OpenDCT: An open source digital cable tuner.

[BobbyDing]

EnterNoEscape

I want to try trans-coding within openDCT and have the following set for the only tuner presently used in Sage, in the openDCT properties file:

sagetv.device.-1041516176.always_force_external_unlock=false
sagetv.device.-1041516176.consumer=opendct.consumer.DynamicConsumerImpl
sagetv.device.-1041516176.device_name=DCT-HDHomeRun Prime Tuner 131F16FF-2
sagetv.device.-1041516176.encoder_listen_port=9000
sagetv.device.-1041516176.encoder_merit=0
sagetv.device.-1041516176.encoder_pool=dct
sagetv.device.-1041516176.fast_network_encoder_switch=true
sagetv.device.-1041516176.last_channel=-1
sagetv.device.-1041516176.transcode_profile=ultrafast720p30

However the stream is still mpeg2. Is there something else that needs to be set? Do I need to change the consumer also?

Thanks!!
.

[Fuzzy]

You need to make sure it's using the ffmpeg consumer as well. Since the device is set to use the DynamicConsumerImpl, then that means it hands it off to the consumer set in consumer.dynamic.default. Make sure it's set to:

opendct.consumer.FFmpegTransSageTVConsumerImpl

[BobbyDing]

Thanks Fuzzy.



I made the change:

sagetv.device.-1041516176.always_force_external_unlock=false
sagetv.device.-1041516176.consumer=opendct.consumer.FFmpegTransSageTVConsumerImpl
sagetv.device.-1041516176.device_name=DCT-HDHomeRun Prime Tuner 131F16FF-2
sagetv.device.-1041516176.encoder_listen_port=9000
sagetv.device.-1041516176.encoder_merit=0
sagetv.device.-1041516176.encoder_pool=dct
sagetv.device.-1041516176.fast_network_encoder_switch=true
sagetv.device.-1041516176.last_channel=-1
sagetv.device.-1041516176.transcode_profile=ultrafast720p30

And it fails with this in the opendct.log

14:00:08.304 [SageTVRequestHandler-519:DCT-HDHomeRun Prime Tuner 131F16FF-2] INFO  HDHRNativeCaptureDevice - Configuring and starting the new SageTV consumer...
14:00:08.307 [SageTVRequestHandler-519:DCT-HDHomeRun Prime Tuner 131F16FF-2] ERROR FFmpegTransSageTVConsumerImpl - Unable to open '/var/media/tv/Reba-TheStoryofaDivorce-111795-0.ts' for writing => java.nio.file.NoSuchFileException: /var/media/tv/Reba-TheStoryofaDivorce-111795-0.ts
	at sun.nio.fs.UnixException.translateToIOException(UnixException.java:86)
	at sun.nio.fs.UnixException.rethrowAsIOException(UnixException.java:102)
	at sun.nio.fs.UnixException.rethrowAsIOException(UnixException.java:107)
	at sun.nio.fs.UnixFileSystemProvider.newFileChannel(UnixFileSystemProvider.java:177)
	at java.nio.channels.FileChannel.open(FileChannel.java:287)
	at java.nio.channels.FileChannel.open(FileChannel.java:335)
	at opendct.consumer.FFmpegTransSageTVConsumerImpl$FFmpegDirectWriter.<init>(FFmpegTransSageTVConsumerImpl.java:690)
	at opendct.consumer.FFmpegTransSageTVConsumerImpl.consumeToFilename(FFmpegTransSageTVConsumerImpl.java:295)
	at opendct.capture.HDHRNativeCaptureDevice.startEncodingSync(HDHRNativeCaptureDevice.java:986)
	at opendct.capture.HDHRNativeCaptureDevice.startEncoding(HDHRNativeCaptureDevice.java:488)
	at opendct.sagetv.SageTVRequestHandler.run(SageTVRequestHandler.java:226)
	at java.lang.Thread.run(Thread.java:745)

14:00:08.308 [SageTVRequestHandler-519:DCT-HDHomeRun Prime Tuner 131F16FF-2] ERROR SageTVRequestHandler - SageTV sent: 'START DCT-HDHomeRun Prime Tuner 131F16FF-2 Digital TV Tuner|1357436760|699|2977999214566|/var/media/tv/Reba-TheStoryofaDivorce-111795-0.ts|Great', Replied: 'ERROR Device Start Failed'
14:00:08.309 [SageTVRequestHandler-519:DCT-HDHomeRun Prime Tuner 131F16FF-2] ERROR SageTVRequestHandler - Encoder device is unable to start.

Any ideas?

Thanks so much.

Bobby

[EnterNoEscape]

You need to enabled media server use for FFmpeg. Change consumer.ffmpeg.upload_id_enabled=false to consumer.ffmpeg.upload_id_enabled=true.

[BobbyDing]

Hmmm. No errors now, but it's back to recording mpg2. What I notice is that every time I start openDCT, consumer.dynamic.default=opendct.consumer.FFmpegTransSageTVConsumerImpl gets set back to consumer.dynamic.default=opendct.consumer.MediaServerConsumerImpl. I've tried it a couple times now.

Bobby

[BobbyDing]

I think I may have discovered what might be happening (or maybe not). The last lines in install-opendct.sh reads:

# Set to use media server consumer, so we don't have to have access to recording location.
echo -e "\nconsumer.dynamic.default=opendct.consumer.MediaServerConsumerImpl\n" >> /etc/opendct/conf/opendct.properties

echo "Launching OpenDCT"
/opt/opendct/console-only

executing "docker ps" on my system gets me:

CONTAINER ID        IMAGE                           COMMAND                  CREATED             STATUS              PORTS               NAMES
0735e88d3ce2        crazifuzzy/opendct              "/usr/bin/install-ope"   26 hours ago        Up 10 minutes                           opendct
98148f24d152        stuckless/sagetv-server-java8   "/sbin/my_init"          27 hours ago        Up 10 minutes                           SageTV

It looks like my system is always running "/usr/bin/install-opendct.sh" when I start openDCT. Am I interpreting this correctly, and is this correct behavior? Or does my unraid just have gremlins? I cannot figure why else consumer.dynamic.default= would keep getting changed back.

Sorry to be such a PIA.
.

[willieb]

Originally Posted by EnterNoEscape

To me the issue isn't how much a Prime costs. The issue is the monthly rental. I can either get 3, 4 or 6 channels per CableCARD. I wonder which one I'm going to pick. I wouldn't necessarily recommend InfiniTV to a new user, but if you've already got them, they do still work fine on modern hardware.

...says the guy who has "them all hosted on a different CentOS 7.3 boxes using DKMS to dynamically rebuild the kernel module when the kernel upgrades..."


Sorry ENE - couldn't resist! But I agree that if you've got the chops to use them, there is no arguing that 6 tuners per card beats 3 tuners every day of the week.

[Fuzzy]

Originally Posted by BobbyDing

Hmmm. No errors now, but it's back to recording mpg2. What I notice is that every time I start openDCT, consumer.dynamic.default=opendct.consumer.FFmpegTransSageTVConsumerImpl gets set back to consumer.dynamic.default=opendct.consumer.MediaServerConsumerImpl. I've tried it a couple times now.

Bobby

Okay, so yes, if you are running the openDCT docker, then it will set the dynamic consumer to use the media server as default. This is to get things working out of the box when the docker is setup, because the default is to use ffmpeg without using the uploadid, and the docker doens't necessarily have access to the sage recording folders, so it pretty much HAS to use uploadid instead.

That said, if you've set the individual device to use FFmpegTransSageTVConsumerImpl, than it doesn't even matter what the dynamic consumer default is set to.

You ought to start up opendct, do a short recording (or livetv viewing), then shut opendct back down, and attach opendct.log and opendct.properties so we can ascertain why it might not be transcoding for you.

[EnterNoEscape]

Originally Posted by willieb

...says the guy who has "them all hosted on a different CentOS 7.3 boxes using DKMS to dynamically rebuild the kernel module when the kernel upgrades..."


Sorry ENE - couldn't resist! But I agree that if you've got the chops to use them, there is no arguing that 6 tuners per card beats 3 tuners every day of the week.

I should clarify that I meant all 3 are on one CentOS box. 3 separate boxes would cost more in electricity negating the rental savings. With the cards fully on, that box idles around 40 watts and since it's not just for the cards, the extra power consumption doesn't phase me.

[BobbyDing]

Originally Posted by Fuzzy

You ought to start up opendct, do a short recording (or livetv viewing), then shut opendct back down, and attach opendct.log and opendct.properties so we can ascertain why it might not be transcoding for you.

Thanks Fuzzy, I'll try that in a day or two. My weekend is over, back to work for a while.

Bobby

[makutaku]

Does OpenDCT support any sort of directory remapping ?

I am trying to setup SageTV (in a Unraid docker) to use OpenDCT in a Windows machine, where I have installed an InfiniTV PCI card.

Even after using mklink in Windows to mimic the SageTV linux directory structure (/var/media/tv -> C:/var/media/tv), I still get the following error in the OpenDCT log:

[SageTVRequestHandler-605897:DCT-Ceton InfiniTV PCIe (00-80-56-b1) Tuner 4] 
ERROR FFmpegTransSageTVConsumerImpl - 
Unable to open '/var/media/tv/KOMO4PrimetimeNews-127846-20.ts' for writing => 
java.nio.file.NoSuchFileException: \var\media\tv\KOMO4PrimetimeNews-127846-20.ts
	at sun.nio.fs.WindowsException.translateToIOException(Unknown Source)
	at sun.nio.fs.WindowsException.rethrowAsIOException(Unknown Source)
	at sun.nio.fs.WindowsException.rethrowAsIOException(Unknown Source)
	at sun.nio.fs.WindowsFileSystemProvider.newFileChannel(Unknown Source)
	at java.nio.channels.FileChannel.open(Unknown Source)
	at java.nio.channels.FileChannel.open(Unknown Source)
	at opendct.consumer.FFmpegTransSageTVConsumerImpl$FFmpegDirectWriter.<init>(FFmpegTransSageTVConsumerImpl.java:723)
	at opendct.consumer.FFmpegTransSageTVConsumerImpl.consumeToFilename(FFmpegTransSageTVConsumerImpl.java:328)
	at opendct.capture.InfiniTVCaptureDevice.startEncodingSync(InfiniTVCaptureDevice.java:540)
	at opendct.capture.InfiniTVCaptureDevice.startEncoding(InfiniTVCaptureDevice.java:390)
	at opendct.sagetv.SageTVRequestHandler.run(SageTVRequestHandler.java:226)
	at java.lang.Thread.run(Unknown Source)

I validated that C:\var\media\tv\KOMO4PrimetimeNews-127846-20.ts did exist and user running OpenDCT had permission to read/write. However it seems OpenDCT is looking at "\var\media\tv" and not at "C:\var\media\tv"

Any idea how to make it work ?

[EnterNoEscape]

Originally Posted by makutaku

Does OpenDCT support any sort of directory remapping ?

I am trying to setup SageTV (in a Unraid docker) to use OpenDCT in a Windows machine, where I have installed an InfiniTV PCI card.

Even after using mklink in Windows to mimic the SageTV linux directory structure (/var/media/tv -> C:/var/media/tv), I still get the following error in the OpenDCT log:

[SageTVRequestHandler-605897:DCT-Ceton InfiniTV PCIe (00-80-56-b1) Tuner 4] 
ERROR FFmpegTransSageTVConsumerImpl - 
Unable to open '/var/media/tv/KOMO4PrimetimeNews-127846-20.ts' for writing => 
java.nio.file.NoSuchFileException: \var\media\tv\KOMO4PrimetimeNews-127846-20.ts
	at sun.nio.fs.WindowsException.translateToIOException(Unknown Source)
	at sun.nio.fs.WindowsException.rethrowAsIOException(Unknown Source)
	at sun.nio.fs.WindowsException.rethrowAsIOException(Unknown Source)
	at sun.nio.fs.WindowsFileSystemProvider.newFileChannel(Unknown Source)
	at java.nio.channels.FileChannel.open(Unknown Source)
	at java.nio.channels.FileChannel.open(Unknown Source)
	at opendct.consumer.FFmpegTransSageTVConsumerImpl$FFmpegDirectWriter.<init>(FFmpegTransSageTVConsumerImpl.java:723)
	at opendct.consumer.FFmpegTransSageTVConsumerImpl.consumeToFilename(FFmpegTransSageTVConsumerImpl.java:328)
	at opendct.capture.InfiniTVCaptureDevice.startEncodingSync(InfiniTVCaptureDevice.java:540)
	at opendct.capture.InfiniTVCaptureDevice.startEncoding(InfiniTVCaptureDevice.java:390)
	at opendct.sagetv.SageTVRequestHandler.run(SageTVRequestHandler.java:226)
	at java.lang.Thread.run(Unknown Source)

I validated that C:\var\media\tv\KOMO4PrimetimeNews-127846-20.ts did exist and user running OpenDCT had permission to read/write. However it seems OpenDCT is looking at "\var\media\tv" and not at "C:\var\media\tv"

Any idea how to make it work ?

It does not. If you find yourself in that kind of situation, you should use the media server (upload ID) instead.

[Fuzzy]

Originally Posted by EnterNoEscape

It does not. If you find yourself in that kind of situation, you should use the media server (upload ID) instead.

And, in fact, the unRAID docker sets it up to use the simple "MediaServerConsumerImpl" by default because of this.

[EnterNoEscape]

Originally Posted by Fuzzy

And, in fact, the unRAID docker sets it up to use the simple "MediaServerConsumerImpl" by default because of this.

It might not be a bad idea to just ensure they are all enabled to use the media server by default since the SageTV remuxer does not work for all content at this time. I was using it for a while until it coughed on a few recordings and I couldn't track down why. Cable just seems to play by it's own rules.

[Fuzzy]

Originally Posted by EnterNoEscape

It might not be a bad idea to just ensure they are all enabled to use the media server by default since the SageTV remuxer does not work for all content at this time. I was using it for a while until it coughed on a few recordings and I couldn't track down why. Cable just seems to play by it's own rules.

Not sure what you mean.

[EnterNoEscape]

Originally Posted by Fuzzy

Not sure what you mean.

Set these too:
consumer.ffmpeg.upload_id_enabled=true
consumer.raw.upload_id_enabled=true

[BobbyDing]

Originally Posted by Fuzzy

You ought to start up opendct, do a short recording (or livetv viewing), then shut opendct back down, and attach opendct.log and opendct.properties so we can ascertain why it might not be transcoding for you.

Here's all the logs. Prime Tuner 131F16FF-2 is the tuner presently assigned to sage. Thanks so much!
.

[makutaku]

It worked! Thanks!

[Fuzzy]

Originally Posted by EnterNoEscape

Set these too:
consumer.ffmpeg.upload_id_enabled=true
consumer.raw.upload_id_enabled=true

Oh.. yes. I should do that. Actually intended on doing so for ffmpeg, and honestly, hadn't realized that raw had upload_id capability.. I'm not actually all that sure what the difference between the raw consumer with upload id turned on, and the media server consumer is.

[EnterNoEscape]

Originally Posted by Fuzzy

Oh.. yes. I should do that. Actually intended on doing so for ffmpeg, and honestly, hadn't realized that raw had upload_id capability.. I'm not actually all that sure what the difference between the raw consumer with upload id turned on, and the media server consumer is.

Raw just writes out the raw file without using the SageTV remuxer. The media server consumer uses the SageTV remuxer.