Season Pass, Team Pass, Newbie

Channels DVR Server
#1

Hi all, new member here and been testing out Channels. I have a few questions as I would like to subscribe yearly if I can get some of these things worked out. The interface and everything seems to be working great so far (3 days into it).

Here is my current setup:
Running DVR on a repurposed laptop. Wiped clean and only install of channels. It's 12gb of ram, win 10 x64. The processor is a i3-7100 (4 core -2.4ghz). Video is onboard intel 620 hd (my main concern). The OS is partitioned on a 40GB SSD and the rest of the TB is allocated to Channels. My network connection is hardwired and gets ~800up and 800mbps down.

Questions:

  1. I assume since I am running Channels DVR on a laptop that stays powered on 24x7 that I do not have to have open a client session on my tv to make a recording? I tried recording two shows last night at the same time around 4am (no active streams) to see how it would do. They both recorded and both had interruptions to report. I tried on multiple other shows and they recorded fine as they were 1 recording at a time. Not sure if that was coincidental or I have to tweak my configuration or lack of tuner knowledge.

  2. Season pass Show "XYZ" -> New only -> keep the last 10. Check the guide a new episode is playing tomorrow and labeled as such "new". Doesn't show any red box to indicate its scheduled to record but shows up in passes on settings screen. Next day it's not recorded. I'm sure it's user error but this is the biggest feature I am currently seeking (along with Team pass).

  3. Team Pass - I have seen forum questions but cannot seem to find this. I saw someone said you search your team then click it and can add, but my team's do not show up in the search. One is a large market team so that doesn't make sense.

  4. I assume there is no solution to exit pip when closing the application? I know how to hold the home button and get it to focus and close but is not practical for the other family members.

  5. Is there any way to record longer than 5-10 min of the show I am watching? I have seen a thread that mentions it's stored on the device not the server and the space is dependent upon the device. I'm using 4k sticks and they only have 8gb and are mostly used up. Is there any way to offload this to the dvr server or should I be investing in Shields and if so can I store up to around an hour of previous watched shows?

Sorry for the 50 questions, I probably should have broken this out into multiple questions. Thanks in advance, I am really excited to move to one platform and get rid of xfinity stream app!

#2

Correct.

The "interruptions" were likely due to network issues or the incoming feed, but it is possible that disk I/O bandwidth is the cause. You can check the logs to see what they say about those 2 recordings to get more clarity.

A "red box" (the cell in the guide being red) is for currently recording programs; upcoming/queued recordings are yellow in the guide. An entry in the Passes screen means there is a rule for matching upcoming airings to record, but actual upcoming are in the Schedule view.

More details about this situation would be necessary to further troubleshoot.

Only teams that have a game within the next 2 weeks or so (meaning, the game appears in the guide) will show up in search results. Also, only guide data provided by Channels uses the TeamIDs. If you are using some other IPTV or internet stream, you will not likely find the guide data for airings from that source providing TeamIDs.

Not really. PIP is handled by the OS, not Channels.

I assume you mean the live TV buffer? If so, you can change the streaming type from "Direct" to "Stream" which will offload most of the buffer onto the server, but with a slight quality and responsiveness tradeoff (in my personal experience).

For the offloading aspect, see above. Regarding upgrading your client device: that is a cost/benefit analysis you'll have to do for yourself. Personally, I have found most streamers (Amazon, Onn, Google) to be merely adequate or mediocre at best, sluggish, and needing replacement after barely a year; your experiences may differ, as other users here will disagree with me.

Channels is developed first for Apple devices, and the AppleTV will provide you with a superior experience. (I have also found nearly every other app to be better on Apple versus Android, but again, YMMV.) If you are going to spend the money on a Shield, you might as well go Apple and get the better experience for a similar price.

#3

Hi, :wave: welcome to Channels!

Be aware that by using third party sources like IPTV, your mileage will vary as the guide data from those sources is neither as reliable as what’s built into Channels, nor is it as comprehensive.

For example your EPG has no Team IDs identifying teams, this is why team passes won’t work for you.

IPTV also explains the interruptions as the streams are just not reliable and are often very latent. You’ll probably find that playback is still fine though.

#4

Thank you for the detailed responses!

A "red box" (the cell in the guide being red) is for currently recording programs; upcoming/queued recordings are yellow in the guide. An entry in the Passes screen means there is a rule for matching upcoming airings to record, but actual upcoming are in the Schedule view.

More details about this situation would be necessary to further troubleshoot.

For this instance I wanted to record new episodes of "The curse of Oak Island". I created a pass and asked it to record only those indicating as new episodes with padding and indicated the number of episodes to record (keep last 10). I saw that the new episode was airing tomorrow and it showed many other airings throughout the day. The new one said "New" indicating it was this weeks airing of the show. It did not look any different in the guide (red or yellow as i supposed it should have). When into settings and review passes it shows the correct configuration that was set (new only, keep last 10). Not sure if i'm missing a step because it did not record.

Only teams that have a game within the next 2 weeks or so (meaning, the game appears in the guide) will show up in search results. Also, only guide data provided by Channels uses the TeamIDs. If you are using some other IPTV or internet stream, you will not likely find the guide data for airings from that source providing TeamIDs.

That makes sense, I'm totally trying to do too much at once in a short time with twin 2 year olds and working full time. I have test IPTV and my xifinity stream running. I'll make sure and dumb it down for my own understanding until i can properly learn and keep it only with Xfinity for testing and add as i go. I really like being able to add my cameras as i have 8 currently. This is a huge improvement over the xfinity stream app!

Channels is developed first for Apple devices, and the AppleTV will provide you with a superior experience. (I have also found nearly every other app to be better on Apple versus Android, but again, YMMV.) If you are going to spend the money on a Shield, you might as well go Apple and get the better experience for a similar price.

I did not know this, thank you for that. I have 2 apple tv 4ks (believe gen 1) that aren't doing much so i will try and move it over to those for main viewing areas (media room/living room).

Thanks again for taking the time to respond!

#5

Great, thank you! I'm going to try and run through Xfinity as I'm currently paying for most of their channels. I just hate using their app and I refuse to pay for 6 boxes @ ~$10/mo.

#6

As Jon responded, your IPTV sources likely have crappy data, meaning things like making sure unique episodes are flagged, and new shows which are truly new are recorded. If your outside guide data does not properly mark each episode as unique from every other episode, Channels may conflate them all as being the same episode shown again and again.

By "Xfinity stream", do you mean using the TV Everywhere integration? If so, you may want to make sure that source has higher priority, as its guide data will be more complete.

#7

Look at the Schedule view. That tells you what will record.
The guide grid and pass (matches) view don't necessarily show what will be recorded.
The pass (matches) view shows what matches the pass criteria, not necessarily what will record.

#8

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