[mythtv-users] Help with multiple cards and livetv conflicts

[Alex Halovanic]

I've been trying to figure out a long-standing problem of conflicts
between Livetv viewing and scheduled recordings, and I'd like to know
if anyone has solved this, or has the same problem.  Bear with me, I
have a lot of info that I think may be relevant.

I have a PVR 500 and an HDHomerun, so, 4 tuners in all, 2 for the SD
analog channels, and 2 for the HD channels.  I've got 2 separate
Datadirect lineups, one for the HD channels, and one for the SD
channels, and no channels are shared at all between the two lineups.
In terms of just scheduling recordings, everything seems to work
perfectly, and I only get a conflict if I end up with 3 SD or 3 HD
shows at the same time.

However, no matter what I've tried, I still end up with lots of
conflicts when I schedule a recording, and then go to watch Livetv.
This happens with and without the 'Avoid conflicts between recordings
and Livtev' option.  In fact, with my current order of tuners, the
option doesn't even seem to change which tuners are used for livetv at
all.  My understanding is that the order of the tuners determines
their priority, with the first listed tuner being the highest, the
last the lowest; then the recording scheduler tries to grab the
highest priority tuner it can, while livetv instead attempts to grab
the lowest it can.

The current order for me is HD1, HD2, SD1, SD2.  When I start up
Livetv, if nothing else is going on, it grabs SD2, which is fine with
me.  If I had scheduled a recording on an SD channel, the scheduler
sticks it on SD1, and I still end up watching Livetv on SD2: perfect.
However, if I start livetv and then tune an HD channel, I end up
watching HD1, which is where the scheduler tries to stick HD
recordings...they conflict, and I have to wait for the recording to
start before I can go back to watching a Livetv HD channel.

Juggling the tuner order doesn't seem to help.  If I put the SD tuners
first, then Livetv starts on an HD channel, and I get the same kind of
conflicts, only on the SD channels.  Alternating SD and HD tuners
doesn't work either.  I've tried fiddling with tuner priorities in
mythtv-setup, but I don't see these doing anything but juggling about
the tuner order more.  I've left the recording priorities alone, as it
only seems concerned about deciding what to record when too many
things are scheduled.

Does anyone have any ideas or can point me to a clearer understanding
of how the scheduling is supposed to work?  Sorry again for the long
post.

--Alex