LinuxMCE 0810 and VDR recording mechanism

[felpouse]

Dear all,

I would like to understand something about the actual method used by vdr for the recordings.

In this moment I have a distributed installation with one core/hybrid and only one MD at the moment.
All of them are working correctly with live TV using both DVB-T and DVB-S from the core.

When vdr went released in 0710 I don't had much time to spent on it. Now I need to know if it's possible or not to see recordings from MD made by the core or not?

Actually if I schedule a recording from vdr-admin portal web, then I can naturally see them from the core.
But if I went on rec from MD I can't see nothing ?

For VDR configuration in 0810 I still continue use the instruction from 0710 VDR Manual Install from this link http://wiki.linuxmce.org/index.php/VDR_Manual_Install

Is it correct or not ?

For the MD configuration this parameter streamdev-client.StreamFilters must be 0 or 1 ? Because in other post sometimes is set to 0 or to 1 .

If other give the solution, but I can't be able to find it in the forum , please send me the link.

Best regards,

Luke

[ladekribs]

Hi Luke,

I installed VDR on 0810 with help from this link http://wiki.linuxmce.org/index.php/VDR

I have not tested recordings from MD yet.

Regards Stefan

[felpouse]

Hi Stefan,

thanks for your reference. I have already use it. But for me it's necessary to understand which is the mechanism to see a recording made by the core/hybrid from any MDs .

I think that the problem could be related to the default directory in which the recordings were stored that is  /var/lib/video.00 for the actual VDR installation in 0810 . And this directory isn't visible from the MDs I think.

But I'm not sure about that, I'm tring to investigate on it. Could someone else encounter this or not?

Regards

Luke

[jimbodude]

recordings from either MythTV or VDR were supposed to be stored in /home/public/data/pvr/ by default based on a developer meeting over the summer.  I'm not sure if those changes have filtered through everything yet.  Try setting that as the recording directory.

In general, everything under public/data is available on all MDs.

[felpouse]

Hi Jimbo,

thanks for your references , that was I'm thinking about. Because all the other types of media like music or video are stored there and from any MDs you can play it and manage.

I need to investigate where are all the part involved in start scripts for VDR and change the part related to store recordings in which directory.

Thanks for your info.

Regards

Luke

[ladekribs]

Hi
I also thought of setting the path to /home/public/data/pvr/ but if done so will all the vdr files be shown togheter with the video files?

BR Stefan

[felpouse]

Hi Stefan,

I think me too that all the vdr files will be visible in the video files list selection. But actually could be only a supposition from my opinion, I had to make many tests on it to give a correct response.

Regards

Luke

[jimbodude]

Media appears under the proper scenario (audio / video) no matter what directory it is stored in.  The media type determines where is appears.  I'm not sure how VDR recordings have their type set, or if they are simply detected as videos when UpdateMedia runs.  From what I remember, UpdateMedia runs recursively on /home/public/data - so everything should be included without any issues.

[felpouse]

Hi Jimbo,

I know that every media type appears under the proper scenario.
But the only possible problem that someone could encounter will be the presence of the vdr files under the video selection.

It seems to me to remember in a earlier release, but not remember if 0710 or 0810, when you've recorded a TV show with VDR it will be visible in that scenario. But actually for me that is a hazy memory.

I hope to try this week-end and tell you whats happens.

Regards

Luke

[jimbodude]

...Yes, that's what I'm saying... no matter what directory you put your videos in, they'll appear in the videos scenario.  So long as they're added to the media database as a video, it doesn't matter where they are stored.

[felpouse]

Exactly, but in this mode you will not use vdr app for recorded tv, I think. I will follow my tests result.

Regards

Luke

[jimbodude]

That is correct, from what I understand.  We have the same issue with MythTV.

[totallymaxed]

Exactly, but in this mode you will not use vdr app for recorded tv, I think. I will follow my tests result.

Regards

Luke

One of the key limitations of playing recorded TV shows from the Orbiters Media Browser screen is that if that show is still being recorded when you start playing it back the Orbiter will only allow you to watch it up to the point that the recording was at when you started playback ie the Orbiter does not do 'chase play'. Every PVR out there does do 'Chase play'...watch the show while the show is still being recorded. This is one of the major advantages of PVR's. Both vdr & MythTV's internal players will do 'chase play'.

If you only ever watch shows after they have finished recording then this is not a problem at all...but for many people its a 'show stopper' as their $100 PVR already does it!

All the best

Andrew

[felpouse]

Hi Andrew,
your explanation is completly correct and I share your thought.
But actually my point is that if I start a recording from the vdr instance on the core, from any MDs is impossible to see it. Both during recording or at the end.
That is related to the directory where vdr store the recordings. I don't know if we change the store directory something will change.

What do you think about that?

Andrew, your Cascade product is based on mythtv ot vdr ? If you use vdr in which mode did you manage that ?

Regards

Luke

[totallymaxed]

Hi Andrew,
your explanation is completly correct and I share your thought.
But actually my point is that if I start a recording from the vdr instance on the core, from any MDs is impossible to see it. Both during recording or at the end.
That is related to the directory where vdr store the recordings. I don't know if we change the store directory something will change.

What do you think about that?

Andrew, your Cascade product is based on mythtv ot vdr ? If you use vdr in which mode did you manage that ?

Regards

Luke

We currently use vdr and we are switching our Cascade/Dianemo customers over to MythTV currently. Our vdr integration allows users to playback recordings made from any MD (or the Core) from any other MD or from Web Admin. However our vdr integration is not the same as that used in LinuxMCE-0710 or 0810. The devs went a different route to us with their vdr integration so I can say why recordings are not visible...but I would suggest that it must have something to do with whether those recordings are being scheduled on the vdr running at the Core or at the MD. Our current vdr integration schedules all recordings at the Core so avoiding the situation where a recording has be scheduled and the user powers down their MD...and therefore the recording fails. Scheduling all recordings at the Core is the best strategy as this is then the only part of the system that needs to run 24/7.

All the best

Andrew