Recordings split into fragments and stops

[mate]

After having been forced to upgrade from For the Record 1.6 + MediaPortal 1.2.1 (via For the Record 1.7 + MediaPortal 1.2.3; which exibits the same problems) to Argus TV 2.0.1 + MediaPortal 1.2.3 I'm having trouble with my recordings.

Most (but not all it seems) recording are split into multiple fragments. So what should have been show.ts is show.ts + show__1.ts + show__2.ts and so on. After a couple of fragments, the recording stops altogether. In the Scheduler I have the option to "Uncancel".

I am using MediaPortal TV server as the recorder. Does that mean MediaPortal is to blame for this...?
(It would have been preferrably to be able to upgrade one software at a time, to narrow down suspects when things go wrong)

[PD]

I had this happen with the FTR\Argus recorder, so i is not down to MP, but at the time it happened, FTR gave a visual that recording had stoped, and immediately started again.

Noticed this over a week, changed no settings in FTR and after that everything went back to being fine, so was completely baffled, sadly was to busy to help debug.

[mate]

I just tried with Argus recorder, and the problem is the same.

Here are some log snippets:

Recorder.log

Code: Select all

2012-12-09 21:39:32,109 [DEBUG][10]: EPG: No services left to grab for card Hauppauge WinTV 88x DVB-T Tuner/Demod, resetting list to resume after 12/09/2012 21:49:32
2012-12-09 21:59:19,296 [INFO ][Record]: Starting recording on card #1, service TV4 Borås to 'D:\shares\Recorded TV\TV4Nyheterna\TV4Nyheterna_TV4 Borås_2012-12-09_22-00.ts'
2012-12-09 21:59:22,187 [INFO ][Record]: Recording of TV4 Borås started on card #1, stream f6327126-8ff7-4651-8d58-e1e91ce51ab7
2012-12-09 21:59:22,234 [INFO ][Record]: RecordingThread [TV4Nyheterna]: Calling AddNewRecording()
2012-12-09 22:01:20,421 [INFO ][10]: ARGUS TV - Abort recording TV4Nyheterna
2012-12-09 22:01:20,421 [WARN ][Record]: RecordingThread [TV4Nyheterna]: Aborted
2012-12-09 22:01:20,421 [INFO ][Record]: Stopping stream f6327126-8ff7-4651-8d58-e1e91ce51ab7 on card #1
2012-12-09 22:01:21,984 [INFO ][Record]: Stream f6327126-8ff7-4651-8d58-e1e91ce51ab7 stopped
2012-12-09 22:01:22,000 [INFO ][Record]: RecordingThread [TV4Nyheterna]: Calling EndRecording(IsPartial=True)
2012-12-09 22:01:22,546 [INFO ][Record]: Starting recording on card #1, service TV4 Borås to 'D:\shares\Recorded TV\TV4Nyheterna\TV4Nyheterna_TV4 Borås_2012-12-09_22__1.ts'
2012-12-09 22:01:24,828 [INFO ][Record]: Recording of TV4 Borås started on card #1, stream 991e8a64-1594-4aec-b894-58d5290b642f
2012-12-09 22:01:24,859 [INFO ][Record]: RecordingThread [TV4Nyheterna]: Calling AddNewRecording()
2012-12-09 22:03:23,406 [INFO ][10]: ARGUS TV - Abort recording TV4Nyheterna
2012-12-09 22:03:23,406 [WARN ][Record]: RecordingThread [TV4Nyheterna]: Aborted
2012-12-09 22:03:23,406 [INFO ][Record]: Stopping stream 991e8a64-1594-4aec-b894-58d5290b642f on card #1
2012-12-09 22:03:23,468 [INFO ][Record]: Stream 991e8a64-1594-4aec-b894-58d5290b642f stopped
2012-12-09 22:03:23,468 [INFO ][Record]: RecordingThread [TV4Nyheterna]: Calling EndRecording(IsPartial=True)
2012-12-09 22:03:24,046 [INFO ][Record]: Starting recording on card #1, service TV4 Borås to 'D:\shares\Recorded TV\TV4Nyheterna\TV4Nyheterna_TV4 Borås_2012-12-09_22__2.ts'
2012-12-09 22:03:26,312 [INFO ][Record]: Recording of TV4 Borås started on card #1, stream 25daaac5-1787-42ec-b80b-9cdb1c42f8cb
2012-12-09 22:03:26,343 [INFO ][Record]: RecordingThread [TV4Nyheterna]: Calling AddNewRecording()
2012-12-09 22:05:24,265 [INFO ][10]: ARGUS TV - Abort recording TV4Nyheterna
2012-12-09 22:05:24,265 [WARN ][Record]: RecordingThread [TV4Nyheterna]: Aborted
2012-12-09 22:05:24,265 [INFO ][Record]: Stopping stream 25daaac5-1787-42ec-b80b-9cdb1c42f8cb on card #1
2012-12-09 22:05:24,281 [INFO ][Record]: Stream 25daaac5-1787-42ec-b80b-9cdb1c42f8cb stopped
2012-12-09 22:05:24,281 [INFO ][Record]: RecordingThread [TV4Nyheterna]: Calling EndRecording(IsPartial=True)

Scheduler.log

Code: Select all

2012-12-09 22:01:20,328 [INFO ][Recordings Scheduler]: Recording TV4 Borås - TV4Nyheterna is no longer recording according to ARGUS TV
2012-12-09 22:01:20,375 [INFO ][Recordings Scheduler]: Aborting recording TV4 Borås - TV4Nyheterna on ARGUS TV
2012-12-09 22:01:22,171 [INFO ][Recordings Scheduler]: Starting recording TV4 Borås - TV4Nyheterna on ARGUS TV (card 1)
2012-12-09 22:01:22,812 [INFO ][20]: Recording ended TV4 Borås - TV4Nyheterna
2012-12-09 22:03:23,328 [INFO ][Recordings Scheduler]: Recording TV4 Borås - TV4Nyheterna is no longer recording according to ARGUS TV
2012-12-09 22:03:23,375 [INFO ][Recordings Scheduler]: Aborting recording TV4 Borås - TV4Nyheterna on ARGUS TV
2012-12-09 22:03:23,546 [INFO ][20]: Recording ended TV4 Borås - TV4Nyheterna
2012-12-09 22:03:23,656 [INFO ][Recordings Scheduler]: Starting recording TV4 Borås - TV4Nyheterna on ARGUS TV (card 1)
2012-12-09 22:05:24,203 [INFO ][Recordings Scheduler]: Recording TV4 Borås - TV4Nyheterna is no longer recording according to ARGUS TV
2012-12-09 22:05:24,234 [INFO ][Recordings Scheduler]: Aborting recording TV4 Borås - TV4Nyheterna on ARGUS TV
2012-12-09 22:05:24,359 [INFO ][20]: Recording ended TV4 Borås - TV4Nyheterna
2012-12-09 22:05:24,937 [INFO ][Recordings Scheduler]: Setting new wake-up time: 12/09/2012 22:12:20.

What more information can I provide to debug this?

[dot-i]

Can you double check your UNC shares are set up with the right permissions?

[mate]

Can you double check your UNC shares are set up with the right permissions?

I haven't changed anything about the share permissions since running FTR 1.6 successfully, and since the fragments are written, permission cannot be completely denied (i.e. service running with wrong user).

Test Shares = OK and (Re)Check Share = green. Is there some more thorough test I can do?

I notice in the log however, that it shows d:\shares\Recorded TV rather than the actual \\Whs\Recorded TV. Could Argus be resolving the UNC path somehow? Could this in combination with Windows Home Servers Drive Extender be causing problems...?

(I should probably test a non UNC path tomorrow)

[Benoire]

Do you collect your EPG via XMLTV (i.e. EPGCollector) and what tuner card are you using?

I had this issue of recording just stopping at what I thought was random times and then almost immediately starting up again. I found it was due to TBS drivers stealing the tuners from the recorder and giving exlclusive access to EPGCollector. As soon as EPGcollector had finished, it gave the whole bank of tuners back to Argus. This is what caused my recordings to split.

[mate]

(I should probably test a non UNC path tomorrow)

Ehm. Argus seems to require a UNC path.

Since the problems seem to have started when upgrading FTR 1.6 to FTR 1.7, I guess the reason should be in the changelist for FTR 1.7.

For example

• Argus: tweaked OnStartRecording() in Argus to better convert UNC to local or the other way around.

looks like a suspect from the above perspective.

Do you collect your EPG via XMLTV (i.e. EPGCollector) and what tuner card are you using?

I had this issue of recording just stopping at what I thought was random times and then almost immediately starting up again. I found it was due to TBS drivers stealing the tuners from the recorder and giving exlclusive access to EPGCollector. As soon as EPGcollector had finished, it gave the whole bank of tuners back to Argus. This is what caused my recordings to split.

I see your point about the EPG, but I don't understand how to test or get around it. I have set up Argus to "DVB-EPG overwrites XMLTV" using my Hauppauge WinTV 88x DVB-T. I have uninstalled MediaPortal, so any such grabbing plugins should be out of the mix (right?).

"Grab channels every" is set to 10 minutes, but the fractions are 120 or 180 seconds each, different between recordings but same fraction length for each fraction within the same recording.

[mate]

As soon as EPGcollector had finished, it gave the whole bank of tuners back to Argus.

And by the way, there is only a short delay between the fractions. Hard to know exactly what is not there, but I'd guess < 2 seconds. So it can't be running a full EPG grab in between.

[mate]

(Now that I'm seeing the same issue with both MediaPortal and Argus recorder, maybe a moderator could move the thread to a more appropriate section of the forum?)

[andrewNZ]

I've not had good experiences recording to a drive extender share. I added an additional external HDD for Argus TV (and it's ancestor) to use.

I always found drive extender caused glitches and stutter. But I mostly put it down to hardware, the H340 isn't exactly high powered.
The only time I get issues with split recordings is when the external drive decides it's had enough and acts up. Cycling power to the drive fixes it.