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[imeric]

Thx guy for all the feedback on this!!

Let me also try to explain what I'd like to see:  Something similar to how another program does it where we have the option to "bypass" the EDL info and rewind/skip to a desired area if comskip is not accurate.  With the other program the areas identified as commercials turn from dark green to blue and it is possible to watch the commercials or scan through them instead of just skipping it, without really knowing what's happening...

This would go a long way for me and with my other IR Blaster issue partly resolved I would give JRiver a shot with TV watching and recording!!!

As for including comskip as part of JRiver this would be awesome but there's other programs that can run alongside and generate the EDL files JRiver can use...So not a show stopper.

The other and last "Must" for me for JRiver as a unique solution is the ability to use more than one Hard drive for recordings.  Just one is simply not enough as recording more than two shows at once on the same hard drive will generate stutter (I've been there especially with the Colossus having to encode on the fly...).  I also need the space from other HDs.

THX!

[kstuart]

The other and last "Must" for me for JRiver as a unique solution is the ability to use more than one Hard drive for recordings.  Just one is simply not enough as recording more than two shows at once on the same hard drive will generate stutter (I've been there especially with the Colossus having to encode on the fly...).  I also need the space from other HDs.

THX!

This would be useful to me if implemented as a setting of "Recording Folder" within each Recording Rule.

[RoderickGI]

The other and last "Must" for me for JRiver as a unique solution is the ability to use more than one Hard drive for recordings.  Just one is simply not enough as recording more than two shows at once on the same hard drive will generate stutter (I've been there especially with the Colossus having to encode on the fly...).  I also need the space from other HDs.

I've seen you mention this somewhere before, but can't find a thread requesting this functionality. So I'll comment here, but it is off topic.

First, I don't have a Colossus but I'm surprised that encoding on the fly adds load to the disk. I would have thought that loads the Colossus itself and the CPU on your PC. Certainly with my quad tuner I can record three programs and watch a fourth without trouble, or record four. The highest maximum bitrate I see for OTA TV is 80Mbps, or 10MB/s, and as my recording drive is capable of continuous writing at 70 to 90MB/s, I just don't see any bottleneck at the hard drive.

Have you really looked into the source of the bottleneck which causes the stuttering?

If it truly is the hard drive, there are options for faster write speeds. Perhaps set an SSD as the target for recordings, and then move them to larger drives, manually or automatically. Or set up a RAID 5 disk system, either network attached, or better yet, USB 3.0 (5Gbps) or 3.1 (10Gbps), or Thunderbolt 2 (20Gbps), which offer much higher connection speeds than a 1Gbps Ethernet network connection.

As for space, most current NAS capable drives are available in up to 6TB, and Seagate Archive drives up to 8TB, for individual drives. Do you really need to store more than 6TB of recorded TV on the one drive, without moving anything to another drive? If you move using MC functionality the recordings will remain in the "Recorded TV" section of your MC database. It hardly seems necessary to keep everything on one drive. (Let alone assign recordings to a specific folder kstuart.) The MC database doesn't care where the files are, as long as it has access to them. There are many ways to segregate and categorise recordings within MC, so that you can view a particular category of recordings together in one view, for example. Take a look at the ability to add Tags to a recording rule, so the each recording made by that rule can be assigned, for example, a category that would be used to view just those type of recordings.

Admittedly, I do fill up my primary 3TB Recorded TV drive, but only because I don't clean up the drive often enough. I tend to record stuff that "I will watch one day", and then don't. But I could move stuff to another drive easily.

Adding the ability to write recordings to more than one drive would add some complexity to the software, and more to the use of MC, as you would have to select which drive to write to for every recording rule. Then if one disk fills, have rules to write to another disk. If that is all you need, get a five disk RAID 5 box and put 6TB WD Red drives in it, and let the RAID system spread the recording load for you.

So what is the real issue here? Perhaps start a new thread on it and direct me to it.

[imeric]

Hi,

I totally agree with you that it shouldn't stutter as I also did the math and my problem is most likely due to the Colossus itself (or Sage)...Once I reset the SageTVService the issue usually disappears.. But it looks like it might be specific to one HD I have. Still trouble checking this...Not sure where my problem is yet.  But sharing loads bwn hard drives for recordings would be a good thing wouldn't it?

Nevertheless.  I'm not going to start throwing away my existing 1 or 2 TB hard drives and or start deleting TV files because JRiver can not handle more than one Recording folder.  I'll just keep using "The Other" software for TV recordings.  It also offers the option to distribute recordings amongst HDs based on bandwidth or Space.  And having more than one HD is also good for redundancy...Ie if one of them goes I don't lose the recordings on the others...

I bought NAS in the past and always ended up returning them as they are too slow for my needs...(For moving files around bwn different PCs...) The ones I would want are too expensive and would rather run PCs with smaller HDs which are cheaper instead..

Again this is a must for me. And yes a little off topic ...

[imeric]

I do have one suggestion not sure how hard this would be to implement but would definitely work for me....

When you configure different Profiles in the setup why not give the option to have a dedicated Recording Folder per profile?  This would work.

However I would also need different profiles for different ATSC cards also...This does not seem to be supported.."Yet".

I have 3 ATSC cards + 1 Colossus for STB

Thx guys.

[RoderickGI]

I totally agree with you that it shouldn't stutter as I also did the math and my problem is most likely due to the Colossus itself (or Sage)...Once I reset the SageTVService the issue usually disappears..

Ah, so the stuttering problem doesn't just happen with JRiver MC, but also happens with your preferred TV recording software, Sage. In fact, does it happen with MC at all? If it does happen to Sage and MC, it certainly points to your hardware and not the software. As I have already mentioned, I can record four separate channels at once to one hard disk, and don't get any stuttering. Given that that the problem exists with Sage, which does allow you to write TV recordings to multiple drives, I don't see how adding that capability to MC is going to fix your problem.

You should probably do some research on the issue with other Colossus users, as I have seen many threads here and elsewhere discussing problems with the Colossus. But it truly could be anything, from an underpowered CPU or insufficient memory, to incompatibilities between the Colossus and your sound card, or onboard sound.

But it looks like it might be specific to one HD I have. Still trouble checking this...Not sure where my problem is yet. 

It wouldn't happen to be a Toshiba disk would it? Perhaps a SATA II disk?

Whichever disk it is, compare the buffer size on the drive to other brands such as WD and Seagate drives.

But sharing loads bwn hard drives for recordings would be a good thing wouldn't it?

Well, it could be handy. But there are plenty of ways to spread the load across drives, as I mentioned above. Plus the fact that modern drives can handle multiple OTA recording streams anyway. Well, at least until broadcasters start airing programs in UHD.

Nevertheless.  I'm not going to start throwing away my existing 1 or 2 TB hard drives

No need to throw them out. Just repurpose them as off line backup drives for your boot drive, or something similar. Or leave them in your PC as extra space, if there is room. Then add in a 6TB drive for TV recording. US$260 on Newegg: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822236737&cm_re=wd_red_6tb-_-22-236-737-_-Product

and or start deleting TV files because JRiver can not handle more than one Recording folder.

Naturally. But deleting them because you aren't really going to watch them, or moving them to another drive and allowing MC to keep track of them, is certainly an option.

I'll just keep using "The Other" software for TV recordings.  It also offers the option to distribute recordings amongst HDs based on bandwidth or Space. 

Well Sage is good, but I understand it is no longer developed at all. So it has limited life. Keeps hanging on though, doesn't it!
But if the stuttering is happening with Sage as well, it doesn't solve that problem for you.

And having more than one HD is also good for redundancy...Ie if one of them goes I don't lose the recordings on the others...

Backups are good for redundancy. Or for non-critical stuff like TV recordings, I use "Hard Disk Sentinel" to monitor my drive and warn me if there is a developing problem. It is very good.
If you want to keep some recordings for later or something though, moving them to another underutilized drive is a good solution, and easy within MC.

I bought NAS in the past and always ended up returning them as they are too slow for my needs...(For moving files around bwn different PCs...) The ones I would want are too expensive and would rather run PCs with smaller HDs which are cheaper instead..

A NAS can be very expensive, and you get what you pay for. A cheap one is going to be slow. But a 6TB WD Red drive for US$260 is an easy decision.

Again this is a must for me. And yes a little off topic ...

Fair enough, but I think you are limiting your options unnecessarily.
Maybe a Mod could split these posts off into a thread titled appropriately, such as "Multiple drive or folders for TV recordings", or "Stuttering on multiple TV recordings".

[imeric]

Hi Roderick GI.  Thanks for your input greatly appreciated...However I think I'm a little too cheap (or would rather spend the money elsewhere...)
No my drive isn't a toshiba.  After more troubleshooting it seems related to either Sage or the Card itself..Besides I've had this for quite some time and it doesn't happen often enough to be an issue.  I thought it may have been a faulty drive but it's not it....

Yes Sage...I'm actually surprised it still runs smooth without any upgrades and it does work extremely well aside from a few culprits..Curious to see what will happen when it goes open source....BUT...

Sage recently lost all the EPG for some capture cards losing all my favorites along with it so I was not too happy about that...It also happened about a year ago where I lost all my config files and had to re-configure Sage from scratch...A painful process...And I only use it for TV since all the rest is WAY better handled by JRiver compared to Sage...

If I can get my multiple folders plus a usable comskip playback in JRiver I would test it for stability and if stable would start using it for all my needs!  The guys are working hard on this and it shows...

I need to check the comskip playback in 20.0.93) but haven't tested it yet...

[RoderickGI]

No problem Imeric. I understand where you are coming from.

Sage going open source will be interesting, but I have been hearing about that for a long time. The history with Google is a bit sad, but if/when they open source Sage, perhaps that will make up for it. I see there was an announcement and there is a lot of activity this month.

But I like the all in one solution of JRiver MC. As for stability, while I have seen some hiccups in recordings and such, I haven't had a crash in . . . well, I can't remember.

[imeric]

Good to hear that it's stable for you RoderickGI.  I would really love to use JRiver for all my needs! 

[rammingspeed]

imeric
I converted from SageTV last Jamuary.  While there are a few features I miss, JRiver is overall a solid application.  Remember that JRiver did not start out as a Theater View DVR.  They have a solid core and are working hard on adding new features.  They have been very responsive to suggestions that add features that are usability enhancements to the existing core.  So far, I have suggested 3 or 4 items (this change to commercial skipping being one of them), that they have acted on and added to the application.  I'm really glad you resurrected my earlier comments!!

And yes, it is stable for me as well, even though I keep installing the Latest build instead of sticking with the Stable build.  Only one crash since January!

[imeric]

@RoderickGI....Because of you I'm upgrading my system!!!

No seriously (and a bit off-topic) not quite related to performance but as an HTPC the AMD-A8 3870 APU is simply too noisy/power hungry even after upgrading the stock cooler...Going with the Intel i5-4690K CPU and the Gigabyte G1 Sniper Z97 MOBO that has a dedicated DAC USB port and upgraded audio parts so potentially better SPDIF out to my receiver (not that it really matters as the serious 2.0 listening is done with an external DAC...) but good to know they have a dedicated audio path on the board...Can't wait to try it out!

I do quite a bit of audio/video transcoding, movie editing so this should also help...
This PC also serves as a Sage and JRiver server for other PCs in the house
 

But (@Yaobing )still planning on using several hard drives for my TV recordings!

[RoderickGI]

@RoderickGI....Because of you I'm upgrading my system!!!

  My evil plan to upgrade the world is working... 

Your Intel i5-4690K CPU would make my poor little Intel Core i5-3570K look slow. But then I just have an Intel HD Graphics 4000, while you will have a HD4600. Still that will struggle with ROHQ, depending on settings. Or are you going to keep your Radeon HD6670? For transcoding a more modern discrete graphics card with some hardware acceleration could help. I am still waiting for the "perfect" discrete graphics card for my HTPC though, so I can't advise what would be good. Many people recommend a GTX 750 Ti, but I want the later chips, and the right quite, cool, fast and good value card hasn't turned up yet. 

I still use an SPDIF output, PC to receiver, for all my sound, so I'm stuck with Dolby Digital for multichannel output at the moment. I'll be upgrading/replacing my receiver at some stage, and will then be using HDMI for all sound, up to 7.1 channels. I could go analogue PC to receiver, which would improve multichannel performance, but at what cost I'm not sure. Too much fiddling around in the back of a cabinet to just try it out though. I'm avoiding the external USB DAC path, and relying on the MC DSP goodness to ensure quality of sound.

Anyway, don't forget while you are upgrading, buy a 6TB drive for TV recording! 

[imeric]

I think we're off topic but hey...This is fun! ...Funny you mention the 750 as I've been looking at tons of reviews on it and if I were to buy a card it would be the one...Besides I've had so many issues with AMD Graphics drivers in the past....
But first I want to try out the Intel HD4600 and see how it performs...All I care about is the card to handle video watching and it will only run on my TV with no other monitors to drive...The only intense GPU processing I want out of the card is JRiver Visualisation ...

No dedicated graphics card means a cooler AND SILENT PC with more room for my TV capture cards...

The HD6670 along with all the former HTPC gear (except my several Drives will be for another PC for all the video editing stuff anyway....

I'll hopefully get my stuff tomorrow so I just got myself a great little project for the weekend!! Gotta love Newegg...

[imeric]

Well maybe not so off topic... Anybody wants to comment on the Intel HD4600 GPU?, is it good enough for Red October HQ?