Multiple files for recordings over 1 hr

[cKuR6]

Wmc makes multiple files for movies or baseball games I record. It seems to record a few minutes, then makes a second file for an hr, then makes a third file for the remainder on baseball games. On movies it usually makes two - three files with similiar timelines as the bball recordings, but the first is not always just a few minutes. I searched but failed to find this issue or anything similar on google.

System is ssd, recording to a 7200 1tb barracuda. Files are moved to a 2tb USB seagate by metatenamer. I'm moving the files manually (on demand) until everything works. Thus it shouldn't be an issue of the file being read by that program, which I believe I read is not an issue anyway.

[Crash2009]

Didn't take you long to break it. WMC does not (by default) split your movies and sporting events into pieces. Why do you think you need MetaRenamer? Why don't you ask around here and find out what works for your needs? WMC is old technology, it is easy to break, and there are no updates to fix it. It's best to try and keep it pure, and only install things that have been tested to not break it.

[cKuR6]

The recordings in question are left in the original recorded tv location, are not renamed or moved. The failure is during recording.

This was happening long before metarenamer. Just haven't had the time to post. Why is the common answer for ceton and here to blame other things metarenamer has absolutely nothing to do with wmc breaking up recordings. So it is either the infinitv6 or wmc. I have no issue with infinitv6, never fails to tune or anything else, so my first finger point is at wmc.

To answer the question, I need metarenamer, for the precise reason you've stated. Wmc can not fill all my needs. My kids need to access the recordings via roku. I looked at all options and metadenamer seems to be the best option for not spending hrs manually setting up my folders, renaming, etc. all my recordings touched by metadenamer are perfect. My MLB and movies are not touched by metarenamer so that is a straw man there crash.

[Crash2009]

Sorry, I was just surprised that it broke so soon and lashed out at metamover. Regarding this new splitting development, all I can think of is signal problem. What I mean by that is it possible that Tuner 1 is recording, then loses signal, then Tuner 2 takes over?

You have the ETH 6, couple other ideas might be that it may have overheated and has restarted.

The other thing I've read about lately is overworked router rebooting.

Do you have the ETH 6 and the Htpc plugged into the same switch or how do you have that wired?

[JohnW248]

Try this instead of the way you're doing it now. Go to MC, Tasks, TV Recorder and make your USB drive the destination. Restart the computer and see if the files remain intact. There may be an issue with file size and "work load" on the SSD or the file format (i.e. if Fat 32 that is an issue although not likely you're formatted that way). But I'd suspect the SSD first and try this test and see if it resolves the issue. It'll be faster to delete the recordings you want to lose than to move the ones you want to keep.

[cKuR6]

No apologies. I was tired and just coming off coaching an intense game. I appreciate all the ideas.

The tuner has no issues. I've never lost a stream, and no other recordings fail. Just long ones, and within the first few minutes initially.

Good thought on the ssd, but the recordings initially go to a 7200, large hdd seagate barracuda.

[JohnW248]

Do you have pieces "missing" between the parts? Have you checked Recorded TV / Scheduled / History to see if there is an indication there of an issue?

There are some possible causes, if you were watching live tv and not recording it would just stop with "weak signal" on a recording MC will sometimes roll to another tuner but there will be a track in recorded tv history with "partial" next to the recording and some explanation in you click on the recording (power loss, stopped by another program, etc).

If it is a network tuner, there is always the possibility of a packet issue which would also cause this.

A little more information on the tuner and the computer and all the drives, etc. would be helpful.

[cKuR6]

Do you have pieces "missing" between the parts? Have you checked Recorded TV / Scheduled / History to see if there is an indication there of an issue?

There are some possible causes, if you were watching live tv and not recording it would just stop with "weak signal" on a recording MC will sometimes roll to another tuner but there will be a track in recorded tv history with "partial" next to the recording and some explanation in you click on the recording (power loss, stopped by another program, etc).

If it is a network tuner, there is always the possibility of a packet issue which would also cause this.

A little more information on the tuner and the computer and all the drives, etc. would be helpful.

No pieces missing, and no log of any issue, or note of any issue on the recording. It picks right back up on recording two, where one stopped.

To expand on my no issues with tuner comments. I've never had a weak signal. Never had a problem watching live tv. I have full bars on wmc network tests, and the ceton diagnostics says everything is fine. The only issue I am seeing now, is the multiple recordings for movies / baseball. I noticed it first on movies. Now that I am finding a bit more time to watch ball, i noticed last night that it recorded 3 minutes, then an hour, then the rest. Tv's were in use in two places, and recording another channel. No problems on the live tv or other 30 minute recordings.

My setup:
TWC Cable card in InfiniTV6
2 ceton echos
2 Rokus
TWC 50/5
Netgear n750
House wired through MoCA (channelmasters)

HTPC (functioning only as DVR no TV viewing on machine):

CPU
Phenom II X4 965 Black AM3 3.4Ghz 512KB 45NM 125W 4000MHZ
Motherboard
A780L3G
Graphics
Zotac GEFORCE FT 740 LP
RAM
Crucial 4GB DDR3 1066
Hard Drives
Barracuda 1TB 3.0Gbs 7200RPM (recording drive) // OCZ 120GB SSD // Seagate 2TB USB (Recording Storage) // 2 other older HDD's pulled from stockers
Optical Drive
Some junk ripped from a stock machine and an LG DVD
OS
W7 ULTIMATE x64 on ssd
Monitor
2-HP2031 20" WS on dvi
Power
Zeuss 650W
Case
Antec 200

[JohnW248]

My setup:
TWC Cable card in InfiniTV6
2 ceton echos
2 Rokus
TWC 50/5
Netgear n750
House wired through MoCA (channelmasters)

HTPC (functioning only as DVR no TV viewing on machine):

In recorded TV/Scheduled/History do the recordings "switch tuners" when this happens? I would think that they would.

Do you have a MoCA filter on the InfiniTV6? Is that a ETH or PCIe version?

[Crash2009]

There is some other hardware involved John. I haven't dug into it very far. A device called Channelmaster is part of the scenario.

cKuR6, is this the Channelmaster model that you have. CM-7500 http://support.channelmaster.com/hc/en- ... lick-Sheet and how do you have that wired? or what is the model of the Channelmaster that you have?

[cKuR6]

good call on the recording history. i was not aware of that feature.... i promise i search extensively. not sure how I missed that one.

I checked a game and one of the movies. Sure enough, it is switching tuners, stating the cause was a schedule change.


For later purposes, I'll go ahead and explain my setup. I doubt any of this has anything to do with a schedule change, but might as well have it all in a thread somewhere.


I was not aware cm had dvr's. I have MoCA switches, cm6004's. My DVR is my HTPC and the drives listed in my previous posting with equipment.

Setup goes like this:

Inbound TWC cable & internet signal to tap. Tap feeds cable signal to 4 way quality, non amped splitter. Other coax line goes to modem. Modem feeds N750 via ethernet.
N750 injects network signal into cm6004 1 via ethernet. cm6004 1 feeds network signal into aformentioned 4 way splitter via coax.

splitter sends signal via coax to cm6004 2. cm6004 2 sends cable signal via coax to twc dta. cm6004 2 also feeds smart tv, ceton echo 2, and xbox via ethernet.
twc dta connected to ethernet infiniTV6 via coax and usb as directed. infiniTV6 injects tv into network via ethernet back to cm6004 2.

splitter sends signal via coax to cm6004 3. cm6004 3 feeds ceton echo 1 & sony blu ray via ethernet.

splitter sends signal via coax to cm6004 4. cm6004 4 feeds roku 3-1 & xbox via ethernet.

roku 3- 2, laptop, ipod, and ds3's run off wireless.

[Crash2009]

splitter sends signal via coax to cm6004 2. cm6004 2 sends cable signal via coax to twc dta. cm6004 2 also feeds smart tv, ceton echo 2, and xbox via ethernet.
twc dta connected to ethernet infiniTV6 via coax and usb as directed. infiniTV6 injects tv into network via ethernet back to cm6004 2.

Could you clarify "as directed".

I thought I read there should be a splitter. cm6004 2 coax out to splitter in. Then splitter out A to TA. Then splitter out B to Ceton ETH6. and USB connecting the TA to the ETH6.

I sketched a diagram but its too rough for publication. Mpgrimm2 has done a couple great diagrams. One with Ethernet from the ETH6 to the router, and another with the ETH6 to the switch. I have never read of anyone documenting the ETH6 with MoCA.

http://www.thegreenbutton.tv/forums/dow ... &mode=view

http://www.thegreenbutton.tv/forums/dow ... &mode=view

Oh yea, I almost forgot to ask. Where is the HTPC?

[JohnW248]

There is a known problem with MoCA and tuners on certain frequencies (this used to come up on Verizon FiOS all the time) which requires a filter ahead of the tuner. It's possible you're getting feedback through the splitter to the input of the Ceton tuner. A little more research on the specific channels and their REAL not published frequency (i.e. 186000 MHz and not 356 for example) and see if it's all on the same QAM tank would point to a MoCA issue.

Schedule change is a strange message since it keeps running, but that might be an issue to the time drifting on the PC. There is a task you can run that will update the time for your automatically (in Task Scheduler, Task Scheduler Library Microsoft Media Center) if that's the issue. Although from what you've mentioned it sounds like this issue occurs on the same channels--the would be good to know along with the real frequency. You can get that by opening the Ceton WebGui and clicking on the tuner in use for the channel and get information on the frequency, s/n ratio strength, etc. Unfortunatly running the diagnostic tool only gives you a snapshot at that particular instant and you're not having a problem. But you should make sure that your signal levels are between +/- 7 dB mV and that your SN is above 35 dB. You'll see variation over the spectrum and over time so a measurement at 10AM will likely be different than 10PM. If you have SDV you can check signal levels there as well from the diagnostic map which you open from the TA tab in the Ceton WebGui.

[cKuR6]

Ok you e given some good direction on things to try. Busy week here, so I might not get time until next weekend. To answer a few quick things, the as directed is from a piece of paper inside the dta package. For once directions were clear and a real diagram without errors existed. I assure you there was no call for a switch or splitter. The dta and ceton get wired together, then the ceton goes out via Ethernet.
When setting up the cable card, a few different times we checked the signal levels, and one of the channels I was sure to check is the one I am recording bball on. Iirc, it was +6. Ill watch it a few times this week.

If it were a MoCA issue, I would assume this would occur on more than just movies and baseball. I record fast n loud and my wife wastes space with big brother. So those should fail as well. No half hour shows do this, nor do the 1 hr shows. If it was halpenning like 2 hrs in, I would not be so confused, but 3 minutes in, should happen on any show.

[oakley516]

Maybe rule out the MoCa interference by recording the baseball or movie channels giving you issues while the MoCa switches are powered down.

[JohnW248]

If it were a MoCA issue, I would assume this would occur on more than just movies and baseball. I record fast n loud and my wife wastes space with big brother. So those should fail as well. No half hour shows do this, nor do the 1 hr shows. If it was halpenning like 2 hrs in, I would not be so confused, but 3 minutes in, should happen on any show.

No so, there are a couple of frequencies involved and if you check the method cable companies use to do QAM modulation you'll find several channels that are on the same frequency which is why I said you need to determine the real frequency and not the ESPN number etc. You'll find that when you've tuned to the channel OR you can go to the WebGui for the Ceton and click on cableCARD and then number of channels (lower third of the page you'll have to scroll down to it) which will display the channel map (usually several pages). This will show the channels and their number and their transmitted frequency. If you SDV those will be omitted in this report but it should start to give you information.

sample: (you'll see that KCBS KNBC and KABC are in the same QAM Tank on the same frequency)



Channel Name Modulation Frequency (kHz) Program EIA

2 KCBS QAM256 213000 198 13.198
4 KNBC QAM256 213000 208 13.208
5 KTLA QAM256 219000 222 23.222
6 CH06 NTSC 85000 138 6.138
7 KABC QAM256 213000 207 13.207
8 KCET QAM256 219000 215 23.215
9 KCAL QAM256 219000 214 23.214

[Crash2009]

Ok you e given some good direction on things to try. Busy week here, so I might not get time until next weekend. To answer a few quick things, the as directed is from a piece of paper inside the dta package. For once directions were clear and a real diagram without errors existed. I assure you there was no call for a switch or splitter. The dta and ceton get wired together, then the ceton goes out via Ethernet.

Just throwing a few things out there for you to consider. If everything was working fine after the new Win7, I'd just say congrats and move on. John knows his stuff, he has helped a lot of people here with tuners, including me.

The switch is shown in the Ceton ETH6 Installation video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fMQUV0EMg1o

The splitter is recommended By Time Warner for computer connected tuners. No splitter for Tivo or Moxi. http://www.timewarnercable.com/en/suppo ... ecard.html

Erkotz, Quality Assurance Manager, for Ceton, explains the difference between a DTA and a TA. http://forums.timewarnercable.com/t5/Ce ... /24102#M18 What model do you have connected to CM6004 (2)?

What is the HTPC's NIC connected to?

[Crash2009]

These TiVo guys have some interesting ways to hook up MoCA. http://www.tivocommunity.com/tivo-vb/sh ... p?t=501722

Looks like they would be injecting the network closer to the cable source.

Here is the diagram I was looking for. Just pretend the Tivo is your ETH6. The other side of the splitter (to the right) would go to the CM6004 (out, I assume). Apparently the TA's RF out is unreliable in this example.

Well men, have I done my homework correctly?

[cKuR6]

edit: I had read that post prior to hooking all my eq up. I mixed up the TA & DTA in memory..... I am using a TA, not DTA.

busy times right now. had to refinish cabinets at the house from which we recently moved, swap out a ceiling fan, coaching, etc, etc.... these next two weeks bring 6+ family birthdays. I've not been able to get into the diagnostics to check the things we've discussed. One easy test I performed, was during scheduling of the recordings. I can't seem to locate a way on the echo, to set recording settings, during the initial choose to record process. So, if I had set up a recording for a game for example, I was then remembering after the recording started, to change the recording settings to run longer and not delete. I was careful this week to schedule recordings in advance, and set the recording settings immediately, then I did not touch them again. This has resulted in the multiple files issue dissappearing.

Apparently, when changing recording settings, the software has to restart the recording? This seems strange, but I am coming from TWC DVR's, and only know about them. With TWC DVR's you can change any setting you want, and it still keeps recording one file. So, that issue seems to have been worked out......... HOWEVER.....

I will still dig into the channel details as directed previously, as the first high recording level night brough two destroyed The Big Bang Theory recordings..... Pixelation, audio drop, freeze on top or bottom half of the screen while the other half moves on with the show.... this will not work. I was using 4-5 tuners for the first time, and it, like the rest of this has resulted in an initial fail. I've skimmed some of the other threads regarding these types of issues. Hope to find time for that around mid oct, unless every important recording is useless, then I'll have to stay up at night to get it working.


as for the moca. I would not hook mine up like shown above. That diagram appears to provide a wide open internet access. If you go into moca, then your modem, your injecting the internet signal unfiltered right? Anyway, my network tests all show my set up provides sufficient bandwidth. I have no network issues, so I am leaving that as is for now.

as for the dta & infinitv6 setup, the above diagram is not showing an accurate view. there is no eth in this diagram. I have a diagram at home showing my bnetwork. I will try to upload it tonight.

basically: internet coax into modem, eth out to router, eth out of router into cm6004, coax out to splitter to feed network.
for the infinitv 6 eth, coax into TA, coax out to infinitv6 eth, usb out to infinitv6, eth out to cm6004.

[cKuR6]

The multiple files issue indeed appeared to be due to me changing the save settings while it was recording. I've not seen a show split since I stopped doing this.