Intermittent fault causing failed recordings with an undetermined cause.

[UncleCreepy]

I have been chasing a problem of failed recordings for a while now with no real idea of what's going wrong. What happens is the system appears to run a timer like normal but when it finishes, the process has only created half of the normal files that a successful recording would make.

Normally you would get [videoname].eit, [videoname].ts, [videoname].ts.ap, [videoname].ts.cuts, [videoname].ts.meta and [videoname].ts.sc files for a successful recording. But in these failed recordings I only get [videoname].eit, [videoname].ts (zero bytes) and [videoname].ts.meta files. I have never been able to consistently reproduce the issue, that is until the other night.

I was watching DMAX and had set 2 timers on BLAZE, both of those timers failed. So I started a recording on BLAZE while I was still on the DMAX channel, left it a few minutes, stopped the recording and got the same problem. So then I started a recording on DMAX, switched to BLAZE and the screen was black, there was no signal at all, it showed 0% in the SNR and AGC levels on screen. I then switched to BLAZE and set a recording going, switched back to DMAX and got the same result. What was odd though was that both of the Tuner indicators at the bottom were Yellow, which I think means the box thinks both tuners are recording something but only one recording was active... see screenshot below. I have never looked that deep into the indicator colours or disk state indicators, so this is just a guess.



I suspect that because it thought both tuners were active, it didn't have a free one for DMAX and showed a black screen as a result, or in this case the last image it displayed from the previous channel. My guess is this is what is causing the other failed recordings, it thinks there are no free tuners, tries to record a dead signal and subsequently fails. Is it somehow assigning the same channel to both tuners, causing both tuners to register the recording, leaving none free? I just don't know.

Where this gets further complicated was I got up during the night to do a test. I tried doing everything through OpenVix in my browser. I set a recording on DMAX, then set a recording on BLAZE, left them for a few minutes and stopped them both. Both recordings worked with no problems. Tried it again later straight on the box with the remote, and got a failed recording again. I don't know if it's certain combinations of channels that cause the problem because I can't always remember what was channels were on when it happens because I am usually asleep in bed.

This isn't device specific, I have had it on both a Duo2 and a Uno 4K SE. This isn't Vix version specific, I have had it on 6.6 and 6.7 builds on both boxes. Each tuner connects to a separate dish. I keep meaning to turn on the logs but keep forgetting, is this likely to register in the logs?

Anyone have any ideas on this?

 

[twol]

Well without logs we have no way of seeing whats going on

 

[UncleCreepy]

Well without logs we have no way of seeing whats going on

I have just enabled them on the box so if it doesn't happen tonight then I will deliberately create the situation that causes it. I had them enabled on the Uno but didn't realise they weren't enabled on the Duo2.

 

[abu baniaz]

Make sure you restart the receiver for the logging to take effect. Most of us prefer the local time so it is easier to see when things happen.

The yellow round icon means that you are streaming or the channel has been marked to use stream relay.

To check if someone is streaming from you:
Menu > Information > Streaming clients

To unmark/mark a channel to use stream relay:
Unstick your finger from the EPG button and open channel list. (Pressing up will do.) > move cursor to highlight channel > Menu > Play service without streamrelay/Play service with streamrelay


Tuner configuration:
Can you please issue this command using Terminal/Putty and post back/upload the results. A file will be created in /tmp directory
cat /etc/enigma2/settings | grep config.Nims > /tmp/mytunerconfig.txt

 

[UncleCreepy]

Okay... this is the result from that Putty command:

root@vuduo2:~# cat /etc/enigma2/settings | grep config.Nims > /tmp/mytunerconfig.txt
[1] 21827
-bash: gt: command not found
-bash: /tmp/mytunerconfig.txt: No such file or directory
root@vuduo2:~# config.Nims.0.diseqcA=282
config.Nims.0.diseqcB=3601
config.Nims.0.diseqcC=3601
config.Nims.0.diseqcD=3601
config.Nims.1.diseqcA=282
config.Nims.1.diseqcB=3601
config.Nims.1.diseqcC=3601
config.Nims.1.diseqcD=3601
config.Nims.1.powerMeasurement=False

[1]+  Done                    cat /etc/enigma2/settings | grep config.Nims

No file was created in tmp which actually shows as var/volatile/tmp when I ftp to that location.

I have also attached a log from today's activity. It doesn't seem to be timestamped like the Uno logs so I started the extract from when I watched a known programme today. After watching that I started a 3 minute recording on DMAX, then started a timer recording on BLAZE which started immediately, waited a short while, stopped the BLAZE recording and then the short DMAX recording stopped. The BLAZE recording failed as expected.

Edit: I have just noticed my Duo2 box isn't running the latest ViX, it's still on 6.6.013, could that be why that Putty command failed?

 

[abu baniaz]

The forum software changed the right arrow to ">". I can't seem to paste it without it changing. Anyway, we have what was needed.

Can you please try the following. Stop Enigma2 with following command in Terminal/Putty ( If you use OWIF Terminal, you will need to restart manually)
"init 4"
Edit the file called "settings" in /etc/enigma2. Delete the following lines

config.Nims.0.diseqcB=3601
config.Nims.0.diseqcC=3601
config.Nims.0.diseqcD=3601

and

config.Nims.1.diseqcB=3601
config.Nims.1.diseqcC=3601
config.Nims.1.diseqcD=3601

Transfer the file back and then restart with the following command
"init 3"

Someone else more knowledgeable will look at your logs.

 

[UncleCreepy]

Okay, made those changes. That didn't affect anything but I don't know if it was meant to or not so I will wait and see if anyone suggests anything based on the logs.

Thank you.

 

[abu baniaz]

Have you checked on whether anyone is streaming from you?

 

[UncleCreepy]

There's only me lives here and I have nothing set up that could stream from the box other than OpenVix in the browser. I went through the same test process, got the two yellow indicators and there were no streaming clients connected. My box isn't exposed to the internet so it can't be accessed from outside my LAN.

I honestly wouldn't know how to stream from the box using anything other than the browser. I did used to stream from my NAS to the box but that isn't set up at the moment as far as I am aware.

 

[abu baniaz]

You are stating things, you are not confirming that you have checked what you have been asked to check.

A yellow tuner letter/red dot means that some streaming is taking place. A stream takes up a tuner. So to ask again:
Is any streaming from the receiver occurring when these issues occur (including a browser on a device in your house)?
Please check and confirm that the channels are not using stream relay.

This issue you have is with two different receivers, after you have spent a lot of money on a new one. Lets get to the bottom of it and solve it.

 

[UncleCreepy]

You are stating things, you are not confirming that you have checked what you have been asked to check.

A yellow tuner letter/red dot means that some streaming is taking place. A stream takes up a tuner. So to ask again:
Is any streaming from the receiver occurring when these issues occur (including a browser on a device in your house)?
Please check and confirm that the channels are not using stream relay.

This issue you have is with two different receivers, after you have spent a lot of money on a new one. Lets get to the bottom of it and solve it.

This is what I see in the menu, I don't have a Play without Streaming Relay so I am making the dangerous assumption that it means I am not using one, is that correct or not?



I mean you asked: Have you checked on whether anyone is streaming from you?

And prior to that you had said:

To check if someone is streaming from you:
Menu > Information > Streaming clients

You also told me:

To unmark/mark a channel to use stream relay:
Unstick your finger from the EPG button and open channel list. (Pressing up will do.) > move cursor to highlight channel > Menu > Play service without streamrelay/Play service with streamrelay

I saw Play Stream with Stream Relay so I presumed it was not using a Stream Relay.

What information am I not providing based on the instructions I have been following?

It serves me no purpose to not provide the information but I can only follow the instructions I have been given. I would genunely prefer to not take up other people's time and given my mental health problems, doing so would cause me a whole heap of problems. So I can assure you, I am not trying to cause problems through deliberate intent, sorry if it looks that way.

Edit: Forgot about Is any streaming from the receiver occurring when these issues occur (including a browser on a device in your house)?

The answer to that is a definite no. I never have OpenViX open in the browser when I am working directly on the box. I only have a single computer turned on, there are no other devices that can connect to the box in the house.

 

[abu baniaz]

Nobody thinks you are wasting time, it is just we need to be on the same road.

The stream relay function is per channel. You checked while you were on u & yesterday+ 1. And yes you are right, that channel is not set to use stream relay. Please select the channel you are having problems recording and then check the menu.

 

[UncleCreepy]

I posted a reply to this a couple of days ago and I don't know where it went.

I can't deal with this right now, so I'm just going to have to let this thread die.

Support are claiming that my Uno has no faults despite all my testing and I am just getting tired of chasing things going wrong with these satellite boxes. My Duo2 has started messing with channel selections and defaults to the Last Scanned section every day and it's the final straw because I can't find any setting that controls it. I feel like I am walking a mental tightrope so I am just going to let it all drop.

Thanks for all the help but I'm not going to chase this anymore.