[mythtv-users] Use of the HDHR Premium TV service with MythTV

[Ian Evans]

Amazing, thanks.

On Sun, Sep 30, 2018, 5:43 PM Gary Buhrmaster, <gary.buhrmaster at gmail.com>
wrote:

> My (work in progress) instructions.
>
> Use of the HDHR Premium TV service with MythTV.pdf
>
> https://drive.google.com/file/d/19wChqgPjPtt5tw7seUl-zySe-HrH6cJV/view?usp=sharing
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> The PDF (above) looks/reads better, but here is the text in
> the case you do not have access to a PDF viewer app
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> Use of the HDHR Premium TV service with MythTV
>
>
> Caveats:
>
>
> As with everything MythTV related, this is all just a work in
> progress, with no guarantees, by just another community member.  This
> process worked for me when I started it a few weeks ago, but there is
> no way to anticipate all the specialness that is the community (i.e.
> caveat emptor), nor changes by others.  There is an old joke that the
> presentation is never finished, it just escapes to the screen.
> Consider these notes as having escaped.
>
> Advanced users will almost certainly want to do things differently
> than described below (I know I do things differently on my production
> system) including changing the locations of the scripts and changing
> the MythTV users PATH, and even automating service updates, but those
> advanced users should be able to translate to their environment.  And
> please share improved documentation (perhaps on that wiki page someone
> will create).
>
> I highly recommend testing these instructions in a test/development
> environment.  While the steps provide some methods to fall back to
> what was working before, there are no assurances it may not result in
> some breakage (and if you break it, you own it).
>
> Given that the SiliconDust HDHR Premium TV service is new I would
> recommend you either join, or at least quite regularly review, the
> SIliconDust forums where the service is discussed (there is a topic
> area which announces service issues (yes, as a new offering, there
> have been some operational service issues) that you can subscribe to
> if you wish to receive notifications).
>
> This example presumes you have an OTA tuner which you which to share
> with the HDHR Premium TV service (i.e. continue to use for OTA
> channels and get access to the HDHR premium channels).  If you use a
> dedicated tuner for the HDHR Premium service you could simplify a lot
> of the work below (left as an exercise to the reader).
>
> The HDHR OTA tuner(s) and the MythTV BE must exist on the same logical
> network (for detection purposes), and the HDHR tuners must have access
> to the Internet for both streaming and authorization (so you may need
> to adjust any firewall settings). and all must share the same external
> address for device association and SiliconDust account validation
> purposes.  Most residential networks using a gateway/router for IPv4
> with an internal vLAN and using NAT for their external IPv4 address
> will meet this requirement.
>
> As part of this process you will migrate to using guide data from
> Schedules Direct using the SD-JSON API and using MythTVs XMLTV guide
> data import process (the legacy “DataDirect” download does not support
> some of the required newer capabilities).  There are other (much more
> detailed/extensive) posts on this list about doing this conversion,
> and some of the changes one will experience. I would suggest it would
> be prudent to review those posts. In particular, migration may result
> in some changes in matching of programs for recording, or duplicate
> detection,  and because this will be a new videosource, various
> advanced recording rules such as “this channel” may need to be
> adjusted. You should carefully review your recording rules at the end
> of the process to insure they are producing the results you desire.
>
> MythTV's native use of the HDHR tuners does not share (i.e. use
> locking) with other apps using the HDHR tuners, nor provide pooling of
> the available tuners, nor use the TCP transport protocol, all of which
> I consider valuable in my environment which includes other solutions
> occasionally attempting to use the tuners.  The HDHR Premium TV
> service also requires tuning by virtual channel. The existing MythTV
> code has support for tuning by virtual channel for the HDHR devices
> (initially for CableCARD devices?), but it does not support the entire
> newer set of API functions. This set of instructions/steps converts
> your use of your gen 4 or 5 HDHR OTA tuners to using an MythTV
> EXTERNAL recorder that provides sharing, pooling, and transport
> changes, and uses virtual tuning.  Use of virtual tuning (regardless
> of application) does mean that an OTA tuner can be used for only one
> channel at a time (it cannot be used to tune/receive two stations that
> share a mux (for example, recording CBS and Decades at the same time
> using only one tuner)).
>
> The MythTV project devs have suggested that they want to better
> support the HDHR Premium TV service.  When that work is occurs, you
> should expect (that you will want) to toss all these instructions and
> migrate to the better integrated and documented solutions.  Most
> importantly because anything regarding the scripts documented here
> that has been integrated will probably enter EoS after any such
> release (there is no desire on my part to maintain code that has been
> supplemented by improved solutions directly from the developers).
>
> The steps will result in you not using any current packaged versions
> of a number of (git cloned) source files (the upstream sources have
> been revised in some cases to support new or improved capabilities,
> and not yet repackaged, or were never packaged by anyone in the first
> place), so you will need to regularly remember to 'git pull' to get
> the most recent fixes/updates (until/unless the project ships the
> new/improved functionality and you migrate to it, or (in the case of
> XMLTV) your packager starts to ship updated versions).
>
> While I will try to review specific reports posted to the mythtv-users
> email list, it would be useful for others to test, and if it works for
> you to state that, and if it doesn't, please state that too, with as
> much detail as possible.  Please do consider testing and respond
> early, as my ability to test is time limited (I will not be renewing
> my subscription to the service as I only subscribed in the first place
> to improve the scripts and to test).
>
> For the reason mentioned above, I would encourage some interested
> party with ongoing interest to take ownership of these instructions
> (and perhaps place them on the wiki when they are appropriately
> tested/validated/improved, and have been wiki’fied).
>
>
>
> Prereqs to MythTV configuration/setup:
>
>
> These instructions presume you already have a working MythTV
> environment.  If not, follow the docs for that.
>
> You will need a 4th or 5th generation HDHR OTA tuner that supports the
> modern tuning methods.  Earlier gen devices are not supported for the
> new tuning methods by SiliconDust for the HDHR Premium TV service.
>
> The HDHR tuner will need to have the most recent firmware (20180817 as
> of this writing).  Since this is a new service, I would expect you
> will need to track newer firmware (which would typically be announced
> on the SiliconDust forums).  Note that the newer firmware supports the
> ability to upgrade the firmware directly from the device itself off
> the “System Status” web page if new versions are released.
>
> You will need to be subscribing the the Schedules Direct guide service
> as the guide data for the HDHR Premium TV service is only known to be
> available from them at this time.
>
> You will need to subscribe to the SiliconDust HDHR Premium TV service.
> Part of the process will be to associate your tuner(s) with your
> account (follow the SiliconDust instructions for all of that).  After
> you subscribe and associate your tuner, the tuner needs to see the
> subscription, which it will do when it calls home next, which may be
> up to eight hours from now, but a restart of the tuner forces it to
> call home now (power cycle or cli: hdhomerun_config <ip> set
> /sys/restart self).  You likely should go to http://my.hdhomerun.com
> to look at the tuners that SiliconDust believes are available on your
> local network (it also provides a link to get to the tuner if you are
> using non-stable DHCP addressing).  I believe it has been reported
> that the Microsoft (Edge and/or IE) browsers do not reliably work with
> that url (if you are primarily use Windows).
>
> You will have to run a "Channel Listing/Detect Channels" scan on the
> device itself (the tuners web page) to obtain a new list of channels
> (OTA and the Premium channels) so that the tuner knows what it can
> tune, and how to do that tuning.  Review the list to make sure all the
> OTA channels you believe you should get are there (if not, first try
> another scan. If the signal is marginal sometimes it will miss a
> channel (or two)).
>
> To obtain guide data you will need an XMLTV grabber that supports the
> Schedules Direct SD JSON API.  All these docs presume you will be
> using tv_grab_zz_sdjson_sqlite. XMLTV itself has not made a release
> with the latest code, and while some packagers might repackage master,
> many do not.  To obtain the latest you will need to issue (in your
> /home/mythtv directory)
>
>
> git clone https://github.com/garybuhrmaster/tv_grab_zz_sdjson_sqlite.git)
>
>
> Typically, you should first install your distros xmltv-grabber
> package, which will pull in the appropriate dependencies, for there
> are many that the entire xmltv ecosystem requires. If your distros
> xmltv version has not been recently repackaged you may need to
> manually install the following perl dependencies: File-Which,
> File-HomeDir, JSON-XS, DateTime-Format-SQLite, List-MoreUtils-XS,
> Exporter-Tiny, List-MoreUtils, DBD-SQLite, LWP-UserAgent-Determined,
> Time-HiRes.  Test to insure you have all the prerequisites by running
> /home/mythtv/tv_grab_zz_sdjson_sqlite/tv_grab_zz_sdjson_sqlite --help
> to get help information.
>
> You will need the latest mythhdhrrecorder external recorder upstream
> version.  To obtain the latest you will need to issue (in your
> /home/mythtv directory)
>
>
> git clone https://github.com/garybuhrmaster/mythhdhrrecorder.git
>
>
> This external recorder is documented in the MythTV wiki at:
> https://www.mythtv.org/wiki/Mythhdhrrecorder.  You may need to install
> the python3 requirements which can include: sys, threading, time,
> requests, json, re, queue, argparse, socket, inspect, os, io,
> datetime, syslog, systemd.journal, natsort.  Test to insure you have
> all the prerequisites by running:
> /home/mythtv/mythhdhrrecorder/mythhdhrrecorder --help to get help
> information.
>
> You will need the latest upstream MythUtil utility set.  To obtain the
> latest you will need to issue (in your /home/mythtv directory)
>
>
> git clone https://github.com/garybuhrmaster/MythUtil.git
>
>
> The individual scripts have wiki pages at:
> https://www.mythtv.org/wiki/MythUtil-Channel-XMLTV-getLineup
> https://www.mythtv.org/wiki/MythUtil-Channel-videosource
> https://www.mythtv.org/wiki/MythUtil-Channel-HDHR-channelCheck
> https://www.mythtv.org/wiki/MythUtil-Channel-HDHR-visibilityCheck and
> https://www.mythtv.org/wiki/MythUtil-Channel-visibility.  These
> scripts (too) have many python dependencies.  As the important one
> with the most dependencies is the ..getLineup one, test to insure you
> have all the prerequisites by running:
> /home/mythtv/MythUtil/MythUtil-Channgel-XMLTV-getLineup --help to get
> help information and install any missing dependencies.
>
> MythTV configuration/setup steps (simplified, this is not a MythTV
> tutorial, but intended for those with familiarity to the program):
> Most of the steps are one-time only (except for the part about
> enjoying your
>
> hard work).
>
>
> Note: it is presumed that you will be performing all these steps in
> your /home/mythtv directory, and you performed the git clones steps
> from above in that directory (you will need to adjust accordingly if
> the programs/files are elsewhere).
>
>
> First, run mythtv-setup and delete the input connection  between your
> (existing) HDHR tuner and your videosource. This should preserve the
> majority of your configuration so you can fairly easily revert to it
> by simply adding the input connection (and deleting the input
> connection we will create below).
>
> Add the lineups to your Schedules Direct (SDJSON) account.  All on one
> command line:
>
>
> /home/mythtv/tv_grab_zz_sdjson_sqlite/tv_grab_zz_sdjson_sqlite
> --manage-lineups
>
>
> select "Add Lineup", via the (guided) prompts select your location,
> and add in your OTA lineup
>
> select "Add Lineup", via the (guided) prompts select your location,
> and add in the HDHR Premium TV lineup which is either
> USA-0000001-CUSTOM for the east coast feed or USA-0000002-CUSTOM for
> the west coast feed.  Which one you need to choose depends on your
> zipcode, as SiliconDust assigns your location based on your
> registration with them and you get that feed. There is no option to
> get both feeds. If you think your location should get the east coast
> feed, or the west coast feed (i.e. you are in the middle of the
> country and you disagree with SiliconDust's choices), you need to work
> with them directly.
>
> (if not already done so sometime in the past) select "Initialize DB"
> (typically using the defaults)
>
> exit from manage lineups
>
> Add the external recorder to your MythTV system mythtv-setup, add new
> capture card, external (blackbox).  The path should be:
>
>
> /home/mythtv/mythhdhrrecorder/mythhdhrrecorder --devicename 0
>
>
> For the confident, create another external recorder with the same
> path, changing the --devicename to be 1 (each external recorder must
> have a unique --devicename due to a different artifact in the recorder
> and MythTV).  One recorder per active recording will be required, so
> if you have one HDHR 2-tuner device, you need two external recorders,
> if you have two 2-tuner devices, you need four.
>
> Add a new videosource named HDHRPremium with the grabber  "No Grabber"
> (this is an artifact of needing to start the BE laster)
>
> Connect your new External Recorder(s) to the videosource HDHRPremium
>
> Configure the grabber (this can be done within mythtv-setup under some
> scenarios, but we do it here, now, to allow some validation and
> testing).  All on one line command line:
>
>
> /home/mythtv/tv_grab_zz_sdjson_sqlite//tv_grab_zz_sdjson_sqlite
> --config-file /home/mythtv/.mythtv/HDHRPremium.xmltv --configure
>
>
> select the default database location (unless set differently during
> the initialize DB function).
>
> select your OTA and HDHR Premium lineups as "yes" to be included (and
> no for anything else).
>
> (typically) enable MythTV categories
>
> Test the the grabber by doing a download only (you should see the
> progress, and not get any errors).  All on one command line:
>
>
> /home/mythtv/tv_grab_zz_sdjson_sqlite/tv_grab_zz_sdjson_sqlite
> --config-file /home/mythtv/.mythtv/HDHRPremium.xmltv --download-only
>
> Make sure your backend is running (the following steps use the
> Services API, which requires a running BE).
>
> Adjust the video source for your new grabber, and configure it.  While
> using mythtv-setup is possible, because the cloned repo may make it
> hard to select the grabber (depending on how your set up your paths),
> we will use an alternative method (this will not be required when
> xmltv updates their packages and the distros repackage the
> grabber(s)).  All on one command line:
>
>
> /home/mythtv/MythUtil/MythUtil-Channel-videosource --backend
> <your_backend> --update --videosource-name "HDHRPremium" --grabber
> /home/mythtv/tv_grab_zz_sdjson_sqlite//tv_grab_zz_sdjson_sqlite
> --config /home/mythtv/.mythtv/HDHRPremium.xmltv
>
> Add the channels to your lineup.  Unfortunately, when mixing OTA and
> HDHR Premium TV lineups mythfilldatabase currently presumes ATSC
> channel numbers are scannable and not auto-added, which they are not
> in this virtual channel environment.  Instead we do the following all
> on one command line:
>
>
> /home/mythtv/tv_grab_zz_sdjson_sqlite/tv_grab_zz_sdjson_sqlite -q
> --get-lineup --config-file ~/.mythtv/HDHRPremium.xmltv |
> /home/mythtv/MythUtil/MythUtil-Channel-XMLTV-getLineup --backend
> <your_backend> --videosource-name "HDHRPremium" --add
>
>
> This command needs only to be done when your local OTA channels or the
> HDHR Premium TV service changes their lineup.  In some locations the
> FCC repack may delete, add, or rearrange channels. At this time
> SiliconDust has not indicated that they have any current plans to
> change their lineup, but it is prudent to watch for changes.
>
> Run mythfilldatabase and review its output.  There should be no
> significant errors reported (if your OTA lineup has duplicated
> channels, and if you have local translators you may get some unknown
> xmltvid messages, and this could be "normal").  This may take in
> excess of 30 minutes just for the new videosource, especially for a
> first run as there is a lot of new guide data to add. Also note that
> this will take around 2GB of memory due to the way mythfilldatabase
> operates (anyone who wants to refactor that code to do so would likely
> be thanked by many).  If your system is very memory constrained, plan
> to run mythfilldatabase with --no-allatonce and --refresh-all options
> (which can be set in mythtv-setup).
>
> You may want to go into the mythtv-setup channel editor (or mythweb)
> to set some channels as invisible (especially if your OTA reception is
> spotty, and the Scheduled Direct channel list is different from what
> you can actually receive (note that DX’ers may need to combine even
> more OTA lineups, beyond the scope of this set of instructions).
>
> Test the new guide and HDHR Premium TV channels (and try a test
> recording, perhaps of a classic movie on TCM?).  LiveTV has worked in
> a simple test case, but since I almost never use LiveTV, its testing
> is very limited.
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