Centralized Recording Machine?

[vaju0503]

Title sums it up, I've tried searching the forums without coming up with much. Long story short, if I have multiple machines (HTPC's) running WMC is it possible to schedule recordings on my centralized machine from any other machine? Meaning can I scheduling a recording on one PC upstairs but have it actually scheduled to record on my PC down in the basement where I store all my recordings? The HDHomerun has the DVR software now which I have purchased, and it's nice because you can schedule a recording from any place that you have access with the application (Phone, tablets, and PC's). However, I'm not in love with the HDHomerun front end so I'm not wanting to ditch WMC yet.

If there is a solution out here already just give me a link to where I can find it... The few things I've tried to find basically say that there isn't a way to do it (unless I'm not looking in the right spot). I'd just like to have all of my recordings scheduled for one machine so I don't have to worry about recording conflicts.

[adam1991]

If the discussion here is WMC, then you're doing it wrong.

WMC was designed around a central recording tank, with WMC extenders at remote TVs. It all works exactly like you want it to work.

But if you have multiple WMC machines, running independently, that's different and isn't how MS designed WMC to work.

[vaju0503]

But my 2nd machine running WMC can't be an extender can it?

[Doctor Feelgood]

No PCs, can not be extenders off of other PCs. You can setup one MCE PC to record shows, but the other PC will not be able to record shows on that first PC. Plus, you can share the recording folders from both PCs, but due to copy protection / DRM on the files, only unprotected recordings would be sharable.

Best bet is to setup the one PC as the centralized recording machine and then get a few true extenders, like XBOX 360s, that will then be able to control/share recordings freely with that PC.

[vaju0503]

I don't like the way the extenders feel, plus no point in spending money on products that are basically obsolete... The extender on my xbox 360 seems laggy compared to the WMC interface with the PC itself. I'll just have to buy another homerun prime, and continue to setup my recordings on my main box... I have no problems with sharing the recordings on my network, as I've been doing that already. I was more so curious if there was a way to setup recordings on one box from all other boxes (similar to how the extenders work). Seems kind of dumb that MS didn't allow for multiple instances of WMC to be running on a network as an extender... Seems the functionality of an extender wouldn't be all that hard to implement to me...

[Doctor Feelgood]

Yeah - I initially resisted getting extenders and had 3 separate PCs running around the house with a NAS that backed up all the recordings each night. Worked OK, but extenders have been way easier for the last couple of years. How are yours networked? I have no lag on the extenders, but the host PC is quick and they are all hardwired with Gigabit gear (despite the XBOXs only being 10/100).

[vaju0503]

Everything is hardwired through my gigabit router and network switches, I've tested speed at each location and they seem fine... maybe it's just the 360 being on a slower connection than what I'm used to. I will still resist buying extenders, I don't record a ton of shows I haven't already setup so it's not a huge deal for me to setup new recordings on my main location. Don't have a real need to backup shows either, I've debated putting them on my NAS but it doesn't seem to be worth it if my MediaCenter PC is always on anyways I can just map the networked recorded tv to each HTPC I have.

[adam1991]

I don't like the way the extenders feel, plus no point in spending money on products that are basically obsolete... The extender on my xbox 360 seems laggy compared to the WMC interface with the PC itself.

"Laggy" meaning what? "Feel" meaning what?

Are you networked via wire, or via wireless?

I bought two XBox 6 years ago, and have never looked back. It's the price you pay to have a whole home system--and they work very well. I did wire them with fresh cat6 wiring at the time.

Never played a game on either of them, not even the kids. They're just extenders.

[Space]

I am not sure if this is a solution that would work for you, but you can schedule recordings on your main WMC machine remotely by using Remote Potato.

I've never really used it for this purpose, but I know it can be done. I am not sure how robust it is.

The client machines use Silverlight or just plain web access to control the server. There is also an app for iOS/Android/Windows Phone.

There was also an addin for WMC that allows you to use Remote Potato to do stuff on your main WMC machine from other WMC machines:
http://www.thegreenbutton.tv/forums/vie ... ?t=523&f=9

But it has not been worked on in a while as far as I can tell and the download link no longer works. The ONLY knowledge I have of this plugin is from reading the linked post above, I have never used it or even tried downloading it and don't know if it is available for download anywhere.

To reiterate, the only experience I have with Remote Potato is using the Silverlight interface for viewing scheduled recordings and the Program Guide. I haven't really used it to schedule recordings (other than testing it a couple times). I don't think it has robust conflict management, if I remember correctly, so that can be a problem. I don't really remember what happens when you try to schedule a recording and it is unable to do so due to conflict.

I've also (very rarely) seen it fail to display a show in the "scheduled shows" list for some reason, as well as repeat shows in the list (also very rare, and may be related to the Daylight Savings Time switchover), but for the most part it works fine.

[Sharks]

Hello Vaju0503,
I believe this will be what your looking for it is called Recording Broker it is made by the same guy who made DVRMSToolbox. I have used this application before exactly the same way you are looking to make your system behave and it worked perfectly.
https://babgvant.com/files/folders/recb ... 19690.aspx

-Sharks

[Space]

Hello Vaju0503,
I believe this will be what your looking for it is called Recording Broker it is made by the same guy who made DVRMSToolbox. I have used this application before exactly the same way you are looking to make your system behave and it worked perfectly.
https://babgvant.com/files/folders/recb ... 19690.aspx

-Sharks

That does look pretty cool, I assume you just use the "Broker Everything" option on all WMC machines except the one you want to use as your main recording box. Seems like a nice solution if it works reliably.

[jachin99]

Just to throw out a few other options, there are some android an apple apps that can let you schedule recordings on individual machines. The first two that come to mind are Ceton My Media center, and Media Center Control. They each cost money but you also get to use your phone or tablet to view TV guide. With media center control, you can view all of your media stored on every WMC machine it is connected to. If you want to move files around or convert them, there is also MCE buddy but it also costs money.

[vaju0503]

Hello Vaju0503,
I believe this will be what your looking for it is called Recording Broker it is made by the same guy who made DVRMSToolbox. I have used this application before exactly the same way you are looking to make your system behave and it worked perfectly.
https://babgvant.com/files/folders/recb ... 19690.aspx

-Sharks

Thanks, I'll have to check it out... For now I am not going to install anything extra was just curious what the options are that are out there... This will work really good if it works like it says.

[jdlive]

Are your recordings flagged copy-once or copy-freely? If it's the latter then you could use Kodi + ServerWMC to do what you want. I use this setup and can schedule recordings on my WMC system from the "remote" clients. If the channels are flagged copy-once then you'd be stuck with trying to use extenders as mentioned already,