Recording Issues after EPG123

[tmetal1]

I have an oddity that started when I moved to EPG123. I realize it could be coincidental, but thought I'd throw it out there and see if any one else has seen this.
I have a Hauppage WinTv-HVR 2250 card and a USB WinTv-HVR 850. I realize there are no more drivers for these and Hauppauge calls them "legacy".
About the time I switched to the EPG123, I started noticing that some shows would start super late (like 20 minutes or more). First time seeing this is 1/7, 32.1, The Resident, WFLDDT, Hauppauge tuner #1 start 7:23 - 8:00. Couple days later..another...couple more days later another etc. Not always the same tuner either.

Then suddenly this stops for about three days and then (@ Feb 1 - coincidental again...?? Not likely) I get a NEW symptom. Media Center says it is recording items (best REPEATABLE logged action is again, FOX - 32.1 - Prodigal Son and 9-1-1: Lone Star, ABC - 7.1 - The Good Doctor) but they are NOWHERE. Not in the recorded tv file folder, not in MC, not logged as deleted. A pattern starts as I click on the missing shows. My Hauppauge USB 850 (identified as 950 by device manager and MC) is apparently doing the lying to MC, or MC is doing the lying to me.

One night I get tired of this, and during an OBVIOUS ATTEMPT at ANOTHER "failure to start" (yes, now it is mixing symptoms as of Feb 10 - Feb 12 is when I pull the USB), but he Scheduled section saying that it is currently recording, but I don't see it on the main "recorded tv" listing saying it is recording, and the Recorded TV folder says otherwise (nothing here). I pull the USB out. I'm clicking on the MC and get stuck on a blank screen and can't get out. Hard reboot. Program starts recording on the 2250 tuner 1 (seems to be the least used tuner for some reason when you look through the log files of who recorded what). So far, for the last 4 days I haven't had an issue...BUT Monday night hasn't happened as of yet, the big day of about 5 recordings (2 @ 7 pm and 2 @ 9 pm, 1 @ 8 pm). Now that I'm limited to 2 tuners from 3, likely the 8 pm is going to start at 8:02 (this happened the other night since the pull of the USB). So far it sounds like the 850 has been the trouble, even though it is the newest tuner.

Final note: EPG Config is running (2) line ups. One for 60136 (this is because of "MicroSoft shutdowns of accessibility in the area" and having to change the zip code to something else as of about 4-5 years ago) and one for 60188 which does change the default line up, but BOTH are pointed to the same channels.

Thanks for listening.

[DSperber]

I know that you know that your Hauppauge cards are pretty old. In fact I used to have a 2-tuner Hauppauge HVR-2250 myself for OTA/ATSC, along with a Ceton 4-tuner InfiniTV for cable.

Then with the disappearance of OTA/NTSC and my vanished need for any S-Video analog support, I upgraded to a Ceton 6-tuner card, and also upgraded to a 4-tuner Hauppauge QuadHD. Have you considered going to a single new QuadHD instead of your two old cards? Really a good investment of $100.

I've been using EPG123 for three (maybe four?) years with this setup (on two separate HTPC's, one of which is "retired" and the second of which is "current production") along with two channel lineups from SD, and haven't ever seen the symptom you're describing. Are you sure the start-time from the SD Guide data is correct, and it's something else hardware-related perhaps that might be responsible for your late starts?

EPG123 doesn't have any direct influence on WMC behavior as far as recordings go, in terms of having any ability to impact when recordings start. If the schedule says "record" a given channel at a specific time, as long as a tuner is available and shown as a usable "source", the recording should take place. Perhaps if no tuners are available at the assigned recording start time, but somehow magically reappear somewhat later, the recording would probably now start... giving the appearance of a start delay, but not because it was supposed to work that way because of anything EPG123 or SD did.

I would speculate a hardware-related issue for your intermittency symptom. I certainly can recommend the much newer QuadHD, which for me has been 100% reliable.

[tmetal1]

Well, it looks like the removal of the WinTV850 usb device has kind of cleared up the basic issues. Yes, it can be better if I get another tuner / tuner set as some programs are starting at 1 minute after when there are high recording periods (Monday). Hopefully my post helps someone else.