[scarecrow420]

You are dead right, assuming your SSD is big enough to hold all of your recordings (now and forever into the future)...

Some people have hundreds of GB of recordings, and an SSD of an appropriate size is expensive. The play back of recordings is not storage intensive, it's more so the writing of multiple recordings, and concurrent client live streams/remuxes that would hit the storage harder and the live stream/remux would also benefit usability by being quicker to respond (which presumably an SSD would be). So therefore the talk of extra steps is only to implement a conceptual "ideal but cost effective" system where you would use an SSD for the IO intensive or time critical drive activity, whilst shifting off compelted recordings to a slower/bigger/cheaper "archive" drive.

[wagman67]

Alright, update time: got kinda busy this week and then my Commodores went and won the College World Series, so I had to go celebrate with them a bit...

Now, back to our story...

I got the SSD in and did a complete fresh install.
Let me say this...the general operating system is nice and speedy...I can select reboot and 16 seconds later, it is back to the desktop!

Now, about our grand scheme to use the SSD to record, then offload the recorded files to the 500GB drive...

I am having second thoughts...why? I do not think this 128GB SSD is large enough. After the Windows 7 install, I am left with about 80GB free, which translates to about 7.5 to 8 hrs of HD recording.

If I were only using one client, that might be enough, but I have potentially three at a time. If I were watching live TV on two and recording a program on the third, that space is going to be used rather quickly...especially with live sports programs (did I mention I have two sports crazy boys).

So, I can definitely see an easy scenario where this is just not sufficient.

I probably should have done the math before starting...and decided not to attempt it or buy a larger SSD to start with...I am pretty sure a 240GB would be fine...which may be my solution.

What do you guys think?

[scarecrow420]

Recordings will go in the default recoreded TV location (which could be on your regular big HDD), whilst live streams will go in the TempSWMC subdirectory under there (which you could symlink to the SSD). I guess it just depends on how long your 3 clients would likely be watching for etc. You could certainly do the setup just to try it out and see. As you say, just using the SSD as the OS drive is nice and snappy with quick reboots etc so it isn't necessarily a total waste (though a 60GB drive would suffice for purely OS work). My main PC plus all 3 HTPC and "server" all have SSD as the system drive, once you go solid state you cant go back, lol

[wagman67]

Okay,

So, I have set this up with a symlink for the live feed back to the SSD.

I will have to monitor that folder. I see live tv files populating as expected.

Are any other files supposed to be in that directory? I recorded 'The Last Ship' earlier and started to watch the recording about 30 minutes after it started (so, it was still being recorded when I started watching it). I finished watching it via the recording. After closing the recording, there is a full version of it in the tempswmc folder (on C:\ drive)...it is a .ts files, and the recorded version is in the Recorded TV folder (on the D:\ drive) as a wtv file.

Will the ts file be deleted?

Thanks

[scarecrow420]

The TempSWMC directory will contain remux jobs for live viewing and viewing of inprogress recordings (also for viewing of completed recordings if Debug Remux All Recordings option is set). The TS files should be deleted for live viewing, when the client stops viewing the channel and for recordings either when the client stops viewing OR when the recording finishes (depending on config item IsRemuxToRecordingEnd which defaults to TRUE).

This is assuming you have "Delete temporary files" option selected in ServerWMC.

If you post a log we can look further, focusing on the log messages that start with "StreamProc::Close> ". This should mention all of this stuff, eg if it is persisting until recording finishes or deleteing it immediately, whether the delete worked or not, whether it was to be "saved for debug" and whether temp file deletion is disabled etc.

The maintenance timer in ServerWMC (fires every 8 minutes by default) also attempts to purge/cleanup TS files from any remux jobs that have stopped, or clients that have disappeared without letting us know, etc etc. And as a final safeguard, any temporary WTV/TS files in the TempSWMC directory (that werent deleted for whatever reason) are removed by ServerWMC when it starts up, and similarly any "SavedForDebug" files older than 2 days are deleted at startup. These things arent particularly helpful if your server is on 24/7 and thus ServerWMC doesnt start up too often (as well as other problems such as the log file growing larger and larger etc).

This stuff has evolved over time and several releases/enhancements/requests and almost certainly is overly complex due to having so many options But generally Ive seen the temp directory kept nice and clean with the exception of the point I mentioned about the ultimate failsafe deletions only happening at ServerWMC startup (which may not be all that often on some setups). Perhaps we can look at calling these extra failsafe cleanup tasks once a day rather than just at startup. In most situations though, these failsafes shouldnt be doing much, since we are already meant to be deleting everything at the appropriate time, and also monitoring for clients that disappear on us and remux jobs that stop but the WTV/TS files are still present etc.

[wagman67]

I think I know why that file persisted....it was during that time, that I created the symlink, which moved everything already in the folder on the D: drive to the new folder on the C: drive.

I watched 'Falling Skies' the exact same way (watched from recording, while it was still being recorded), and there were no leftover files in the TempSWMC folder.

So, I would suggest shutting down SWMC before creating a symlink, and then starting it back up...not that it hurt anything, just might be best practice.

I need to test with a couple of other clients running at the same time, but using one client last night to record a show, while watching something live, and then watching a recording that was still being recorded went pretty smooth.

I am also thinking that WMC may be reporting available HD recording time wrong. I have around 75GB left to work with on the SSD, and WMC is saying that is only good for 7 hours of recorded HD programming (after the 2 hour buffer for live TV). I was checking last night and the two 2 hour HD shows I recorded were each 5.3GB. If I round that to 5.5 and give 11GB to the live TV buffer, that seems like it should give me another 12 hours of HD programming...is my math off?

I am just going to leave the setup as is, for now, and see if it stays smooth with multiple clients...I expect it will.

Thank you...just made a donation (I'm a bit stingy, and don't do that as much as I should)

[scarecrow420]

in terms of drive space seen as "free" I don't believe that a symlink will be taken into account, ie WMC (and infact even windows itself) will just report space free based on the default recorded TV drive...

[wagman67]

in terms of drive space seen as "free" I don't believe that a symlink will be taken into account, ie WMC (and infact even windows itself) will just report space free based on the default recorded TV drive...

Sorry, I should have been clearer...that was what it was saying when I only had the SSD installed and set to use the standard 'Recorded TV' folder.

[scarecrow420]

Ive never really tried to check WMC's maths although I do recall seeing a setting inside WMC somewhere along the lines of how much space it is allowed to use for recordings (ie a way to enforce that it needs to leave a certain amount of space/percentage of the drive untouched). Could it be this?

[wagman67]

A couple of things going on tonight:

1. All recorded shows are showing up twice in TV Recordings list.

2. My RPI clients will not play live TV....EPG works fine, playback of recorded shows works fine, but when trying to watch a live channel...it just doesn't do anything.
Here is the segment of the log from my last attempt.

2014/07/01 22:15:53.125 Received client request: 192.168.67.144|OpenLiveStream|32028|0|15|WGN America
2014/07/01 22:15:53.140 OpenLiveStream> -----------------start------------------------
2014/07/01 22:15:53.140 OpenLiveStream> client: 192.168.67.144 requesting live stream
2014/07/01 22:15:53.140 StreamProc> live-tv started
2014/07/01 22:15:53.156 SetChannel> Attempt: 0, Tuner: HDHomeRun Prime Tuner 131AA596-2 / 38e8dcd7-bdc3-43e3-bd17-798844d8fcdb
2014/07/01 22:15:53.156 SetChannel> > Digital: True
2014/07/01 22:15:53.156 SetChannel> > Encrypted: False
2014/07/01 22:15:53.156 SetChannel> > RecorderInfo found: True
2014/07/01 22:15:53.156 SetChannel> > Recorder Content Protection: PROT_COPY_FREE
2014/07/01 22:15:53.171 SetChannel > busy: False, client: none
2014/07/01 22:15:53.171 SetChannel> > tuner is available => stopping search
2014/07/01 22:15:53.171 SetChannel> Recorder acquired: True
2014/07/01 22:15:53.187 SetChannel> TuneRequest set
2014/07/01 22:15:53.234 StreamProc> wtv recording started in 0.09 sec
2014/07/01 22:15:53.234 StreamProc> stream output file: LiveTV_192.168.67.144_Digital Cable_15_2014_07_01_22_15_53.ts
2014/07/01 22:15:53.234 StreamProc> started remux thread: 'WGNAMER-15: 32028'
2014/07/01 22:15:53.265 Remux::FindDescriptors> Scanning wtv for streams...
2014/07/01 22:15:55.717 Parse> Guid: 0 took 2.37 sec, it was attempted 189 times
2014/07/01 22:15:55.737 Parse> Next 4 Guids: 0.02 sec, 0.00 sec, 0.00 sec, 0.00 sec,
2014/07/01 22:15:57.327 Parse> Descriptor pass done, using 500 guids in 1.59 sec
2014/07/01 22:15:57.327 Parse> Total Descriptor parse time: 3.98 sec
2014/07/01 22:15:57.327 Pass 'Descriptor':
2014/07/01 22:15:57.327 > WtvToPesDemuxer:arse> total guid headers processed: 500
2014/07/01 22:15:57.327 > WtvToPesDemuxer:arse> total data packets processed: 107
2014/07/01 22:15:57.327 Remux::FindDescriptors> wtv scanned (4.08 sec), Streams found:
2014/07/01 22:15:57.337 > Video: ID:26 (truncated)mpeg2video MP-ML 704x480i fps: 30000/1001 AR: 4:3
2014/07/01 22:15:57.337 > Audio: ID:27 (truncated)ac3
2014/07/01 22:15:57.337 > SubTitle: ID:28 MSCaption
2014/07/01 22:15:57.337 > Audio: ID:29 ac3 2.0 48000 Hz 192 kb/s
2014/07/01 22:15:57.337 > Video: ID:30 mpeg2video MP-ML 704x480i fps: 30000/1001 AR: 4:3
2014/07/01 22:15:57.337 Remux::FindDescriptors> truncated streams removed: 2
2014/07/01 22:15:57.337 Remux::FindDescriptors> Output streams:
2014/07/01 22:15:57.337 > Audio: ID:29 ac3 2.0 48000 Hz 192 kb/s
2014/07/01 22:15:57.337 > Video: ID:30 mpeg2video MP-ML 704x480i fps: 30000/1001 AR: 4:3
2014/07/01 22:15:57.417 StreamProc> 'ts' file created, size: 262,144 in 4.18 sec
2014/07/01 22:15:57.417 StreamProc> total time: 4.28 sec
2014/07/01 22:15:57.427 OpenLiveStream> stream path returned to client: smb://john:**********@WIN7UP/Recorded TV2/TempSWMC/LiveTV_192.168.67.144_Digital Cable_15_2014_07_01_22_15_53.ts
2014/07/01 22:15:57.427 OpenLiveStream> -----------------done-------------------------
2014/07/01 22:15:57.427 Finished request OpenLiveStream in 4.30s
2014/07/01 22:15:57.437 Received client request: 192.168.67.144|StreamStartError|smb://john:**********@WIN7UP/Recorded TV2/TempSWMC/LiveTV_192.168.67.144_Digital Cable_15_2014_07_01_22_15_53.ts
2014/07/01 22:15:57.437 StreamStartError> client '192.168.67.144' reports error opening stream, will close stream down
2014/07/01 22:15:57.437 StreamStartError> client '192.168.67.144' path to stream file: 'smb://john:**********@WIN7UP/Recorded TV2/TempSWMC/LiveTV_192.168.67.144_Digital Cable_15_2014_07_01_22_15_53.ts'
2014/07/01 22:15:57.437 StreamStartError> client '192.168.67.144' calling CloseStream
2014/07/01 22:15:57.447 Remux::Stop> stop remux requested
2014/07/01 22:15:57.457 WtvToPesDemuxer:arse> Guid header detects stream end
2014/07/01 22:15:57.457 Pass 'mux2ts':
2014/07/01 22:15:57.457 > WtvToPesDemuxer:arse> total guid headers processed: 596
2014/07/01 22:15:57.457 > WtvToPesDemuxer:arse> total data packets processed: 68
2014/07/01 22:15:57.457 Remux> ENDED, >>>>>>>>>> Run Time: 0.00 min <<<<<<<<<<
2014/07/01 22:15:57.467 StreamProc::Close> remux stopped successfully
2014/07/01 22:15:57.517 DeleteTS> ts file size: 720,896
2014/07/01 22:15:57.517 StreamProc::Close> ts file deleted: D:\Recorded TV\TempSWMC\LiveTV_192.168.67.144_Digital Cable_15_2014_07_01_22_15_53.ts
2014/07/01 22:15:57.517 RecordToWTV::Close> isPassive is False => COM recorder will be stopped
2014/07/01 22:15:57.572 StreamProc::Close> wtv closed successfully
2014/07/01 22:15:57.635 StreamProc::Close> wtv file size: 1,310,720 (0x140000)
2014/07/01 22:15:57.635 StreamProc::Close> wtv file deleted: D:\Recorded TV\TempSWMC\LiveTV_192.168.67.144_Digital Cable_15_2014_07_01_22_15_53.wtv
2014/07/01 22:15:57.635 StreamProc::Close> closed in 0.19 sec
2014/07/01 22:15:57.635 Close> closed stream for client: 192.168.67.144
2014/07/01 22:15:57.635 Finished request StreamStartError in 0.20s
2014/07/01 22:16:01.316 Received client request: 192.168.67.144|OpenLiveStream|32214|0|21|Trinity Broadcasting Network
2014/07/01 22:16:01.316 OpenLiveStream> -----------------start------------------------
2014/07/01 22:16:01.316 OpenLiveStream> client: 192.168.67.144 requesting live stream
2014/07/01 22:16:01.316 StreamProc> live-tv started
2014/07/01 22:16:01.316 SetChannel> Attempt: 0, Tuner: HDHomeRun Prime Tuner 131AA596-2 / 38e8dcd7-bdc3-43e3-bd17-798844d8fcdb
2014/07/01 22:16:01.316 SetChannel> > Digital: True
2014/07/01 22:16:01.316 SetChannel> > Encrypted: False
2014/07/01 22:16:01.316 SetChannel> > RecorderInfo found: True
2014/07/01 22:16:01.316 SetChannel> > Recorder Content Protection: PROT_COPY_FREE
2014/07/01 22:16:01.316 SetChannel > busy: False, client: none
2014/07/01 22:16:01.316 SetChannel> > tuner is available => stopping search
2014/07/01 22:16:01.332 SetChannel> Recorder acquired: True
2014/07/01 22:16:01.332 SetChannel> TuneRequest set
2014/07/01 22:16:01.363 StreamProc> wtv recording started in 0.05 sec
2014/07/01 22:16:01.363 StreamProc> stream output file: LiveTV_192.168.67.144_Digital Cable_21_2014_07_01_22_16_01.ts
2014/07/01 22:16:01.363 StreamProc> started remux thread: 'TBN-21: 32214'
2014/07/01 22:16:01.363 Remux::FindDescriptors> Scanning wtv for streams...
2014/07/01 22:16:03.546 Parse> Guid: 0 took 2.18 sec, it was attempted 168 times
2014/07/01 22:16:03.546 Parse> Next 4 Guids: 0.00 sec, 0.00 sec, 0.00 sec, 0.00 sec,
2014/07/01 22:16:05.556 Parse> Descriptor pass done, using 500 guids in 2.01 sec
2014/07/01 22:16:05.556 Parse> Total Descriptor parse time: 4.19 sec
2014/07/01 22:16:05.556 Pass 'Descriptor':
2014/07/01 22:16:05.556 > WtvToPesDemuxer:arse> total guid headers processed: 500
2014/07/01 22:16:05.556 > WtvToPesDemuxer:arse> total data packets processed: 112
2014/07/01 22:16:05.556 Remux::FindDescriptors> wtv scanned (4.19 sec), Streams found:
2014/07/01 22:16:05.556 > Audio: ID:32 (eng) ac3 2.0 48000 Hz 256 kb/s
2014/07/01 22:16:05.556 > Video: ID:33 mpeg2video MP-ML 704x480i fps: 30000/1001 AR: 4:3
2014/07/01 22:16:05.556 > SubTitle: ID:34 MSCaption
2014/07/01 22:16:05.556 Remux::FindDescriptors> Output streams:
2014/07/01 22:16:05.556 > Audio: ID:32 (eng) ac3 2.0 48000 Hz 256 kb/s
2014/07/01 22:16:05.556 > Video: ID:33 mpeg2video MP-ML 704x480i fps: 30000/1001 AR: 4:3
2014/07/01 22:16:05.586 StreamProc> 'ts' file created, size: 98,304 in 4.22 sec
2014/07/01 22:16:05.586 StreamProc> total time: 4.27 sec
2014/07/01 22:16:05.596 OpenLiveStream> stream path returned to client: smb://john:**********@WIN7UP/Recorded TV2/TempSWMC/LiveTV_192.168.67.144_Digital Cable_21_2014_07_01_22_16_01.ts
2014/07/01 22:16:05.596 OpenLiveStream> -----------------done-------------------------
2014/07/01 22:16:05.596 Finished request OpenLiveStream in 4.28s
2014/07/01 22:16:05.606 Received client request: 192.168.67.144|StreamStartError|smb://john:**********@WIN7UP/Recorded TV2/TempSWMC/LiveTV_192.168.67.144_Digital Cable_21_2014_07_01_22_16_01.ts
2014/07/01 22:16:05.606 StreamStartError> client '192.168.67.144' reports error opening stream, will close stream down
2014/07/01 22:16:05.606 StreamStartError> client '192.168.67.144' path to stream file: 'smb://john:**********@WIN7UP/Recorded TV2/TempSWMC/LiveTV_192.168.67.144_Digital Cable_21_2014_07_01_22_16_01.ts'
2014/07/01 22:16:05.606 StreamStartError> client '192.168.67.144' calling CloseStream
2014/07/01 22:16:05.606 Remux::Stop> stop remux requested
2014/07/01 22:16:05.616 WtvToPesDemuxer:arse> Guid header detects stream end
2014/07/01 22:16:05.616 Pass 'mux2ts':
2014/07/01 22:16:05.616 > WtvToPesDemuxer:arse> total guid headers processed: 684
2014/07/01 22:16:05.616 > WtvToPesDemuxer:arse> total data packets processed: 88
2014/07/01 22:16:05.616 Remux> ENDED, >>>>>>>>>> Run Time: 0.00 min <<<<<<<<<<
2014/07/01 22:16:05.626 StreamProc::Close> remux stopped successfully
2014/07/01 22:16:05.676 DeleteTS> ts file size: 851,968
2014/07/01 22:16:05.676 StreamProc::Close> ts file deleted: D:\Recorded TV\TempSWMC\LiveTV_192.168.67.144_Digital Cable_21_2014_07_01_22_16_01.ts
2014/07/01 22:16:05.676 RecordToWTV::Close> isPassive is False => COM recorder will be stopped
2014/07/01 22:16:05.721 StreamProc::Close> wtv closed successfully
2014/07/01 22:16:05.784 StreamProc::Close> wtv file size: 1,310,720 (0x140000)
2014/07/01 22:16:05.784 StreamProc::Close> wtv file deleted: D:\Recorded TV\TempSWMC\LiveTV_192.168.67.144_Digital Cable_21_2014_07_01_22_16_01.wtv
2014/07/01 22:16:05.784 StreamProc::Close> closed in 0.18 sec
2014/07/01 22:16:05.784 Close> closed stream for client: 192.168.67.144
2014/07/01 22:16:05.784 Finished request StreamStartError in 0.18s

[scarecrow420]

In terms of recordings showing up twice, check your WMC settings for recording location and recoreded TV library (watched folders). Make sure you dont have the same location added in both, as they will be duplicated. Also XBMC does store stuff in it's local database so you might need to "reset PVR database" from System->LiveTV menu (and Reset EPG Database in System->Live TV->EPG screen)

In terms of live TV not playing, the client reports it is unable to access the file
smb://john:**********@WIN7UP/Recorded TV2/TempSWMC/LiveTV_192.168.67.144_Digital Cable_15_2014_07_01_22_15_53.ts'

Is this correct? Ie your share is called Recorded TV2? And does user "john" have permission to this share? Is the password entered in ServerWMC correct for "john" ?

[wagman67]

In terms of recordings showing up twice, check your WMC settings for recording location and recoreded TV library (watched folders). Make sure you dont have the same location added in both, as they will be duplicated. Also XBMC does store stuff in it's local database so you might need to "reset PVR database" from System->LiveTV menu (and Reset EPG Database in System->Live TV->EPG screen)

I will give that a look when I get home.

In terms of live TV not playing, the client reports it is unable to access the file
smb://john:**********@WIN7UP/Recorded TV2/TempSWMC/LiveTV_192.168.67.144_Digital Cable_15_2014_07_01_22_15_53.ts'

Is this correct? Ie your share is called Recorded TV2? And does user "john" have permission to this share? Is the password entered in ServerWMC correct for "john" ?

Yes to all...as far as I know...I guess there is a chance I mistyped the the password. I will re-input that when I get home. But, would that not also affect being able to play recorded shows, as well? The recorded shows play just fine.

Edit: If recorded shows should also be affected by a wrong password, perhaps it is the symlink. Recorded shows are in a folder (Recorded TV2) on the D: drive...straightforward. The live feed comes from a symlinked folder on the C: drive (D:\Recorded TV2\TempSWMC is symlinked to C:\TempSWMC). Live TV works just fine using the client on the same PC as SWMC.

[scarecrow420]

Smb share may not follow symlinks. When running locally the paths provided are local, but when client is remote they are smb.

I know on my netgear ReadyNAS nas (based on Linux) I have to edit the Smb.conf to enable "wide links" and "follow symlinks" options in order for symlinks within shares to be traversed. I wonder if Windows has similar setting

This is a link regarding this on my nas as an FYI http://www.readynas.com/forum/viewtopic....23&t=41515

[scarecrow420]

I did some googling and found someone in the same situation, they said using ntfs junction (mklink /j) worked, but directory symlink (mklink /d) didn't, so perhaps give a junction a go

[wagman67]

I did some googling and found someone in the same situation, they said using ntfs junction (mklink /j) worked, but directory symlink (mklink /d) didn't, so perhaps give a junction a go

Okay, I will give that a go when I get home and report back results.