,
We have not implemented any specific Fiire remote functionality. So you will find that the standard MCE remote is better supported. See the updated VDR page on the Wiki for a description of all the MCE remote button functions http://wiki.linuxmce.org/index.php/VDR#MCE_Remote_Functions (http://wiki.linuxmce.org/index.php/VDR#MCE_Remote_Functions)
All the best
Andrew
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To be honest, I'm not sure I see much difference in the UI. It is in German to start with, but I'm sure I can change the language option easily enough. The DVD up/down buttons change channels as before but the main channel up/down (on the Fiire) doesn't do anything. The colour buttons still seem to call up the LMCE functions assigned to them rather than the ones in the OSD. There is still a lot of OSD menu'ing rather than integrated with LMCE's menu's.
Andrew, is there any chance you could list what features have been added/corrected so I can focus on those?
The Language can be changed in the vdr conf or from the vdr osd. See my update of the VDR page on the Wiki for info about how the remote functions work http://wiki.linuxmce.org/index.php/VDR#MCE_Remote_Functions (http://wiki.linuxmce.org/index.php/VDR#MCE_Remote_Functions)
All the best
Andrew
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Am I getting this right.
It's a VDR update for 0710 to get VDR to clients. Is it the hack or can I have different channels on MD's ?
/Mami
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mami.
Am I getting this right.
It's a VDR update for 0710 to get VDR to clients. Is it the hack or can I have different channels on MD's ?
/Mami
No. It´s no hack. It use StreamDev in order to have different channels on your MDs.
Stay tuned for some short time. Only need to upload it the files to linuxmce.org. Should be accomplished in the next days.
I will post the link here as soon as it is done.
There is alos a short howto for the installation that I have written. Unfortunately it is in early draft version. Did not have time to complete it this weekend.
/niz23
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Am I getting this right.
It's a VDR update for 0710 to get VDR to clients. Is it the hack or can I have different channels on MD's ?
/Mami
The code committed to the svn and being built by niz23 is lmcevdr-v10 and it is a substantial update the prior v7 code that was in the LinuxMCE-0710 release. It has a much improved DCE plugin, better and more stable integration of the UI2 EPG, better integration with the MCE remote and possibly most importantly it supports both independent access to Live TV and access to recordings from MD's. Its no hack ;-)
Andrew
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Andrew - do you see extending beyong the MCE remote at any point? Specifically the Fiire, so things like the colour buttons work? Currently that is the most significant block, as so much of the functionality requires the colour buttons. Just try managing a simple recording, even just stopping it recording without them! The only way is through vdradmin, which isn't really practical for day to day use.... is there anything we can do manually to map these buttons properly?
Col.
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Andrew - do you see extending beyong the MCE remote at any point? Specifically the Fiire, so things like the colour buttons work? Currently that is the most significant block, as so much of the functionality requires the colour buttons. Just try managing a simple recording, even just stopping it recording without them! The only way is through vdradmin, which isn't really practical for day to day use.... is there anything we can do manually to map these buttons properly?
Col.
Hi Colin,
I dont think you'll see any Fiire remote support coming from us - we had too many problems with them (we dont even have any Fiire remotes here). But support for this could be figured out by someone who has access to a Fiire remote.
In the meantime...plug in an MCE remote and your 100% in business.
All the best
Andrew
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Colinjones,
another idea would be, you modify the VDR remote screen using (Quick|HA)Designer, and add support for all needed action into the Orbiter UI, instead of relying on the VDR UI.
rgds
Oliver
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Colinjones,
another idea would be, you modify the VDR remote screen using (Quick|HA)Designer, and add support for all needed action into the Orbiter UI, instead of relying on the VDR UI.
rgds
Oliver
Oliver,
Well I agree that would be ideal if it could be achieved. But there are significant issues getting there... so many of the vdr osd screens rely on data and feedback that are not available externally in an easy manner (ie screens that change or manipulate data in-place)
Andrew
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Andrew,
I want to start with those screens, that are used often. Like EPG, like a channel listing to select the channel I want to jump to. Timer is another section that might be helpful to have, to delete timers and/or abort them. I am starting with the channels list, and will see how far it gets me.
Either Arkham, or success. ;)
rgds
Oliver
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possy - let me know if there is anything I can do to help!
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totallymaxed and niz23: Thanks for that information. I shall change to VDR again when i can access the new packages and test.
I'm in same situation as Colin whit the Fiire remote and color buttons. Is it same problem whit other gyroremotes?
/mami
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colinjones,
possy - let me know if there is anything I can do to help!
thanks for asking, and yes there is.
Have a look at the HADesigner (and Thom's screencasts), and modify the VDR Remote screen to include a popup to show existing timers with the ability to delete times and/or de/activate them.
That would help tremendously.
rgds
Oliver
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Andrew,
I want to start with those screens, that are used often. Like EPG, like a channel listing to select the channel I want to jump to. Timer is another section that might be helpful to have, to delete timers and/or abort them. I am starting with the channels list, and will see how far it gets me.
Either Arkham, or success. ;)
rgds
Oliver
Oliver,
The UI2 EPG screen which should be accessible by pressing the 'Guide' button on the remote (if not access using f6 & then select and 'ok' on the upper or lower yellow triangle on-screen) already supports the channel list and selecting/changing the live channel being viewed, it also displays the running order for the TV programs of the selected channel and it also displays the EPG info about the the selected TV Program. Further it allows you to schedule timer recordings etc.
So much of that is already implemented in the UI2 EPG screen now.
All the best
Andrew
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Andrew,
yes, the EPG is implented in UI2. But that won't help on the non-onscreen-orbiters, like the maemo or the weborbiter.
That's my reason for digging into this.
rgds
Oliver
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Andrew,
yes, the EPG is implented in UI2. But that won't help on the non-onscreen-orbiters, like the maemo or the weborbiter.
That's my reason for digging into this.
rgds
Oliver
Ok understood Oliver.
Our focus so far has been to treat the XP/Nokia/CE Orbiters as purely 'control devices' that are used as 'super' remotes when in front of the TV/screen you are viewing. So that all of the responses to Orbiter UI interaction are displayed on the TV as opposed to the screen of the Orbiter.
However I can see that there might be circumstances where displaying the EPG/Recordings on the Orbiters screen would be good too.
Andrew
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Andrew,
one thing I envision is the same scenario you have right now with Video button on the main menu. Use the maemo orbiter, the display does not get turned on, until after I have selected what I want to see. And I think, that is functionality that MIGHT be of interest for the TV as well. Maybe an option to show the channel list first and upon selecting the channel I want to view, the TV gets turned on.
rgds
Oliver
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Andrew,
one thing I envision is the same scenario you have right now with Video button on the main menu. Use the maemo orbiter, the display does not get turned on, until after I have selected what I want to see. And I think, that is functionality that MIGHT be of interest for the TV as well. Maybe an option to show the channel list first and upon selecting the channel I want to view, the TV gets turned on.
rgds
Oliver
Of course vdr at the MD's is currently running all the time. When you select the 'Live TV' button on the UI2 menu or from the remote then plugin loads displays the Live picture. Until the plugin loads there is not way to communicate via DCE with VDR. So before TV is displayed there cannot currently be a channel list... this could be changed but would require changes to the Plugin.
Notice that if TV is running at the MD and you go to another MD or an Orbiter and set your 'Room' to the room that TV is running in you can see (in UI1 main menu) the currently displayed TV channel name in the Media menu line. This is coming from the Plugin at the MD.
All the best
Andrew
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When you select the 'Live TV' button on the UI2 menu or from the remote then plugin loads displays the Live picture.
That is an interesting information. Will keep it in mind.
rgds
Oliver