Cannot record due to restrictions
#1
I am trying out XBMC and WMC as a possible candidate to replace my BTV system. BTV works great, its just old and doesn't have a lot of the neat features XBMC has. I have 3 dual TV cards in my BTV system - Hauppauge 2250's, 5 regular cable and 1 input from the set top box w/ USB-UIRT. I have something like 230+ shows set to record new episodes for me and the family ( this is what I would like to emulate with XBMC). As my first test I have been trying to get XBMC up using WMC as the back end. Live TV is a necessity. I just installed the latest WMC server and add-on that was posted on the 8th of this month. That is working reasonably fine, and pretty much works. The new system with XBMC just has 1 Hauppauge 2250 in it, with only 1 input enabled for simplicity sake while testing to see if its a good option for me.

One of the first problems I am having is I got an error message pop up that said something to the effect that I couldn't record something due to restrictions - I was not able to copy it very accurately because the pop up vanished - but something to the effect that the broadcaster was disallowing me to record their program, It was just a randomly chosen news program, I am able to watch it live.

I am guessing this is a "feature" of WMC, I can record anything with BTV without issue, so I'm guessing it has to be a WMC issue.

1) is there a way to avoid this? If its not avoidable, that pretty much removes WMC as a viable backend for me.
2) is there a better back end I should look at?
3) is there a way to see upcoming recordings I have enabled, or a list of all the shows I have set to record? I couldn't find this in the XBMC menu's.

Sorry if my questions are dumb, this program is very new to me and vastly different then BTV.
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#2
Can you record the same program within WMC?
Load that up and try and see, I believe that may be helpful to know.
That and a current log will help (people smarter than me) to diagnose your issue.
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#3
I am assuming this happened in wmc right? It seems like it must be because I don't think we have a message in xbmc that says the broadcaster won't allow this. Bungee's test is a good one, because for recording we are using wmc's recording service.

In xbmc you can see upcoming recordings by looking at the 'timers' list in the 'live tv' section.
Windows Media Center PVR addon (pvr.wmc) and server backend (ServerWMC)
http://bit.ly/serverwmc
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#4
Yes, it happens in wmc as well. That means its pretty much a non starter then, no need to troubleshoot further as its not a viable alternative for live TV. I did see some posts about app launcher, or just putting the btv icon in xbmc and using it that way. That's probably my best bet since I don't think any current live TV back ends can even come close to it - but I can still use the xbmc cool features for other media.
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#5
I don't understand, what capability in regards to recording does BTV have that WMC doesn't?..
If you're DRM'd I know WMC will record/playback however it certainly doesn't do any good for this WMC/XBMC solution.
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#6
(2013-12-11, 15:43)bungee91 Wrote: I don't understand, what capability in regards to recording does BTV have that WMC doesn't?..
If you're DRM'd I know WMC will record/playback however it certainly doesn't do any good for this WMC/XBMC solution.

With wmc I cannot record certain shows or channels. Btv does not have tbis problem.
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#7
(2013-12-11, 16:28)benonmsn Wrote: With wmc I cannot record certain shows or channels. Btv does not have tbis problem.

I get what you're saying, but don't understand (excuse me for any ignorance here) what recording capabilities that BTV has that WMC doesn't?
It's always seemed like encrypted content/etc... was always better supported within WMC than any other third party software (Microsoft is a big company and all for hardware validation/etc...).
I'm not trying to start some war between one software vs WMC or anything like that (WMC admittedly could use some changes/updates) more just trying to figure out why you are receiving the error that you are?

When I had my Cablecard and everything installed correctly (mainly "Playready") I could record anything including movie channels with no issue. This doesn't apply to this plug-in/XBMC however I just don't understand the limitation/error that you're are receiving.
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#8
(2013-12-11, 22:59)bungee91 Wrote:
(2013-12-11, 16:28)benonmsn Wrote: With wmc I cannot record certain shows or channels. Btv does not have tbis problem.

I get what you're saying, but don't understand (excuse me for any ignorance here) what recording capabilities that BTV has that WMC doesn't?
It's always seemed like encrypted content/etc... was always better supported within WMC than any other third party software (Microsoft is a big company and all for hardware validation/etc...).
I

In my case, wmc cannot record certain shows, and / or channels. Btv can record all shows / channels. One can record everything - btv. One cannot record everything - wmc. Since one cannot record everything (wmc) it is inferior. I do not want to have channels I cannot record. I have cable and a PVR so I can record anything I want. With wmc I cannot record everything I want because when I try I get an error saying recording is disabled by the broadcaster. I hope that is clear enough.
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#9
Perhaps it's because WMC is the only backend that respects the broadcast flag http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Broadcast_flag even when the streams aren't encrypted?

Martin
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#10
Possibly. But the fact that they do makes it a non-option for me, regardless of the reason.

Thanks for the help everyone, I now know wmc + xbmc is not the solution for me.
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#11
I use media portal with XBMC and have no problems recording.
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#12
(2013-12-12, 01:53)Jelly bean Wrote: I use media portal with XBMC and have no problems recording.

I was going to give that a try next. I know they have a new version. Are you using the older version of media portal as the back end, I think its 1.5. And secondly, when you install it are you just installing the server portion or also the client? I think just server is needed because xbmc will be the client?

Thanks.
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#13
I'm currently using mp 1.4 as I haven't had a chance to upgrade to 1.5. I installed both client and server. I actually prefer mp for live TV. I think the EPG layout is better on mp. I would install both client and server to see which client you like best. You may need to add this plugin to XBMC http://www.scintilla.utwente.nl/~marcelg...rxbmc.html for mp to work together with XBMC. It may be already installed in the monthly version of XBMC if not you will have to manually install it. Plugin and tutorial should be on link.
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#14
My first problem is when I did a channel scan in MP (installed server only, latest 1.5 version), it gets to about 60, then blue screens and crashes the computer. Tried it 3 times with same result. I have BTV now installed on this computer and it is working fine - I closed all btv tasks / services before I ran the MP config and did the channel scan where it crashes.

I have been able to add btv to xbmc as a program, but to get to it I have to go through too many menus. I did find a how-to, to add it to the main menu but it was from 2010 and not current. When I went through the steps (changing paths where appropriate), my XBMC menu disappeared, when xbmc opened it was a black screen - I couldn't get that how-to to work.

I think if I could just add a button on the main xbmc program that said Live TV that pointed to the beyond tv executable, that would be fine.(click the button, xbmc minimizes and opens btv. And hopefully hen BTV closes, xbmc opens back up)

And if I could get the firefly remote video button to open up xbmc and go to movies from windows desktop / btv, that would be great. Using event ghost I can get buttons to open xbmc, but that's about it.

*EDIT: I found in xbmc where to set which screen is displayed on start up - it seems everything but "Movies" is an option. If that was an option, that would have worked out fine.
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#15
MP crashing system is odd it is very stable. I've been using it for over a year. This sounds like a hardware issue. I just noticed that in your first post you said you have 3 tuners installed. This may be causing some kind of conflict. I'm not sure why you need 3. I would recommend just using one tuner.
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