Why didn't this recording go down the channel list? (OTA signal failed)

Channels DVR Server Troubleshooting
#1

3a6bb4e2-2a38-4a04-84a9-43600346ae6b submitted.

Basically, the OTA channel kept failing with "no video data," which is expected, as the signal is spotty. But, if it tried the alternate channel, it would have worked, but never attempted.

The log continued for a few mins until the recording failed - why didn't it try 8.1 ?

2025/03/30 05:59:55.641331 [TNR] Opened connection to /0 for ch108.1 WTNH-DT
2025/03/30 05:59:55.660402 [DVR] Recording for job 1743328790-115 from ch108.1 into "TV/Good Morning Connecticut Weekend 6AM/Good Morning Connecticut Weekend 6AM 2025-03-30-0559.mpg" for 2h1m9.979568s
2025/03/30 05:59:55.766832 [IDX] Generating video index for job 1743328790-115
2025/03/30 06:00:02.006582 [TNR] Closing connection /0 ch108.1 after no data was received for 6s
2025/03/30 06:00:02.020549 [TNR] Closed connection to /0 for ch108.1 WTNH-DT
2025/03/30 06:00:02.048771 [SNR] Signal statistics for "TV/Good Morning Connecticut Weekend 6AM/Good Morning Connecticut Weekend 6AM 2025-03-30-0559.mpg": ss=100% snq=46%,45%-48% seq=0% pps=67,0-202 sigerr=100%
2025/03/30 06:00:02.069731 [SNR] Buffer statistics for "TV/Good Morning Connecticut Weekend 6AM/Good Morning Connecticut Weekend 6AM 2025-03-30-0559.mpg": buf=0% drop=0%
2025/03/30 06:00:02.070223 [DVR] Job 1743328790-115 Good Morning Connecticut Weekend 6AM ended prematurely: 2h0m57.929779s
2025/03/30 06:00:02.093126 [DVR] Starting job 1743328790-115 Good Morning Connecticut Weekend 6AM on ch=[108.1 **8.1** 5985]
2025/03/30 06:00:02.093343 [DVR] Waiting 10h29m47.906658s until next job 1743366590-21 Christopher Kimball's Milk Street Television
2025/03/30 06:00:09.702387 [TNR] Opened connection to /0 for ch108.1 WTNH-DT
2025/03/30 06:00:09.705046 [DVR] Recording for job 1743328790-115 from ch108.1 into "TV/Good Morning Connecticut Weekend 6AM/Good Morning Connecticut Weekend 6AM 2025-03-30-0559.mpg" for 2h0m57.90658s
2025/03/30 06:00:16.174359 [TNR] Closing connection /0 ch108.1 after no data was received for 6s
2025/03/30 06:00:16.187125 [TNR] Closed connection to /0 for ch108.1 WTNH-DT
#2

What does your pass look like ? I am not sure if Channels AI is smart enough to know when it has problems when tuning Via HDHR units.... and move on.

I think it only moves on if the preferred Channel is unavailable.

#3

Pass has 3 channels - bold is mine

#4

Looks good I do not think that Channels DVR is smart enough to detect tuning Probems in the HDHR units.

#5

...but it is. It failed the recording - i would think it should fail down the pass, or at worst, fail to the next source, no?

#6

You think it would, but I do not think it does, @tmm1 can chime in here.

#7

Same problem. It always seems to select the weakest signal. I've had to go through the HDHR and hide all the weak channels. Trouble is, new channels seem to pop up all the time and Channels grabs them and doesn't record because of weak ssignal.

#8

I always favor my best signal Channels. Channels will always prefer favored Channels. I never favor the ATSC 3.0 Channels over the ATSC 1.0. If you bring up the HDHomerun app under settings/channels they have signal strength.

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#9

Both of you might want to try marking sources with the best signal as a faverate under sources. Looking at that log, it appears the recording started and then failed. I don't think channels will fail over when this happens. Failover is only if the recording can not start.

#10

I've always done that. Yet when channel 33.1 popped up (which I've never seen before) Channels decided to attempt to recod from that channel instead of KNBC 4.1 which is favored.

So the statement it always favors favored channels is just not true.

#11

So you are saying there is a bug ? report it because I have never experienced it.

How does the DVR pick which tuner to use to make a recording?

On the Channels DVR Server web admin, you can adjust the priority of your tuners to set the order in which they will be used for recording.

The DVR will always prefer favorited and HD channels first when multiple channels are available to record the same program. If the first tuner in the DVR’s list has a favorited channel, it will always be used for recording. If a matching HD channel is available on the first tuner, it will always be preferred for recording.

If no matching channel is on the first tuner, the same process is repeated for each subsequent tuner in the list.

#12

I can tell you from personal experience. A few weeks ago I noticed shows on KNBC 4.1 were not being recorded. When I looked at the log there were numerous failures because of no signal levels on channel 33.1 when it should have been using 4.1
4.1 was favored and always has been. 33.1 was not favored since I never saw it before. I deleted 33.1 and edited all my series passes so that they would only record on 4.1. Problem solved.

Not to muddy the waters but there appears to be more than a few bugs lately that never seemed to exist before. My series passes never had a specific channel assigned and always worked. Now they don't. I have had too edit every one of my 66 passes to include a specific channel and still many passes are not recording.
KABC 7.1 is completely hit or miss. "Shark Tank" only records once in a while. "Celebrity Jeopardy" forget it. I missed most of the semi finals.

Now KNBC 4.1 is acting up. I missed all of the World Championship Figure Skating episodes. Channels only queued one of them and then canceled it!

It would appear there are some serious flaws in series passes in some recent update.

#13

Just to be clear.
I have 2 HDHRs. One is connected to a VHF antenna and the other to UHF. The antennas are 20 feet apart. The VHF only has channels 7.1 and 11.1 All others are Xed out.

The UHF HDHR only has 2.1, 4.1. 5.1, 9.1, 13.1 and 28.1 All others are Xed out.

All channels test at 100% signal, symbol, and quality.

It's not like I'm asking a lot from Channels.

#14

Did you notify support through their support page ? ...

#15

Something funky here it's supposed to show the hdhomerun ID. Are the HDHRs listed correctly under Sources

#16

Yes, sorry - i stripped my HDHR IDs from the log (like i will below too)

i have noticed that i get this odd message on DVR restart:

2025/03/26 14:08:26.747484 [SYS] Started HTTP Server on 8089
2025/03/26 14:08:27.240395 [ERR] Failed to load HDHR #v lineup: Get "http://192.168.50.240/lineup.json?tuning&show=found": dial tcp 192.168.50.240:80: connect: no route to host
2025/03/26 14:08:27.241007 [ERR] Failed to load HDHR #x lineup: Get "http://192.168.50.213/lineup.json?tuning&show=found": dial tcp 192.168.50.213:80: connect: no route to host
2025/03/26 14:08:27.241539 [ERR] Failed to load HDHR #y lineup: Get "http://192.168.50.153/lineup.json?tuning&show=found": dial tcp 192.168.50.153:80: connect: no route to host
2025/03/26 14:08:27.241562 [HDR] Found 3 devices
#17

Is your DVR Server on the same subnet as the HDHR's?

#18

Yes.

#19

Sounds like the macOS issue where Local Network Access needs to be re-enabled.

#20

I would agree - but it still made it to the tuner device? Wouldn't this access issue cause it to outright fail to get to anything? My real issue is not moving down the pass channel list - in something like the network access scenario, wouldn't it be expected to move down the pass? I see no evidence of this.

FWIW, I picked the item in the queue, set it against the 2nd channel in the pass, and it worked fine, so i would think this answers some questions.