[mythtv-users] Mythtranscode TRASHES file to 123KB when re-encoding with cut list

[Jeffrey J. Kosowsky]

Michael T. Dean wrote at about 20:17:22 -0400 on Tuesday, May 24, 2011:
 > FWIW, mythtranscode only "TRASHES file" because you're using the unsafe 
 > configuration that allows mythtranscode to delete the recording after it 
 > completes (in a way where it /thinks/ it was successful).
 > 
 > Enable the mythtv-setup (General) setting:
 > 
 > Save original files after transcoding (globally)
 > If enabled and the transcoder is active, the original files will be 
 > renamed to .old once the transcoding is complete.
 > 
 > (and then clean up the .old after verifying a successful transcode).
 > 

Yes - I am aware of that setting :P  but the default is to delete!

But more importantly, the problem is not about me since I now
(painfully) know well enough not to re-transcode mpeg4->mpeg4 with
cutlists. So, I can just avoid the problem for that specific broken
use case rather than globally disabling.

The problem is for the next unwitting victim who uses the "unsafe"
default settings and then finds out months later that he has destroyed
his recordings...

-------------------------------
My more general comment (that was edited out from my bug report) is
that it seems like mythtranscode is not getting a lot of developer
attention which has resulted now in 2 severe regressions between 0.23
and 0.24 that without warning destroy original recordings (first the
6-channel audio issue and now this). It also seems that the severity
and priority of both of these bugs was ignored at least in part
because the devs don't happen to use the feature.  If mythtranscode is
not being actively supported or lacks sufficient developer interest
and attention then IMHO we would all be better off disabling it
altogether or at least putting in major warnings and making the
default not to overwrite the original. Better to have fewer features
than to have features that destroy original data without warning. This
is not meant to be a criticism or a rant but rather a constructive
suggestion from a long-time user who actually cares about the quality
and adoption of the program... (it is disappointing to me that there
seems to be so much sensitivity to constructive suggestions)