[SOLVED] HDHR4-2US Can't use both tuners at the same time

[harpax]

I recently purchased a HDHR4-2US to receive OTA broadcasts. I had no problems with the initial setup in mythtv and getting it to record & watch live TV. However, even though this device has two tuners and I have been able to use both in mythtv, I cannot seem to use both at the same time. Is this a limitation of the device or mythtv that I was not aware of? It kind of seems to defeat the purpose of having two tuners on the HDHR.

-If I watch live TV on one HDHR tuner, I cannot record on the other HDHR tuner. If I try to start a recording the LiveTV ends, it changes channels and starts recording.
-If one HDHR tuner is recording, I cannot watch LiveTV on the other HDHR tuner, the option to watch liveTV is not available on channels that the HDHomeRun receives while a recording is in progress on the HDHR.
-In all cases I can use the HDPVR as normal at the same time as the HDHomeRun

Mythweb (and the status in mythfrontend shows the following tuners):

Encoder 1 [ HDPVR : /dev/video0 ] is local on (redacted) and is not recording.
Encoder 2 [ HDHOMERUN : 10442XXX-0 ] is local on (redacted) and not recording.
Encoder 4 [ HDHOMERUN : 10442XXX-1 ] is local on (redacted) and is not recording.

I have been able to fiddle with the priorities in mythtv-setup and force it to use either tuner 0 or tuner 1 for various things but I still have not been able to use both at the same time. I have tried giving both recording devices the same video source as well as making to identical video sources (with different names) and assigning one to each tuner - same problem.

This is my first experience with the HDHR so I might just be missing some simple setting somewhere.

Thanks!

[dekarl]

That sounds as if both the scheduler and livetv prefer the same recorder/tuner.

Lets go through a small checklist

• both tuners of the HDHR should share the same video source
• The recording and livetv order of the tuners has one ascending and the other descending, so recordings start one one tuner and spread over to the over. But LiveTV starts on the other tuner and spreads out to the first.
• you can use both tuners at the same time for recordings already

"Interactions between inputs" on https://www.mythtv.org/wiki/Setup_Input_Connections has some details on the tuner order. In your setup you likely want to have the HDPVR last in both lists, as it can not do multirec and should only be used for channels that can not be received by the other two recorders.

[harpax]

Dekarl,
Thanks for the reply - unfortunately even after reading that document and playing with the settings in mythtv-setup I still have not been able to get the HDHR to work as expected.

Your checklist has one incorrect item on it - the last one with respect to the HDHR:

-I can't use both tuners for recordings at the same time either. If one is recording and I try to start a recording on another HDHR channel, it shows as conflicting even though the other HDHR tuner shows as idle. Only if I start a 2nd recording on a HDPVR channel does it work.

The exact settings I now have in mythtv-setup are as follows:

HDPVR:
-Input Priority 0
-Schedule Order 3
-Live TV Order 3

HDHR0:
-Input Priority 1
-Schedule Order 2
-Live TV order 1

HDHR1:
-Input Priority 2
-Schedule Order 1
-Live TV order 2

Even with these settings nothing has changed, the behavior of the HDHR remains the same as in the original post - it refuses to use both tuners at the same time, only one or the other. It does not matter if its for 2x recordings, or a recording and LiveTV.

Any more ideas?

[harpax]

Dekarl,
So interestingly enough right after I posted the previous message I figured i'd make one more effort and blow away all the recorders in mythtv-setup and re-create them. I didn't delete the video sources, just the recorders. After re configuring everything (in a different order - I did the HDHR first) the device now works as expected. I have no idea why, everything looks the same from a backend status perspective - the tuners are just in a different order now:

Encoder 1 [ HDHOMERUN : 1044XXXA-0 ] is local on <redacted> and is watching Live TV '2016 Stanley Cup Final' on CBOT-DT. This recording is scheduled to end at 11:00 PM.
Encoder 3 [ HDHOMERUN : 1044XXXA-1 ] is local on <redacted> and is not recording.
Encoder 5 [ HDPVR : /dev/video0 ] is local on <redacted> and is not recording.

What might have initially messed it up, is that at one point I had setup the HDHR with "Max Recordings = 2" in both cases. I later realized this was wrong and I corrected the error, but I didn't delete and re-create the recordings afterwards. I don't think that is a requirement, but it is the only thing I can think of that I did differently, unless the order they appear in the backend matters.