Utility: Web Radio and TV Encoder

[michaeldjcox]

Originally Posted by mihooper

Encoder.log attached

Yeah its 1.0.2. Doesn't work but they have a ticket open to fix the issue so maybe 1.0.3.

See how you get on with 0.9.8.

Make sure you run VLC up manually first time after install cause it likes to ask some dumb questions first.

Michael

[mihooper]

Michael,

After downgrading the VLC v.0.9.8 I have begun to have many problems. First off VLC would not start manually. Then IE would not start at all. I have tried to stop WFE service manually, but it is hung saying "stopping" in the administration window. I have de-installed VLC but the above problems persist. I have tried to run SageTV, but the SageTV service is hung "starting".

Any suggestions?

[michaeldjcox]

Originally Posted by mihooper

Michael,

After downgrading the VLC v.0.9.8 I have begun to have many problems. First off VLC would not start manually. Then IE would not start at all. I have tried to stop WFE service manually, but it is hung saying "stopping" in the administration window. I have de-installed VLC but the above problems persist. I have tried to run SageTV, but the SageTV service is hung "starting".

Any suggestions?

Wow. Sounds like a PC reboot is needed.

I think its worth making sure there are no VLC sessions running when installing/upgrading VLC.

Webfeedencoder may be your only java.exe in the process window -so can be killed.

SageTV not starting is a bit worrying. Not really related to VLC.

See how it goes after a reboot - if there are still problems....

I wonder if you have the same problem as an earlier poster who found

epg/epg_import_plugin

and

epg/orig_epg_import_plugin

properties in SageTV properties had the same value.

The fix was to set the latter to be empty.

Sorry for your troubles - I try very hard to make things rock solid but each new environment and install has its own issues. This is why brave beta testers are sorely needed.

Michael

[mihooper]

Michael,

Have rebooted several times. Have tried unsuccessfully to stop SageTV service. Have tried unsuccessfully to de-install sage. Have tried unsuccessfully to stop WFE service. Have tried unsuccessfully to access my System config from control panel to roll back my PC to an earlier state to get rid of the rogue services that I cannot stop. At this point the PC is solidy hung and unusable.

[michaeldjcox]

Originally Posted by mihooper

Michael,

Have rebooted several times. Have tried unsuccessfully to stop SageTV service. Have tried unsuccessfully to de-install sage. Have tried unsuccessfully to stop WFE service. Have tried unsuccessfully to access my System config from control panel to roll back my PC to an earlier state to get rid of the rogue services that I cannot stop. At this point the PC is solidy hung and unusable.

I can believe that VLC might get in a fix with DLLs and that the earlier bug with webfeedencoder EPG plugin might cause SageTV not to start.

Webfeedencoder itself is java - it does not screw Microsoft Windows up the way that a windows app can.

Perhaps you need to disable SageTV as a service prior to reboot so it does not auto start using the SageTVControl tool.

Likewise change the service properties for web feed encoder in the windows services dialog so that it does not auto start.

reboot

Check in task manager process tab that there are no vlc.exe sessions, SageTV executables or java.exe (webfeedencoder) running.

Deinstall web feed encoder - but you need SageTV server and any clients to be stopped - check in task manager to ensure this.

Deinstall SageTV if you want to - seems a bit extreme though - webfeedencoder only adds one library jar and adds some properties.

Sorry again for your troubles - this is not the way it normally goes.

Michael

[mihooper]

Michael,

I have lost the ability to start/stop SageTV (happened once before, an uninstall/reinstall fixed the hang). I have lost the ability to start/stop WFE (appears to not communicate with the service). I cannot uninstalled SageTV (hangs during "Preparing to uninstall"). To be fair, since I have seen the SageTVService hand once before, this may be the problem. At this point the machine is hung and I have to way to manipulate any of the services.

Go to bed. It's late where you live. I think if I can kill Sage I will be able to gain control over WFE.

[mihooper]

I have managed to kill the rogue SageTVService by doing the following:
http://forums.sagetv.com/forums/show...19&postcount=6.

So now I have:
1. Re-installed WFE (from the root directory with no spaces in the directory name)
2. Re-installed VLC v0.9.8 without incident. Ran once to verify operation.
3. Re-added a couple of channels from RadioTime using Config.jar
4. Started SageTV and selected one of the newly added web stations in the program guide.
5. Saw two vlc services start in Windows Task Manager
6. Got no audio.....

Any ideas?

[michaeldjcox]

Originally Posted by mihooper

So now I have:
1. Re-installed WFE (from the root directory with no spaces in the directory name)
2. Re-installed VLC v0.9.8 without incident. Ran once to verify operation.
3. Re-added a couple of channels from RadioTime using Config.jar
4. Started SageTV and selected one of the newly added web stations in the program guide.
5. Saw two vlc services start in Windows Task Manager
6. Got no audio.....

Any ideas?

You win the webfeedencoder medal of honour for persistence!

Its worth testing that the tuning URL is actually working - the internet is a very hit or miss place and radiotime is a great "seed" for channel config but its not always correct.

Very likely the tuning URL is not working - but this can be edited and replaced with a working one.

To check you can run up VLC, choose open network, paste in the tuning URL and see if it works. Or try in any other media player.

You could also try the test tools:

• Check that there are no VLC sessions still running - kill any that are.
• Run the config tool.
• Edit the channel details for that channel.
• Press the "test" button.
• In the dialog that appears press the "Start" button.
• Run for a few minutes.
• Press the stop button.
• In the three tabs will be log output - paste those into a file and post here.

If you like just chat me the radiotime channel id - the thing beginning with s followed by some numbers - you will see that in the id field of the channel config if you edit the channel in the config tool. I'll take a look and see if it works for me.

Michael

[mihooper]

Michael,

To check you can run up VLC, choose open network, paste in the tuning URL and see if it works. Or try in any other media player.

This works in VLC. Both stations. Also, the log output seemed to be reporting correct capture/recording.

Somehow in this process I've lost my EPG and TV viewing capability. I have un-installed WFE and the EPG has not returned. Can you help me get the EPG and TV viewing back?

[mihooper]

Can you help me get the EPG and TV viewing back?

Somehow I lost all of my channels in my HDHR and sat recvr video sources. After deleting and reinstalling both video sources the channels once again appear in the EPG.

I'm sorry, but I'm afraid this beta testing is a bit beyond my abilites and patience. I look forward to when you have been able to work out the kinks.

Thanks!

[michaeldjcox]

Originally Posted by mihooper

Somehow I lost all of my channels in my HDHR and sat recvr video sources. After deleting and reinstalling both video sources the channels once again appear in the EPG.

With your EPG there should be only two things to get right.

• When installing choose a channel offset so yourwebfeedencoder logical channels begin after your normal range of channel numbers.
• If you are already using an external XMLTV import plugin, e.g. Stephanes XMLTV importer, the installer should have saved the original plugin class in Sage.properties from epg/epg_import_plugin to epg/orig_epg_import_plugin.

And as I am writing this I remember than robogeek had an issue with SageTV sourced EPG disappearing when an XMLTV importer is added

http://forums.sage.tv/forums/showthr...6&postcount=83

There is another property to set up - I shall have to get the installer to check for that situation.

Originally Posted by mihooper

I'm sorry, but I'm afraid this beta testing is a bit beyond my abilites and patience. I look forward to when you have been able to work out the kinks.

I fully understand - you've had more painful time than most.

Plugins like this really need beta testers as there are so many different ways of using SageTV and I only have what I have at home.

Four bugs have been identified as a result of your persistence in beta testing and continual posting of information back - I'm very grateful for that step forward.

Will deploy an updated 0.9.4 shortly. 0.9.5 is about two weeks away.

Many thanks,

Michael

[michaeldjcox]

Yes - it seems that you must disable the epg_import_plugin for each native SageTV EPG source.

epg_data_sources/XXXXXX/disable_plugin=true

when an EPG import plugin is added.

I will try and figure out a way for the installer to deal with this.

Michael

[michaeldjcox]

Released a new version 0.9.4a wrapping up most of these issues uncovered since release of 0.9.4.

For those that already have version 0.9.4 installed the installer now has a refresh button that allows delivered files to be updated.

Only config directory files are not updated.

If you are a tinkerer and have tinkered with any of the delivered channeltypes/* or commands/* files these will be overwritten.

The installer will not fix the disappearing TV and Satellite EPG issue where SageTV has already been configured - a manual edit of Sage.properties is required to disable the epg_import_plugin for sources that do not use an external EPG importer.

Its a primitive way of patching delivered components - I'll think of something a bit cleverer eventually.

Many thanks beta testers!

Michael

[mihooper]

Originally Posted by michaeldjcox

Yes - it seems that you must disable the epg_import_plugin for each native SageTV EPG source.

epg_data_sources/XXXXXX/disable_plugin=true

when an EPG import plugin is added.

I will try and figure out a way for the installer to deal with this.

Michael

Michael,

I have regained my EPG, but it is not getting updates. I have made the modification you suggested above, to no avail.

Just to clarify my previous post, I lost not *just* my WFE channels, but all channels in all video sources. Once I re-added the channels via scan, they re-appeared in my EPG. Now the EPG is not updating, even after your suggested fix above.

[michaeldjcox]

Hi,

Been private messaging with Opus4 on this one. Hope to get a clearer picture of how EPG plugins can co-exist with regular EPG sources.

I notice from your post on the other thread that your Sage.Properties has this line in which you had to remove.

epg/epg_import_plugin=true

The web feed encoder does set this property to a class name.

It does not set it to true though in installation or deinstallation.

Was this something you set or did Sage do this?

Michael

[mihooper]

Was this something you set or did Sage do this?

Michael,

Unfortunately, I do not know the answer at this point. I have been trying to retrace my steps to get things back to normal, which they are not currently. By removing "true" from the end of epg/epg_import_plugin=true (per Robogeek's suggestion) I was able to get rid of the blank channel lineup provider screen that others have seen. However, I do not remember ever manually setting this value to "true".

At this point my EPG is very confused. The channel lineup for any video source that I add contains channels from all video sources. I hope I can rectify this without a de-install/re-install since I have so many customizations. I really want to continue testing your plugin since it is something I would use regularly.

[michaeldjcox]

Hi,

I'm probably a bit too drunk to engage brain fully on this one after an after work drinking session.

At the end of the day all my plugin has done is to define an epg/epg_import_plugin=<webfeedencoder plugin class> and recently to set epg/epg_data_source/XXX/disable_plugin on existing epg_data_sources.

You should be able to get back to that position by removing the epg/epg_import_plugin and possibly the epg/epg_data_source/XXX/disable_plugin. The actual encoder is the series of properties with /123/ in the name - which could also be removed. A epg_data_source entry would have been added by SageTV for the WebFeedEncoder with epg_name=WebFeedEncoder.

If you remove all these SageTV is back to how it was. I guess you may need to do the old trick of enabling and disabling a channel in your lineup to force an EPG update.

It sounds like mixing native EPG and external plugin EPG is not well handled by SageTV. Like many European users I do not have the benefit of EPG available without external plugin I have not been exposed to these issues.

So I guess my plugin is not yet suitable for North American users. Opus4 has given me some pointers as to how this might be resolved and I have a few ideas of my own.

I will be back with a solution.

Many thanks again for beta testing and feeding back your findings.

Michael

[tmiranda]

Michael,

I just want to give you a little encouragement. As somebody who has started doing some development in Sage I can REALLY appreciate the amount of work you have put into this addition. What you've done is "non-trivial" to say the least. I can only imagine the number of hours you have devoted to this.

Keep up the good work!

Tom

[michaeldjcox]

Thanks Tom

Originally Posted by tmiranda

Michael,

I just want to give you a little encouragement. As somebody who has started doing some development in Sage I can REALLY appreciate the amount of work you have put into this addition. What you've done is "non-trivial" to say the least. I can only imagine the number of hours you have devoted to this.

Keep up the good work!

Tom

[SprDtyF350]

I just discovered this plugin this morning and it looks like something I have wanted to see for a long time!

I am having an issue with the installer though. The install starts but then I can't get past one of the steps. It says: C:\Program Files (x86)\webfeedencoder\channels\samples\977TheHitzChannels.props (The system cannot find the path specified)

I am installing on a Windows 7 64 bit machine if that makes a difference.

This is a first time install so I wouldn't expect that to be there either..

Thanks..