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

Slevster

deezell wrote: »

I've installed OS mini single tuner and OS3+ triple tuner for family. They are fast, especially the Plus. Very fast response to WebIf also for browsing EPG on phone without upsetting SHMBO, much faster than Alien. The triples seem to have disappeared off the market, and the Plus versions with super fast processor, buckets of memory, facility for internal disk, mains supply (the mini is powered via an adapter), fan cooling etc are scarer than hens teeth. To get a triple you do indeed have to by a twin sat tuner and add the USB terrestrial dongle. Assuming a USB sat dongle is also available, you could buy the combo single sat /terrestrial and end up with the same thing. The edision mini is all that seems to be out there. The supplied OpenATV works well, if a little limited in comparison to PKT hyperion, but you get used to it. It works well and fast, and I've had no crash reports from either user.
There are a few online shops with the beefier OS2 Plus twin sat in stock, try amazon. The odd OS3+ on ebay and ads. appears now and again, but I'm unsure as to why these models are out of stock everywhere.

And how would ye rate the picture quality on the edison boxes compared to the alien ?

deezell

Slevster wrote: »

And how would ye rate the picture quality on the edison boxes compared to the alien ?

I honestly couldn't notice any great difference, and I set up the mini using my own TV before handover. Your eyes and brain will accommodate large variations of brightness, contrast etc. so unless you put two tuners side by side into identical tvs....

Nowso

still wot be as good on picture quality , and in reality thats the most important thing for me

Imstuck

I don't know why (obviously) but I think it depends on the box, obviously they all should be identical, but I have had horrendous trouble with my brothers, 3hrs to install an image, various crashes, etc etc etc.
My own & my uncles run flawlessly, never a problem, with exact same setup, hard drive etc.
A bit like a second hand car, can you be unlucky?

eioneill

Anyone know of a settings file I can edit to turn off the red led standby light on the GM triplex. The image I'm on at present doesn't have the option to switch this off from the box.

how.gareth

eioneill wrote: »

Anyone know of a settings file I can edit to turn off the red led standby light on the GM triplex. The image I'm on at present doesn't have the option to switch this off from the box.

What image are you using? there has always been an option on any I have used

eioneill

how.gareth wrote: »

What image are you using? there has always been an option on any I have used

All the previous images I have used have had the setting too. Too many crashes and strange hard drive flash issues with them so currently I'm using the ViX4E2PROJECT-2.2.002-blue image at present. Have found it to be the most stable I've used. Albeit does not have the option.

Thought someone might know the python source code file I could edit to change the setting myself.

Failing this I will send in a request to the publisher.

Appreciate the response tho mate

how.gareth

eioneill wrote: »

All the previous images I have used have had the setting too. Too many crashes and strange hard drive flash issues with them so currently I'm using the ViX4E2PROJECT-2.2.002-blue image at present. Have found it to be the most stable I've used. Albeit does not have the option.

Thought someone might know the python source code file I could edit to change the setting myself.

Failing this I will send in a request to the publisher.

Appreciate the response tho mate

Fair enough I have never tried vix, silly suggestion but failing finding a way of turning it off you could open the box up and stick some black tape over the bulb inside

Nowso

how.gareth wrote: »

Fair enough I have never tried vix, silly suggestion but failing finding a way of turning it off you could open the box up and stick some black tape over the bulb inside

the Vix4 image is quite decent i have it loaded for when i wana use tsmedia etc

easily setupable by most people

deezell

eioneill wrote: »

Anyone know of a settings file I can edit to turn off the red led standby light on the GM triplex. The image I'm on at present doesn't have the option to switch this off from the box.

The config file is /etc/vdstandby.cfg and the binary is /bin/vdstandby in PKT image. Check if these are present in VIX4Blue . Perhaps you can transplant these from one of your saved alternate images which have standby light set to off.

Griffinx

Hi, Running Hyperion 4.5 and I want to setup a cron job to delete the contents of the /media/hdd/crossepg. I followed the instructions in this post but can't get it working...cron job doesn't seem to be kicking in.

CLI output below

spark7162:~# crontab -l
*/5 * * * * sync && echo 3 > /proc/sys/vm/drop_caches
30 02 * * * rm /media/hdd/crossepg/*
spark7162:~# ls /var/spool/cron/crontabs
root
spark7162:~#

I also executed

crond -c /var/spool/cron/crontabs

What would be the next stage of troubleshooting?

deezell

Griffinx wrote: »

Hi, Running Hyperion 4.5 and I want to setup a cron job to delete the contents of the /media/hdd/crossepg. I followed the instructions in this post but can't get it working...cron job doesn't seem to be kicking in.

CLI output below

spark7162:~# crontab -l
*/5 * * * * sync && echo 3 > /proc/sys/vm/drop_caches
30 02 * * * rm /media/hdd/crossepg/*
spark7162:~# ls /var/spool/cron/crontabs
root
spark7162:~#

I also executed

crond -c /var/spool/cron/crontabs

What would be the next stage of troubleshooting?

It's a while since I delved into this.

Have you trialled cron as I did in the post, deleting say a picture file from a location on the HDD by setting a cron job for a few minutes away. This confirmed that cron was executing when the event time had passed.

What is that first cronjob in your crontab file, the one that lists as

*/5 * * * * sync && echo 3 > /proc/sys/vm/drop_caches

Try editing or deleting this task, just leave the second one, and set the time a few minutes in the future and see does it work. (maybe delete a test file, not your crossepg folder contents). If that works, then try it on a test folder with a few items, using the /* wildcard like you have done. If that works, you're good to go, but I'm wondering if your box is in standby at 2.30am, and if that has a bearing also. I'm assuming cron works from a restart, but I haven't looked into this, as i've not used it since that time in April last year.

Griffinx

deezell wrote: »

It's a while since I delved into this.

Have you trialled cron as I did in the post, deleting say a picture file from a location on the HDD by setting a cron job for a few minutes away. This confirmed that cron was executing when the event time had passed.

What is that first cronjob in your crontab file, the one that lists as

*/5 * * * * sync && echo 3 > /proc/sys/vm/drop_caches

Try editing or deleting this task, just leave the second one, and set the time a few minutes in the future and see does it work. (maybe delete a test file, not your crossepg folder contents). If that works, then try it on a test folder with a few items, using the /* wildcard like you have done. If that works, you're good to go, but I'm wondering if your box is in standby at 2.30am, and if that has a bearing also. I'm assuming cron works from a restart, but I haven't looked into this, as i've not used it since that time in April last year.

Hi, thanks for reply

Ive tried what you suggested with a single file a few minutes into the future and it doesn't work at all. CRON just doesn't seem active

The first cronjob was already there, I haven't a clue what it is.

eioneill

deezell wrote: »

eioneill wrote: »

Anyone know of a settings file I can edit to turn off the red led standby light on the GM triplex. The image I'm on at present doesn't have the option to switch this off from the box.

The config file is /etc/vdstandby.cfg and the binary is /bin/vdstandby in PKT image. Check if these are present in VIX4Blue . Perhaps you can transplant these from one of your saved alternate images which have standby light set to off.

Thanks mate. I'll check that out later with DCC

deezell

Griffinx wrote: »

Hi, thanks for reply

Ive tried what you suggested with a single file a few minutes into the future and it doesn't work at all. CRON just doesn't seem active

The first cronjob was already there, I haven't a clue what it is.

Run the delete command from the command line directly to make sure it is deleting your test file. Have you the correct path in the crontab data file. Also run the command Crond in the command line to ensure cron is running.

Griffinx

deezell wrote: »

Run the delete command from the command line directly to make sure it is deleting your test file. Have you the correct path in the crontab data file. Also run the command Crond in the command line to ensure cron is running.

Hey, thanks for the reply again. I found my problem. I was using the WinSCP editor which seemed to add extra characters to the crontab job at the line end. Cron then just ignored the cronjob. I created the cronjob using crontab -e and this worked fine. (had to learn vi editor commands :eek:)

Theres a great cron troubleshooting guide here.

http://askubuntu.com/questions/23009/reasons-why-crontab-does-not-work

deezell

Griffinx wrote: »

Hey, thanks for the reply again. I found my problem. I was using the WinSCP editor which seemed to add extra characters to the crontab job at the line end. Cron then just ignored the cronjob. I created the cronjob using crontab -e and this worked fine. (had to learn vi editor commands :eek:)

Theres a great cron troubleshooting guide here.

http://askubuntu.com/questions/23009/reasons-why-crontab-does-not-work

Great. You can edit the data file directly in DCC also, just right click and select edit, type in your commands. I think that other cronjob was a cache flush, bit extreme ,every 5 minutes.

Griffinx

deezell wrote: »

Great. You can edit the data file directly in DCC also, just right click and select edit, type in your commands. I think that other cronjob was a cache flush, bit extreme ,every 5 minutes.

Not familiar with DCC..whats that?

deezell

Griffinx wrote: »

Not familiar with DCC..whats that?

Dreambox Control Centre, it's a must have for manipulating files on any enigma box. In the words of the author;

Network Management
script management
Telnet client
FTP Client
download Recordings
MP3 playlists
Web Interface
Setiings Backup / Restore / Editor
Support Tools for DreamFlash @Mechatron (only DM7000)
and much more...

Download from authors site here http://www.bernyr.de/dcce2/index.html
This is a version specifically for Enigma2. Change language, pop in box IP and set paths for E2 boxes.

techdiver

Hey,

For any of you you either share your recording via samba or record to a network mount and share them in Plex or Kodi etc (or would like to), there are some issues as the naming of the files in enigma2 is not conducive to Plex and other media servers being able to scan the files and load the metadata for them.

I came up with a fix/hack to solve the problem for myself.

I have modified the RecordTimer.py file in /usr/lib/enigma2/python of the E2 box to create scannable movie and TV show file names that the default plex scanners can work with.
it is only a few lines of code change and so far works well for me. I am running OpenViX 4.1.009.

I'm a java dev by trade, so haven't used python before, but I think it should all be working. It's quite rough, but seems stable and does the job for me.
I just made a few changes to "calculateFilename". Below is the code changes I have made:

def calculateFilename(self, name=None):
    service_name = self.service_ref.getServiceName()
    begin_date = strftime("%Y%m%d %H%M", localtime(self.begin))

    desc = self.description
    season_and_episode = re.search('[Ss]([0-9]{1,2})(.*)[Ee](.?[0-9]{1,2})', desc.replace(" ", ""))
    episode = re.search('[Ee](.?[0-9]{1,2})', desc.replace(" ", "")) 
    year = re.search('\((\d{4})\)', desc)

    display_season_and_episode = ""
    display_year = ""
    if season_and_episode:
        display_season_and_episode = ".S" + season_and_episode.group(1).strip()  + "E" + season_and_episode.group(3).replace("p", "").strip()
    elif episode:
        display_season_and_episode = ".S01E" + episode.group(1).replace("p", "").strip() # Allow for some instances where a season number isn't supplied
    if year:
        display_year = "." + year.group(1)      

    name = name or self.name
    filename = ""
    if name:
        if config.recording.filename_composition.value == "event":
            filename = name + ' - ' + begin_date + "_" + service_name
        elif config.recording.filename_composition.value == "short":
            filename = strftime("%Y%m%d", localtime(self.begin)) + " - " + name
        elif config.recording.filename_composition.value == "long":
            filename += " - " + name + " - " + self.description
        else:
            filename += name + "" + display_year + "" + display_season_and_episode # standard

    if config.recording.ascii_filenames.value:
        filename = ASCIItranslit.legacyEncode(filename)

    self.Filename = Directories.getRecordingFilename(filename, self.MountPath)
    self.log(0, "Filename calculated as: '%s'" % self.Filename)
    return self.Filename

NOTE: Make a backup of you E2 image before making any of these changes as you can easily corrupt you image Just extract the python script from the zip file attached and upload if to you box to /usr/lib/enigma2/python. You will need to restart your box for the file to recompile and be usable by the system.

If you have any questions let me know.

Slevster

quick question about the Vix4E2Project. Is there a cable version and terrestial tuner version ?
Seems like I can only select DVB-C for the non sat tuner. i.e I can not set the tuner to dvb-t to tune the soarview channels. I am using ViX4E2PROJECT-2.2.002-blue+-amikoalien_usb downloaded from the Vix42EProject site.

Am I missing something?

edit: found the answer - Menu > Setup > Service searching > UnionTunerType config > Change UnionTunerType to terrestrial (using right/left arrow keys) > OK (Green Button) > yes

techdiver

Slevster wrote: »

quick question about the Vix4E2Project. Is there a cable version and terrestial tuner version ?
Seems like I can only select DVB-C for the non sat tuner. i.e I can not set the tuner to dvb-t to tune the soarview channels. I am using ViX4E2PROJECT-2.2.002-blue+-amikoalien_usb downloaded from the Vix42EProject site.

Am I missing something?

There is a setting where you need to set the second tuner to DVB-T. I can't remember where it is exactly (not at home at the moment), but it's in the setup section somewhere. By default it is set to DVB-C.

I think it's called tuner selection or configuration or something like that.

Slevster

techdiver wrote: »

There is a setting where you need to set the second tuner to DVB-T. I can't remember where it is exactly (not at home at the moment), but it's in the setup section somewhere. By default it is set to DVB-C.

I think it's called tuner selection or configuration or something like that.

thanks. found it in Menu > Setup > Service searching > UnionTunerType config > Change UnionTunerType to terrestrial (using right/left arrow keys) > OK (Green Button) > yes


hows the edison box going? happy enough with it?

techdiver

Slevster wrote: »

thanks. found it in Menu > Setup > Service searching > UnionTunerType config > Change UnionTunerType to terrestrial (using right/left arrow keys) > OK (Green Button) > yes


hows the edison box going? happy enough with it?

Very happy with it. Rock solid so far. No babysitting required. Very fast and snappy.

Slevster

techdiver wrote: »

Very happy with it. Rock solid so far. No babysitting required. Very fast and snappy.

have been thinking of upgrading. but have no major gripe with the AA2+ as so I am finding it hard to justify.
so reports of good pq and snappy performance are noted. dezell also had positive reports. Zardoz isnt as convinced on the pq.

techdiver

Slevster wrote: »

have been thinking of upgrading. but have no major gripe with the AA2+ as so I am finding it hard to justify.
so reports of good pq and snappy performance are noted. dezell also had positive reports. Zardoz isnt as convinced on the pq.

The PQ was a bit iffy at the start. I had the box set to 1080p. Once I set it to 1080i it improved. The deinterlacing on the box is obviously poor.

The PQ to me, is now on par with AA2+ Spark PQ, which I found better then the PQ on Enigma2 on the AA2+ for some reason.

The bigger the TV the more obvious the artifacts are in SD content. I have a 65" so I do notice picture noise a good bit, but no worse than any other source I used.

deezell

techdiver wrote: »

The PQ was a bit iffy at the start. I had the box set to 1080p. Once I set it to 1080i it improved. The deinterlacing on the box is obviously poor.

The PQ to me, is now on par with AA2+ Spark PQ, which I found better then the PQ on Enigma2 on the AA2+ for some reason.

The bigger the TV the more obvious the artifacts are in SD content. I have a 65" so I do notice picture noise a good bit, but no worse than any other source I used.

This ties in with a post I made some time ago about matching the box output to the channel resolution. 1080i is the best compromise, letting the TV handle the interlaced signal and how it displays it.Setting the box 576 makes the menus and OSD look poor, though it will reduce the artefacts slightly when viewing an SD source, as the box is not trying to upscale to 1080.

Slevster

That's a big TV alright , techdriver .

noleybaby

BT Sports is no longer clearing, anyone else experiencing this ?

jayo26

noleybaby wrote: »

BT Sports is no longer clearing, anyone else experiencing this ?

The hd variants have stopped yeh.