[mythtv-users] Scheduling with 2 tuner cards.

[Michael T. Dean]

Mark Knecht wrote:

>On 12/29/05, Darryl Merritt <mythtv at djm.dda.com.au> wrote:
>  
>
>>I have a MythTV V 0.18.1 backend with 2 identical DVico DVB-T Plus cards.
>>
>>I notice that card #1 gets to do all the recording apart from when two programs overlap, and then
>>the second card is used.
>>    
>>
Yep.

>>Is it possible to set MythTV to alternate the recordings between the 2 cards?
>>
Nope.

>> I'm concerned that if
>>the antenna cable comes adrift from the first card, all recordings will fail until someone notices.
>>
>>I dont use the frontend part of MythTV, I have 2 x XBoxes as frontends and only watch the recorded
>>programs, not live TV (I have a DVB-T set top box for that), so it could be a day or so before the
>>non-recording is noticed. At least if the recordings are alternated between cards, then I'll only
>>lose half the recordings.
>>
>>I have a 10 minute extra recording delay set as the default.
>>
This is a global pre-/post-roll.  It is not meant to be used as an 
"always record this much before/after"--it's supposed to be set to the 
amount of time it takes your card/disk/etc. to "spin up" for a recording 
and or to give an STB's OSD time to disappear.

>> When a program being recorded directly
>>follows another recording on the same channel, the same card is used for both of these recordings.
>>At the end of the first recording, the file is closed and then a new file is started for the second
>>recording.
>>
Yep.

>> Most of the time, the first show runs overtime and the last few minutes ends up in the
>>first part of the next recording.
>>
>>This causes a problem when different people are recording the two shows. I was caught out when my
>>show was on first, and the wife recorded the show straight after it. She watched her show soon after
>>and then deleted it. I watched my show a few days later and found the ending of my show was in the
>>recording of the next show.. which had been deleted. So I missed the ending.
>>
>>Is it possible to use different cards for the two shows, each starting early and running over
>>according to the default values?
>>
Not using the global pre-/post-roll.

>> These 2 recordings were the only ones that night, so there wasn't
>>any other recording pending to force this behavior.
>>
>>I found a kludgey way around it by forcing my recording to run 15 minutes over which rescheduled the
>>second show onto the other card.
>>
This "kludgey" way is the way you're supposed to do this.  If you need 
to over-record for a rule, set the over-record on /that/ rule and the 
scheduler will honor it.  If you need it on all rules, set it on all rules.

>> Maybe this and part 1 above could be added to the scheduling
>>algorithm in the next version.
>>    
>>
Search the archives.  This has been discussed to death.  Some devs 
(Chris Pinkham/Bruce Markey?) even went to the trouble of writing code 
to allow "hard" pre-/post-roll values, but the limited feedback they 
received combined with the extra problems it created seemed to be enough 
to cause them to table the issue.

It seems we're more likely to get a "default recording settings" that 
would provide a "template" to use when creating a new rule (i.e. allows 
you to set the default to include start early/end late values other than 0).

>   Dunno how to really do what you are asking to do. I've asked before
>how to tell which tuner even recorded a show (for debug reasons...)
>and no one seemed to know how to do that either.
>  
>
backend logs

>   On my system, under Manager Recordings, Upcoming Recordings, I see
>the numbers 1 & 2 in the right hand column. It has been my guess that
>these numbers are telling me which tuner is going to be used. On my
>system tuner #1 is not used all the time. It seems, from looking right
>now, that on even days it's used every time and on odd days it varies
>back and forth between #1 and #2.
>
>   Strange.
>  
>
?

Mike