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[Justavian]

My HTPC is asleep most of the time.  It's connected to a remote library right now, which is on my main PC.  I use that main PC to register new movies and shows, have it download the cover art, etc.  When my HTPC wakes back up, new content is not displayed.  I have to exit out of MediaCenter and then come back in.  This sucks, since i have to hook up a mouse to do that - normally i'm just using a remote.

Is there a way to get it to automatically reload the library when it comes back from sleep?

A related problem revolves around the EPG.  My main PC does not connect to the antenna for TV stuff.  The HTPC does.  When i go to the Guide on the HTPC via theater view, it's always empty.  I have to exit theater view and hunt through the options to find the controls to force it to re-download.  This also, of course, requires i hook up a mouse.  What's the best solution for this?  Is there any way to tell it to automatically grab the EPG if i go to Guide and there's no data?  Can i put another entry somewhere in theater view which could allow me to tell it to download the EPG?  Not sure how best to address this.

[RoderickGI]

Second question first:
The PC that has the TV cards connected to it must be the server PC, or MC TV functionality won't work properly. Basically, you are using MC wrong. The server PC needs to have the main library which is shared out to clients, and also the TV tuners to record shows, gather EPG data, and so on. Only the Server should have TV setup run on it, not the Client.

In your situation, networked TV tuners may be the solution, so you can link them to the remote server from up near your HTPC where the antenna cable is, and have the server do everything, while the HTPC is just a client. Alternately, you could leave your media on the server, but run the main MC Server installation on the HTPC. You would then use the remote PC as a file server, using share or similar, or even run it as a NAS.

The above is why your Guide isn't working on the HTPC. You can only use TV tuners with a Local MC Library, not a remote Library. So every time you open MC on the HTPC it gets a copy of the remote Server Library (as it should, since it synchronises libraries), and then you add to that the guide information, by re-downloading it. Every time you restart MC on the HTPC, it will copy the server library, and once again the Guide data will be gone. You need to change your configuration of MC server and client.

Now your first question:
If when you wake your HTPC from sleep, you don't see new information from the server, then the Client hasn't synchronised with the Server. It should do that on a regular basis, if set up correctly. However, your adding guide data to the copy of the server library that is on the HTPC Client may be breaking that, or you have done some other incorrect configuration to try to get your setup working. When you exit MC and restart it, it copies the Server Library across and you get to see the new content . . . and loose the Guide data. You need to fix the way you have set up MC with respect to the location of the Server and the Client, and then address this issue. In fact, it should just go away.

Research Media Network, Getting Started, TV Setup, EPG, etc. in the Wiki and the forums to work out the way forward.

[Justavian]

I appreciate your attempt to help - but the EPG thing was really secondary and does not seem to affect the main problem of the system not automatically reloading the library when it returns from sleep.  Even with the TV card removed from the client machine (and even before i put the TV card in there in the first place), the system will not automatically reload the library.  This is an issue i've had for some time, through two different PCs and multiple versions of the software.  If i shut down MC and restart it, everything is fine, and it immediately picks everything up.

I've done no unusual setup, other than trying to put the TV card in the client.  With the current machine, it was a clean install of vanilla Window 8.1, and a fresh copy of MC.  This is the only software on the client.  As i said, it was not properly syncing with the server for the month or two i used it prior to trying to get the TV to work, and didn't work with my previous client machine.

In any case, i'll do some other experiments.  Maybe if i just use the IP address instead of the access key.  Who knows.

[RoderickGI]

I appreciate your attempt to help - but the EPG thing was really secondary and does not seem to affect the main problem of the system not automatically reloading the library when it returns from sleep.

On the contrary, the "EPG thing" was and will continue to be a significant part of the problem if you keep doing what you described, however;

Even with the TV card removed from the client machine (and even before i put the TV card in there in the first place), the system will not automatically reload the library.  This is an issue i've had for some time, through two different PCs and multiple versions of the software.  If i shut down MC and restart it, everything is fine, and it immediately picks everything up.

This I can help with.

There is a known issue, which is not a bug but certainly a shortcoming in MC, that if the MC Server (your main PC) goes to sleep, then even if the MC Client (your HTPC) doesn't go to sleep, but MC has been open the whole time since the MC Server went to sleep, then the MC Client will not reconnect to the MC Server.

Basically, a MC Client only sends Wake On LAN (WOL) messages to wake a MC Server from sleep when the Client is first opened. It doesn't send WOL messages if the MC Client has been running all the time, whether the Client PC has gone to sleep itself and been woken, or not.

So, if that is your situation; that your main PC has gone to sleep as well as your HTPC, then what you are seeing is this known issue. Could this be what is happening with your systems?

If so, one way around it is to use a cordless keyboard with a touchpad or equivalent on it, so you don't have to be plugging in a mouse to restart MC or do other activities. I use a Logitech K400R Wireless Touch Keyboard with my HTPC, so I can easily restart MC, although if I have been mucking around with stuff I usually just restart the whole HTPC, since it boots up very fast, and MC starts with Windows.

Another way around your problem would be to program a remote button to send a command to restart MC, or restart the HTPC, if your remote is capable of learning commands. Again, I use a Logitech 880 remote that can do this, and in combination with MC's remote control command learning functions, I can send all sorts of commands to MC. In the available MC Core Commands there is a shutdown command (27001) which has an optional parameter to Restart the PC instead of shutting it down.  Sending that command to your HTPC to restart it, and therefore restart MC if your have it set to start with Windows, will enable your MC Client to reconnect to the MC Server on your main PC. In fact, it will download a fresh copy of the Server Library to your Client, so all changes will be available in the HTPC.

You could also just shut down the HTPC when it isn't being used. But if you weren't playing something, or using MC on the Client, then the Server may go to sleep and you will have the issue above.

Of course, you also need to have the Client synchronising with the Server, and it is best to use an Authenticated connection, with User Name and Password entered into the Media Network setup on the MC Server, and "Auto sync with server" set in Media Network on the MC Client.


Reading:
http://yabb.jriver.com/interact/index.php?topic=98059.0
http://yabb.jriver.com/interact/index.php?topic=88197.0 specifically http://yabb.jriver.com/interact/index.php?topic=88197.msg604491#msg604491

There are some other solution ideas in those threads, such as using Windows Task Scheduler to send WOL messages when Windows comes out of sleep, using third party applications such as "Power Triggers" or "Lights Out".

Does that help at all?

[Justavian]

On the contrary, the "EPG thing" was and will continue to be a significant part of the problem...

I simply meant that having an EPG at all was a secondary issue.  If my HTPC couldn't do an EPG, or even over the air at all, that wouldn't be a big deal.  The big deal is the synching thing where the client doesn't update the library, which is an issue that's been ongoing for a long time for me.

There is a known issue, which is not a bug but certainly a shortcoming in MC, that if the MC Server goes to sleep...

This doesn't appear to be the issue for me, since my main PC is set to never go to sleep.  So the MC Server wouldn't need a WOL.


Your other suggestions (specifically your second link), of course, are glorious.  That's exactly what i need.  I will likely set up a scheduled task - it's something i'm very familiar with.  I may also experiment with the theater view menu entry.

Thanks - i haven't fixed it yet, but now i feel confident that the solution is at hand.  You're a gentleman and a scholar.