Custom Channels in a Docker container referencing existing TVE source

Playground Custom Channels
#1

Should have titled this as

"Using Custom Channels to record the same episode more than once on the same or different channels because sometimes recordings are corrupted/pre-empted/wrong episodes/interrupted/... and want to make sure all episodes in the series marathon being aired are recorded because I'd rather look through 10 of the same episode to find one good one to archive."

But that was too long for a post title.

Can I add my Xfinity-TVE channels from my NAS as a Custom Channels source to a Channels DVR-TVE Docker container running on the same NAS?

If so, this would solve my problem of trying to record a series marathon where the TVE recordings get Interrupted. The episodes air once or twice a day and sometimes again on the weekend.

If I can record the first airing on my NAS using TVE and the second airing of the episode later that day on the Docker container, that would work. Most likely one of those two recordings will be un-Interrupted.

How to record same show, two different channels
Pluto Movies show up as TV Shows
Random buffering issues just started on all TVE channels again
#2

Just answered my own question, YES, it was too easy.

1 Like
#3

Guess I'll find out tomorrow how it works.

I'm able to view the TVE channels from the Docker instance and it appears that m3u Custom Channels is making my NAS Channels DVR-TVE the "tuner" as a back-end, since I used MPEG-TS Stream Format and http://x:8089/devices/TVE-Comcast_SSO/channels.m3u?format=ts for the Source URL.

I'm able to view live from the docker instance, just wondering how error handling will work if a TVE stream disconnects (Interrupted) while recording. The host/backend TVE instance only logs the Docker instance "watching" a TVE channel, i.e. opened/closed connection to TVE channel#.

I'm sure the docker instance doesn't know it's a TVE channel, so the error handling may be different.

#4

So just did a 'test' recording and one thing I've noticed is I don't see the [MTS] Statistics entry in the log for a recording.

The 'Front end' Channels DVR server using the m3u source that points to the Back end TVE source shows this for a recording

2021/05/21 10:00:00.004028 [DVR] Starting job 1621616400-ch6101 Dual Survival on ch=[6101]
2021/05/21 10:00:01.345836 [TNR] Opened connection to M3U-XfinityTVE for ch6101 DISCOVERY
2021/05/21 10:00:01.348396 [DVR] Recording for job 1621616400-ch6101 from M3U-XfinityTVE ch6101 into "TV/Dual Survival/Dual Survival S04E07 2014-06-04 Mayan Mayhem 2021-05-21-1000.mpg" for 59m59.995747693s
2021/05/21 10:00:01.463534 [DVR] Refreshing metadata for Dual Survival (8078178)
2021/05/21 10:00:02.268933 [IDX] Generating video index for job 1621616400-ch6101
2021/05/21 11:00:00.002562 [TNR] Closed connection to M3U-XfinityTVE for ch6101 DISCOVERY
2021/05/21 11:00:00.014582 [DVR] Finished job 1621616400-ch6101 Dual Survival
2021/05/21 11:00:00.132781 [DVR] Processing file-33: TV/Dual Survival/Dual Survival S04E07 2014-06-04 Mayan Mayhem 2021-05-21-1000.mpg

The 'Back end' Channels DVR server using the Xfinity-TVE source shows this for that recording

2021/05/21 10:00:01.343458 [TVE] stream timestamps: discovery: start_at=2021-05-21T09:59:01-07:00 current_at=2021-05-21T09:59:21-07:00 end_at=2021-05-21T09:59:29-07:00
2021/05/21 10:00:01.343574 [TNR] Opened connection to TVE-Comcast_SSO for ch6101 DISCOVERY
2021/05/21 11:00:00.410837 [TNR] Closed connection to TVE-Comcast_SSO for ch6101 DISCOVERY

My two recordings in my marathon series recorded fine this afternoon, no disconnects.

So, not sure what will happen or get logged if a recording stream gets disconnected/Interrupted.
Maybe this Recordings ending prematurely

Recordings ending prematurely
#5

Did you ever have any issues with error handling on the "front end" due to the way recordings are logged?

#6

Yes, that's why I gave up on doing that.

#7

The reason I was using a front end server (custom channel m3u source) pointing to a back end server (with TVE source) is because Channels DVR won't record the same episode twice and I was trying to record a couple series marathons on my TVE source where the channels aired each epsiode twice in a day. If one airing was interrupted the other airing would be recorded.

I gave up on that method because it was too frustrating and labor intensive to babysit the DVR's and examine logs.

I no longer have that problem because I now use a HDHR server, two TVE servers, a Pluto server and a frndlyTV server.

It's labor intensive enough just to make sure you get good recordings of all episodes of a series marathon!