[mythtv-users] Configuring recording and Live TV order in 0.25beta and beyond (was Re: 0.25 and V4L not working)

[Michael T. Dean]

On 03/24/2012 02:10 PM, Anthony Messina wrote:
> Ok, I'll be recreating my capture cards later today.  Do you have any
> recommendations for ordering and/or creation based on the following:
>
> 1. SchedulesDirect Caching as I have some channels over un encrypted
> cable and others which must use the STB which is why I need the analog
> side of the HVR-2250 in the first place.
>
> 2. Tuner list as follows
>
> a. HVR-2250 (ATSC and analog)
>
> b  HDHomeRun (old style ATSC with two tuners
>
> 3.  My current tuner setup is as follows
>
>    videodevice			audiodevice	vbidevice cardtype
> 1 /dev/dvb/adapter0/frontend0	NULL		NULL	  DVB
> 2 /dev/dvb/adapter0/frontend0	NULL		NULL	  DVB
> 3 /dev/dvb/adapter1/frontend0	NULL		NULL	  DVB
> 4 /dev/dvb/adapter1/frontend0	NULL		NULL      DVB
> 5 1011DACC-0			NULL		NULL	  HDHOMERUN
> 6 1011DACC-0			NULL		NULL	  HDHOMERUN
> 7 1011DACC-1			NULL		NULL	  HDHOMERUN
> 8 1011DACC-1			NULL		NULL	  HDHOMERUN
> 9 /dev/video0			NULL		/dev/vbi0 MPEG
>
>
> I was thinking of adding them in the same order as above.  I do group
> #1, #2, and #9 together as they really represent the first physical
> device on the HVR-2250.  I was never able to get the analog side of the
> second adapter (video1) on the HVR-2250 to show anything other than a
> blue screen so I just don't use it.

Might want to try it, again--it may well work, now, with current drivers.

> Any advice is appreciated.  Thanks again.  -A

With 0.25beta+, the order you add capture cards and the order you 
connect inputs is irrelevant.  The use order is specifically controlled 
by the user via values specified in card setup.  The order cards are 
used for recordings (Schedule order) can differ from the order they're 
used for Live TV (Live TV order).  This allows you to set up Live TV to 
use the opposite order that recordings use so that when you start Live 
TV, you will start on your own input with your own tuner.  However, with 
other recent fixes for changing channels in Live TV, you probably won't 
need to do this.

The most important part of configuration post 0.25beta, however, is that 
with the new approach, you can easily change the order just by going 
into mythtv-setup and changing the recording and Live TV order values 
for each of the cards--i.e. re-ordering usage doesn't require deleting 
and re-creating cards.  So, add your cards in any order and connect 
inputs in any order--whatever makes the most sense to you or makes the 
process easiest for you--then go in and change the recording and Live TV 
order as you desire.

So, as long as you properly create your capture cards, connect your 
inputs, and set your input groups, all should work, and you should be 
able to change order, as desired, at any point in the future by simply 
changing the order settings in mythtv-setup.  The order you want will 
depend on your personal prefences (i.e. which tuners give you the best 
quality recordings--OTA tuners may have higher-bitrate versions than 
ClearQAM/cable tuners) as well as availability type issues (i.e. you'll 
want the order for STB-based recordings on the IVTV-side of the 2250 
last since they will be SDTV via NTSC/baseband (=low quality) and so you 
don't waste the STB recording from a channel that's available 
elsewhere).  (I'm sure you know this, which is why I haven't gone into 
any details on your specific setup, but I'm saying it, here, 
specifically for others reading the archives who might not be familiar 
with the basics.)

The specific settings to look for are:

Schedule order
If priorities and other factors are equal the scheduler will choose the 
available input with the lowest, non-zero value. Setting this value to 
zero will make the input unavailable to the scheduler.

Live TV order
When entering Live TV, the available, local input with the lowest, 
non-zero value will be used. If no local inputs are available, the 
available, remote input with the lowest, non-zero value will be used. 
Setting this value to zero will make the input unavailable to live TV."));

And, again, if anyone used the 0.24-fixes and below hack to prioritize 
Live TV over recordings (i.e. make Live TV start on a capture card that 
was unlikely to be in use for a recording), I highly recommend going in 
to the Capture Cards section of mythtv-setup and hitting the "Delete all 
capture cards" (not "Delete all capture cards on <hostname>") button to 
delete all capture cards.  Then, recreate capture cards and reconnect 
input connections.  Doing this will not affect your Video Sources or 
Channels, so you will not have to rescan for channels or anything.  This 
is not required, but will simplify your configuration, making it easier 
to figure out which input is which--for example, on the backend status page.

Mike