CHANNELS DVR with Generic Pipe Capture (PLUTO TV as well)

[boukmandutty]

Originally Posted by nyplayer

Schedules Direct has a youtube lineup you just have to add it

Tried that. But I moved moved to Comcast east and west cost like you suggested above. The YouTubetv epg from Schedules Direct does not have the Pacific channels. It doesn't have those adult swim channels either. The problem, as I am sure you know, is that SageTV is not really reading the m3u file from channels dvr with the method we are using. It is only grabbing from specific channels as they are indicated to opendct. Mythtv and NextPVr by contrast read the m3u from channels dvr in its entirety, and gives you the full list of TVE channels available with guide and everything.

[nyplayer]

Originally Posted by boukmandutty

Tried that. But I moved moved to Comcast east and west cost like you suggested above. The YouTubetv epg from Schedules Direct does not have the Pacific channels. It doesn't have those adult swim channels either. The problem, as I am sure you know, is that SageTV is not really reading the m3u file from channels dvr with the method we are using. It is only grabbing from specific channels as they are indicated to opendct. Mythtv and NextPVr by contrast read the m3u from channels dvr in its entirety, and gives you the full list of TVE channels available with guide and everything.

Yep and so does EMBY... SageTV is starting to show it's age. might be time for a retirement home.

[hb4]

Thank you boukmandutty for the instructions, EnterNoEscape for the great work, and the posters for their input on this topic.

I've installed ChannelsDVR, revised the OpenDCT config file, set up the tuner in Sage, remapped a channel, and then tried to watch a live program in Sage where Sage reported 'No Signal'.

Then I opened the OpenDCT log file and finally tumbled to the fact that I have to have ffmpeg installed! I think this is something I should have realized were I even minimally equipped to attempt this, but alas that is not the case.

Is this as simple as downloading it from one of the sites referenced on the ffmpeg website and putting it somewhere I can reference it?

Bill VV

[nyplayer]

Originally Posted by hb4

Thank you boukmandutty for the instructions, EnterNoEscape for the great work, and the posters for their input on this topic.

I've installed ChannelsDVR, revised the OpenDCT config file, set up the tuner in Sage, remapped a channel, and then tried to watch a live program in Sage where Sage reported 'No Signal'.

Then I opened the OpenDCT log file and finally tumbled to the fact that I have to have ffmpeg installed! I think this is something I should have realized were I even minimally equipped to attempt this, but alas that is not the case.

Is this as simple as downloading it from one of the sites referenced on the ffmpeg website and putting it somewhere I can reference it?

Bill VV

Yes that simple

[hb4]

Done and done! Now using ChannelsDVR to tune the Xfinity TVE stream and their local channel link to record content with both Channels and Sage, and accessing via the Firestick 4K. Bottom line, this setup replaces my HDHR Prime tuner for most of the previous Xfinity lineup.

Some notes...

• The remote Sage server that I've been using for several years recently crashed, so I set this up on an old W7 pc at my (now) local location that does not have wired cable tv available. Since the remote location has Xfinity cable service, I was able to access the Xfinity account for ChannelsDVR. I intend to 86 the Xfinity account and go with You Tube or Hulu once I build a new Sage server for the (now) local location.
• I find the Xfinity TVE lineup missing some desired channels compared to their cable lineup. ChannelsDVR has an experimental feature that provides access to the local major network streams.
• Manually converting the Physical channel numbers in Sage to the Channels numbers is time consuming, so +1 for nplayers call for a working XMLTV solution.
• Strangely, accessing the Sage server through the Firestick app is much slower over my LAN than when I was accessing my now crashed remote server.
• I configured my Donators version of Comskip but it still fails from time-to-time, so that's the next project.

[nyplayer]

Originally Posted by hb4

Done and done! Now using ChannelsDVR to tune the Xfinity TVE stream and their local channel link to record content with both Channels and Sage, and accessing via the Firestick 4K. Bottom line, this setup replaces my HDHR Prime tuner for most of the previous Xfinity lineup.

Some notes...

• The remote Sage server that I've been using for several years recently crashed, so I set this up on an old W7 pc at my (now) local location that does not have wired cable tv available. Since the remote location has Xfinity cable service, I was able to access the Xfinity account for ChannelsDVR. I intend to 86 the Xfinity account and go with You Tube or Hulu once I build a new Sage server for the (now) local location.
• I find the Xfinity TVE lineup missing some desired channels compared to their cable lineup. ChannelsDVR has an experimental feature that provides access to the local major network streams.
• Manually converting the Physical channel numbers in Sage to the Channels numbers is time consuming, so +1 for nplayers call for a working XMLTV solution.
• Strangely, accessing the Sage server through the Firestick app is much slower over my LAN than when I was accessing my now crashed remote server.
• I configured my Donators version of Comskip but it still fails from time-to-time, so that's the next project.

Sounds good ... yeah the mapping is the only time consuming part.I have a small cheap Celeron NUC now with ChannelsDVR controlling all my tuners and TVE and pluto. Feeding SageTV ChannelsDVR Emby and plex.... My son was watching a basketball game remotely using EMBY and I was watching the same game at home using SageTV and only use 1 tuner you can't beat that.

[boukmandutty]

Originally Posted by hb4

Done and done! Now using ChannelsDVR to tune the Xfinity TVE stream and their local channel link to record content with both Channels and Sage, and accessing via the Firestick 4K. Bottom line, this setup replaces my HDHR Prime tuner for most of the previous Xfinity lineup.

Some notes...

• The remote Sage server that I've been using for several years recently crashed, so I set this up on an old W7 pc at my (now) local location that does not have wired cable tv available. Since the remote location has Xfinity cable service, I was able to access the Xfinity account for ChannelsDVR. I intend to 86 the Xfinity account and go with You Tube or Hulu once I build a new Sage server for the (now) local location.
• I find the Xfinity TVE lineup missing some desired channels compared to their cable lineup. ChannelsDVR has an experimental feature that provides access to the local major network streams.
• Manually converting the Physical channel numbers in Sage to the Channels numbers is time consuming, so +1 for nplayers call for a working XMLTV solution.
• Strangely, accessing the Sage server through the Firestick app is much slower over my LAN than when I was accessing my now crashed remote server.
• I configured my Donators version of Comskip but it still fails from time-to-time, so that's the next project.

Glad you have it working. It has been a life saver to me in a area where cox locks everything non local down with drm. It is way far more reliable than the system I had before where I would use adb commands to make my adriod tv boxes function like stbs. Hopefully this TVE thing lasts for a while.

I noticed the issue with the responsiveness as well with my Nvidia shield. I must say that over time it has gotten much faster. I dont want to jump the gun but I was wondering if the slow down had to do with caching (the system getting used to the the new lineup, mapping, epg, and all) or anything of the sort. It is much faster now where the speed for most things is comparable to my intel nuc client connected via ethernet.

For the xmltv file to work without mapping we would have to get SageTV - opendct to be able to present the channels as listed in the m3u file supplied to it. Right now what opendct does for us is to process individual m3u8 links to specific streams as we direct it.

[nyplayer]

If You want all the TVE Channels to tune without transcoding I found the settings to do it.


sagetv.device.2587278.consumer=opendct.consumer.DynamicConsumerImpl
sagetv.device.2587278.custom_channels=
sagetv.device.2587278.delay_to_wait_after_tuning=0
sagetv.device.2587278.device_name=TVE1
sagetv.device.2587278.encoder_listen_port=9000
sagetv.device.2587278.encoder_merit=0
sagetv.device.2587278.encoder_pool=generic_pipe
sagetv.device.2587278.exclusive_server_address=
sagetv.device.2587278.fast_network_encoder_switch=true
sagetv.device.2587278.last_channel=6011
sagetv.device.2587278.stopping_executable=
sagetv.device.2587278.streaming_executable=c\:\\\\ffmpeg\\bin\\ffmpeg.exe -i "http\://10.0.0.2\:8089/devices/ANY/channels/%c%/stream.mpg?format\=hls" -c copy -f mpegts -
sagetv.device.2587278.transcode_profile=
sagetv.device.2587278.tuning_delay_ms=0

[boukmandutty]

I have been messing around with this in docker. Does anyone have any idea of what the command would be in docker to get opendct to do this? I have tried everything I know.

[hb4]

Originally Posted by nyplayer

If You want all the TVE Channels to tune without transcoding I found the settings to do it.

sagetv.device.2587278.streaming_executable=c\:\\\\ffmpeg\\bin\\ffmpeg.exe -i "http\://10.0.0.2\:8089/devices/ANY/channels/%c%/stream.mpg?format\=hls" -c copy -f mpegts -

So, I had this, which was working:
sagetv.device.-1778689001.streaming_executable=c\:\\FFMPEG\\ffmpeg.exe -i http\://192.168.1.143\:8089/devices/ANY/channels/%c%/hls/master.m3u8? -f mpegts -codec\:v copy -codec\:a copy -

And changed it to this which is still working, so that's good.
sagetv.device.-1778689001.streaming_executable=c\:\\FFMPEG\\ffmpeg.exe -i "http\://192.168.1.143:8089/devices/ANY/channels/%c%/stream.mpg?format\=hls" -c copy -f mpegts -

[nyplayer]

Originally Posted by hb4

So, I had this, which was working:
sagetv.device.-1778689001.streaming_executable=c\:\\FFMPEG\\ffmpeg.exe -i http\://192.168.1.143\:8089/devices/ANY/channels/%c%/hls/master.m3u8? -f mpegts -codec\:v copy -codec\:a copy -

And changed it to this which is still working, so that's good.
sagetv.device.-1778689001.streaming_executable=c\:\\FFMPEG\\ffmpeg.exe -i "http\://192.168.1.143:8089/devices/ANY/channels/%c%/stream.mpg?format\=hls" -c copy -f mpegts -

There were some TVE Channels that did not work with ts changing to hls fixed all...

For my HdHomeRun Tuners I use ts.


This is how I have my Primes, OTA and TVE setup in OPENDCT ... for TVE I setup 8 streams.

generic.pipe.device_names_csv=Cable1,Cable2,Cable3,Cable4,Cable5,Cable6,OTA1,OTA2,OTA3,OTA4,OTA5,OTA6,OTA7,OTA8,OTA9,OTA10,OTA11,OTA12,TVE1,TVE2,TVE3,TVE4,TVE5,TVE6,TVE7,TVE8

[hb4]

Originally Posted by nyplayer

There were some TVE Channels that did not work with ts changing to hls fixed all...

For my HdHomeRun Tuners I use ts.

This is how I have my Primes, OTA and TVE setup in OPENDCT ... for TVE I setup 8 streams.

generic.pipe.device_names_csv=Cable1,Cable2,Cable3,Cable4,Cable5,Cable6,OTA1,OTA2,OTA3,OTA4,OTA5,OTA6,OTA7,OTA8,OTA9,OTA10,OTA11,OTA12,TVE1,TVE2,TVE3,TVE4,TVE5,TVE6,TVE7,TVE8

Well, you lost me, but that's not unusual....
I went back and checked my Prime setup before everything crashed, and that line is empty, even tho I was recording from it (them) just fine.

[nyplayer]

Originally Posted by hb4

Well, you lost me, but that's not unusual....
I went back and checked my Prime setup before everything crashed, and that line is empty, even tho I was recording from it (them) just fine.

If you are not using generic pipes for your HDHomerun units then you cannot share the stream/tuner at the same time with ChannelsDVR.

[nyplayer]

Originally Posted by hb4

Well, you lost me, but that's not unusual....
I went back and checked my Prime setup before everything crashed, and that line is empty, even tho I was recording from it (them) just fine.

If you are not using generic pipes for your HDHomerun units then you cannot share the stream/tuner at the same time with ChannelsDVR. If you are just using the old way then watching the same channel on Channels DVR and SageTV will use 2 tuners.





sagetv.device.2010761140.consumer=opendct.consumer.DynamicConsumerImpl
sagetv.device.2010761140.custom_channels=
sagetv.device.2010761140.delay_to_wait_after_tuning=0
sagetv.device.2010761140.device_name=Cable1
sagetv.device.2010761140.encoder_listen_port=9000
sagetv.device.2010761140.encoder_merit=0
sagetv.device.2010761140.encoder_pool=generic_pipe_cable
sagetv.device.2010761140.exclusive_server_address=
sagetv.device.2010761140.fast_network_encoder_switch=true
sagetv.device.2010761140.last_channel=44
sagetv.device.2010761140.stopping_executable=
sagetv.device.2010761140.streaming_executable=c\:\\\\ffmpeg\\bin\\ffmpeg.exe -i "http\://10.0.0.2\:8089/devices/ANY/channels/%c%/stream.mpg?format\=ts" -c copy -f mpegts -
sagetv.device.2010761140.transcode_profile=
sagetv.device.2010761140.tuning_delay_ms=0

[hb4]

It sounds like you really have it dialed in. I'll have to do some reading to see if I can understand how the HDHR stream gets picked up by OpenDCT. Aside from the changes in 'generic.pipe.device_names_csv' and the sagetv.device.xxx... entries, are there any other changes made in the OpenDCT config file?

I guess if I were to attempt this, I'd need a cookbook. Are there any advantages in quality, comskip, or closed captions to using ChannelsDVR, or is it pretty much up to UI preferences?

[nyplayer]

Originally Posted by hb4

It sounds like you really have it dialed in. I'll have to do some reading to see if I can understand how the HDHR stream gets picked up by OpenDCT. Aside from the changes in 'generic.pipe.device_names_csv' and the sagetv.device.xxx... entries, are there any other changes made in the OpenDCT config file?

I guess if I were to attempt this, I'd need a cookbook. Are there any advantages in quality, comskip, or closed captions to using ChannelsDVR, or is it pretty much up to UI preferences?

Well if you only use one or the other not really ... But in my Household we use all Plex/EMBY/SageTV/Channels.... but Close Captions in Channels DVR are natively supported. I really do not like SageTV for remote Access using a phone it is clunky. So I use Channels DVR or Plex./Emby


I use Plex for Series I want to keep as it neatly puts then in Folders... not all together like Sage. I use ChannelsdVR for Movies. and Shows I watch and delete.

[hb4]

Well, after my early success my server hiccuped and I re-installed SageTV and OpenDCT, made the changes to OpenDCT, and Sage longer sees the Channels tuners. Here is some code around the error message in the OpenDCT log...; it happens similarly for the rest of the tuners.

17:46:24.492 [GenericHttpLoader-38] DEBUG DeviceLoaderImpl - Advertising new capture device 'Chan1'.
17:46:24.494 [GenericHttpLoader-38] DEBUG SageTVManager - The requested capture device 'Chan1' did not exist. Triggering re-discovery.
17:46:24.494 [GenericHttpLoader-38] DEBUG DynamicConsumerImpl - Using default consumer 'opendct.consumer.FFmpegTransSageTVConsumerImpl' for channel ''
17:46:24.500 [GenericHttpLoader-38] ERROR GenericHttpDiscoverer - An unhandled exception happened in loadCaptureDevice while using discoveredDevicesLock => java.lang.NullPointerException
	at opendct.capture.GenericHttpCaptureDevice.configureServices(GenericHttpCaptureDevice.java:93)
	at opendct.capture.GenericHttpCaptureDevice.<init>(GenericHttpCaptureDevice.java:71)
	at opendct.tuning.http.GenericHttpDiscoveredDevice.loadCaptureDevice(GenericHttpDiscoveredDevice.java:228)
	at opendct.tuning.discovery.discoverers.GenericHttpDiscoverer.loadCaptureDevice(GenericHttpDiscoverer.java:334)
	at opendct.tuning.discovery.DeviceLoaderImpl.advertiseDevice(DeviceLoaderImpl.java:106)
	at opendct.tuning.discovery.discoverers.GenericHttpDiscoverer.addCaptureDevice(GenericHttpDiscoverer.java:207)
	at opendct.tuning.http.GenericHttpLoader.run(GenericHttpLoader.java:35)
	at java.lang.Thread.run(Unknown Source)

I've reinstalled OpenDCT and reconfigured several times, but it's possible I missed something. With a new OpenDCT install I ran the console before starting the service, then started/stopped and added the tuner names, and finally started/stopped and added the streaming executable string for each tuner that appeared. Since it was so straightforward the first time, my next step will be to start over and do a repair install of W10 and start from scratch but I thought I'd see if anyone had a suggestion here.

[nyplayer]

Originally Posted by hb4

Well, after my early success my server hiccuped and I re-installed SageTV and OpenDCT, made the changes to OpenDCT, and Sage longer sees the Channels tuners. Here is some code around the error message in the OpenDCT log...; it happens similarly for the rest of the tuners.

17:46:24.492 [GenericHttpLoader-38] DEBUG DeviceLoaderImpl - Advertising new capture device 'Chan1'.
17:46:24.494 [GenericHttpLoader-38] DEBUG SageTVManager - The requested capture device 'Chan1' did not exist. Triggering re-discovery.
17:46:24.494 [GenericHttpLoader-38] DEBUG DynamicConsumerImpl - Using default consumer 'opendct.consumer.FFmpegTransSageTVConsumerImpl' for channel ''
17:46:24.500 [GenericHttpLoader-38] ERROR GenericHttpDiscoverer - An unhandled exception happened in loadCaptureDevice while using discoveredDevicesLock => java.lang.NullPointerException
	at opendct.capture.GenericHttpCaptureDevice.configureServices(GenericHttpCaptureDevice.java:93)
	at opendct.capture.GenericHttpCaptureDevice.<init>(GenericHttpCaptureDevice.java:71)
	at opendct.tuning.http.GenericHttpDiscoveredDevice.loadCaptureDevice(GenericHttpDiscoveredDevice.java:228)
	at opendct.tuning.discovery.discoverers.GenericHttpDiscoverer.loadCaptureDevice(GenericHttpDiscoverer.java:334)
	at opendct.tuning.discovery.DeviceLoaderImpl.advertiseDevice(DeviceLoaderImpl.java:106)
	at opendct.tuning.discovery.discoverers.GenericHttpDiscoverer.addCaptureDevice(GenericHttpDiscoverer.java:207)
	at opendct.tuning.http.GenericHttpLoader.run(GenericHttpLoader.java:35)
	at java.lang.Thread.run(Unknown Source)

I've reinstalled OpenDCT and reconfigured several times, but it's possible I missed something. With a new OpenDCT install I ran the console before starting the service, then started/stopped and added the tuner names, and finally started/stopped and added the streaming executable string for each tuner that appeared. Since it was so straightforward the first time, my next step will be to start over and do a repair install of W10 and start from scratch but I thought I'd see if anyone had a suggestion here.

What type of devices is Chan1? Also can you post your OPENDCT settings for Chan1

[hb4]

Originally Posted by nyplayer

What type of devices is Chan1? Also can you post your OPENDCT settings for Chan1

It is for ChannelsDVR...

sagetv.device.65070850.streaming_executable=c\:\\FFMPEG\\ffmpeg.exe -i "http\://192.168.1.115\:8089/devices/ANY/channels/%c%/stream.mpg?format\=hls" -c copy -f mpegts

[nyplayer]

Originally Posted by hb4

It is for ChannelsDVR...

sagetv.device.65070850.streaming_executable=c\:\\FFMPEG\\ffmpeg.exe -i "http\://192.168.1.115\:8089/devices/ANY/channels/%c%/stream.mpg?format\=hls" -c copy -f mpegts

did you make sure the mapping in SageTV is the same as the channel # ChannelsDVR is looking for ?