Linux Mediaportal PVR Client setup issues on LibreELEC
#1
Question 
Hello,

I have planned to substitue one of my Windows-based Kodi MediaPortal PVR clients, mainly used for "Live TV",
with a LibreELEC Kodi client, running on a Raspberry Pi, but unfortunately I can't get the client running,
even if I have quite some experience with Kodi and MediaPortal in general already (just none at all with LibreELEC... Smile ).

I searched via google and on this forum for a solution, but I couldn't find any info which really helped me further to solve this.
I hope somebody can help me with this here. Huh

The backend is a MediaPortal 2 Server running on Windows 10.
All working clients are also running on Windows 10, using Kodi 16.1 (and the matching Mediaportal PVR client 1.13.6).
The new Raspi client is running on LibreELEC 7.0.3, having the same Kodi (and Mediaportal PVR client) release, freshly installed via NOOBS 2.1.0.

I configured the MediaPortal PVR client on the LibreELEC box with exactly the same settings as all other clients and enabled TV in the Kodi settings.
(Backend IP address, SMB User/Password, TV Channel Import Group, streaming method TSReader)

The first strange thing here for me is that "TV" is not even showing up in the Confluence Main Menu after doing this.
No "popup" in the upper right corner, showing that EPG is updated or at least that something is trying to do the same.
On Windows this shows up at least, even if the connecting to the Mediaportal Backend is not working without any issues,
but maybe this is just normal behavior for LibreELEC in such situations??

After that I get recurring Addon messages from the MediaPortal PVR client in Kodi, telling that the connection was lost,
that I know from my Windows clients, usually it's a clear sign that the backend connection is not working,
but I can't see any corresponding error in the kodi debug log around this timestamp, just:
Code:
20:11:18 2791.090820 T:1766585248    INFO: AddOnLog: MediaPortal PVR Client: Mediaportal pvr addon 1.13.6 connecting to 198.168.1.123:9596
(besides other AddonLog entries, retrieving settings, etc., not concerning any errors)

The other thing which is not clear to me if this has could also have something to do with the MPEG2 license, which is still missing in my case at this point.
See for details:
https://wiki.libreelec.tv/index.php?titl..._TV_source
But as far as I understand the "TV" option should at least show up in the Main Menu, even if this is missing, just the actual playback of the stream should be affected.
There are also no errors regarding a missing license or similar in the Kodi debug log.
Is this normal?

I tried switching between TSReader and ffmpeg in the MediaPortal PVR addon settings, too, partly because of this, but no change either.
(both work on my other clients)
I also tried switching from german (which was installed after the initial setup) back to english, as kind of a a last resort, but this didn't help either...

When I click on channel management in the Kodi TV settings, strangely nothing happens.
Clearing data (Channel or EPG) leads to a system freeze for 1-2 minutes, with the status bar stuck at 10%.
The same happens when enabling or disabling TV in general.

The only useful thing I could find in the debug log was the following, after clearing data was (besides entires showing that the cleanup actually happened..):
Code:
19:45:38 1250.823364 T:1585439648   ERROR: AddOnLog: MediaPortal PVR Client: Socket::connect 198.168.1.123:9596
19:45:38 1250.823608 T:1585439648   ERROR: AddOnLog: MediaPortal PVR Client: Socket::connect: (errno=110) (null)
19:45:38 1250.823608 T:1585439648   ERROR: AddOnLog: MediaPortal PVR Client: Could not connect to MediaPortal TV Server backend
19:45:38 1250.823730 T:1585439648   DEBUG: AddOnLog: MediaPortal PVR Client: ->~cPVRClientMediaPortal()
19:45:38 1250.824829 T:1585439648   ERROR: ADDON: Dll MediaPortal PVR Client - Client returned bad status (1) from Create and is not usable
19:45:38 1250.827026 T:1585439648    INFO: Called Add-on status handler for '1' of clientName:MediaPortal PVR Client, clientID:pvr.mediaportal.tvserver (same Thread=no)
19:45:38 1250.831787 T:1585439648 WARNING: UpdateAndInitialiseClients - failed to create add-on MediaPortal PVR Client, status = 1
19:45:38 1250.831909 T:1953608608   DEBUG: Thread AddonStatus pvr.mediaportal.tvserver start, auto delete: true
19:45:38 1250.832153 T:1953608608   DEBUG: Thread AddonStatus pvr.mediaportal.tvserver 1953608608 terminating (autodelete)
19:45:38 1250.833374 T:1585439648   DEBUG: Thread PVRClient 1585439648 terminating
...

Any ideas??

Thanks in advance!

Best Regards
Moe
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#2
Have you installed the Kodi MediaPortal plugin on the TV server and made the shares available? I guess so, since you have Kodi clients working on Windows.

Make sure the Raspberry Pi is in the same workgroup as the MediaPortal server.

Reboot the Pi a couple of times.

I've been using this sort of setup for a while now, and it does work fine. I do tend to find that connecting to SMB shares from a Pi to a Windows box isn't always as straightforward as it might be. You could search the forum for some tweaks. There are a couple of registry keys that help.
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#3
Hi mcelliott,

Thanks a lot for your fast reply!

(2017-01-08, 13:29)mcelliott Wrote: Have you installed the Kodi MediaPortal plugin on the TV server and made the shares available? I guess so, since you have Kodi clients working on Windows.
Yes, correct Smile

(2017-01-08, 13:29)mcelliott Wrote: Make sure the Raspberry Pi is in the same workgroup as the MediaPortal server.
Good point, I didn't check that so far. Actually I never checked that before Smile
I even had to search the corresponding menu...the "SMB client" menu is not available in the Windows version of Kodi.
But that seems to be OK. It's set to (WINS=0.0.0.0, WORKGROUP).
I also tried to reset the SMD credentials, using lowercase username (actually it starts with a capital letter..) and similar.

(2017-01-08, 13:29)mcelliott Wrote: Reboot the Pi a couple of times.
Mhh, tried that already.

(2017-01-08, 13:29)mcelliott Wrote: I've been using this sort of setup for a while now, and it does work fine. I do tend to find that connecting to SMB shares from a Pi to a Windows box isn't always as straightforward as it might be.
OK, good to know that it's actually working for somebody Smile
Yes, I agree with you. I have planned to switch the whole "landscape", but now I just started to do this, so I have to deal with it for the moment Smile

(2017-01-08, 13:29)mcelliott Wrote: You could search the forum for some tweaks. There are a couple of registry keys that help.
Mhh, I already tried. Could you point me to some of these?

Regarding the point that the "TV" option doesn't even show up in the main menu, even if I get recurring "connection lost" messages from the MP PVR client:
Did you ever came across such a situation?
This confuses me the most, besides the imho missing ERROR AddonLog entries from the MP PVR client.

In the meantime I tried to access the videos on the server, this works fine.
Accessing the "Windows Network (SMB)" took a while (showing the "Working" popup), but in the end it was OK.
This issue seems to be limited to the PVR client.

Thanks for your help!

Best Regards
Moe
Reply
#4
http://forum.kodi.tv/showthread.php?tid=...e+registry

It's pretty well known that connecting to SMB shares on a PC can be troublesome, but at least in the same workgroup you have a better chance.

I think at one point I also edited hosts.conf to map the IP addresses to the computer names. I also assigned static IP addresses for each network device via my router.

The fact that it took a while to connect in the videos plugin is interesting. Do you do this with the computer name, or IP address? Does it make a difference?

If all else fails, turn off everything on your network and turn it back on again starting with your modem/router.
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#5
Are you using the netbios name in the Mediaportal settings on the Pi, it works better with the IP address.

How are the shares set up in Mediaportal TV Server on the PC? The recording and time shift folders need to point to the UNC path not the local path e.g. \\server\timeshift it might be that the other Windows PCs are using the built in workgroup file sharing and the Pi is not.
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#6
Hi mcelliot,

(2017-01-08, 15:54)mcelliott Wrote: http://forum.kodi.tv/showthread.php?tid=...e+registry
Thanks for the link.

(2017-01-08, 15:54)mcelliott Wrote: I think at one point I also edited hosts.conf to map the IP addresses to the computer names. I also assigned static IP addresses for each network device via my router.
Everything has static IP adresses already, except the new client Smile
I will try that.

(2017-01-08, 15:54)mcelliott Wrote: The fact that it took a while to connect in the videos plugin is interesting.
Yes I thought the same, but I didn't check the logs on this so far.
I'm afraid there will be nothing helpful in this case, too.

(2017-01-08, 15:54)mcelliott Wrote: Do you do this with the computer name, or IP address? Does it make a difference?
I just use IP adresses, I will try using the hostname, but I would be wondering if this works any better Undecided

(2017-01-08, 15:54)mcelliott Wrote: If all else fails, turn off everything on your network and turn it back on again starting with your modem/router.
OK Confused

Thanks

Best Regards
Moritz
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#7
Hi UsefulG,

(2017-01-08, 15:56)UsefulG Wrote: Are you using the netbios name in the Mediaportal settings on the Pi, it works better with the IP address.
I'm just using IP adresses so far.

(2017-01-08, 15:56)UsefulG Wrote: How are the shares set up in Mediaportal TV Server on the PC? The recording and time shift folders need to point to the UNC path not the local path e.g. \\server\timeshift it might be that the other Windows PCs are using the built in workgroup file sharing and the Pi is not.
They are set up Using UNC. Usually I also run into issues with the clients if I don't set this up like this. (except the one running on the server Wink).
The share is configured correctly, I just double-checked it. The SMB client user has access to it and actually "everyone" has access to it.
Accessing the same shares from the pi, using the Kodi file manager or similar is working fine (except the mentioned wait time).

Thanks

Best Regards
Moritz
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#8
Wired network or wifi?
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Mediaportal PVR Client setup issues on LibreELEC0