Multiple IPTV Encoders

[karrickca]

Hi,

I've been running MythTV quite happily with an HDMI->IPTV encoder for some time now with no issues.

Basic layout is set top box -> HDMI -> encoder -> network -> MythTV (Freebox IPTV Capture) - it's worth noting that I have a serial cable to each of my STB's for changing the channel via script, the URL for accessing the stream never changes.

That works fine until I tried to add a second STB and encoder to the mix, now only the last encoder I configured is available for use. Doing a little digging in the database it appears that the "iptv_channel" table can only have one URL per channel? Has anyone figured out how to get this working with multiple sources? When I was using hardware encoders the system would simply move onto the next encoder when the first one was in use, does this not apply to IPTV configurations?

Any insight is greatly appreciated.

-Charles

[jhuber99]

I am having the same issue. It really appears that the IPTV capture devices, no matter how many you have, all use a single iptv_Channel column in the database, it that it get filled with the LAST run in from the .m3u file.

Did you ever find a solution ?

Jim
--

[karrickca]

No, unfortunately not. I've been experimenting with the blackbox and file recorders to no avail. I've tried using the mythfilerecorder and blackbox recorder types to come up with a behind-the-scenes method of making it work however have not gotten anything to work well enough. I've tried the v4l2-loopback driver, named pipes and even a crazy chain of symlinks on an SSD. The mythfilerecorder apparently likes to read the filesize at startup and even if the file is still growing, it assumes EOF once it reaches what it thinks is the end - not useful. v4l2-loopback sort of works but it seems it really wasn't designed for HD content in h.264/h.265 and the resultant video is unwatchable to say the least.

I reached out to one of the original developers of the Ceton cablecard recorder (because it was also RTSP based) and he gave me a little bit of insight although I am nowhere near a developer to get far anytime soon. He suggested I look at removing the tuning and signal strength functions of the Ceton driver and go from there basically. He also said that his original RTSP code has since been removed in lieu of standardized libraries now included in Myth - hence what the IPTV recorder probably uses.

It seems to me that we need an IPTV recorder feature that acts as a single encoder for all channels much as a hardware encoder would do except with an external command function to allow the person deploying it to devise a way to change the channel (I use serial cables to my STBs for instance, other providers can be changed via http) etc etc etc. In this manner it wouldn't matter how many encoders you have, you just go through the normal scheduling that Myth is so good at.

As it sits now I have two encoders, one with an M3U playlist for all but one channel and the other with a single channel - not pretty at all.

Which encoders are you working with and how well do they perform for you?

-Charles

[Gribnif]

Hi Charles,

I have been working on a modified version of mythfilerecorder that takes the output of an arbitrary shell command and pipes that back into the backend, rather than reading a static file. It also accepts a command to tune the required channel.

It sounds like this might help for you, too. If you'd like to try it out, and you feel comfortable compiling from source, pm me your email address and I will send it to you.

[karrickca]

PM sent, would love to test it out.

-Charles