Argus Status - Dead/Alive/Still Parked?

General talk about ARGUS TV
CV8R
Posts: 18
Joined: Mon Apr 22, 2013 9:29 am

Argus Status - Dead/Alive/Still Parked?

Post by CV8R » Wed Sep 21, 2016 10:30 am

Hi Argus Team,

It very much looks like Argus development activity has stopped for almost 2 years now. So I am looking for some official word on the projects status so that I (and assume others) can start making plans to move to another TV backend. For me, such a change is a very big deal because I have the entire family relying on using Argus in combo with Kodi. Any change is not to be taken lightly nor without a huge dose of sentimentality. I have been faced with recent reliability issues and as Kodi moves forward it appears the Argus system and the Kodi plugin are falling behind.

I am drawn to ask the difficult question because of a few main reasons.

I have seen some commentary but not a lot of dev activity or support on the forums.

Argus support is falling behind Kodi.

Argus Recorder code has not made it to open source on GitHub. Other developers do appear willing, but have said that Argus wont get picked up by the community because an important piece is still closed source.

This is not a gripe nor am I complaining and things do roll on and change with time. I am only listing some observations and looking for direction so that I can start thinking about next steps. I have nothing but praise for the quality of the Argus system, so it feels like a real personal challenge and I even feel a little embarrassed to even raise the question.


Thanks,
CV8R
Last edited by CV8R on Thu Sep 22, 2016 10:38 pm, edited 1 time in total.

rudig
Posts: 254
Joined: Tue Sep 06, 2011 6:21 pm

Re: Argus Status - Dead/Alive/Still Parked?

Post by rudig » Thu Sep 22, 2016 9:03 pm

I hope it's not dead. Luckily argus runs on Windows 10 install here.
I'd really like transcoding features added.
But it does seem awfully quiet around here.

Please guys lets fire things up again

Steffen_
Posts: 5
Joined: Wed Dec 16, 2015 9:00 am

Re: Argus Status - Dead/Alive/Still Parked?

Post by Steffen_ » Fri Sep 23, 2016 8:20 am

I hope it´s not dead too. But there is over a long time no deveploment that i can see.
It is not enough that Argus is still working under Windows 10. We also need the matching plugiuns e.g. for Kodi 17 and not only the Windows Clients. I´m looking for a Linux Plugin and what can in find? Nothing

jboeren
Posts: 21
Joined: Fri Dec 30, 2011 9:40 pm
Location: Netherlands

Re: Argus Status - Dead/Alive/Still Parked?

Post by jboeren » Fri Sep 23, 2016 11:37 am

I can only agree. The same questions here. We are massive argus/kodi users and wouldnt like to mis it.

Infidelus
Posts: 464
Joined: Wed May 28, 2008 7:53 pm
Location: UK

Re: Argus Status - Dead/Alive/Still Parked?

Post by Infidelus » Fri Sep 23, 2016 7:38 pm

The problem's not firing it up again. There are plenty of people who seem willing to help. The problem is that Dot-i has been AWOL for a VERY long time and as the main bulk of Argus TV is closed source, there's not much anybody can do until Dot-i opens it up, which I just don't see happening sadly. I'd love to be proved wrong ...

dvgeek
Posts: 17
Joined: Wed Feb 12, 2014 7:40 pm

Re: Argus Status - Dead/Alive/Still Parked?

Post by dvgeek » Tue Sep 27, 2016 10:14 pm

Love Argus - Best backend TV server - ever!

Would hate to move to another...

vfrvulcan
Posts: 42
Joined: Fri Oct 07, 2011 3:05 am

Re: Argus Status - Dead/Alive/Still Parked?

Post by vfrvulcan » Thu Sep 29, 2016 5:00 pm

Looks like Dot-i is still around on the site - last login 23 Sep 16 (6 days ago) but has not posted anything for several months.

It would be nice to know if we pack our bags and move to a different back-end or if Argus will see any updates.

Like others, I've used Argus/ForTheRecord for years, donated to the cause etc but the lack of Kodi 17 support is making it difficult for me to hang on to Argus.

I'm not a programmer so can't help with any coding/the project but it'd be a shame to see it go to the wall :-(

CV8R
Posts: 18
Joined: Mon Apr 22, 2013 9:29 am

Re: Argus Status - Dead/Alive/Still Parked?

Post by CV8R » Tue Oct 04, 2016 12:49 pm

Well I tried something daring and built a tvheadend server. I have little linux experience and pretty much a newbie but I have to say the entire process was pretty seamless to setup. About a week now, not a single recording missed, not a single negative issue, channel changes are near instant and the WAF is far improved.

I was having no end of trouble with channel changes and stream buffering using RPi and x86 across 6 clients (was OE, now Libreelec). No amount of tweaking I did would fix it. The combo of Argus and Kodi have drifted too far, at least in my everyday use experience.

Frankly, there is simply no usability comparison to what the combo Argus/Kodi experience had become.

The biggest setup challenge I faced was resume/sleep and once that was sorted, in the end trivial, it has slept and resumed perfectly.

The main negative first impression is that the web interface looks like it was designed by an engineer. Nowhere near as classy as Argus. But once I got over the first impressions its actually very usable and powerful. The main test is the WAF - the wife prefers the simplicity of the WEB UI and the everyday TV watching experience and that she can setup series records from the KODI UI.

It was a bit of a sad moment for me, but I have now permanently disabled all the Argus services.

CV8R

Infidelus
Posts: 464
Joined: Wed May 28, 2008 7:53 pm
Location: UK

Re: Argus Status - Dead/Alive/Still Parked?

Post by Infidelus » Tue Oct 04, 2016 2:37 pm

The TVHeadend GUI is the thing that really stops me using it in anger. It's possibly one of the worst GUI's I've ever seen. As you say, it looks like it was designed by an engineer with no thought at all to other people who may have to use it.

If someone ever gets round to making a usable web interface for it, it could be something really special. As it is though, it's just ugly and unwieldy and I'd never convince others in the house to use it.

elsmandino
Posts: 125
Joined: Wed Jan 16, 2013 10:43 am

elsmandino

Post by elsmandino » Tue Oct 04, 2016 11:58 pm

Like everyone else on here, I will also be devastated if I have to move on from Argus TV. It still remains, by far, the best backend that I have tried.

I am going to keep on using it as long as it keeps on working brilliantly for me. However, in light of the real possibility that I might be eventually forced elsewhere, I am keeping my eye out for a potential replacement.

I tried MythTV out over the weekend and although, on paper, it seems really promising, I just could not get it to work with either of my TV tuners. I was also not keen on the fact that they have scrapped the ring buffer for Live TV.

It is interesting that TVHeadend has been suggested as an alternative as I have also heard great things about it.

How similar is it to Argus TV, in terms of what it offers? Does it have the same intelligent scheduling that Argus offers?

Infidelus - I note your hate for the web interface that TVH offers. What is it that you hate? Is it the aesthetics that make it difficult to use or is it set out in a unusable way? Could you possibly add a link, showing what it looks like, as I am finding it difficult to find any decent screenshots on the net.

The other thing that worries me (should TVH be a viable alternative) is switching from Windows to Linux. I absolutely love my Stablebit software and would have to give up Drivepool and Scanner. Are there any decent alternatives of these on Linux?

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