Unofficial Kodi HDHomeRun DVR PVR Client

[djp952]

I have an AVR that's hooked up to a monitor. When using Kodi to play videos from my library all the audio is ahead by .3 seconds exactly. So I set the .3s delay in Kodi "for all media". When I watch DirecTV or I stream Netflix the audio is in sync. Is there an option to delay the audio for a PVR/DVR like you can when playing back an individual file in Kodi?

My AVR has "Auto Sync" but it doesn't appear to have any effect when playing library videos in Kodi. I still have auto-sync turned on, but regardless I need to delay audio in Kodi by .3s then it is perfect. I could set the delay on my AVR directly, but since the issue does not occur with Netflix or Amazon Prime I'd have to adjust it anytime I use one of those apps. I could probably tolerate that, but I just realized I'd also have to adjust it every single time I want to use my PC. So I'd have to go back and forth constantly and that just won't work. I passthrough the audio to my AVR because obviously that's the whole point, lol.

Below is what I think the answers to my questions may be.

Yes, Kodi can delay PVR/DVR audio the same way it delays audio for videos played from the library. (This is more of a hope than a guess, lol)

Slo-mo is not possible, nor is frame by frame.

Yes, I can copy recordings off the scribe to a local HDD, but I can not place recordings back onto the Scribe if they are removed.

Can I copy a recording from the Scribe and leave the original in place?

Once again thanks so much, you've been incredibly helpful. Not only with answering my questions, but you wrote the entire add-on that I'm going to use! If only the world had more people like you in it!

There isn't any way to control the audio sync by stream source that I am aware of, but you might be able to make it work via the "advancedsettings.xml" file. (https://kodi.wiki/view/Advancedsettings.xml). A search on Kodi's forum for 'audio sync' might also find some good results. Unfortunately, I really don't know how to do this one; it would definitely a Kodi-level setting, the PVR doesn't do the decoding, it just hands the raw data off.

Slo-mo is not possible, nor is frame-by-frame -- correct.

You can put recordings back onto the Scribe, but you may need to restart it to pick them up. Latest version of the RECORD engine seems to pick them up right away, so that limitation may be long gone. What you can't do is put any old .MPG file onto the Scribe and expect it to work, it needs to have the proper header data in generated by the RECORD engine. The .MPG files are actually .TS files (MPEG-TS), and the first 64 packets contain JSON metadata in them. Without that, the Scribe won't be able to use the file.

[signcarver]

You can put recordings back onto the Scribe, but you may need to restart it to pick them up. Latest version of the RECORD engine seems to pick them up right away, so that limitation may be long gone. What you can't do is put any old .MPG file onto the Scribe and expect it to work, it needs to have the proper header data in generated by the RECORD engine. The .MPG files are actually .TS files (MPEG-TS), and the first 64 packets contain JSON metadata in them. Without that, the Scribe won't be able to use the file.

Keep in mind currently you must pop the drive and mount it to something that supports xfs to do so as it only allows retrieving the file via "play" and no way to put it back via network (they have said there will be a firmware update that will allow more file access options).

[DornoDios]

Can you copy files off the Scribe right now or just play them back?

I don't know that it really matters because I don't intend to keep copies of anything I record, but I'm curious.

I'm looking at the advancedsettings.xml stuff for Kodi, but even following the layout and putting it in the right directory I can't seem to get it working at all. I'll keep at it though.

[signcarver]

To get something off the scribe you basically "play" it using the program's "playURL" (or click such on the web page and save it) (Edit... talking about using a browser, wget, curl, etc. not play it in the app/client but "essentially" it is the same way to access it)

However if you want more than one file off it (though some may decide to raise that to more than a few files), personally I would unplug it, pop the drive, connect it to a linux machine (can be vm) and then copy the file as I can do that faster than that slooooooooow 100Mbps port (if only one file, unless a long movie, it probably wouldn't be worth it).

[DornoDios]

Only thing I can think I might want to save would be a RAW Mpeg-2 copy of The Superbowl and even then it depends on who's playing and whether the game is any good. Anything else I can do without or acquire when it releases on Blu-Ray etc. The scribe is a 2.5 inch drive right? I think I read it has to be 7mm tall to fit? I'm not sure though that might have been related to a different product before I settled on this one SOLELY because of the Kodi add-on. You should be on their payroll or at least get an Xmas gift, lol.

I fixed the 300ms audio issue I was having by writing this advancedsettings.xml file. There isn't a setting to adjust audio, but there is a setting to delay the picture. So I set that to 300, noticed the issue was twice as bad. Then I tried -300 and prayed it would accept a negative value and it did! Now all my videos play back perfectly synchronized while passing through DTS-HD MA or DD+ audio or whatever to my AVR. I assume the delay with the Scribe will be exactly the same as the files are obviously all in sync, it's just a 300ms delay in the image caused by the AVR. I don't know why it can't auto sync with Kodi like it does with everything else, but at least it's fixed in a way that will work with the Scribe Quatro now!

<advancedsettings version="1.0">
<video>
<latency>
<delay>-300</delay>
</latency>
</video>
</advancedsettings>

Apparently you can even set different delay values if they vary based on your current refresh rate. I don't have that issue though. I'm always on 59.94 because the AVR's EDID data supersedes my 120hz monitor's EDID data. Maybe I can try forcing a refresh rate via Advanced Settings later, but for now I'm beat.

For anyone else who stumbles upon this and has a similar issue. The file must be named "advancedsettings.xml" minus quotes and it is placed in the "userdata" directory of Kodi.
I have a network share where I store backups of my Kodi config, so I just put the file there, then went into the Kodi file manager and copied the advancedsettings.xml to my Fire TV userdata directory.

Is it OK for me to stick with Kodi 18.9 until they finalize version 19? Going from 17-18 was a pain because of the removal of SMB v1. I knew about it and was prepared, but for some reason it duplicated everything in my library even though the sources were unchanged.

[DornoDios]

To get something off the scribe you basically "play" it using the program's "playURL" (or click such on the web page and save it) (Edit... talking about using a browser, wget, curl, etc. not play it in the app/client but "essentially" it is the same way to access it)

However if you want more than one file off it (though some may decide to raise that to more than a few files), personally I would unplug it, pop the drive, connect it to a linux machine (can be vm) and then copy the file as I can do that faster than that slooooooooow 100Mbps port (if only one file, unless a long movie, it probably wouldn't be worth it).

Thanks, I understand what you mean now.

Yeah, 100Mbps is incredibly slow. My internet speeds are currently 6 times that, lol. Sadly they will get much slower in April when my 2 year deal with Comcast expires. I'm not paying 3x as much every month just so I can run into their bandwidth cap sooner.

I just bought the Scribe Quatro from Amazon. It'll be here by tomorrow. Must be in the warehouse a couple towns away.

[DornoDios]

I'm having some audio problems with the fire TV. Mainly it won't passthrough the DD audio on any live TV playback.

If I playback a recording after it is finished it outputs DD like it should. Anything live or recording in progress won't output DD. It outputs DD+, which means it's transcoding. The transcoding isn't a major deal for me, but the main issue the volume is twice as loud. Also whenever I try to tune to an SD channel it causes issues where the sound cuts out every couple seconds and the AVR is having trouble because the UI doesn't respond and even raising or lowering the volume is nearly impossible.

I think I'm going to get a Shield TV. I'm very happy with the FireTV's performance aside from the audio issues. The audio stuff won't be a problem on any other devices because none of them have an AVR in between the device and the screen.

I really like the product, this audio issue is irritating. I'm hopeful it's caused by the Fire TV and not something inherent to the HDHR.

I suppose if it is an HDHR issue I'll just transcode everything. I never watch the other content available in the library with the FireTV. Usually I use the Krypton Direct Show version of Kodi on my PC to help me figure out what to watch, then I play it back with MPC-HC. I've been using it so long anything else just feels wrong, lol.

[DornoDios]

I went ahead an ordered the normal Shield TV cause it's $50 less, plus the Pro is out of stock on Amazon.

The Shield TV manual has info about how to set it up with the AVR so I'm hopeful that it will be able to function properly and passthrough the DD audio that accompanies broadcast TV signals.

Right now it outputs DD+ 2.0 if I watch an SD station and it works. Then I watch and HD station and it's DD+ 5.1. Both are transcoded, but at least it works. However, when I try to go back to an SD station after playing an HD one the AVR reports DD+ 5.1 as the input. This causes the AVR input display to flicker as DD+ 5.1 is shown and then disappears rapidly over and over again. This is when the audio drops out.

Obviously I could turn off passthrough audio and just transcode everything, but that's not why I have an AVR and a 5.1 setup. For my PC I send multichannel PCM to the AVR because that allows me to control the dynamic range when I watch movies and also increase/decrease the volume using the mouse wheel or keyboard buttons. If I pass the audio through there is no volume control other than the AVR because it is a digital signal.

For now I'll turn off passthrough and transcode everything. That should work, I'll update if I have issues. I'll call the Shield TV an early Xmas present.

Is there anyway to change the DVR functionality so that guide data is ONLY updated for the channels you haven't removed from the main list?

Is there anyway to remove the notifications I receive every time a recording begins? I get these little pop ups in the Kodi UI and it doesn't bother me so much, but I'm pretty certain it will irritate my mother, lol.

It found a channel #5000 that shows a test signal. I'm guessing that's some kind of HDHomeRun thing used to diagnose technical issues?

[djp952]

Is there anyway to change the DVR functionality so that guide data is ONLY updated for the channels you haven't removed from the main list?

Is there anyway to remove the notifications I receive every time a recording begins? I get these little pop ups in the Kodi UI and it doesn't bother me so much, but I'm pretty certain it will irritate my mother, lol.

I can answer two of these:

Is there anyway to change the DVR functionality so that guide data is ONLY updated for the channels you haven't removed from the main list?

That's the existing functionality. If you have disabled channel(s) on all your devices the EPG data will not be downloaded or sent to Kodi. To omit the channels, you have to have them disabled on the HDHomeRun device(s) themselves, via the web interface (has a Red X).

Is there anyway to remove the notifications I receive every time a recording begins?

Yes, and I hate this. It's like the first thing I do when (re)installing Kodi Go into Settings / PVR & Live TV / Recording, and turn off "Display a notification on timer updates". You need to have Kodi set to the "Expert" level settings to see this one. I feel this pain, I'm not kidding when I say that it's the very first thing I turn off.

[DornoDios]

Oops, sorry accidental posting.

[DornoDios]

Thanks I figured there was a way to get rid of that, but that it wouldn't be specific to your addon and there are so many options within options on expert I figured it'd be best to just ask you, lol. I always use it on expert, but I just wasn't sure where to look. I would have gone looking in interface options.

I adjusted the channels with the red X's, but I mistakenly thought it didn't work because those channel names still show in the top right while guide data is updating. Then I rescanned after moving my antenna and I saw that all the stations I'd previously X'd out did not have any guide data. So it's working just like it's supposed to I just assumed the name appearing meant it was pulling data. Obviously it's not.

I realized the problem is that I have a PoS antenna. It's a mohu leaf knockoff and it has an INCREDIBLY thin coax cable running from the antenna. It also comes with an amplifier that I noticed my father decided not to use. I gave it a try and quickly realized why. The thing is a joke and only makes the signal worse. From what I read the only kind of amplifier that might be needed is a pre-amp to send the signal down a long run of Coax. I won't have a setup like that so everything should be fine when I get a replacement antenna. When I put the antenna against my window which just happens to be in the exact direction of the stations, I pick up more stations and the ones that work appear to work better. Unfortunately that's the opposite side of my room so I'd need a long coax run to put an antenna there. Can I just get a larger more expensive antenna and mount it near my desk pointing towards the window?

All the stations I want to pickup are within 9 miles of where I live about 95 degrees from magnetic north. When I took the coax cable and moved it to the opposite site of my computer reception improved and 11.x subchannels that I could not previously view at all worked with varying levels of success. I need a second person to move around with the antenna while I check the values, but that will have to wait until morning, lol.

Any recommendation on an Antenna? I'm going to play around with this crappy one to see what happens, but I'm pretty sure I need something with thicker coax cable at least. I have a stand I'm going to place the HDHomeRun on, so the Coax cable will be away from all the stuff that might interfere with it, but that stand currently has the DTV DVR on top of it and I don't want to put the HDHR on top and overheat it. I might try it tonight because it's a very cold night here. Compared to what is usually considered cold this far south. It's 40 degrees, lol.

Thanks so much for all the help, you have been invaluable! I know some of the questions I probably could've figured out on my own, but you saved me a TON of time and I am in your debt good sir.

P.S. Sorry for the novel. Also sorry of part of it doesn't make sense. I edited it and took out various bits and replaced them with others etc.

[djp952]

I gave up on antennas around 11 years ago, ATSC just doesn't work well in my area. Very "noisy" part of the world RF-wise.

In the past, I'd always had good luck with stuff from Antennas Direct, the ClearStream models were fairly new at the time, but they worked well and don't look awful. Of course I also had VHF to worry about back then, which is no longer the case here

Indoor antennas are always going to be a little difficult, you are lacking height and have many more obstructions to deal with. At 9 miles out I'd think finding a good placement for the antenna would be more important than an amplifier. If feasible you could consider trying something like an outdoor antenna mounted in the attic as well, unless you have a metal roof Reasonably priced and non-atrocious-looking indoor antennas are also out there, a moderate upgrade to something recent that is tuned for today's channel range might be all you need too!

Basically, I don't really have any recommendations for you, but apparently I like to hear myself type

[DornoDios]

Lol, thanks.

I actually took the terrible antenna and put it in my window, which just happens to face the right direction. I put it behind the metal blinds this time, duh, not sure how I missed that. I went through all the channels I care about and everyone of them had a good signal except for Fox 26, which doesn't have a bad signal. It's like 75% signal strength and quality is low 70's occasionally high 60's. Is that good enough to provide a consistent uninterrupted channel? I watched it for about 30 minutes and it had one incredibly short breakup where just the audio wasn't modulated properly, but the picture was fine.

I haven't 'mounted' the antenna with the sticky pads yet. I'll probably mount it at the top left of my window. I have a cat that comes in through the window so hopefully it will be thin enough to fit in between the gap that exists when opening the window. The window opens by sliding right to left. I could put it on the part that slides, but then the cable would move every time I have to open the window. I'm hoping it's thin enough that it will fit in the window and still allow it to open fully. If it doesn't fit I may have to let the cat in through the window in the adjacent bedroom. The problem with that is I'm on crutches. I can reach my window without using them, but going into the other room to open the window is not as easy as it otherwise would be.

Either way this is just a temporary solution until my knee gets better. Then I will go up into the attic to mount an antenna. If the current antenna is adequate I may stick with it.

I watched about 45 minutes of fox, the channel with the weakest signal of the 36 channels that I have decided to keep in my line-up. PBS has 100% strength, but 84% quality. Any idea why a signal with 100% strength would have only 84% quality? I thought maybe I needed an attenuator, but then I read that's usually only needed for people within 5 miles of the broadcast and we're 9 miles away. Also when I moved the antenna and Fox started coming in properly that confirmed to me at least that 'too much' signal is not the issue I'm having.

I watched an episode of "All in the Family" last night. The show aired it's final episode before I was ever born. It was a trip, lol.

I also saw the end of some old gameshow I remembered from when I was a child. Where the winner had a chance to win a new car at the very end. Alex Trebek was the host and he looked SO young. Like stepping into a time machine.

I'm going to have someone help me move the antenna so I can check the signal and find the best place to put it. The wall on the side of the room would be ideal because I could run the coax over the doorway, but that doesn't point in the right direction. At least there aren't any bricks in the way. Just drywall and stucco which still isn't good, but it's better than a brick wall. My roof is just a normal roof, so no issues putting an antenna up there.

I already have a second coax cable running from the attic into the room with all the household electronics, like the router, phone, TV, etc. So it'll be easy to disconnect the DTV coax in the attic and connect an antenna instead.

I just realized I'm talking about all this antenna stuff and you just said you don't use one, lol. Oh well, maybe somebody else will read it, heh. I also like to hear myself type.

[Ken.F]

At least there aren't any bricks in the way. Just drywall and stucco which still isn't good, but it's better than a brick wall.

Stucco is worse than a brick wall if it has metal netting behind it.

[djp952]

I watched about 45 minutes of fox, the channel with the weakest signal of the 36 channels that I have decided to keep in my line-up. PBS has 100% strength, but 84% quality. Any idea why a signal with 100% strength would have only 84% quality? I thought maybe I needed an attenuator, but then I read that's usually only needed for people within 5 miles of the broadcast and we're 9 miles away. Also when I moved the antenna and Fox started coming in properly that confirmed to me at least that 'too much' signal is not the issue I'm having.

There is post out here somewhere from nickk that explains how they calculate the three values. Signal Strength is going to be either the peak power level of the received signal, or I think more commonly the root mean square of the power level across the frequency range. Signal Quality is likely a % of the ideal signal-to-noise ratio for proper reception of an ATSC channel. You can have 100% strength, but if the noise the tuner is picking up starts to come close to that strength as well the signal still can't be decoded.

Think about old analog TVs, if you had 100% strength and 100% quality you'd have an extremely clear picture. As quality drops you start to get static; this is (generally speaking anyway) the noise level going up.

Don't ask me about Symbol Quality, you'll have to find nickk's explanation on that one lol