Getting the "no tv signal" error, but it records

Post Reply
passinos

Posts: 22
Joined: Sat Mar 25, 2017 2:46 pm
Location:

HTPC Specs: Show details

Getting the "no tv signal" error, but it records

#1

Post by passinos » Wed Jun 14, 2017 2:23 am

I have read about this before but I dont recall the fix. I have tried the "weak signal.msi" patch.
Was there a regedit to extend the time?

NO TV SIGNAL
There was no TV signal on channel X so "{show name}" could not be recorded. Reschedule the recording after verifying the TV signal is working for that channel.

from the missing remote:
This error occurs with tuning adapters (generally Cisco's) take too long to tune request a channel. If so, what happens is:

1- Media Center attempts to record on Tuner X.
2- The tuning adapter takes too long to respond
3- Media Center does not see a signal on Tuner X soon enough so it reports failure
4- Media Center attempts to record on Tuner Y
5- The channel was already allocated in step #2 so the tune request responds quickly
6- Everything records properly but has the failed message from Tuner X

I have 2x Primes with Comcast Cable cards

Thank All!

Space

Posts: 2838
Joined: Sun Jun 02, 2013 9:44 pm
Location:

HTPC Specs: Show details

#2

Post by Space » Wed Jun 14, 2017 2:47 am

This can happen if one or more of the tuners in your Primes is not working for some reason.

Does the History log show that it attempted to record on one tuner before it was successfully recorded on a different tuner?

I've had a situation where one of the tuners on my Prime was not working and was getting this error. I could see the problem with the tuner by playing a video and then going in to the 411<info> menu. Arrow right to the 6th screen ("DEBUG: Recorders") and it listed all my tuners and their status. The one that was not working had a "CurrentState" value of "Error" or "Fail" (I don't remember exactly).

To fix it, I simply rebooted my WMC machine.

I believe the problem was initially caused by a power failure earlier in the day. This caused my router to reboot and it had lost it's static DHCP leases (not sure why, I am still monitoring this situation). I later put the static leases back in, but apparently WMC/Windows didn't like the IP address for the Prime changing (or it's own IP changing) and it caused that one tuner to no longer work with WMC (but the other two were fine even though they were all part of the same Prime and therefore had the same IP address.)

passinos

Posts: 22
Joined: Sat Mar 25, 2017 2:46 pm
Location:

HTPC Specs: Show details

#3

Post by passinos » Wed Jun 14, 2017 12:24 pm

This is happening on 2x WMC's. one of which is a brand new build. it must be my Primes having 2 many tuner options.
As WMC is checking each one tuner, it times out. Maybe when it jumps from Prime #1 to #2.

Roginator

Posts: 86
Joined: Fri Nov 02, 2012 5:21 am
Location:

HTPC Specs: Show details

#4

Post by Roginator » Sat Jun 24, 2017 9:59 am

I had a similar problem using a Prime and a separate OTA tuner. There is an option in Media Center to select which tuner you wish to use for a certain channel. Let's say you have ABC OTA as well as ABC on cable. If you prefer the OTA version you can select just that.

SETTINGS
TV
GUIDE
EDIT CHANNELS
<select a channel>
EDIT SOURCES

passinos

Posts: 22
Joined: Sat Mar 25, 2017 2:46 pm
Location:

HTPC Specs: Show details

#5

Post by passinos » Sat Jun 24, 2017 1:42 pm

I see those options now. Thanks for pointing them out.
But I have 40+ Series recording and I never know what tuner is free. They all look the same Prime #1-6.
I cant manually go pick out all the tuners to avoid conflict. WMC is doing that Dynamically, Just not fast enough

Space

Posts: 2838
Joined: Sun Jun 02, 2013 9:44 pm
Location:

HTPC Specs: Show details

#6

Post by Space » Sat Jun 24, 2017 6:28 pm

I think it is probably best to open a case with Silicon Dust to have them look at the problem. Most likely they will have you turn on debugging which they can then analyze to determine what the problem is.

Rainey

Posts: 99
Joined: Thu Sep 25, 2014 3:34 am
Location:

HTPC Specs: Show details

#7

Post by Rainey » Wed Jun 28, 2017 1:05 am

I was having that issue a few years back. It would not happen right away after i rebooted everything but over time it would happen.
It seems like WMC (Each box) would try and and use the last tuner it used the last time it played/recorded. If that was in use it would
mark it failed and try a different tuner. At some point each WMC box would have marked most all tuners bad and would just start try
them in the order lowest to highest for recording. Each time it failed or tried a failed tuner it would give that error.
It seem multiple primes and multiple MWC boxes causes this over time.

I solved this problem by not giving each WMC box all six tuners, i gave one prime to each WMC box only and never had the error again.

passinos

Posts: 22
Joined: Sat Mar 25, 2017 2:46 pm
Location:

HTPC Specs: Show details

#8

Post by passinos » Wed Jun 28, 2017 11:08 am

That does sound like my setup. Probably would be OK with an extender instead of a 2nd WMC.
I was trying to avoid statically assigning tuners but that does seem like a good work around.

Thanks!!

Rainey

Posts: 99
Joined: Thu Sep 25, 2014 3:34 am
Location:

HTPC Specs: Show details

#9

Post by Rainey » Thu Jun 29, 2017 5:57 am

passinos wrote:That does sound like my setup. Probably would be OK with an extender instead of a 2nd WMC.
I was trying to avoid statically assigning tuners but that does seem like a good work around.

Thanks!!
It was not hard, you have to run the TV setup in WMC again and when the six tuners come up only select the three on one prime and then do the same for the other WMC/prime.

I now have to Connects and they don't have the issues with WMC so i guess it has something to do with the Cablecards/DRM in the primes.

User avatar
Crash2009

Posts: 4357
Joined: Thu May 17, 2012 12:38 am
Location: Ann Arbor, Michigan

HTPC Specs: Show details

#10

Post by Crash2009 » Fri Jul 07, 2017 7:50 am

passinos wrote:This is happening on 2x WMC's. one of which is a brand new build. it must be my Primes having 2 many tuner options.
As WMC is checking each one tuner, it times out. Maybe when it jumps from Prime #1 to #2.
I am assuming you do not have Tuning Adapter's (TA's)...if you do, coax both TA's and both Primes to the same 4way splitter.

Even the score a bit with cabling. Put both Primes and both htpc's on the same ethernet switch. Also put both Primes on the same coax splitter.

That should eliminate network or signal as being part of the problem. Doesn't have to be permanently wired that way. just a test.
Last edited by Crash2009 on Fri Jul 07, 2017 8:05 am, edited 1 time in total.

User avatar
Crash2009

Posts: 4357
Joined: Thu May 17, 2012 12:38 am
Location: Ann Arbor, Michigan

HTPC Specs: Show details

#11

Post by Crash2009 » Fri Jul 07, 2017 8:02 am

If you want to start messing with the registry.....this is where you do it. Regedit is not recomended. Apparently this section of the registry is dynamic. As was mentioned before...use Edit Sources within WMC.

- This is a problem; I have a pair of Hauppage NTSCs, which double as QAMs, and a pair of 'network served' ATSCs, off a HomeRun; if I am watching one stream of NTSC, and another NTSC recording is scheduled, which, rationally, should use the other NTSC, I invariably get a dialog that asks if it's OK to change the channel to acommodate the recording; if I select 'yes', it changes the active channel, and I lose my pause buffer for whatever I was watching; if I select 'no', it aborts the recording! THAT'S IT - no other choices or possibilities. I asked at the team forum specifically as I'm hesitant to putz around in the old semi-functional registry entries 'RecordOrder/RecordPrefered/WatchOrder/WatchPrefered' keys under HKLM/SOFTWARE/Microsoft/Windows/CurrentVersion/Media Center/Service/Video/Tuners/{TunerTypeKey}/{TunerKey}/UserSettings; these keys seem to have been changed under 7... My RecordOrder keys and WatchOrder keys are the same for each pair of tuners, but differ by types of pairs - the QAM's are both set to 5050 (13BA hex); the ATSC's are set to 7000 (1B58 hex); and the NTSC's are set to 8050 (1F72 hex); my assumption, because of the odd hex values, is that these have been changed to some arrangement of 'bitwise' flags, but am hesitant to 'futz' with them lacking any understanding of what's actually going on... I'm not looking for anything demanding regarding prioritizing things that are available from both QAM and ATSC - I simply want each pair of tuners to have 'opposite' record and view priorities, so it will quit giving me the choice of either abandoning my recording, or my pause buffer... Adding four tuner cards will only T me off more, because then it will be ignoring THREE available tuners!! EEEKKK!

Copied from...

https://social.technet.microsoft.com/Fo ... itpromedia

Headspinning

Posts: 1
Joined: Sun Nov 22, 2020 12:13 am
Location:

HTPC Specs: Show details

#12

Post by Headspinning » Sun Nov 22, 2020 12:26 am

I just want to add another solution to no TV Signal recording message by there is a TV signal and it records anyway if you have more than one tuner.
You can go to guide, right click channel descriptor, select edit chanel, select edit source > You will find a list of tuners> the arrows move tuners up or down in priority. So if you have 4 tuners you can have 4 different order of tuner priority that can be used on 4 different channels. You can set up less recorded channels to share very similar orders beyond 4.

If you float over each tuner it gives a description at the bottom and Quality percentage. If one tuner is better for one of the channels you will want to prioritize that 1 in the top slot.
I am Using Windows 8.1 Media Pack but also works for Win 10 and Windows Media Center installed.

byronomo

Posts: 38
Joined: Thu Mar 14, 2013 10:19 am
Location:

HTPC Specs: Show details

#13

Post by byronomo » Wed Jun 08, 2022 4:14 pm

passinos wrote: Wed Jun 14, 2017 2:23 am I have read about this before but I dont recall the fix. I have tried the "weak signal.msi" patch.
Was there a regedit to extend the time?

NO TV SIGNAL
There was no TV signal on channel X so "{show name}" could not be recorded. Reschedule the recording after verifying the TV signal is working for that channel.

from the missing remote:
This error occurs with tuning adapters (generally Cisco's) take too long to tune request a channel. If so, what happens is:

1- Media Center attempts to record on Tuner X.
2- The tuning adapter takes too long to respond
3- Media Center does not see a signal on Tuner X soon enough so it reports failure
4- Media Center attempts to record on Tuner Y
5- The channel was already allocated in step #2 so the tune request responds quickly
6- Everything records properly but has the failed message from Tuner X

I have 2x Primes with Comcast Cable cards

Thank All!
Are there any fixes/tweaks/settings that somehow adjust what is going on at step #3 in the OPs description. I have 8 client HTPCs that are sharing at total of 8 tuners and this happens very often. As OP said, the programs indeed get recorded (#6 above) but when you interact with the WMC interface you have to acknowledge each and every failed recording with a mouse click before utilizing the interface for viewing.

Alternatively, is there a way to suppress those failed recording messages?

passinos

Posts: 22
Joined: Sat Mar 25, 2017 2:46 pm
Location:

HTPC Specs: Show details

#14

Post by passinos » Wed Jun 08, 2022 5:13 pm

I have this file in my WMC apps folder. "No TV Signal Record issue.msu" also the weak signal.msi
never needed either but seems there is a file for it. not sure why its msu instead of msi

Space

Posts: 2838
Joined: Sun Jun 02, 2013 9:44 pm
Location:

HTPC Specs: Show details

#15

Post by Space » Thu Jun 09, 2022 4:41 am

byronomo wrote: Wed Jun 08, 2022 4:14 pm ...
Are there any fixes/tweaks/settings that somehow adjust what is going on at step #3 in the OPs description. I have 8 client HTPCs that are sharing at total of 8 tuners and this happens very often. As OP said, the programs indeed get recorded (#6 above) but when you interact with the WMC interface you have to acknowledge each and every failed recording with a mouse click before utilizing the interface for viewing.

Alternatively, is there a way to suppress those failed recording messages?
I can't recall anyone ever posting a way to increase the timeout when tuning a channel, I think it is hard coded.

Do you use a tuning adapter? Because I think this problem has only been seen by people who are tuning to a SDV channel that requires a tuning adapter.

I also am unaware of a way to disable the error message pop-ups, however you can probably use a tool such as AutoHotkey to automatically monitor for those pop-ups and dismiss them for you automatically (requires a bit of programming knowledge).

passinos

Posts: 22
Joined: Sat Mar 25, 2017 2:46 pm
Location:

HTPC Specs: Show details

#16

Post by passinos » Thu Jun 09, 2022 10:32 am

I am running Two HTPC Win7 with Two 3x Homruns. So I dedicated 4 tuners to main and 2 tuner to 2nd PC.
Not the most ideal but got rid of the did not record messages for me.

seriously looking into Channels for Central recording like Headend

Space

Posts: 2838
Joined: Sun Jun 02, 2013 9:44 pm
Location:

HTPC Specs: Show details

#17

Post by Space » Thu Jun 09, 2022 3:25 pm

Ah yes, if you are not allocating specific tuners to each WMC then you will always get tuner conflicts like this, perhaps that is what byronomo is talking about (and not about using a tuning adapter and getting timeouts). In this case increasing the timeout would do nothing to help, as the reason you are getting the error message is because another WMC machine is using the tuner, not due to a timeout.

If you don't want to allocate specific tuners to specific WMC machines (which in this case probably does not make much sense since it would be one tuner per WMC machine), you can change the priority of which tuner is used on each machine, so that one WMC machine will use 1-1 as the top priority and the other will use 1-2, then 1-3, then 2-1, etc. In this way each machine will try a different tuner first and there will only be a conflict if one WMC machine is recording more than one channel at the same time and the second tuner used happens to be the #1 tuner on another WMC machine that is recording at the same time.

This will not prevent the problem, but should alleviate it somewhat unless you have many WMC machines recording multiple channels at the same time.

I am aware of how to change tuner priority on a channel-by-channel basis, but not sure if there is a way to do it globally for every channel on a single WMC machine, but if you only record from a handful of channels, changing the priority for each of those channels on each WMC machine is possible, if not a bit tedious.

byronomo

Posts: 38
Joined: Thu Mar 14, 2013 10:19 am
Location:

HTPC Specs: Show details

#18

Post by byronomo » Fri Jun 10, 2022 3:12 am

Space wrote: Thu Jun 09, 2022 4:41 am
I can't recall anyone ever posting a way to increase the timeout when tuning a channel, I think it is hard coded.

Do you use a tuning adapter? Because I think this problem has only been seen by people who are tuning to a SDV channel that requires a tuning adapter.

I also am unaware of a way to disable the error message pop-ups, however you can probably use a tool such as AutoHotkey to automatically monitor for those pop-ups and dismiss them for you automatically (requires a bit of programming knowledge).
Thanks for your reply. Yes, I do use a tuning adapter--two of them, actually.

byronomo

Posts: 38
Joined: Thu Mar 14, 2013 10:19 am
Location:

HTPC Specs: Show details

#19

Post by byronomo » Fri Jun 10, 2022 3:24 am

Space wrote: Thu Jun 09, 2022 3:25 pm Ah yes, if you are not allocating specific tuners to each WMC then you will always get tuner conflicts like this, perhaps that is what byronomo is talking about (and not about using a tuning adapter and getting timeouts). In this case increasing the timeout would do nothing to help, as the reason you are getting the error message is because another WMC machine is using the tuner, not due to a timeout.

If you don't want to allocate specific tuners to specific WMC machines (which in this case probably does not make much sense since it would be one tuner per WMC machine), you can change the priority of which tuner is used on each machine, so that one WMC machine will use 1-1 as the top priority and the other will use 1-2, then 1-3, then 2-1, etc. In this way each machine will try a different tuner first and there will only be a conflict if one WMC machine is recording more than one channel at the same time and the second tuner used happens to be the #1 tuner on another WMC machine that is recording at the same time.

This will not prevent the problem, but should alleviate it somewhat unless you have many WMC machines recording multiple channels at the same time.

I am aware of how to change tuner priority on a channel-by-channel basis, but not sure if there is a way to do it globally for every channel on a single WMC machine, but if you only record from a handful of channels, changing the priority for each of those channels on each WMC machine is possible, if not a bit tedious.
Thanks again for the info. Your answer is what I'd feared was the case all along. Now for the tough decision of whether to customize the channel priority on each HTPC or just keep on clicking cancel on all of the dialog box warnings. :D

Post Reply