Hi Paul,

I've been trying to get GBPVR working through DigiGuide with DABDig as I don't like the EPG which is built into GBPVR.

Everything installed OK and I get perfect recordings using the EPG in GBPVR. However, when I try to "Record using DABDig" in DigiGuide the marker is displayed and there is, what looks like, a correct entry in GBPVR's Pending list. It just doesn'r record anything.

If you check the status in GBPVR it says recording and then, when it's finished, it goes into the Ready list. When you select the entry it then comes abck with failed.

Any thoughts,

Cheers,

Dan

Hi Paul,

I've compared the entries in the MDB file for a recording set up with GBPVR and one set from DigiGuide using DABDig.

The only differences are that the DABDig recording does NOT have an entry in "programme_oid" and the "pre_pad_minutes" and "post_pad_minutes" are set to zero rather than 1.

Hope that helps.

Dan

Hmmm ...

The pre-post-pad should be fine as zero (at least they should not cause a problem)

I deliberately left programme_oid empty because I was trying to enter this into the schedule as a manual recording rather than an EPG driven one (otherwise I would probably have to find the right entry to match it with).

Can you try entering a programme using the manual entry way (in GBPVR) rather than using the EPG and see what happens?

Also - can you try shutting down GBPVR and then scheudling from DABDig and see if that makes a difference.

DABDig creator

Manual recording in GBPVR work fine. I checked the MDB file and there was no programme_oid, so the entry looked like one from DABDig.

I've tried shutting down GBPVR and using DABDig from DigiGuide but no marker appeared?!?!

Any more thoughts?

Cheers,

Daniel

A bit more information.

Following on from above I started GBPVR part way through the recording it should have already been making and, guess what, it started recording the program I had selected in DigiGuide earlier.

Hope that helps!!

"no marker appeared" where? Do you mean that no marker appeared in the DigiGuide GUI?

If so - don't worry too much as if it was for a programme that had already started (or was within 10 minutes of starting) then the marker could disappear very quickly (even before you see it).

If DABDig gets run then you should see a new entry in dabdig.txt

We know that it was working - because something was getting written to the GBPVR schedule file by DABDig before.

If you set TraceFlags=4 in your dabdig.ini then you will get more tracing/diagnostic output (0 means none - and the higher the more - unlike a mouse that spins)

DABDig creator

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Following on from above I started GBPVR part way through the recording it should have already been making and, guess what, it started recording the program I had selected in DigiGuide earlier.

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So that implies that DABDig did write the entry into the schedule for GBPVR.

Can you do it again - i.e. stop GBPVR, schedule something from DigiGuide that has just started, save/examine the MDB file, start GBPVR.

If it all works then it implies that GBPVR does not like me writing to its scheudle while it is running - which is plausible but I thought I saw it polling the file every minute or so. If that was the case then maybe I need to lock it in a different way until I finish.

DABDig creator

Tried what you said and the entry in the MDB file looked the same as a manual recording,as before. However, GBPVR did NOT start recording the file - I waited for 20 minutes but nothing happened (as if GBPVR was not polling and checking the Program Schedule part of the MDB?)

Restarted GBPVR again but still no joy?????

Addition to previous post

Restarted the GBPVR Recording Service and the program in the schedule started to record!

OK - so getting a better understandig of what is going on.

I'll take another look at how GBPVR works (I don't have any supported hardware but can test out most things).

Key point ot note is that DABDig does not stop/(re)start any of the GBPVR components because it looked to me like I could write to its daratbase while it was running.

So - if you stop GBPVR (etc) and then use DABDig then you have to remember to restart the GBPVR bits because DABDig doesn't.

I could easily put code in to restart it (I do for other devices) but I'd like to work out why the current method isn't working first.

DABDig creator

Just had another look at GBPVR and the logs for the GBPVR Recording Scheduler imply that it only checks for updates once every 8 minutes.

So - while the GBPVR scheduler is running - try scheduling something for recording from DigiGuide that is more than 9 minutes in the future.

DABDig creator

I just downloaded the current GB-PVR - and looks like the method is the same as when I wrote my initial code back in September 2004.

The background recording scheduler checks the queue every 8 minutes.

So - in its typical usage scenario ... I think that things should work.

i.e. you set markers in DigiGuide for programmes in the future and leave DigiGuide running.

I am happy to look at how to improve things when something is scheduled for recording inside the GB-PVR recording scheduler check interval - but - can you confirm that the basics are in fact working by setting DG to recording something for more than 10 minutes in the future (and leaving DG and GB-PVR Scheduler and GB-PVR background task running).

DABDig creator

Most of the attempts at recording have been for programs that are more than 9 minutes in the future, typically a few hours.

I'm just having one more attempt and will let you know what happens.

Ok - if it still does not work then please enable detailed logging in GB-PVR (last tab in the config program I think) and then repeat test with a show due to start in, say, 30 minutes and send me the .log files in the GBPVR directory plus the dabdig.txt

(I am away for a few hours)

DABDig creator

Hi

The last post in the thread was a long time ago, but, I'm in precicely the same position in terms of getting DabDig to work with GB-PVR. The entry does seem to be going into gbpvr.mdb exactly as if it were a manual recording, but, it generally does not record and reports its status as "Failed".

I have set up DigiGuide to call DabDig 25 minutes before the recording time and I have confirmed from the logs that this is happening.

Looking at the gbpvr forum I found a reference to the recording service updating its database every 15 mins, hence my 25 min number. The quote is :-

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GB-PVR currently works the way it always has, with the recording service refreshing its database every fifteen minutes or so. If you're using a plugin that schedules a recording that is due to start pretty much immediatly, then there is a good chance it'll be missed. This has always been the case.

The internal components (tv guide etc) have the benefit of being able to ask the recording service to reload its schedule at any time. This functionality will also be available to plugins from the next release, which is what I think you're referring to.

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And this comes from the forum discussion :- http://forums.gbpvr.com/showthread.php?t=7420&highlight=gbpvr.mdb

Paul, you mentioned that you could "see" gbpvr polling the database every 8 minutes - where can you see this - I can't find that in any logs ?

I would like to get this to work as the combination of Digiguide, Dabdig and gbpvr is a good one. BTW I view my recordings on the Pinnacle Showcenter.

Thanks

Jimmy

Jimmy,

I haven't done anything with the GBPVR interface since the previous post in this thread .. however, I am happy to have another look.

My recollection is that I used a tool (filemon) to see what files were being accessed - and with this I could see that the database was being opened every 8 minutes. However, since you have set your DABDig alert interval to 25 then I think we can ignore that part.

If you completely shut down all elements of GBPVR (including its scheduler) - and then have DABDig put something into its database ... then restart GBPVR ... does it work?

If it doesn't then it implies that either:

a) what I am putting there is not quite right

or

b) there is another location that also needs writing to

I'll get the latest GBPVR to have a look (but I don't have any hardware that it supports so I can't test completely).

DABDig creator