Please tell me the SS 3.0 will have better scheduling?

[ATI_hater]

What do I mean?
Well...I have been trying out SS 2.0 LITE.
Schedule a recording, then logoff; or better better yet, don't logoff, switch back to the Windows XP Welcome Screen - either way the scheduled recording never occurs.
Read my lips: it is STUPID to be required to be logged in AND active (not switched away) for recordings to occur.
Why hasn't anybody complained about this!?
Hasn't anyone ever heard of the concept of NT Services!?
Why, why, oh why have you crafted ssw.exe to run as a LOCAL_MACHINE startup process (or was it CURRENT_USER)? That means someone has to LOG IN!
Do I have to be "logged-in" to my VCR in order for it to record a show? No!!! Dummmmmmmmmmmmmmmmb.
My "Media PC" is used by 3 other family members. I am frequently either logged off or switched out because someone else has used the machine, therefore my recording jobs almost never take place.
ARRRRRGGGGH!
Now that I am pretty much done with my lambasting...I would like to say YOU GUYS HAVE A TERRIFIC PRODUCT!!!
I mean that. It's just that one little bitty issue with scheduled recordings that gets my goat.
Please, please tell me that you have re-engineered the scheduling in 3.0 so my recordings will always happen - pleeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeese.
Let me tell you what you guys have done right:
1. You DON'T throw up a TV app when a recording occurs - hooray! More than once I left the computer on with an ATI MMC job set to go off at 3AM in the morning and I'm woken up to the blaring sound of the show being shown in a TV window because the braindead ATI software seems to think you MUST turn the damn TV on to record something - IDOITS. Also, and this just buggs the SH*T outta me - the ATI MMC center recording app doesn't CLOSE the damn thing when it's done recording - OYYYYYYY - am I supposed to be impressed by this?
2. Your scheduling -- flawed as it is -- is THE BEST out there!
Aside from using ATI's braindead software I have tried: WinDVR, PowerVCR, and ShowShifter. All these solutions fail to record something you've scheduled if you are logged out or switched out; but it gets worse, for even if someone else is logged in the recording never takes places. AH, that is where YOU WIN. As long as SOMEONE is logged in then ALL jobs -- no matter who scheduled them -- WILL RUN - congratulations - now I tell everyone to never log out and never switch to the Welcome Screen and viola...recordings happen...except when someone forgets the rule

[ATI_hater]

Perhaps if I ask plainly and without any flamboyance.

Will SS 3.0 use an NT Service for scheduled recording jobs?
Regardless of whether it does that or not will the issue of no one being logged in and no recording taking place be resolved?

I thank you for any reply you can give.

[jkoon]

Well, I have not used 2.0 for a long time now (beta testing 3.0) but if I remember correctly I think you can run ss2.0 as a service, and that would be the workaround for the problem of being logged out and causing the recordings to fail (right?).

Anyways what kind of ATI card do you have? I have an ATI TV Wonder and as of the most current beta release this issue has been fixed (for some time I had problems similar to yours), the status of people being logged on or off or whatever no loger makes a difference.

But with 3.0 (as of now) you cannot run it as a service. However, I have seen some little 3rd party programs that will allow you to run any program as a service but I have not tried it myself. I can send you a link to the program if you would like, someone posted it somewhere in the forums a couple days ago, and I think the link should still be valid, but if not I downloaded it and I can email it to you or something.

-Jeff Koon

[ATI_hater]

Originally posted by jkoon
Well, I have not used 2.0 for a long time now (beta testing 3.0) but if I remember correctly I think you can run ss2.0 as a service, and that would be the workaround for the problem of being logged out and causing the recordings to fail (right?).

Anyways what kind of ATI card do you have? I have an ATI TV Wonder and as of the most current beta release this issue has been fixed (for some time I had problems similar to yours), the status of people being logged on or off or whatever no loger makes a difference.

But with 3.0 (as of now) you cannot run it as a service. However, I have seen some little 3rd party programs that will allow you to run any program as a service but I have not tried it myself. I can send you a link to the program if you would like, someone posted it somewhere in the forums a couple days ago, and I think the link should still be valid, but if not I downloaded it and I can email it to you or something.

-Jeff Koon

I tried running SSW.EXE using Task Manager with a schedule of "At Startup" and under the Administrator account (the one where I normally use SnapStream from). This sort of thing works marvelously with programs like RASPHONE which establishes my internet connection without having to log in (because I run an FTP server), but it failed miserably with SnapStream. The log showed a one liner error message about the program failing (I think due to not being able to render the video stream or something - I'd have to try it again to get the specific message). So I gave up on that.

How would you run it as a Service?
I don't have the Resource Kit, therefore I don't have SVRANY (I think that's the name).
I was hoping someone from SnapStream (cough, Tuck) would step up to the plate and tell me whatever I needed to do to get around the scheduling problem in 2.0 (and hopefully confirm that the issue completely goes away in 3.0).

When you speak about "this issue being fixed" for the ATI TV Wonder, do you mean in SnapStream 2.0, 3.0, or in the ATI Multimedia Centre software that comes with the card? I KNOW for a fact that SS 2.0 will not run scheduled tasks when logged off, and the same goes for ATI MMC - I have the latest version of both - so are you talking about SS 3.0?

Please do email me the EXE or link to the program you said can run SS as a service. Thanks.

In the meanwhile...any other comments...

[vebix]

2.0 will run as a service - there's a command you have to issue to set it up. (Using task manager is not the same as running a service.) I can't remember the command off the top of my head so you'll have to do a search.

3.0 unfortunately, will not run as a service by itself. You'll need a 3rd party app to make it a service.

[ATI_hater]

Originally posted by mportune
2.0 will run as a service - there's a command you have to issue to set it up. (Using task manager is not the same as running a service.) I can't remember the command off the top of my head so you'll have to do a search.

3.0 unfortunately, will not run as a service by itself. You'll need a 3rd party app to make it a service.

Found it.
I will try this.
This is very similar to a product *I* work on where our command line is "ComLinkService --install".

It's not heartening to hear that the much awaited for 3.0 version supposedly doesn't have this capability - that will definitely influence my decision not to use that product until that is changed. Of course, there is the old SVRANY standby but that's not guaranteed to work with everything.

Anyways, thanks for the info.

[vebix]

no problem. There is a thread somewhere else where somebody used a 3rd party util to run 3.0 as a service, and has had success with it. I agree though, it's a shame that won't be built-in. It really should be.

[jkoon]

Sorry if I was not very clear on that, what I meant was in the current beta of SnapStream 3.0 I have not ran into the problem of switching users causing a recording to fail (in previous versions it would).

If you PM me with your email address I will send you the app which allows you to run SnapStream as a service.

-Jeff Koon

[jkoon]

Someone also mentioned using a program called FireDaemon to run Win32 apps as a service, might be worth looking into.

[Tuck]

PVS is not really supposed to be run as a service. BTW & FYI, It *has* been complained about. Just not with your particular flair.

So I'd say... "Don't log out." Oh yeah, don't run a screensaver. Don't use ACPI functions unless you want to use Task Scheduler to run a nothing program to wake your computer up before PVS has to record with it. That's what Jquevedo does. It's a clever workaround, but IMHO it shouldn't be necessary.

That's the way things stand currently. Sorry. As always, your comments and suggestions are appreciated.

[ATI_hater]

Well, I'm semi-happily running it as a service now thanks to the little ssw.exe -installservice hack. But, you're right, there ARE issues.

#1 Accessing the console log via the tray icon is useless, nothing gets written there.
#2 When a job runs, the tray icon doesn't turn red - although you do still get the bubble notification when it finishes.
#3 I'm not sure whether this is a result of running as a service, but if I override the default quality setting for any recording job then the job starts and dies immediately and the kicker is that SnapStream recording refuses to work from that point onward until the machine is rebooted.

All-in-all I think I'll wait until 3.0 has a demo version and try that one. Too bad I can't try the beta. Oh well.

PS. Programs that run and don't require user input (and SS recording jobs fall into that catagory) are always excellent candidates for becoming a service. Get with the program guys. <- Little pun. For instance, there is a Dynamic DNS updater program called Direct Update. It runs as a service, but also runs a tray icon whenever anyone logs in. Access to the service is via the tray icon or a start menu shortcut. Best of both worlds. Snapstream should follow this most excellent model.

[dumbau]

Another great example of a program that can run either in the tray or as a service is the MS Game Voice Server. If you want it to run as a service, you simply change the option in the program to do so and it does. If you would rather have it as a tray program, same thing. They make it appear very easy. I know that it is probably not as complex as video streaming but voice streaming is at least in the same direction.

In case you are not aware of what Game voice is, it is basically a voice chat server. We use it to talk to each other when we are playing online games. It is free to download. Check it out at www.gamevoice.com.

[Tuck]

Originally posted by ATI_hater
#3 I'm not sure whether this is a result of running as a service, but if I override the default quality setting for any recording job then the job starts and dies immediately and the kicker is that SnapStream recording refuses to work from that point onward until the machine is rebooted.

It might not be due to the "service" issue. Custom quality settings are very particular. Don't run PVS as a service and test the custom quality setting you're attempting to use.

[ATI_hater]

>> It might not be due to the "service" issue. Custom quality settings are very particular. Don't run PVS as a service and test the custom quality setting you're attempting to use.

Yes, I tried this. Same result. Something goes horribly awry and all jobs fail (no matter what the quality setting) until the machine is rebooted. As a side note, if I change the Default Quality to something else, then THAT works, and recording in something other than THAT default triggers the problem. The problem seems to be overriding whatever the Default is. I've tried a few of the Quality settings for Default and they all work, it's just overriding the default that makes things go south. I have semi-solved this issue by simply choosing Near DVD as my default and never overriding it - I have plenty of hard drive space after all.

TUCK if you would like to see any log/file entries that might shed some light on this I will glady supply you with whatever you ask for.

[Tuck]

Originally posted by ATI_hater
Yes, I tried this. Same result. Something goes horribly awry and all jobs fail (no matter what the quality setting) until the machine is rebooted. As a side note, if I change the Default Quality to something else, then THAT works, and recording in something other than THAT default triggers the problem.

Ugh. Well, this is an interesting problem. The fact that your tweaked quality settings work -- in SOME fashion (oy vey!) -- is a good sign. Yes, I would very much like to see your .LOG file showing this error. In case you don't know where they're stored (XP is such a dog when it comes to subdirectories) they're in

C:\documents & settings\all users\shared documents\snapstream\pvs\log

and the nomenclature is based (at least partly) on the date of their creation. If you can ZIP that puppy up and attach it to a reply of this message I'd be most obliged. If I find no clear clues in there, I think I'd better BUG this bad boy. On a side note... Heckwithit, I'll send you a PM