Amiko Alien2 / SAB / GM / ST7162 ** ENIGMA ** Discussion Thread

deezell

Kevin! wrote: »

is their a way to generate a .m3u playlist from OpenWebIf for VLC? So you have a complete channel list within VLC without having to request them individually form OpenWebIf?

cheers

Right click on the webif icon, save the stream.m3u. file, rename it to the actual channel, e.g. Rte1.m3u. Repeat

Partymack

Technofobe wrote: »

thanks for the replies
I had done the speed test in spark got 230mbs which spark maintained was good enough for recording 2 HD channels
Both drives were formatted as ext 3
The pixellation does not occur in spark
did not have it in open atv either
only seeing this in hyperion 4.5 I took the lazy out and used 2 backups rather than doing a complete install
Happens every time
Record say BBC1 HD
And switch over to RTE 1 HD and picture breaks up

I get this too Techno. I'm using HDD formatted in NTFS and I get pixelation and jump cuts if I record a HD channel whilst watching another channel.

I was hoping formatting in EXT 3 would solve this - clearly not.

I am also getting it in the neck over this issue.

Like to hear people's thoughts.

deezell

Partymack wrote: »

I get this too Techno. I'm using HDD formatted in NTFS and I get pixelation and jump cuts if I record a HD channel whilst watching another channel.

I was hoping formatting in EXT 3 would solve this - clearly not.

I am also getting it in the neck over this issue.

Like to hear people's thoughts.

Initial thoughts, has it anything to do with pti.ko file version earlier in the thread? Is timeshIft on the watched channel? If so, what happens if it's turned off. I rarely record, but I'lI test HD record and view to see if I'm affected, when I get home. I've noticed breakup on a stream when the menues are activated on the box, like the processor is under pressure. What are the signal quality/ level readings on the watched channel that's breaking up. This arose on a Openpli forum, levels indicated dropped when recording /watching two HD sat channels, causing picture breakup.

Technofobe

Partymack wrote: »

I get this too Techno. I'm using HDD formatted in NTFS and I get pixelation and jump cuts if I record a HD channel whilst watching another channel.

I was hoping formatting in EXT 3 would solve this - clearly not.

I am also getting it in the neck over this issue.

Like to hear people's thoughts.

I was doing a little messing with it last night and I set the preferred tuner to b instead of auto did a little testing and did not get any pixelating I will test it again today and see if its ok

deezell

Technofobe wrote: »

I was doing a little messing with it last night and I set the preferred tuner to b instead of auto did a little testing and did not get any pixelating I will test it again today and see if its ok

That could be it, a number of other forums mention tuner settings and preferences as affecting picture quality.

Technofobe

deezell wrote: »

Initial thoughts, has it anything to do with pti.ko file version earlier in the thread? Is timeshIft on the watched channel? If so, what happens if it's turned off. I rarely record, but I'lI test HD record and view to see if I'm affected, when I get home. I've noticed breakup on a stream when the menues are activated on the box, like the processor is under pressure. What are the signal quality/ level readings on the watched channel that's breaking up. This arose on a Openpli forum, levels indicated dropped when recording /watching two HD sat channels, causing picture breakup.

from what I can remember the pti.ko file was used to try correct the
recording issues in openatv (screen would go blank if recording was stopped)
In my case timeshift ( as in pause ?) was not on
permanent timeshift is disabled
Signal & quality levels are good
Saorview 99%
Sat 80 signal quality 90

Partymack

deezell wrote: »

That could be it, a number of other forums mention tuner settings and preferences as affecting picture quality.

That's interesting - I have time shift disabled and preferred tuner set to auto. Sought try setting it to 'B'. I'm pretty sure I had it that way before and had same problem tho. My signal quality is at 99% so no probs there.

I just think enigma 2 can't handle HD recording and watching of another channel. I have taken to only recording on SD channels. But this is a bit techy to explain to the family who just want to click record on whatever they are watching.

Btw had the same problem when running Hyperion 4.5. So I reckon it's a limitation of enigma2, not spark.

Partymack

Zardoz wrote: »

Yes ,that is correct

No ,the plugin runs it when you run the plugin

Yes ,you can install the plugin using the ipk method too but that can sometimes not work properly on an SH4 based receiver like the Alien 2.
The files I posted earlier are the extracted ipk file using 7zip.
I find it easier just to ftp them across.
I am attaching the ipk files here if you prefer that method.

Yes,you are correct Rats bouquets plugin will overwrite your existing bouquets .
Its not like Autobouquets which retains your existing bouquets but I find the channel order in Rats bouquets to be much better than Autobouquets .

I myself have 3 bouquets I like ,
1)General,mostly Irish and Uk terrestrial channel
2)Saorview
3)Entertainment

I just copy these into the updated Rats bouquets (I use the rest of his bouquets bar the first 3 ) via Dreamboxedit and ftp it over every so often.

Hi Zardoz - I tried to FTP the files into correct folders as per your post. I successfully got the rat icon in my plugin browser but when I ran it it said : can not find /usr/script/rat picon updater shs. I had ftpd the script file so not sure?

I then ran your ipk file and that worked much better. But, when I run it it finds my picon folder but then returns an error: server returned error htp/1.1 not found 404 unzip can't open temp/picon.zip.

Any ideas?

Zardoz

Partymack wrote: »

Hi Zardoz - I tried to FTP the files into correct folders as per your post. I successfully got the rat icon in my plugin browser but when I ran it it said : can not find /usr/script/rat picon updater shs. I had ftpd the script file so not sure?

I then ran your ipk file and that worked much better. But, when I run it it finds my picon folder but then returns an error: server returned error htp/1.1 not found 404 unzip can't open temp/picon.zip.

Any ideas?

Rat updated the plugin yesterday so you need to use the updated one here

https://www.dropbox.com/sh/exzuattrkvu15u8/AABKph82qeWMw6Odzqnpw5LRa?dl=0

Partymack

Zardoz wrote: »

Rat updated the plugin yesterday so you need to use the updated one here

Cheers Zardoz - will give it a go!

Technofobe

Partymack wrote: »

That's interesting - I have time shift disabled and preferred tuner set to auto. Sought try setting it to 'B'. I'm pretty sure I had it that way before and had same problem tho. My signal quality is at 99% so no probs there.

I just think enigma 2 can't handle HD recording and watching of another channel. I have taken to only recording on SD channels. But this is a bit techy to explain to the family who just want to click record on whatever they are watching.

Btw had the same problem when running Hyperion 4.5. So I reckon it's a limitation of enigma2, not spark.

Tried it again today and pixellation still happening :-(
Is your drive usb powered or mains powered ?

Partymack

Technofobe wrote: »

Tried it again today and pixellation still happening :-(
Is your drive usb powered or mains powered ?

Mine is USB powered. It's Western Digital 500gb. Works perfect with spark, and I think the workaround here is just record in SD. Bit annoying tho.

Partymack

On another matter - I can see some of my 28.2.Astra channel feeds have gone blank (sky Atlantic etc. ). They must have changed frequency or something. Is there a way I can update without losing all my channel orders? I'm using autobouquets maker.

I want to keep my orders on each bouquet but reload the feeds. I've tried 'reload services' option but that seemed to have no affect.

Any ideas?

Technofobe

Partymack wrote: »

On another matter - I can see some of my 28.2.Astra channel feeds have gone blank (sky Atlantic etc. ). They must have changed frequency or something. Is there a way I can update without losing all my channel orders? I'm using autobouquets maker.

I want to keep my orders on each bouquet but reload the feeds. I've tried 'reload services' option but that seemed to have no affect.

Any ideas?

you could probably make a backup of your channel list with dreamboxedit
then rescan sat but do not clear before scan
then go back into dreamboxedit and move the channels you want from the last scanned boquet to where ever you like

Im not using any autoboquets
I just have everything in 1 list starting with RTE 1

Partymack

Technofobe wrote: »

you could probably make a backup of your channel list with dreamboxedit
then rescan sat but do not clear before scan
then go back into dreamboxedit and move the channels you want from the last scanned boquet to where ever you like

Im not using any autoboquets
I just have everything in 1 list starting with RTE 1

Anyone know if Autobouquets (not autobouquet maker) allows you update feeds without losing channel listings?

Technofobe

Technofobe wrote: »

Tried it again today and pixellation still happening :-(
Is your drive usb powered or mains powered ?

tried using a 64 gig usb key thinking it would have faster read and write access but still got pixellating when recording bbc HD and watching RTE HD
:-(

deezell

Technofobe wrote: »

tried using a 64 gig usb key thinking it would have faster read and write access but still got pixellating when recording bbc HD and watching RTE HD
:-(

Done a few HD tests, watched RTE1 HD while recording BBC1 HD, watched BBC1 HD while recording BBC2 HD (Same TP), watched BBC1 HD while recording ITV HD, Different TP. All worked fine, no breakup of watched channel. Only issue , the menus and EPG slowed down on the first test, taking several seconds to appear, and a couple of seconds for each channel name to appear on the basic EPG display (OK button). The info panel would appear for only a fraction of a second and clear on the first test, but on the second and third it was fine. Third test showed recording on tuner B while watching ITV HD on tuner C. I'm using Zardoz' hyperion, an Elements 10B8 1Tb HD, NTFS formatted. I must try something extreme, like record two HD, watch another and stream a fourth from the same mux or TP as the watched, which uses the same tuner. Maybe try streaming a recording at the same time.

Zardoz

Technofobe wrote: »

tried using a 64 gig usb key thinking it would have faster read and write access but still got pixellating when recording bbc HD and watching RTE HD
:-(

A usb flash drive is far slower than a hard drive ,its not really fast enough for recording HD channels.

What skin are you using and whats your swap and memory usage like when recording ?

Technofobe

deezell wrote: »

Done a few HD tests, watched RTE1 HD while recording BBC1 HD, watched BBC1 HD while recording BBC2 HD (Same TP), watched BBC1 HD while recording ITV HD, Different TP. All worked fine, no breakup of watched channel. Only issue , the menus and EPG slowed down on the first test, taking several seconds to appear, and a couple of seconds for each channel name to appear on the basic EPG display (OK button). The info panel would appear for only a fraction of a second and clear on the first test, but on the second and third it was fine. Third test showed recording on tuner B while watching ITV HD on tuner C. I'm using Zardoz' hyperion, an Elements 10B8 1Tb HD, NTFS formatted. I must try something extreme, like record two HD, watch another and stream a fourth from the same mux or TP as the watched, which uses the same tuner. Maybe try streaming a recording at the same time.

Thanks for taking the trouble :-)
also using zardoz hyper 4.5 & usb powered drive
Mine is formatted as ext 3 ? may be worth changing the format for a test
Cheers

Technofobe

Zardoz wrote: »

A usb flash drive is far slower than a hard drive ,its not really fast enough for recording HD channels.

What skin are you using and whats your swap and memory usage like when recording ?

You learn something new every day :-) would have thought a usb key would be less demanding than an an actual spinning drive thats why I tried the usb key but looking at the spec http://www.computeruniverse.net/en/products/90480204/intenso-rainbow-line-64gb.asp
28 mbs read and 6 mbs write is pretty crap alright
Using your backup :-) very happy with it
memory usage when recording left 3 mb free
when not recording was around 11 mb
I will check the swap file usage and post back
Cheers

Partymack

deezell wrote: »

Done a few HD tests, watched RTE1 HD while recording BBC1 HD, watched BBC1 HD while recording BBC2 HD (Same TP), watched BBC1 HD while recording ITV HD, Different TP. All worked fine, no breakup of watched channel. Only issue , the menus and EPG slowed down on the first test, taking several seconds to appear, and a couple of seconds for each channel name to appear on the basic EPG display (OK button). The info panel would appear for only a fraction of a second and clear on the first test, but on the second and third it was fine. Third test showed recording on tuner B while watching ITV HD on tuner C. I'm using Zardoz' hyperion, an Elements 10B8 1Tb HD, NTFS formatted. I must try something extreme, like record two HD, watch another and stream a fourth from the same mux or TP as the watched, which uses the same tuner. Maybe try streaming a recording at the same time.

Quick question Deezel - did you check if the recordings had image break up? My problem is not on the live channel being watched, it's on the playback of the recorded channel. The recording is breaking up and timing is jumping.

Think Technophobe has noticed it sudo on recorded channels.

Technofobe

Partymack wrote: »

Quick question Deezel - did you check if the recordings had image break up? My problem is not on the live channel being watched, it's on the playback of the recorded channel. The recording is breaking up and timing is jumping.

Think Technophobe has noticed it sudo on recorded channels.

I notice it on the the live channel
for example if i am recording bbc 1 hd and watching RTE 1 HD i can see the picture breakup on RTE 1 HD I think the picture is also breaking up on the recording as well

deezell

Partymack wrote: »

Quick question Deezel - did you check if the recordings had image break up? My problem is not on the live channel being watched, it's on the playback of the recorded channel. The recording is breaking up and timing is jumping.

Think Technophobe has noticed it sudo on recorded channels.

Just checked now (was watching 'the shining'), both recordings are perfect, I almost expect stuff not to work, but they're spot on. I also tested anSD live stream and an SD movie playback stream together while watching HD, no glitches on either. Two live streams from the same mux failed, though you can watch and stream from the same mux, say UTV Ireland while watching RTE1 HD. One thing that is problematic is HD stream playback, I don't think VLC can keep up either on my phone or PC, or maybe it's the wifi. I'm using the default skin on Z's image, wired network (albeit from a wireless repeater device) to the box.

Zardoz

Technofobe wrote: »

I notice it on the the live channel
for example if i am recording bbc 1 hd and watching RTE 1 HD i can see the picture breakup on RTE 1 HD I think the picture is also breaking up on the recording as well

Is it primarily RTE 1 HD that breaks up or do the HD satellite channels break up ? Does RTE 2 HD break up ?
Perhaps its a signal strength issue ,whats the snr of your RTE 1 HD ?

deezell

Partymack wrote: »

Quick question Deezel - did you check if the recordings had image break up? My problem is not on the live channel being watched, it's on the playback of the recorded channel. The recording is breaking up and timing is jumping.

Think Technophobe has noticed it sudo on recorded channels.

One check you could try is to copy an HD recording file from your hdd to a PC using ftp, then try playing the file on the PC to see if it plays cleanly or jumps in the same places as when playing back on the box. This will establish if the fault is in the playback or in the file itself.

basillarkin

Need some help here, a total newbie to this but when booting to enigma2 I'm getting a blue screen saying

We are really sorry, your receiver encountered a software problem, and needs to be restarted.

But this keeps happening over and over.

It works on spark.

Any ideas?

Technofobe

Zardoz wrote: »

Is it primarily RTE 1 HD that breaks up or do the HD satellite channels break up ? Does RTE 2 HD break up ?
Perhaps its a signal strength issue ,whats the snr of your RTE 1 HD ?

Yep RTE 1 & 2 HD breakup when recording a sat channel
TV 3 or tg4 do not break up

If I record bbc 1 HD and watch bbc 3 hd there is no breakup
Signal is 99% on RTE and 84 % on the BBC sat stations
but does not say if this is signal strength or signal to noise
Clear line of sight to greystones transmitter
Could it be too strong ?
cheers

Technofobe

basillarkin wrote: »

Need some help here, a total newbie to this but when booting to enigma2 I'm getting a blue screen saying

We are really sorry, your receiver encountered a software problem, and needs to be restarted.

But this keeps happening over and over.

It works on spark.

Any ideas?

sounds to me like the image is corrupt and may need to be reflashed
did you install any plugins recently
Have you tried disconnecting the hard drive / usb drive before starting
what image are you using ?
open atv
hyperion
Hdmu

Technofobe

basillarkin wrote: »

Ok now it won't even boot into spark for me gets so far then knocks off and the red light comes on.

Thats normal when switching back to spark it boots to standby
Press the power on the remote and wait about 3 mins

basillarkin

Technofobe wrote: »

sounds to me like the image is corrupt and may need to be reflashed
did you install any plugins recently
Have you tried disconnecting the hard drive / usb drive before starting
what image are you using ?
open atv
hyperion
Hdmu

Going to get a friend who is more tech savvy to have a look at it. It came preloaded withe enigma 2 straight out of the box.