Well, I’m not quite ready to do that because that’s a PC that I my primary access is through Remote Desktop. I saw some instructions for removing Channels DVR and there was something about using Task Manager to disable the service startup. Well, I swear I had seen it there numerous times before, but when I went there to disable it upon deciding to remove the program, it didn’t even appear there! For some reason that had me thinking I might’ve had an improper installation so I decided to clean it off the PC and give it a fresh install. I’ve since done that and the playback problems still remain. 
It may be premature to assume the problems I’m experiencing are central to the Web player. My reasoning is that the hls.js demo video played just fine through each of my installed browsers. In addition, the other PC’s I used to access Channels DVR had the same playback issues using different hardware and software. At the same time, streaming the Watch Now URL with VLC from any of the PCs always resulted in normal playing.
I wanted to be able to see what this would do when accessing from an IP external to my home network. I tried my.channelsdvr.net but it doesn’t take me anywhere. I was expecting to be taken to a login page.
I’m suspecting some unusual networking security issues involving browsers are at play.
I would suggest installing the DVR on another machine to run some quick tests and see if it behaves any differently. You can leave your existing one alone, just spin up another test instance.
To remove the DVR, run the installer again and pick the uninstall option.
That seems like the logical next step. I’ll put it on the PC I remote desktop to tonight. It’s a very capable HP Z400 with a Xeon CPU, 24GB RAM, nVidia Quadro GPU, 500GB SSD, 5TB HDD and a very fresh install of Windows 10 on it. It may be a better candidate for Channels DVR than my “daily driver” PC.
Thanks for your patience…
Installing on the other PC seems to have done the trick. Next, I’ll uninstall it from the original PC and see how it does as a client.
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Now that I’ve successfully hosted the DVR on another PC, is there a correct way to merge the databases from the first PC and the second PC?
There is no way to merge. You can only import using http://127.0.0.1:8089/restore but it will replace any local data
I’m not having the experience I had hoped for using Channels DVR, but if it worked as it appears to be conceptualized to, I believe it would be pretty good. Apparently, I just happen to be experiencing all the glitches that seem to make it unworkable. When I do get it to play, all it takes is one to a few jumps forward or backward and most of the time the player will freeze and the only way to get it going again seems to be to stop the player and close the description window. Then it’s hit or miss at getting it started again and I feel really lucky if it remembers where the show was cut off and doesn’t start all over at the beginning.
A discovery I stumbled upon when I started Firefox in safe mode and added extensions one by one, was that the popular add-on Video DownloadHelper seems to break the player in Channels DVR. I don’t know if that’s been anyone else’s experience, but I thought it might help to mention it.
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Do you have any apple or android devices to use the native apps for playback? The web based player wasn’t really designed for primary use.
I’m still in the process of trying to see if anything is an acceptable alternative to WMC on Win10 (no guarantee Windows Update won’t break a setup of it), and I’ve already paid for a year of HDHomeRun DVR and several months of Channels DVR (which I learned about when complaining about the lack of a grid guide on HDHR DVR).
Believe me - I’m not excited about having to run a browser to watch TV after having over 20 years of ATi Radeon All-In-Wonder, ReplayTV, TiVo and Windows Media Center - all with well-developed UIs - for DVR use. I’m not quite ready to retire the TiVos, but I AM looking for another way to have a small PC-based DVR/player in the corner of my PC’s display for viewing without having to turn on the big TV or a handheld device while going through emails, browsing, and creating.
WMC set the bar very high when it comes to a custom-sizeable windowed PC-based DVR. The HDHomeRun DVR window is similar for positioning, but falls very short in its implementation of UI. I guess I could try the Android App, but I would probably have to use BlueStacks as an emulator and it is fairly resource intensive and not ideally suited for watching TV format video. Although it may provide a much superior experience on my 4K Smart TV, I’m a bit reluctant to plop down another $25 for an App that I’m so uncertain will be the answer to my quest.
Yes, that’s super cool. Now if it would just show up in the Play Store or the Amazon Appstore on my phone (LG G6).
They currently offer no Android mobile app. I assumed, when you were balking at spending money on an app, you meant an app that existed.
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“The web based player wasn’t really designed for primary use”…
Then please quit touting the web player as such. Every time someone mentions the lack of an Android app, “use the web player” is the go to response. The truth is that the web based player interface is currently too hit or miss for playback.
[quote=“JaymusLonestar, post:55, topic:6594, full:true”]
“The web based player wasn’t really designed for primary use”…
Then please quit touting the web player as such. Every time someone mentions the lack of an Android app, “use the web player” is the go to response.[/quote]
Because, lacking an Android mobile app atm, that is a choice that some may wish to explore. Is it sub-optimal? Yes. Will it work for some people? Perhaps.
It’s better, in your opinion, they offer no alternative than one that might suffice for now?
I’ve played with it several times. On a Linux box, running a nearly EOL release, and it’s worked well. See my point above.
I understand the lack of a native Android mobile app is a disappointment. If I was using Android mobile devices I’m sure I’d be equally disappointed. But I don’t see what’s gained by hammering them about it.
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