BTV-Externinator for BTV >= 4.8

[SSDNAdmin]

Author: Fonceur

Short Description: Perform External recordings
Long Description: The goal of BTV-Externinator is to perform recordings, using capture devices not currently supported by Beyond TV (i.e. Firewire, DVB, unencrypted QAM, etc.). This addon acts as a bridge between BTV's powerful scheduling and an external application, which knows how to perform recordings with that unsupported capture device (i.e. VLC, ProgDVB, FusionHDTV, etc.)
Version Number: 1.70
Status: In development
Last Updated: 28th November 2008
Homepage: http://fonceur.tripod.com/BTV-Extern
Installation Instructions: The application does not come with an installer, so just unzip the file in the appropriate folder and run BTV-Externinator.exe from there or through a shortcut.
Release Notes:
License: Freeware, donations accepted at: http://fonceur.tripod.com/Donation.html
Requirements: BTV > 4.8

Download BTV-Externinator-1.70.zip

[RKEM]

Has anyone tried this >=4.8 version with a FusionHDTV card yet? I just upgraded to BTV 4.9 (lame that there still isn't native QAM support for DVICO cards in BTV) I also upgraded to Externinator 1.70 and DVICO software version 3.68.04. The Fusion software scheduler never picks up the recording schedule from Externinator. I was hoping it was just an issue with the new software version from DVICO, since they made some revisions to the recording scheduler, so I uninstalled and reverted back to 3.68.00, But it still isn't getting schedule info from Externinator.

[Fonceur]

Originally Posted by RKEM

so I uninstalled and reverted back to 3.68.00, But it still isn't getting schedule info from Externinator.

The last confirmed working version was with the DVICO software version 3.5 or 3.6, so it's not impossible that things have changed much since... If you can provide me with some databases (Epg2List.db) for various scheduled recordings, I can look into it.

[RKEM]

I've been using 3.68.00 For the last few months and it was working fine, maybe something got screwed up in the switch to 3.68.04 and back. I can try a thorough uninstall and go back to 3.5. I've attached my epg2list.mdb with a couple of recordings I entered via the Fusion recording scheduler in version 3.68.00.

[RKEM]

I uninstalled the Fusion software v. 3.68 and drivers and installed 3.60.01. This didn't fix the problem so I reverted back to BTV 4.8.2 and Externinator 1.6 and restored my last BTV 4.8.2 backup and then all my scheduled recordings popped up in the Fusion schedule, as they should. Since I was having so much fun restarting my computer, I decided to give the latest version of Fusion Software another shot, so uninstalled 3.6 and reinstalled 3.68.04 (I don't understand how they come up with these version numbers, there were some pretty significant changes between 3.68 and 3.68.04) and everything was still working fine. So the problem must stem from changes in the latest versions of BTV or Externinator.

[Fonceur]

Originally Posted by RKEM

So the problem must stem from changes in the latest versions of BTV or Externinator.

Good, that should be easier to track down then. Could you post the BTV-Externinator.log file, hopefully I can spot a difference in there... Could you try the latest beta of BTV-E with BTV 4.8.2 and see if that still works or if I changed something I shouldn't have...

[Fonceur]

I plan on dropping the HDHomeRun and Hauppauge clear QAM support, since they are officially supported in Beyond TV by now... So if there are any objections, I suggest that you speak up now...

[RKEM]

Originally Posted by Fonceur

Good, that should be easier to track down then. Could you post the BTV-Externinator.log file, hopefully I can spot a difference in there... Could you try the latest beta of BTV-E with BTV 4.8.2 and see if that still works or if I changed something I shouldn't have...

I switched to Externinator 1.70 and added a recording in BTV and the Fusion scheduler picked it up.

[Fonceur]

Originally Posted by RKEM

I switched to Externinator 1.70 and added a recording in BTV and the Fusion scheduler picked it up.

Good! According to the log, the errors most often reported are:

- QAM0: Sorry, this channel has not been mapped...
- QAM0: Sorry, this would create a conflict...
- QAM0: Could not find the tray application

Which are all valid reasons to fail, though I don't see why BTV 4.9 would affect any of those...

I would suggest running that combination (BTV 4.8.2 + BTVE 1.70) for a few days, to make sure it's stable. If all goes well, then we can try to figure out why BTV 4.9 is acting differently...

[RKEM]

I let it run for the afternoon and added a bunch of test recording and it seemed to be working fine with BTV 4.8.2, Ext. 1.70 and Fusion 3.68.04.
It seemed so illogical that the version of BTV would have any effect on the communication between Externinator and FusionHDTV, if Externinator can still extract and display the scheduled shows from BTV, then it should be able to send it to the Fusion scheduler, right? Of course, I have no idea what is going on in the backgound but is seems like that should be the case, so I was hoping that I could reinstall 4.9 and the problem would have ironed itself out. No such luck. I did notice in the log that the channel mapping error didn't occur before I upgraded to 4.9.
At 9:23 I reopened Externinator after installing 4.9 and based on the same scheduled recordings that existed before I updated, there was a new channel not mapped error, which continued to repeat itself with each log update.

12/4/2008 08:26:32 PM :: QAM0: Possibly setting up the next recording
12/4/2008 08:26:32 PM :: QAM0: Sorry, this would create a conflict...
12/4/2008 08:26:32 PM :: QAM0: Sorry, this would create a conflict...
12/4/2008 08:26:32 PM :: QAM0: Nothing to add/modify...
12/4/2008 08:36:30 PM :: Filling/updating all the lists
12/4/2008 08:36:32 PM :: QAM0: Possibly setting up the next recording
12/4/2008 08:36:32 PM :: QAM0: Sorry, this would create a conflict...
12/4/2008 08:36:32 PM :: QAM0: Sorry, this would create a conflict...
12/4/2008 08:36:32 PM :: QAM0: Nothing to add/modify...
12/4/2008 08:42:33 PM :: Closing BTV-Externinator
12/4/2008 08:47:37 PM :: Starting BTV-Externinator version 1.70
12/4/2008 08:48:39 PM :: Connecting to http://localhost:8129.
12/4/2008 08:48:40 PM :: Failed to connect.
12/4/2008 08:49:22 PM :: Closing BTV-Externinator
12/4/2008 09:23:30 PM :: Starting BTV-Externinator version 1.70
12/4/2008 09:23:31 PM :: Connecting to http://localhost:8129.
12/4/2008 09:23:47 PM :: Filling/updating all the lists
12/4/2008 09:23:56 PM :: QAM0: Possibly setting up the next recording
12/4/2008 09:23:56 PM :: QAM0: Sorry, this channel has not been mapped...
12/4/2008 09:23:56 PM :: QAM0: Sorry, this would create a conflict...

[Fonceur]

Originally Posted by RKEM

At 9:23 I reopened Externinator after installing 4.9 and based on the same scheduled recordings that existed before I updated, there was a new channel not mapped error, which continued to repeat itself with each log update.

OK, so one of the SnapStream's changes for clear QAM support is interfering somewhere... Try remapping one channel to see what changed, then send me the BTV-Externinator_DVICO-Ch.xml... I suspect that you will need to remap all the channels, as the UniqueChannelID probably changed...

[RKEM]

It looks like BTV-Externinator_DVICO-Ch.xml needs to be deleted and done from scratch or you can edit the xml file by pasting seven 0's in front of each channel id. Just remapping the channels within Externinator using the old xml file doesn't fix it.

I attached a "baseline" XML file and a file showing what happened when i went and remapped ch 111 to 8222 0002 from within Externinator and third, I deleted the BTV-Externinator_DVICO-Ch.xml file and created one from scratch this one shows the extra zero's.

As a final test I deleted BTV-Externinator_DVICO-Ch.xml, went back to my backup baseline file and pasted seven 0's in front of each channel id and then renamed it to BTV-Externinator_DVICO-Ch.xml, restarted Externinator and added a bunch of test recordings in BTV and the Fusion scheduler picked them all up.

[Fonceur]

Originally Posted by RKEM

It looks like BTV-Externinator_DVICO-Ch.xml needs to be deleted and done from scratch or you can edit the xml file by pasting seven 0's in front of each channel id.

Thanks for checking, that would also explain why the list of Recent recordings is no longer matching the older channel numbers...

[NickHark]

I am compiling a requirements list to upgrade my system (the two link PCs) to get encrypted HD from Comcast. I am reluctant to buy two new boxes in addition to the HDPVR.

I am intrigued by the possibility that I could retain my Dells and use BTVE to capture the HD, as .tp, by firewire from the Comcast STB, as was suggested in another thread.

Is this possible?

[Fonceur]

Originally Posted by NickHark

I am intrigued by the possibility that I could retain my Dells and use BTVE to capture the HD, as .tp, by firewire from the Comcast STB, as was suggested in another thread.

Is this possible?

It is certainly possible, as I have been doing that for years... The question is, if it works for your specific cable provider and their receivers... The best is to check AVS, either the local provider forum, or the big firewire thread.