Channels DVR disappeared from computer

Channels DVR Server Troubleshooting
#1

The DVR was fine about 3 hours ago. I watched a recording, and verified that some shows were set to record this evening. A fwe minutes ago, I went to pull up this evening recordings to watch, and teh DVR wasn’t showing on the ATV menu. This has happened before, so I restart the app, and restart the ATV. Still missing, so I go to my computer to run a diagnostic and stop/restart bonjour (usually the culprit). It noticed the Channels app wasn’t running, so I went to turn it on. When I clicked on the app from the list, it said it was not installed and the shortcut should be deleted. I have searched around the computer and the Channels DVR is truly gone. When I try to connect to the web UI, it gets a failure (because it doesn’t exist on my computer). I have recordings and logs that appear to have stopped a few hours ago.

What happened? I am assuming I am SOL on today’s content, but how does it happen, and how do we fix it?

#2

Huh, that makes no sense.

Check if c:\programdata\channelsdvr still exists. If so, what does the file c:\programdata\channelsdvr\data\channels-dvr.log say at the end?

Can you run c:\programdata\channelsdvr\latest\channels-dvr.exe?

1 Like
#3

That still exists. The last few lines from the log file are…

2018/10/04 09:35:47 [DVR] Waiting 9h24m12.9807989s until next job 1538697600-8 The Big Bang Theory 2018/10/04 09:35:47 [IDX] Pruned 883 expired airings from USA-OTA50643 in 615.482ms. 2018/10/04 09:35:48 [IDX] Pruned 1228 expired airings from HDHR-PREMIUM in 835.6534ms. 2018/10/04 12:54:38 [DVR] Deleting D:\DVR\TV\Pickler & Ben\Pickler & Ben S01E70 2018-02-08 2018-09-11-1359.mpg 2018/10/04 12:56:14 [DVR] Deleting D:\DVR\TV\Pickler & Ben\Pickler & Ben S02E04 2018-09-20 Cat Cora Stars of TLCs Outdaughtered 2018-09-20-1359.mpg 2018/10/04 12:56:31 [DVR] Deleting D:\DVR\TV\Pickler & Ben\Pickler & Ben S02E12 2018-10-02 Evan Bass Carly Waddell 2018-10-02-1359.mpg 2018/10/04 18:13:28 [DVR] Deleting D:\DVR\TV\The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon\The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon S06E08 2018-10-03 Bradley Cooper Kathryn Hahn Jim James 2018-10-03-2234.mpg 2018/10/04 18:36:58 [DVR] Deleting D:\DVR\TV\The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon\The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon S05E178 2018-09-04 Ethan Hawke Lil Rel Howery Meek Mill 2018-09-04-2234.mpg

c:\programdata\channelsdvr\latest\channels-dvr.exe does not exist in that folder.

#4

Seems like it’s still running if the timestamps are recent.

Does http://127.0.0.1:8089 load anything?

What files/folders are in c:\programdata\channelsdvr

#5

As I said, it just disappeared a little bit ago. It was working 3 hours ago, and not present on the computer now.

Contents of that folder are:
[2018.07.01.1750](file:///c:/programdata/channelsdvr/2018.07.01.1750/)
[2018.08.02.1754](file:///c:/programdata/channelsdvr/2018.08.02.1754/)
[2018.08.27.1927](file:///c:/programdata/channelsdvr/2018.08.27.1927/)
[Channels DVR.lnk](file:///c:/programdata/channelsdvr/Channels%20DVR.lnk)
[data](file:///c:/programdata/channelsdvr/data/)
[latest](file:///c:/programdata/channelsdvr/latest/)

#6

That link does not load anything, just an error.

#7

Okay so there is a latest folder. What’s inside there?

You can use the setupchannelsdvr.exe from our website to reinstall. Backup the c:\programdata\channelsdvr\data folder somewhere safe, then use the installer to uninstall and reinstall the software.

#8

When I read your post I jumped to the installer to uninstall and reinstall the program, so I can’t check that folder anymore. I save the data folder to a separate location. What is the best way to restore the data into the folder?

So it is still a mystery why the program went missing from the computer when no one was on the computer.

#9

Shut down the DVR from the System tray icon. Move the data folder back into place. Start the DVR again via start menu.

#10

So, at this point, I have everything back up and running again. I restored from yesterday’s file (so I just lost today’s stuff).

Still no clue as to why the .exe disappeared and caused havoc.

#11

Wonder if it’s related to this: