Recording time off by 1 minute issue

Channels DVR Server
#1

I'm running Channels DVR on Linux Mint with a HDHomeRun and AT&T Now. I'm running Channels DVR version 2020.02.26.0338. I have numerous series passes set up (and love it by the way!) mostly with AT&T Now. But I have an odd issue. The recording starts about a minute early and ends 1 minute and a few seconds early. I've dealt with this by padding the ending, but trying to figure out if there's something obvious that I'm missing that I need to change or check. My computer time is set by the network.

I'm very new to Linux and Channels, so please be kind!

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#2

Many TVE streams are delayed from live by about 30-60s. This is normal.

#3

Thank you, that's all I really wanted to hear. "It's working as it should" and it wasn't me!

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#4

If you could find lines in your DVR logs for recordings that this happened for that start with [TVE] stream timestamps: it would help me see if there is anything we can do to help this situation.

#5

For me, it is consistently off by about a minute for any TVE channels. It makes having to set a 1 minute padding on any show that I think might be on TVE. And there always ends up being 1 minute of recording at the start before the show actually starts. It would be so much better if the app automatically could delay the start and add a minute to the end for any recording where the source is TVE.

#6

Is this what you are looking for? (I copied several, not all, but these were definitely off with timing, I'm just not positive if I had already added the global minute of padding. I selected the earliest ones available I think before I made the change). And please don't stress over this, it is simple enough to globally add 1 minute of padding, again, just wanted to make sure I wasn't doing something wrong.

Lines from log:

2020/03/08 03:20:01.536601 [TVE] stream timestamps: freeformp: start_at=2020-03-08T03:20:01-04:00 current_at=2020-03-08T03:20:21-04:00 end_at=2020-03-08T03:20:29-04:00

2020/03/08 04:50:15.632923 [TVE] stream timestamps: freeformp: start_at=2020-03-08T04:50:13-04:00 current_at=2020-03-08T04:50:40-04:00 end_at=2020-03-08T04:50:44-04:00

2020/03/08 11:00:01.363516 [TVE] stream timestamps: discovery: start_at=2020-03-08T11:00:00-04:00 current_at=2020-03-08T11:00:21-04:00 end_at=2020-03-08T11:00:29-04:00

2020/03/08 12:00:01.034101 [TVE] stream timestamps: travel: start_at=2020-03-08T12:00:00-04:00 current_at=2020-03-08T12:00:21-04:00 end_at=2020-03-08T12:00:29-04:00

Thank you!

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#7

This is great. Did these channels have recording for you that were off by a minute?

#8

Yes, these recordings begin early, and end early (but may have 1 minute of padding that I added, just not sure when I added that setting, sorry!)

#9

Please run this to try out a potential fix I’ve been considering:

curl -XPUT http://127.0.0.1:8089/dvr/hacks/tuner.use_program_times

It will use the timestamps in the TVE streams if they are available. I haven’t verified their accuracy, so please let me know how it goes.

To turn it off, run:

curl -XDELETE http://127.0.0.1:8089/dvr/hacks/tuner.use_program_times
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#10

I could test this on my Xfinity-TVE Channels Server this week (no scheduled recordings).

Are you basically looking for [TVE] stream timestamps: and the log entries for when the recordings start?

Any interest in east vs west coast feeds of a network?

I have my default padding for TVE recording as start 1 min early, end 3 mins late. Should we change these to on time for testing purposes?

I know sometimes the actual start of TVE recordings on Channels DVR can be delayed up to 1.5 minutes due to auth and server issues, but the log entries should show that?

P.S. Since this is just for testing and I don't care about what's recorded, I don't care if they start early/late, get cut short or run overtime. If you have specific channels you want me to test let me know and I can PM you with my TVE channel list.

#11

I’m mostly interested in if people feel that they’re having less recordings cut off incorrectly when they have the setting enabled vs disabled.

#12

OK, see my P.S. I added to my post above. Was just trying to offer some data points...

#13

Sorry, was away for a while. I've run this:

curl -XPUT http://127.0.0.1:8089/dvr/hacks/tuner.use_program_times

received "true" as a response, and in Channels DVR set 3 single recordings for overnight, each on a different channel, and all with no padding. Will report back tomorrow. Thank you!

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#14

I recorded 3 different shows on 3 different channels. The first was a 30 minute show, the second and 3rd were both 1 hour shows. I set with no padding. The first started 1:15 early, and ended early. It recorded 30 minutes and 32 seconds. The second started 1:12 early, and ended early, and also recorded 30 additional seconds. The third started 1:20 early, ended early and recorded 1 hour and 35 seconds. Here are the associated timestamps:

2020/03/10 00:30:01.939359 [TVE] stream timestamps: espnews: start_at=2020-03-10T00:30:01-04:00 current_at=2020-03-10T00:30:01-04:00 end_at=2020-03-10T00:30:29-04:00

2020/03/10 02:00:01.378089 [TVE] stream timestamps: travel: start_at=2020-03-10T02:00:00-04:00 current_at=2020-03-10T02:00:00-04:00 end_at=2020-03-10T02:00:29-04:00

2020/03/10 04:00:01.405985 [TVE] stream timestamps: hgtv: start_at=2020-03-10T04:00:01-04:00 current_at=2020-03-10T04:00:01-04:00 end_at=2020-03-10T04:00:29-04:00

To me, it seems almost identical to the way it was before. Unless something jumps out at you, no need to spend your time on this, I can just add the padding on the end, it's not that big of a deal. Thank you!

#15

I would like a fix for it, because otherwise I have to guess what shows might be coming on on TVE and then add 1 min to the recordings.

It wouldn't be as perfect as OTA, but it would be significantly more accurate if all TVE had a 1 minute delay to start and a 1 minute padding at the end. With this, people could search for a show, even a show that is on both OTA and TVE and have close to perfect start and end times for the recordings, regardless of what source the show aired on.... because OTA would just use normal settings and TVE would automatically add the 1 minute adjustment.

Users shouldn't have to manually go through the scheduled DVR recordings list to pick out the stuff that is airing on TVE and make adjustments.

ie: the only time a user should ever need to add padding should be for live sports or events that are known to take longer than scheduled.

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