There's no chance I'll 'write' one but maybe a question at a time. Having the Ospreys, once in developer mode do I need to toggle on anything other than the USB debugging? I've done that on 2 of them and I know now how to manuever the menus. Is the parking at 'Home' something I can do from the menus or is that a later 'to do'?
No that I know of, but maybe @spammedeeper or @kprice can comment here.
Anything to do with controlling the Ospreys will be done by the ah4c scripts.
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My advice is to forget about ah4c and use nextpvr as a backend for channels dvr. nextpvr supports hdmi encoders via it's extra tuner method. It also supports hdpvr tuners natively It will also automatically generate a channels list by using schedules direct. you can use a usbuirt to control your ospray boxes. No docker/portainer needed and mostly everything you need can be accessed by the web ui. Very user friendly.
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That's a twist I wasn't expecting BUT to keep this thread related to my original question would you mind if I DM you and you maybe give me some suggested reading to 'learn'. I'm interested of course but I'd like to keep this thread discussing the AH4C. Threads here often wander and I'm trying to keep this one on the AH4C.
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It depends on what channels you watch. Since the app's API doesn't support subchannel numbering like satellite receivers do, all of the sports alternates have the same channel number as the main channel and sometimes the alternate comes first. i.e. With the mess that is RSNs people in Mavericks territory outside of Dallas will have "MAVS", FanDuel Southwest and Southwest Extra all on channel 676. And for people in the Pacific Northwest The Kraken and Blazers channels will both be on 688. It's also an issue for some national channels like MLB Network and its alternate that are both on 213 and the NFL Network and its alternate that are both on channel 212 during the preseason. During the Olympics USA and the 2 Paris Extra channels were all on 242.
It also affects some locals. i.e. in Honolulu FOX and CW are both on 2, in Fairbanks ABC and FOX are both on 2 and in Anchorage ABC and CW are both on 13.
Satellite customers using the app also have to deal with the west coast feeds for TNT, TBS, Comedy Central, BET and MTV which have the same number as the east coast feeds.
AH4C can use the dtvnow:// deeplinks to tune to the specific channel instead of doing it by number and hoping something doesn't change with the order in which they appear.
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A bit of a trip down memory lane! I used the Hauppauge HD-PVR boxes myself for many years, though I had IP control for channel changing (IR style control, like USB-UIRT, being less reliable) on the DirecTV receivers I was using as a source. In the early to mid 2010's this was an awesome solution.
As far as Docker and Portainer go, these two are a significant step forward in terms of being able to deploy a solution that can have zero effect on the host OS. Too many applications in the past were difficult (or impossible) to fully uninstall -- or be sure they were.
Not to mention various tweaks and other changes we've all made to host OSs trying to solve "issues". When using Docker-based solutions, when it's gone it's gone -- no need to track down bits, bobs and other left-behinds.
Portainer is an excellent WebUI for Docker, and ah4c has a WebUI too. The great thing about learning Docker and Portainer (which is not overly difficult), is that this opens up an entire world of containerized applications, rather than simply learning the ins-and-outs of a single application.
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feel free to pm me, however I am not an expert on nextpvr. My advice is to ask around on the nextpvr forums if you have any questions, but I will do my best.
techpro2004...............
I believe I prefer to remain commited to the AH4C inquiry that I initially requested assistance with. I appreciate the offer but if I have issues I believe the support group for the AH4C is greater.
that is entirely your choice, but keep in mind, generating an ah4c playlist can be tricky and nextpvr does it for you automatically.
That's actually already been done for the Osprey boxes. He'll only need to modify the locals, which is done using callsigns, channel numbers and Gracenote Station IDs. The IDs are easy to get with OliveTin-for-Channels, and those few changes can be made through the ah4c WebUI M3U editor.
Good morning. Have a few minutes between meetings today, so a very quick write up to confirm some of your questions. The only “setup” on the Ospreys that come to mind are:
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Set them each to static IP, or Static via DHCP reservation on router, so their IPs do not change.
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Enable developer mode and then USB debugging.
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Accept the ABD connection on each device when AH4C first connects.
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Set the wake/resume to return to last channel. This is a recent setting on the ospreys as what happens when device is woken from sleep. You don’t want it to go straight to home page on wake. I wrote about this somewhere in a forum. It is a setting in the Osprey settings.
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Set Osprey audio output to Stereo Only as HDMI capture do not support surround.
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Disable power save on Osprey, in settings.
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Use Ethernet as network as it is more reliable than Wi-Fi.
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Disable the Sports Mode in settings, and overlay that causes sports programs to show scores and stats over any sports programming.
I use AH4C with multi tuner and it’s worked well for nearly a year. Occasionally the tuning will fail if an Osprey does not come out of sleep in time. This is helped by the next tuner (Osprey) being available. It is not a bad idea to reboot the stack of ospreys every once in a while.
DirecTV pushes updates periodically. When they do you may need to re-auth your ADB keys.
Being able to tune via channel is the biggest draw with Osprey devices as then channels numbers will not change. This is in comparison to deep link URLs which may need to be updated at times.
I’m both busy and getting over recent illness so I will collab where I can. I will say the Osprey setup is worth the effort.
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Is there any particular Distro of Linux that's prefered for the WSL2?
Personally, I prefer Debian -- it's amazing how many distros are Debian-based with other stuff added, that you may or may not need.
I had an interesting experience trying to Set Up a couple of my Osprey devices, I kept getting 'There's a Problem, Looks like your software couldn't properly install, visit directv.com/StreamDeviceSetup w/an option to Restart Device. Restarted a half dozen or more times with same results.
After a lengthly conversation via CHAT w/support it was asked, how are you connected? I was using Ethernet. I was asked to use the reset button again and connect using WiFi and start over. I actually did that and unbelieveably it did the entire 'Update Procedure' again, installed and I was able to access 'Settings > menu etc and proceed w/developer mode, USB De-bugging etc.
*** I had to do this for two of them.
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Is the Orivision ZY-EH1304 considered a quality Encoder. Who knows how long CableCARD and Comcast/Xfinity will survive but I think it maybe foolish to change provider until it happens or CableCARD becomes a nuicance. If I were to purchase now retain my cable cards what other practical service could I use an Encoder and one or two of the Ospreys for.
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So very odd. I have always used Ethernet. Glad it’s working.
Orivision works well. I like many are partial to LinkPi
I've all 5 of my Ospreys now and since I'm currently doing very well with Comcast/Xfinity CableCARDS & HDHR I'm hesitant for a quick buy of an Encoder unless there would be maybe other functions that I could use the Encoder for. DirecTV just this week started to offer FREE DirecTV (FAST). Could I use these Ospreys and an Encoder to make this work, become familiar with the Encoder etc then when the CableCARDS go away change to a subscription model. I'm likely going to purchase the ZY-EH1304 unless someone can say 'just don't' and offer good reasoning.What could I accomplish using only a single channel Encoder?
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If you don't have a good use case, wait for Black Friday, buy a Link Pi ENC1-V3 from Amazon. It will likely go on sale for about $100 and you will have the extended Holiday return policy to play. If you like the single encoder, then go for a bigger one.
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