[GiGaBlue UHD QUAD 4K] Box Fails to Wake From Deep Standby

[CRMS]

Annoyingly the box has occasionally failed to wake from deep standby to record a programme.

For example the last instance. The power timer log shows the box activating state 3, deep standby condition, at 2211 after recording a programme whilst in standby. Earlier that evening the auto bouquet maker and EPG updated.
The box was on timer to record at 0830, but didn't wake up until I manually switched on at 0944. The power timer log showed activating state 1 at that time and started recording. Otherwise just showed state 3 at 2211.
The timer history shows "Done".
Later that morning after the recording had stopped, it activated state 3 at 1231 and then to state 1 at 1323 for a successful timer recording 1327 - 1403. As programmed, it went back to state 3 after at 1413.

Unfortunately I don't have the debug logs following a recent factory reset, (with manual resetting instead of reloading settings from a back up file) , to successfully get the Auto Deep Standby power timer working and the logging was still set to "No".

I'm now taking debug logs.

 

[birdman]

A wakeup for a recording isn't a Power Timer - it's a Record Timer.

 

[CRMS]

A wakeup for a recording isn't a Power Timer - it's a Record Timer.

Yes. The record timer was set and as I wrote indicates "Done" post event, even though it didn't record.
The power timer info/log record appears to show when the box wakes up for a recording, going into state 1. The info shows the box didn't wake up for the recording.
Later, the power timer log shows the box waking up for a recording and going back to deep standby afterwards. Exactly as expected.

 

[Joe_90]

The fact that the box didn't wake from deep standby for a scheduled recording would indicate to me that either the system time wasn't correct at the earlier deep standby time, or the time and date of the record timer was somehow incorrect leading to a situation where the countdown timer (which is what actually wakes the box for a scheduled event) was incorrectly set. Or the box lost power completely between shutdown and expected wake time perhaps? Only debug log will tell. The record timer always shows "done" after the event, even if the recording didn't actually happen.

 

[adm]

The fact that the box didn't wake from deep standby for a scheduled recording would indicate to me that either the system time wasn't correct at the earlier deep standby time, or the time and date of the record timer was somehow incorrect leading to a situation where the countdown timer (which is what actually wakes the box for a scheduled event) was incorrectly set. Or the box lost power completely between shutdown and expected wake time perhaps? Only debug log will tell. The record timer always shows "done" after the event, even if the recording didn't actually happen.

I've caught a recent missed recording and I attribute it to a missing EGP for 3 hours on one channel and the box waking up, the VPS plug-in deciding something has changed, and the timer being abandoned.

 

[CRMS]

Only debug log will tell.

Thanks. Do you know where in the debug I should look?
System time was correct and no power failure and not switched off.

 

[Joe_90]

Thanks. Do you know where in the debug I should look?
System time was correct and no power failure and not switched off.

If the problem recurs just attach the log file to a posting and we'll have a look. I have had recordings missed (very rarely), due to the box not waking up for some reason, but this is a really rare occurrence. My Quad Plus has timer recordings set for Aussie soaps each weekday at 13.45, national news at 18.01 daily and the usual evening time soaps and drama programmes and it just works 99.9% of the time. As @adm mentioned VPS in his post #5, that is something I use also with BBC, ITV and Channel 4 broadcasts to ensure I don't miss the start and end of particular programmes if they don't quite start at the EPG scheduled time. It's useful if a programme starts late or overruns, but I would be hesitant to recommend it as it adds another layer of complexity and unless you have a long term experience with the boxes and are prepared to intervene if the broadcaster messes up the programme flags and VPS doesn't start recording when it should. I don't use it at all for Channel 5 as the broadcaster only sends the trigger flags when the programme is scheduled to run and not when it actually starts.

 

[Valiant]

I've caught a recent missed recording and I attribute it to a missing EGP for 3 hours on one channel and the box waking up, the VPS plug-in deciding something has changed, and the timer being abandoned.

I was under the impression that the recording timer went ahead regardless of relevant EPG being present.

 

[Joe_90]

I was under the impression that the recording timer went ahead regardless of relevant EPG being present.

If you are using the VPS plugin there is a further check on the event/ programme-id transmitted when the event starts with the event-id stored in the EPG when the record timer was created. The normal recording timer just records whatever is set when the timer was originally created, irrespective of any EPG changes. If the broadcaster makes an error in the event-id or changes it, then VPS may sit waiting for the expected programme start and not record anything. VPS sort of emulates the "exact record" feature of Freesat-branded boxes (or Sky boxes) but sometimes gets wrong-footed by the data stream.

 

[birdman]

...where the countdown timer (which is what actually wakes the box for a scheduled event) was incorrectly set.

In no position to check, but I believe this is recorded at the end of a debug log at enigma2 shutdown.

 

[Joe_90]

In no position to check, but I believe this is recorded at the end of a debug log at enigma2 shutdown.

Yes - that's exactly why we are looking for debug logs around the failed event. Debug logging was turned off unfortunately in this case.

 

[CRMS]

This has happened again. I left the box in DS Tuesday 14 Nov am with timers set for auto bouquet and guide daily update plus various programmes to record.
It woke up to record on 15 and 16 Nov and then nothing although timers for the various programmes indicates "Done".
This evening I switched on the box manually and the displayed time was 1919 16 Nov, before updating date and time. The EPG is empty.
A bit of a nuisance.

 

[Joe_90]

So, your box is picking up an incorrect time to begin with (or is picking up an incorrect time when it boots up to record) and then fails to record as the event has either passed or is in the future (according to the incorrect time stored). Debug logs please!


EDIT - further thoughts on why you may be having issues. In your post #12 you mention that the date/time shown on the display after manually resuming from DS was briefly shown as 16/11 19:19 before the box picked up the correct date (from either the tuner or from NTP). This would indicate to me that the box last shut down at 19:19 on 16/11 and hadn't booted in the intervening 7 days. The shutdown time is recorded in a file and read from when the box is next booted. There is no real-time clock running in most of these boxes in DS (unlike a PC or tablet). The trigger for any scheduled recording from DS is a countdown "ticker" which counts the seconds from when the box is initially put in DS. If the box is not booted regularly (every day or so), then the EPG will age off after 7 days and will be empty. If you are going to have large gaps of days between recordings, then you run the risk of missing future programmes unless you arrange to refresh the EPG regularly. If you have the Freesat EPG set it will update automatically if you are tuned to BBC/ITV for 20-30 minutes. Other channels (in the Freesat bouquet) may take longer to update the full EPG. If you are using the SKY EPG (so-called OpenTV), then you must tune to the SKY IEPG transponder every couple of days, otherwise the EPG disappears after day 7. How you do this is up to you - either trigger the built-in OpenTV reader at a particular time each day or run CrossEPG or EPGRefresh. While I was on holidays during August I used a PowerTimer to boot the box each day at a particular time and run the OpenTV reader to refresh the EPG. On retun from holidays after two weeks we had all the scheduled autotimer recordings waiting for us.

 

[CRMS]

Thanks. I hadn't realised the GB didn't have an RTC. I had recordings running daily at 1800, so that should have been frequent enough.
So I've set power timer to reboot daily at 1735. Then autobouquet maker at 1740 and Crossepg at 1750. Hopefully that will do the trick.
Or a smart socket to power off and power back on at 1735.

 

[birdman]

Or a smart socket to power off and power back on at 1735.

Not a good idea, as that will just switch off the power even if the box is running.
It really needs to be shutdown cleanly.

 

[Joe_90]

As @birdman says; not a good idea to power off the box if it is active. When it's in deep standby it uses less than one watt and the countdown timer is running so it wakes at the relevant time. If you were just running recordings each day that alone would not have been good enough to refresh the EPG unless you have Freesat EPG enabled and you were on one of the major channels (BBC/ITV/C4) for long enough. CrossEPG tunes to the SKY EPG and downloads that, but you would have to have explicitly run that on a timer. Your plan to run ABM and CrossEPG on timers daily seems ok to me. I have my GB Quad set to boot from DS at 17:50 each day and have the built-in OpenTV EPG reader set to run at 17:55.

 

[CRMS]

The power timer seems to do its stuff. Thanks.
I'd only set a smart plug to turn power fully off when I knew the box was in Deep Standby. Auto DS has been 100% reliable.