[casey03]

Hello All,

I am currently new this software and I am looking to use it to replace my PLEX setup. However, I am looking to add all the bells and whistles to this new home media setup I am going for.

My question is about about live TV. I am based in the UK, and want to be able to watch Freeview channels via this software. (Basically I want everything in a single location) I am aware I will need a TV card and tuner software to watch TV on the PC. My question is about deciding which TV card to go for.

I want to be able to use a remote control with the software, so I can use it like a normal media center and a sky box for example. Am I right in thinking, I am better off buying a TV card without a remote, and then buying a dedicated remote control device for the PC, which I am hoping will be able to control the Kodi software and the live channels? (once all is configured manually using the mouse)

The base PC that will be home to the master Kodi Server is not yet configured. I was hoping to use 2012 R2. But I am happy to use any OS that will support the use of a remote and Kodi.

Thanks

[UsefulG]

Check out Blackgold tv tuners, if you look at my signature I have a quad tuner Freeview HD card and it works with Windows 8.1, Windows 7.

You will need to configure a backend tv server to actually tune in freeview, Kodi will only provide a front end to watch and set recordings by contacting the backend. You can have them on the same box or separate as required.

I use Mediaportal TV server because it is windows based and pretty simple to set up.

Check out this page for advice on remotes http://kodi.wiki/view/List_of_MCE_remote_controls

I bought this remote from Amazon http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B003Z...ge_o07_s00 which works pretty well. It was a mouse pad and buttons if you need them but I really just bought it for the receiver so I can control everything with my Harmony.

[casey03]

Hi,

Thanks for that information.

You will need to configure a backend tv server to actually tune in freeview, Kodi will only provide a front end to watch and set recordings by contacting the backend. You can have them on the same box or separate as required.

So as I understand it. I will have Kodi on a dedicated server so it can hold other data like, movies, pictures and music, this will also have the TV card installed and Freeview tuned in. Other devices which are connected to the network will then be able to display Freeview channels via the Kodi frontend. For each device connected to the TV, I will need one of them remotes.

What about 2 devices connected to the same Kodi server where the freeview is being tuned from, will they only be able to watch the same channel, or can they select there own?

The long term plan will be to add PI's to other TV's in the house so they can all connect and create one large system. Each TV will then have a remote which can work with the Kodi front end.

[UsefulG]

That is correct, you can have a dedicated backend server which holds all of your media content containing the tuner cards. You set up the TV server on this machine and then connect to this from other devices on the network to watch live tv.

If I had a boot room to put it in that is how I would set things up, central media/tv tuner server and clients connecting over the network for all content.

You can watch different channels on different devices up to the number of tuners on the tv card, so I have a quad tuner and I could watch 4 different channels on 4 devices or record 1 channel and watch 3 channels on 3 devices.

The remote you need with differ with each device, so the remote I have is for my Windows installation but an Amazon Fire TV could use the Amazon remote to control the TV playback. I don't know about the Pi to advise how you can control them and which remote to use.

[casey03]

Ok Perfect!

Thanks for all your input. I will have to start prepping the server hardware. (Wife wont allow for a new server yet, but I am pretty sure her mind will change once everything works)

once again, thanks for your help.

[UsefulG]

No worries.

If you are so inclined I did test the Blackgold with vmware 5.5 passing through the hardware access to a Windows 7 virtual machine. It does mean you can separate the tv tuner duties from another VM serving up other media should the tv tuner need a reboot.

[casey03]

Ah! that is a nice idea as it goes! Would be much easier and faster to just reboot the TV Tuner than a whole server.

good thinking! I will give it a go!

[negge]

- TBS makes good and reasonably cheap DVB-T2 tuners, I have used them and they work fine. Since they're PCI Express they should also work in virtual machines using PCI passthrough (standard PCI tuners are very much hit and miss with this, they may seem to work but suffer from pixelation and other issues).

- Get an MCE remote including the IR receiver from aliexpress.com. They cost about $16 including shipping. Just search for "hp mce remote", sort by price, then take the first that includes the actual receiver.

[casey03]

Hi,

The TV Card came today and its all working perfectly fine, however, I am unable to integrate Kodi with Media Portal.

As I am running Windows 10 I need to use MediaPortal 2. As I believe you have to pay for WMP now. So I can't install MediaPortal 1. Kodi and Media Portal are on the same computer. When coping the folder from the zip file located at http://www.scintilla.utwente.nl/~marcelg...rxbmc.html, The addon does not display in the Media Portal window.

I have enable Media Portal in Kodi, but it is failing to connect, and I believe it due to the addon missing from Media Portal?

Any help would be appreciated!

Thanks

REF: http://kodi.wiki/view/MediaPortal_TV-Server