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[CountryBumkin]

Hi,
I'I just want to report that I'm getting duplicate TV show recordings. I have MC setup to look for same Name and Description. However the duplicates (shown below) have the same Name and Description, so something isn't set up on my system correctly - or maybe MC isn't working as designed. What do you think?

The duplicates are on the same day, same channel, but at different times.

[CountryBumkin]

Bump....

What is the logic used to determine if I have a recording already (to prevent saving a duplicate)?

If I choice watch "Name", Description", "Series", "Season", and "Episode"  do all five fields need to match to determine if new show is duplicate"?
If yes, could you allow the program to provide us with a AND/OR choice? Like if "[Series AND Description] OR [Name AND Season AND Episode] OR [Series AND Season AND Episode]" match then it is a duplicate (don't record)?

In the current logic are these examples all considered different?

Series NOVA NOVA NOVA series Nova

Name The mystery of Space The mystery of Space The Mystery Of Space The mystery of Space

Description Join NOVA exploring Space ... Nova explores the mystery of space Exploring Space .... Nova explores the mystery of space

Season 49 49 2010 2010

Episode 12 12 12 12

[Yaobing]

The logic is that all choices must match in order to be considered a match.  In your examples in your screenshots, you selected Name and Description.  Both must match to be considered a match.  However, looking at your screenshots, they do seem to match.  So I am puzzled why there are duplicates.

The hypothetical examples you gave are considered different shows if you tell MC to compare all five items.  But if you choose to compare only the name and description, then item 2 and 4 are a match (it should pass the "series" test too).

[Yaobing]

Can you check "Date Recorded" field of those duplicates?

[CountryBumkin]

I sure will - but I think the "date imported" shown in my screen show is the same as "date recorded" - but I'll double check and post back.

I do know that these duplicate episodes aired on the same day, just at different times.

[greynolds]

I sure will - but I think the "date imported" shown in my screen show is the same as "date recorded" - but I'll double check and post back.

I do know that these duplicate episodes aired on the same day, just at different times.

This also happens to me for some TV shows, including Defiance and Falling Skies.  It seems like I get 2 showings of every episode.  It's better than missing episodes, but clearly isn't working correctly.  Note that this is with MC20 and has been happening for quite a while now.  I'm going to hold off on upgrading 21 until things seem a bit more stable, given some of the initial feedback in the MC21 forum.

[CountryBumkin]

Here's the view showing recording date and time you asked to see.
I see that most of the duplicates are recorded at the same data and time - so they are simultaneously being recoded by both of my Tuner cards. I have a single dual-tuner card (Hauppauge 2250) and a USB tuner stick (Hauppauge 950Q) on this computer.



Weird!! Look at  Series- "Blue Bloods", Name- "Silver Star" which recorded on 8/6 at 5pm. It looks like four recordings were made at the same time but on two different channels.  But I only have three tuners.


Can TV be recorded on analog tuners too?

[Yaobing]

Analog channels have different channel names, and the recordings thus would have different Artist field.

Check those four Blue Bloods recordings and see if they all are complete (having full length).  Maybe the recordings were interrupted at some point and restarted.

For those duplicates recorded at the same time on different channels, I have had a suspicion that it might happen.  I think the filtering logic does not take care of duplicate shows happening at identical time.

But you also have a few pairs that were recorded at totally different date and time.  Could you have turned on Season comparison?  And maybe manually edited the season on the first recorded?  Could the first recorded be incomplete, and thus a second showing was recorded?

[rammingspeed]

Just chirping in that I too am seeing lots of duplicate recordings.  I have experimented and dropped to name and series name as comparisons and still see duplicates recorded.  Some on the same channel and some different channels.  This has become a significant enough problem that I turned off recording re-runs on some shows.

I also get duplicate recordings on shows where there is no episode name in the EPG but I'm not counting those as I don't know of a reasonable way to work around bad EPG data.

[CountryBumkin]

But you also have a few pairs that were recorded at totally different date and time.  Could you have turned on Season comparison?  And maybe manually edited the season on the first recorded?  Could the first recorded be incomplete, and thus a second showing was recorded?

It is possible that Season was used, but I don't think so (besides it looks like the Season was identical in some of the duplicates too), I think I have been running the same parameters (those in the first picture) for a while now.

I'll check the four recordings to see if they all recorded fully.

If the logic can be fixed to "not record the same shows at the same time", that would take care of 90% of my duplicates I think.

I use the format "ts" not "jtv" if that makes a difference.

Thanks for your time and help.

[CountryBumkin]

I went through each duplicate to see if it played and if it was an actual duplicate.
In most all cases one show was some Christian/Church channel and the other shows was the correct recording. so even though both recordings have the same name and description, they are actually different shows (maybe the guide data was wrong for the second recording).

On the four duplicate recordings of Blue Bloods series, two were correct series and the other two were the Christian/church channel. Of the two correct series recordings, they were duplicates although starting at slightly different times. One was watchable the other had a lot of breakup in it (like bad signal due to stormy weather).

[RoderickGI]

I went through each duplicate to see if it played and if it was an actual duplicate.
In most all cases one show was some Christian/Church channel and the other shows was the correct recording. so even though both recordings have the same name and description, they are actually different shows (maybe the guide data was wrong for the second recording).

On the four duplicate recordings of Blue Bloods series, two were correct series and the other two were the Christian/church channel. Of the two correct series recordings, they were duplicates although starting at slightly different times. One was watchable the other had a lot of breakup in it (like bad signal due to stormy weather).

Was the Christian/church program on the same channel as the correct program?

If so, how long was the program, and how long is the padding time you used for the program?

If the padding time was equal to a significant portion of the Christian/church program time, then  the Christian/church will be recorded as well, and MC will make a record of it so that it can be played. The location of the recording files provides a hint as to what is happening. I have often observed that the program information for these extra recorded programs is the same as the program that was supposed to be recorded. I reported a related problem some time back with examples. Here: http://yabb.jriver.com/interact/index.php?topic=92426.0

I also get duplicate program some times. So I think we have two problems here; the duplication of program recordings, and padding time picking up an additional program and naming it incorrectly.

PS: It has been a while since I looked into this problem, so I could be misremembering some of the specifics.

[CountryBumkin]

Was the Christian/church program on the same channel as the correct program?

No. It records on channel 56.1 and 50.1 at the same time (see screen shot above). I just noticed/realized that I don't have a channel 50.1. Maybe there is some setup/guide confusion and 50.1 is actually a second 56.1.

If so, how long was the program, and how long is the padding time you used for the program?

I have 1 minute before and 1 minute after padding.

If the padding time was equal to a significant portion of the Christian/church program time, then  the Christian/church will be recorded as well, and MC will make a record of it so that it can be played. The location of the recording files provides a hint as to what is happening. I have often observed that the program information for these extra recorded programs is the same as the program that was supposed to be recorded. I reported a related problem some time back with examples. Here: http://yabb.jriver.com/interact/index.php?topic=92426.0

I need to read your link - but the recording show as being done on different stations. It's not like the Christian show comes on after "Blue Bloods" series on the same channel - its the same time, same day, different channels.

I also get duplicate program some times. So I think we have two problems here; the duplication of program recordings, and padding time picking up an additional program and naming it incorrectly.

PS: It has been a while since I looked into this problem, so I could be misremembering some of the specifics.

With the new epg guide data (mc2xml) I need to wait and watch for a week to make sure it wasn't an error in the previous "matching of channels to their epg data". If I'm still getting duplicates at the end of next week, then I would suggest to Yaobing that something is broken.
Thanks for your reply.

[DeaneG]

I have been unable to get MC21 to stop scheduling duplicate recordings in every TV show I've tried - maybe 5 or 6 different series which are not broadcasting new shows currently, but with frequently re-aired duplicate episodes on the same channels as the originals. I'm trying to match only "Name" and "Description" to prevent duplicates. The EPG (mc2xml with schedulesdirect as the provider) lists these episodes as clearly the same in name and description in all duplicates scheduled to be recorded.

Will MC21 avoid recording duplicates, even though they appear to be scheduled (typically the next day)? Or is this a bug?

[CountryBumkin]

MC will list all the possible matches to the programs you have selected to record in the "to be recorded" list, then it should only make the actual recordings according your schedule/setup (i.e. no duplicates based on name and description, etc.).

However, it appears that sometimes it doesn't follow the expected "no duplicates" rule. I think Yaobing said if you have two Tuners available and the program was available at the same time and on two different channels, you would/may get two recordings of the same program. This is something we were looking into, but got side tracked with the EPG data issue.

DeaneG, have you looked closely at the duplicates to see if they have exactly the same Name and Description?  Where they recorded at the same time, same day, but on different Tuners?

[DeaneG]

DeaneG, have you looked closely at the duplicates to see if they have exactly the same Name and Description?  Where they recorded at the same time, same day, but on different Tuners?

I have not had duplicate recordings, just duplicates in the "to be recorded" list, which I now understand is intended operation. Thanks for your feedback.