[mistergroove]

Hi guys.

Loving kodi but pulling my hair out since kodi was upgraded from xbmc.

Since I upgraded to kodi from gotham I've been unable to get PVR functionality working.

I'm using Kodi (Build 14. Git:as747d9), Ubuntu (Ubuntu 12.04.5 LTS), Myth TV (v0.25.2-15-g46cab93) and I compiled the git://github.com/janbar/xbmc-pvr-addons.git (downloaded yesterday). The addon installed ok. Both Kodi and MythTV are running on the same machine.

I ran mythtv-setup and set the security pin as "0000".

But kodi fails to connect to the mythbackend....

Can anyone see anything obvious that I'm doing wrong


Here is the relevant section of my Kodi Log :

more /home/xbmc/.kodi/temp/kodi.log
12:08:01 T:140466083321600 ERROR: AddOnLog: MythTV PVR Client: (CPPMyth)InitWSAPI: MythTV API service is not supported or unavailable: 192.168.1.200:6544 (1.4
)
12:08:01 T:140466083321600 ERROR: AddOnLog: MythTV PVR Client: (CPPMyth)OpenConnection: failed to connect with any version
12:08:01 T:140466083321600 ERROR: AddOnLog: MythTV PVR Client: Failed to connect to MythTV backend on 192.168.1.200:6543
12:08:01 T:140466083321600 ERROR: AddOnLog: MythTV PVR Client:
12:08:01 T:140466083321600 ERROR: PVR - couldn't get the capabilities for add-on 'unknown'. Please contact the developer of this add-on: Christian Fetzer, Jea
n-Luc Barrière


Here is the matching part of my MythTV Backend log :

more /var/log/mythtv/mythbackend.log (snipped)
Jan 7 12:08:01 universe2 mythbackend[1775]: C ProcessRequest mainserver.cpp:1259 (HandleVersion) MainServer::HandleVersion - Client speaks protocol version 75
but we speak 72!
Jan 7 12:08:01 universe2 mythbackend[1775]: W ProcessRequest mainserver.cpp:5801 (connectionClosed) MainServer: Unknown socket closing MythSocket(0xbc6c70)
Jan 7 12:08:01 universe2 mythbackend[1775]: W Socket mainserver.cpp:5801 (connectionClosed) MainServer: Unknown socket closing MythSocket(0xc71b20)


# mythbackend --version
Please attach all output as a file in bug reports.
MythTV Version : v0.25.2-15-g46cab93
MythTV Branch : fixes/0.25
Network Protocol : 72
Library API : 0.25.20120506-1
QT Version : 4.8.1
Options compiled in:
linux profile use_hidesyms using_alsa using_oss using_pulse using_pulseoutput using_backend using_bindings_perl using_bindings_python using_bindings_php using_crystalhd using_dvb using_firewire using_frontend using_hdhomerun using_ceton using_hdpvr using_iptv using_ivtv using_joystick_menu using_libcec using_libcrypto using_libdns_sd using_libxml2 using_lirc using_mheg using_opengl_video using_qtwebkit using_qtscript using_qtdbus using_v4l2 using_x11 using_xrandr using_xv using_bindings_perl using_bindings_python using_bindings_php using_mythtranscode using_opengl using_vaapi using_vdpau using_ffmpeg_threads using_live using_mheg using_libass using_libxml2



I can telnet into 192.168.1.200 (6543) - the mythtv server anywhere on my localnetwork or the mythtv server itself.

#telnet 192.168.1.200 6543
Trying 192.168.1.200...
Connected to 192.168.1.200.
Escape character is '^]'.

[metaron]

more /var/log/mythtv/mythbackend.log (snipped)
Jan 7 12:08:01 universe2 mythbackend[1775]: C ProcessRequest mainserver.cpp:1259 (HandleVersion) MainServer::HandleVersion - Client speaks protocol version 75 but we speak 72!
...

Although the API services seems to have existed in Mythtv since 0.25, the MythTV_PVR wiki page (http://kodi.wiki/view/MythTV_PVR) seems to suggest the mythtv.pvr code only supports 0.27 and 0.28. This might be your problem although I don't know for sure.

Personally I'd suggest upgrading mythtv to 0.27 anyway if you can. Mythtv had a major bug squishing exercise for 0.27 and it seems to have helped. I have found it a lot more stable than 0.25 and 0.26 (but then I only really use the back end, so your mileage may vary).

If you do go down this route make sure you backup your mythtv mysql database first (http://www.mythtv.org/wiki/Database_Backup_and_Restore). I've never had an upgrade go wrong myself but I'd hate to suggest you do this and something goes wrong. It also means you can go back to 0.25 if you don't like 0.27 for some reason (although you would loose records for any new recordings made with 0.27)

[mistergroove]

Thanks metaron. Really appreciate it. I'll give that a go in the morning and let you know. (spent too many hours on this today already).

[nickr]

That is correct, upgrade myth to 0.27. Use mythbuntu repos. http://www.mythbuntu.org/repos

[mistergroove]

It worked a treat. Thank you metaron. You're brilliant.

Do you find that video and sound is a little more choppy on 0.27?

[metaron]

Like I said I don't use mythfrontend so I can't really comment on playback with 0.27.

My set-up consists of mythtv 0.27.4+ on a Core 2 gentoo box and two Raspberry Pi B's running OpenElec 4.2.1 with the included pvr.mythtv.cmyth addon version. One Pi is connected via 100MB ethernet, the other on the end of an AV500 powerline adapter.
This combination works well with no video sync issues and just the occasional loss of perfect smoothness in playback of recorded files. Most of my recordings are scheduled using mythweb on the server.

I don't use live TV as changing channels is just too slow although it seems to work (the TV's tuner does this better anyway). Generally I record and watch later (when there is nothing worth watching live).

Since yesterday I've also got a Pi B+ on which I'm testing home rolled versions of Openelec 5.0 (compiled from git on the Core 2 with one or two patches of my own...). Testing them on the Pi in the living room was causing issues with other family members...

In my opinion mythtv 0.27.4+ is more stable than 0.25 (I had trouble with mythbackend crashing - the server is always on). 0.24 seemed pretty good too, but the scheduler is much faster in 0.27 and the backend hasn't crashed once, even after power outages. I had some database corruption issues after power outages with 0.26 but nothing with 0.27.4 (fingers crossed and I hope this isn't just luck).

With regard to XBMC/Kodi, Openelec 4.2.1 (Gotham 13.2 based) is very good as a front end for mythtv 0.27.4+ on the Pi. I've even started to use it to schedule the occasional recording using the 'client specific' 'record once any channel' or 'record any time on any channel' (these should be the default choices for recording with a mythtv backend in my opinion: Just right for a film or a series - I don't do match of the day ).
I'm not 100% convinced yet as I had some issues over Christmas when I tried to set up 2 week's worth of movies (it started to set recordings for the show immediately before the movie I wanted and I had to tidy the mess up using mythweb)

Playback using xbmc/kodi version 12 on the Pi was a bit juddery and generally left me disappointed.
I don't think Helix (14.0 / OpenElec 5.0) is ready for prime time as a mythtv frontend on the Pi yet.
I have occasional video/audio sync issues and the recordings list is not responsive enough unless you turn off the icons in the addon and apply the recordings window speed patch covered elsewhere on this forum. This might be less of an issue with the 1.11.2 addon but I haven't tried yet.

Another minor niggle are duplicate channel entries in the EPG. I have two tuners on the backend - one DVB-T and one DVB-S2 which the new Addon turns into separate Channel Groups. The old addon used to merge them into one list. As I'm using the 'mythtv approved' method of merging two video sources (give channels the same name and channel number) it ought to be possible to cater for this somehow? I'd also like to improve the initial opening performance of the EPG on the Pi too.

In my opinion the promise of a full set of thumbnail icons (never worked properly in OE4.2.1 with the old addon) and a flattened 'films' folder courtesy of the flatten folder 'only for series' make the new pvr.mythtv addon an improvement.
The prospect of using the mythtv skiplist / commsip automatically during playback is also good, but as I haven't managed to get commercial detection working on the backend properly here (in the UK) I would have some more tweaking to do first. For now I just press the right arrow a few times when the adds appear.

Once the EPG and Recordings list responsiveness improves (can't see why it shouldn't with some tweaks) I'll try Kodi on the living room Pi again to see if the video/audio sync issues are gone...

[mistergroove]

Hi metatron,

You've probably moved well along now. Finally had a chance to look at my setup again. Had too much other stuff on. I've now got the Pi's and my mythserver working well and they seem pretty stable - running on 0.27.4 and the Kodi 14.2. I had playback problems initially on the Pi - but when I turned on hardware acceleration with the licence code all my playback issues disappeared.

You got everything working well now?

[metaron]

Yes thanks. I'm running OE5.0.8 on the RPis (self-compiled with some tweaks, see my other recent posts). I've still got the same 0.27.4 based backend, but with a selective backport of DVR services from 0.28 to get 'watched status' working. I haven't tried the Isenguard betas yet. That's for another day...
As I have some time off at the moment, I'm taking the opportunity to play with the code for janbar's new pvr.mythtv addon (watched status + series/episode support + timer support) and to make some mischief on this forum . Expect more postings...