Development progress

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BitHelp
Posts: 46
Joined: Mon Oct 31, 2011 2:31 am

Re: Development progress

Post by BitHelp » Tue Feb 28, 2012 8:23 pm

Red_F wrote:FTR does not use channel numbers 1, 2, 3, .... but it uses GUIDs to identify the channels 40c72627-cd02-4740-99b3-31fdc1101beb, 8e65855f-b8f4-49f0-966d-3c527a2adf5f, 94530956-a4cd-46ab-b3a3-67705e1734ac, ....

So the Add-on has no idea about numbers at all. What happens is that channels are assigned a number in the order they are received from FTR when it sends the 'All Channels' list.

Code: Select all

40c72627-cd02-4740-99b3-31fdc1101beb ==> 1
8e65855f-b8f4-49f0-966d-3c527a2adf5f ==> 2
94530956-a4cd-46ab-b3a3-67705e1734ac ==> 3
And that is the number that is used by XBMC. You can find a much more detailed explanation in the original development thread, where this was discussed in great detail.

You can use debug logging and view the xbmc.log to see just in what order your FTR sends the channels.
Hi Red_F and thanks for the quick respond. So how does your plugin assigns the GUIDs to numbers? Is it in the same order as they come in the All Channels list of the For The Record system? Also what happens to other list present in the For the Record that are transferred in the xbmc? Are they affected from the All Channel order?

Thanks

Red_F
Posts: 533
Joined: Wed May 19, 2010 10:31 pm
Location: The Netherlands

Re: Development progress

Post by Red_F » Tue Feb 28, 2012 9:21 pm

BitHelp wrote:
Red_F wrote:FTR does not use channel numbers 1, 2, 3, .... but it uses GUIDs to identify the channels 40c72627-cd02-4740-99b3-31fdc1101beb, 8e65855f-b8f4-49f0-966d-3c527a2adf5f, 94530956-a4cd-46ab-b3a3-67705e1734ac, ....

So the Add-on has no idea about numbers at all. What happens is that channels are assigned a number in the order they are received from FTR when it sends the 'All Channels' list.

Code: Select all

40c72627-cd02-4740-99b3-31fdc1101beb ==> 1
8e65855f-b8f4-49f0-966d-3c527a2adf5f ==> 2
94530956-a4cd-46ab-b3a3-67705e1734ac ==> 3
And that is the number that is used by XBMC. You can find a much more detailed explanation in the original development thread, where this was discussed in great detail.

You can use debug logging and view the xbmc.log to see just in what order your FTR sends the channels.
Hi Red_F and thanks for the quick respond. So how does your plugin assigns the GUIDs to numbers? Is it in the same order as they come in the All Channels list of the For The Record system? Also what happens to other list present in the For the Record that are transferred in the xbmc? Are they affected from the All Channel order?

Thanks
The FTR server sends channels that have a GUID. The channels are processed in the order that FTR sends them, and every GUID gets assigned a channel number. So the first channel sent to the add-on (no matter what it's GUID is) is assigned number 1, the next is number 2 and so forth.

That number is known as the unique channel id within XBMC. All the other program groups are using this same number.

So let's say you have an 'all channels' list with 160 channels in it. And you have a list 'my super favourites' with only two channels out of that 160. It may very well be that the channels of your 'my super favourites' list have channel number 23 and channel number 147.

Because of the channel identification mismatch between XBMC (numbers) and FTR (GUIDs) there is really no guarantee.

It gets even worse when you use the FTR 'Channel Administration' features of the FTR management console........

Should you decide to remove channel 56 and channel 89 (or whatever channels for that matter) from your 'all channels' list, or move channels up or down in your list, or add a new channel. Then the next time XBMC starts things will be completely messed up.

Your EPG contents are wrong, the displayed logo may be wrong, displayed timer information may be wrong (do not worry though, everything still is fine on the FTR server) etc. etc. This is all caused by the fact that the channels after the ones you have deleted or added are assigned different channel numbers than the previous time. And these channel number are persisted in the internal XBMC PVR database.

We should thank the FTR server that it always reports the channels in identical order when no changes are made by us. Otherwise *every* start of XBMC would be a mess.

The way to correct this is to go the settings menu in XBMC, go to the Live-TV tab and select 'Reset PVR Database'. This will clean the internal XBMC database, re-retrieve the info from FTR and everything will be consistent and correct again.

It is ugly. It is messy. And to be honest I was very doubtful in the beginning that I could get channels and channel groups to work at all. So I'm not happy, but I am glad it works (most of the time ;)).

Cheers,
Fred
Growing old is inevitable. Growing up is optional!

BitHelp
Posts: 46
Joined: Mon Oct 31, 2011 2:31 am

Re: Development progress

Post by BitHelp » Tue Feb 28, 2012 10:35 pm

Red_F wrote:
BitHelp wrote:
Red_F wrote:FTR does not use channel numbers 1, 2, 3, .... but it uses GUIDs to identify the channels 40c72627-cd02-4740-99b3-31fdc1101beb, 8e65855f-b8f4-49f0-966d-3c527a2adf5f, 94530956-a4cd-46ab-b3a3-67705e1734ac, ....

So the Add-on has no idea about numbers at all. What happens is that channels are assigned a number in the order they are received from FTR when it sends the 'All Channels' list.

Code: Select all

40c72627-cd02-4740-99b3-31fdc1101beb ==> 1
8e65855f-b8f4-49f0-966d-3c527a2adf5f ==> 2
94530956-a4cd-46ab-b3a3-67705e1734ac ==> 3
And that is the number that is used by XBMC. You can find a much more detailed explanation in the original development thread, where this was discussed in great detail.

You can use debug logging and view the xbmc.log to see just in what order your FTR sends the channels.
Hi Red_F and thanks for the quick respond. So how does your plugin assigns the GUIDs to numbers? Is it in the same order as they come in the All Channels list of the For The Record system? Also what happens to other list present in the For the Record that are transferred in the xbmc? Are they affected from the All Channel order?

Thanks
The FTR server sends channels that have a GUID. The channels are processed in the order that FTR sends them, and every GUID gets assigned a channel number. So the first channel sent to the add-on (no matter what it's GUID is) is assigned number 1, the next is number 2 and so forth.

That number is known as the unique channel id within XBMC. All the other program groups are using this same number.

So let's say you have an 'all channels' list with 160 channels in it. And you have a list 'my super favourites' with only two channels out of that 160. It may very well be that the channels of your 'my super favourites' list have channel number 23 and channel number 147.

Because of the channel identification mismatch between XBMC (numbers) and FTR (GUIDs) there is really no guarantee.

It gets even worse when you use the FTR 'Channel Administration' features of the FTR management console........

Should you decide to remove channel 56 and channel 89 (or whatever channels for that matter) from your 'all channels' list, or move channels up or down in your list, or add a new channel. Then the next time XBMC starts things will be completely messed up.

Your EPG contents are wrong, the displayed logo may be wrong, displayed timer information may be wrong (do not worry though, everything still is fine on the FTR server) etc. etc. This is all caused by the fact that the channels after the ones you have deleted or added are assigned different channel numbers than the previous time. And these channel number are persisted in the internal XBMC PVR database.

We should thank the FTR server that it always reports the channels in identical order when no changes are made by us. Otherwise *every* start of XBMC would be a mess.

The way to correct this is to go the settings menu in XBMC, go to the Live-TV tab and select 'Reset PVR Database'. This will clean the internal XBMC database, re-retrieve the info from FTR and everything will be consistent and correct again.

It is ugly. It is messy. And to be honest I was very doubtful in the beginning that I could get channels and channel groups to work at all. So I'm not happy, but I am glad it works (most of the time ;)).

Cheers,
Fred
Hi Red_F and thanks a lot for the throughout explanation, it is starting to make sense now. The way I see it the only option that I have is to either try and sort out the channels in the all Channels list of the For the record system and then reset the pvr database in the xbmc and import the channels again, or rename the channel names in the For the Record database. I will report back if I am successful.

BitHelp
Posts: 46
Joined: Mon Oct 31, 2011 2:31 am

Re: Development progress

Post by BitHelp » Thu Mar 01, 2012 11:53 pm

Red_F wrote:
BitHelp wrote:
Red_F wrote:FTR does not use channel numbers 1, 2, 3, .... but it uses GUIDs to identify the channels 40c72627-cd02-4740-99b3-31fdc1101beb, 8e65855f-b8f4-49f0-966d-3c527a2adf5f, 94530956-a4cd-46ab-b3a3-67705e1734ac, ....

So the Add-on has no idea about numbers at all. What happens is that channels are assigned a number in the order they are received from FTR when it sends the 'All Channels' list.

Code: Select all

40c72627-cd02-4740-99b3-31fdc1101beb ==> 1
8e65855f-b8f4-49f0-966d-3c527a2adf5f ==> 2
94530956-a4cd-46ab-b3a3-67705e1734ac ==> 3
And that is the number that is used by XBMC. You can find a much more detailed explanation in the original development thread, where this was discussed in great detail.

You can use debug logging and view the xbmc.log to see just in what order your FTR sends the channels.
Hi Red_F and thanks for the quick respond. So how does your plugin assigns the GUIDs to numbers? Is it in the same order as they come in the All Channels list of the For The Record system? Also what happens to other list present in the For the Record that are transferred in the xbmc? Are they affected from the All Channel order?

Thanks
The FTR server sends channels that have a GUID. The channels are processed in the order that FTR sends them, and every GUID gets assigned a channel number. So the first channel sent to the add-on (no matter what it's GUID is) is assigned number 1, the next is number 2 and so forth.

That number is known as the unique channel id within XBMC. All the other program groups are using this same number.

So let's say you have an 'all channels' list with 160 channels in it. And you have a list 'my super favourites' with only two channels out of that 160. It may very well be that the channels of your 'my super favourites' list have channel number 23 and channel number 147.

Because of the channel identification mismatch between XBMC (numbers) and FTR (GUIDs) there is really no guarantee.

It gets even worse when you use the FTR 'Channel Administration' features of the FTR management console........

Should you decide to remove channel 56 and channel 89 (or whatever channels for that matter) from your 'all channels' list, or move channels up or down in your list, or add a new channel. Then the next time XBMC starts things will be completely messed up.

Your EPG contents are wrong, the displayed logo may be wrong, displayed timer information may be wrong (do not worry though, everything still is fine on the FTR server) etc. etc. This is all caused by the fact that the channels after the ones you have deleted or added are assigned different channel numbers than the previous time. And these channel number are persisted in the internal XBMC PVR database.

We should thank the FTR server that it always reports the channels in identical order when no changes are made by us. Otherwise *every* start of XBMC would be a mess.

The way to correct this is to go the settings menu in XBMC, go to the Live-TV tab and select 'Reset PVR Database'. This will clean the internal XBMC database, re-retrieve the info from FTR and everything will be consistent and correct again.

It is ugly. It is messy. And to be honest I was very doubtful in the beginning that I could get channels and channel groups to work at all. So I'm not happy, but I am glad it works (most of the time ;)).

Cheers,
Fred
Hi Red_F,

I was able to sort out out hte channels in XBMC. This is what I did FYI:

1) Went in the "For the Record Management Console"
2) Click on the "Channels" button under the "Channel Administration" category
3) Select the group "All Channels" from the drop down menu
4) Sort out the channels either by entering an LCN number and then clicking on the "Sort by LCN" button or by manually using the buttons "Move Up" or "Move Down".
5) Went to XBMC and reset the database ad let XBMC re-import the channels.

Thanks a lot for the help

Red_F
Posts: 533
Joined: Wed May 19, 2010 10:31 pm
Location: The Netherlands

Re: Development progress

Post by Red_F » Fri Mar 02, 2012 12:52 am

BitHelp wrote:.....

Hi Red_F,

I was able to sort out out hte channels in XBMC. This is what I did FYI:

1) Went in the "For the Record Management Console"
2) Click on the "Channels" button under the "Channel Administration" category
3) Select the group "All Channels" from the drop down menu
4) Sort out the channels either by entering an LCN number and then clicking on the "Sort by LCN" button or by manually using the buttons "Move Up" or "Move Down".
5) Went to XBMC and reset the database ad let XBMC re-import the channels.

Thanks a lot for the help
I'm glad you were able to get the channels in the order you wanted. Well done!
Growing old is inevitable. Growing up is optional!

harryhuia
Posts: 2
Joined: Mon Oct 24, 2011 4:55 am

Re: Development progress

Post by harryhuia » Sun Mar 04, 2012 11:54 am

BitHelp: Were you able to get the pvr version of xbmc working on mac osx?

I'm also trying to do this.
I noticed in the 4therecord addon folder under Library/Application Support/XBMC/addons/pvr.fortherecord.argus - The executable file was named "XBMC_ForTheRecord_win32.pvr"
I'm guessing this is not right for the mac version of xbmc?
I'm very keen to get xbmc pvr with the 4therecord addon working on my mac.
Might even have a go at making a build in xcode if I can't get the build working that "pauld" posted... :shock:

Thanks everybody. I'm so excited about xbmc and 4therecord together!

Ben.

BitHelp
Posts: 46
Joined: Mon Oct 31, 2011 2:31 am

Re: Development progress

Post by BitHelp » Tue Mar 06, 2012 2:38 pm

harryhuia wrote:BitHelp: Were you able to get the pvr version of xbmc working on mac osx?

I'm also trying to do this.
I noticed in the 4therecord addon folder under Library/Application Support/XBMC/addons/pvr.fortherecord.argus - The executable file was named "XBMC_ForTheRecord_win32.pvr"
I'm guessing this is not right for the mac version of xbmc?
I'm very keen to get xbmc pvr with the 4therecord addon working on my mac.
Might even have a go at making a build in xcode if I can't get the build working that "pauld" posted... :shock:

Thanks everybody. I'm so excited about xbmc and 4therecord together!

Ben.
Hi,

No sorry I was not able to get the xbmc pvr version working on MAC OS X. Every time I try to enable the 4therecord plugin i get an error.

Red_F
Posts: 533
Joined: Wed May 19, 2010 10:31 pm
Location: The Netherlands

64-bit Linux

Post by Red_F » Mon Mar 12, 2012 9:08 pm

Last weekend changes to the add-on were made and now it correctly processes .tsbuffer files (used for Live-TV) on 64-bit Linux platforms (AMD64, not powerpc etc.). Version updated to 0.0.1.130.

Currently the following platforms are working here in my 'lab':

Windows 7 (32 bit and 64 bit)
Ubuntu Linux (32 bit and 64 bit)
OSX (10.6.6 I think)
Apple TV 1 (ATV1) running Crystalbuntu available here: http://www.stmlabs.com/
Apple TV 2 (ATV2)

iPad was last tested November 2011, but not recently see: http://youtu.be/1IblyTI-_cM

iPad 2 not tested but should work;
iPhone not tested but should work;
iPod not tested but should work;

XBMC Live, see this guide: http://www.4therecord.eu/forum/viewtopi ... =41&t=2228

Users have reported success with OpenElec, see: http://www.4therecord.eu/forum/viewtopi ... 830#p18830

Cheers,
Fred
Growing old is inevitable. Growing up is optional!

ajerazzor
Posts: 10
Joined: Wed Dec 14, 2011 6:19 am

Re: Development progress

Post by ajerazzor » Tue Mar 27, 2012 7:38 am

Any chance you can tell us how we get it onto ATV2 now eden is released?

KapCaveman
Posts: 12
Joined: Thu Oct 13, 2011 11:08 am

Re: Development progress

Post by KapCaveman » Tue Mar 27, 2012 4:19 pm

Thanks for all your work on this Fred, XBMC/FTR is a great combo, quick Q tho - I take it this version is included in last weekends Margro build, is a reinstall with that version the only/preferred way to update the Plugin?

Cheers

Steven
Study: W2K8R2 - 4TR Core, SQL SRV 2K8R2, Serviio, LMS, Shared XBMC MYSQL.
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