Playing recordings if the database is corrupted and rebuilt?

For discussion related to MythTV which doesn't belong in another forum.

Moderator: Forum Moderators

Post Reply
WhoCanItBeNow
Newcomer
Posts: 5
Joined: Sat Oct 27, 2018 2:13 pm
United States of America

Playing recordings if the database is corrupted and rebuilt?

Post by WhoCanItBeNow »

I'm trying to move away from Windows Media Center, and have spent many hours reading about the features and limitations of MythTV, TVHeadend and MediaPortal as a replacement DVR solution. At this point MythTV is my top choice, but I still have more to learn about it and the other two before deciding.

From what I've read, I understand you can move recordings from one directory to another, and MythTV will automatically find them. But what if the database is corrupted beyond repair or destroyed, and you don't have a recent useful backup of it, but you still have the recording files?

Is it possible to make MythTV scan the recordings directories to find out which files aren't in the database, and then reload them into the database? Or will they be permanently invisible to MythTV's back-end? If they become invisible to MythTV due to lack of database entries, can third-party programs such as VLC or Kodi play them?
User avatar
bill6502
Developer
Posts: 2307
Joined: Fri Feb 07, 2014 5:28 pm
United States of America

Re: Playing recordings if the database is corrupted and rebuilt?

Post by bill6502 »

Hi,

Move the recordings to the Storage Directory defined in the Video Storage Group.
That may be: /var/lib/mythtv/videos/, but you'll need to verify your backend setup.
Playback from the Watch Videos screen, as opposed to Warch Recordings.

VLC can work with just the filename. I can't speak to Kodi.
WhoCanItBeNow
Newcomer
Posts: 5
Joined: Sat Oct 27, 2018 2:13 pm
United States of America

Re: Playing recordings if the database is corrupted and rebuilt?

Post by WhoCanItBeNow »

Thanks. Am I correct to assume the backup script described in the wiki can create a useable backup while recordings are going on (with the exception of possibly missing some details of the active recordings)?
User avatar
bill6502
Developer
Posts: 2307
Joined: Fri Feb 07, 2014 5:28 pm
United States of America

Re: Playing recordings if the database is corrupted and rebuilt?

Post by bill6502 »

Backing up during while the backend is busy isn't recommended.

You'd likely loose some 'under-the-hood' things such as commercial
flagging. I run my backups at 6 A.M. I've read that others write a
script to determine the next upcoming recording timestamp and
delay the start of the backup 'til the backend is idle.
WhoCanItBeNow
Newcomer
Posts: 5
Joined: Sat Oct 27, 2018 2:13 pm
United States of America

Re: Playing recordings if the database is corrupted and rebuilt?

Post by WhoCanItBeNow »

For daily backups I think I'll put the mysql directory in its own partition and use LVM snapshots and rsync to make a point-in-time backup.

That's in addition to running the normal backup script once or twice a week when I know it's not recording.
Post Reply