TVHeadEnd Setup Quick Start - Testers Needed

    I have written a Kodi addon that is designed to setup a simple TVHeadEnd PVR for a new LibreELEC user. I see it as perhaps one day being a follow-on to the existing LibreELEC setup wizard.

    Thread

    PVR Setup Quick Start Idea

    I’ve been working on the concept of a PVR Setup Wizard to aid users in configuring a basic PVR using LibreELEC. The idea is that the users will be able to setup a simple PVR from scratch with little effort.

    Bits and pieces of this already exist, however, I’d like to try to consolidate these pieces so that a new user can setup a ‘default PVR’ quickly and easily with LibreELEC out-of-the-box via the Kodi interface.

    I have already built a prototype Python script to do this for Tvheadend. I’d…
    DeltaMikeCharlie
    December 20, 2023 at 12:55 AM

    It seems to work well on my test system, however, I only have access to a DVB-T source.

    I am seeking assistance from anyone who has a DVB-S, DVB-C or ATSC system and would be willing to test this addon for me. Other people with DVB-T systems can also assist if they are willing.

    A word of caution: This addon will most likely mess up an existing system. It is designed to setup a new system from scratch and the results of running it on an existing system could be unpredictable. If you would like to help testing, you should either have a test system or be prepared to backup/restore/rebuild your live system.

    If anyone is interested, the download link is here:

    TVH-Quick-Start/script.quicktvh.zip at main · DeltaMikeCharlie/TVH-Quick-Start
    TVHeadEnd PVR Quick Start Add-on for LibreELEC/Kodi - DeltaMikeCharlie/TVH-Quick-Start
    github.com

    Edited once, last by DeltaMikeCharlie: Add download link (March 12, 2024 at 11:58 PM).

    I would love a go at a wizard. I can be your 'see if even a noob can manage it' ?
    I have set it up before, but it was years ago and I have done a fresh install and seem to keep finding problems.
    I don't really know what I am doing.
    I have a CM4 on a waveshare board, PoE, two xbox tuners, OS on emmc, recording to usb ssd. In the UK.
    What shall I actually do?
    I will try and put aside some time Thursday afternoon.

    I want to give very little instruction to see how hard/easy the process is for a noob.

    Go to the web site above and download the zip file.

    Copy the zip file to your LE box or put it on a USB flash drive.

    Go into addons and then load from zip. Navigate to location where the zip file is and select it.

    Go into your addons and look for program addons, it will be in there. Run it once and follow the prompts.

    This is great. It worked first time, no problems at all.
    It did a much better job than I did, thanks.
    Before I was getting duplicates in the guide and both tuners were recording the same thing.
    I have only had a quick play, I will let you know if I come across anything obvious.

    I don't know how to do a lot to test things. I went via SSH to check a drive I have added.
    I went in via browser and changed the recording path. I have two tuners and tried recording two different things.
    All of the above seemed to work seamlessly.

    Is there anything else you would like me to test?

    First of all thank you for your work.So I tried to test it.My impression is that TBS USB dvb recognizes and scans C-T and S tuners.I'm using a motorized system, but I couldn't adjust it.

    Quote from crazyturk

    First of all thank you for your work.So I tried to test it.My impression is that TBS USB dvb recognizes and scans C-T and S tuners.I'm using a motorized system, but I couldn't adjust it.

    Thank you for trying to test.

    The Quick Start Guide should work with any tuner type that TVHeadEnd recognises. This includes: DVB-T, DVB-C, DVB-S, ATSC, etc.

    When you say that your system is ‘motorised’, does that mean that you have a DVB-S system with a motorised satellite dish? (Please excuse my ignorance, I only have DVB-T in my country.)

    Can you please tell me what steps you took?
    Did you get any error messages displayed?
    Are you able to post a copy of your Kodi log taken immediately after trying to run the Quick Start Guide?

    Quote from DeltaMikeCharlie

    I'm glad to hear that you got your system up and running.

    Thanks for doing the testing.

    Did you find the steps easy to follow and logical?

    Did it give you sufficient feedback as it ran?

    As a positive, I don't really recall. Which must mean it gave me enough feedback etc.
    It ran really fast, I was surprised.
    There was a little pause at the beginning where you sort of have to look at it to work out what to actually do, then it just runs itself.
    I was pretty darn impressed. Thanks for doing it. It really helped me out with my limited knowledge.

    Out of curiosity, how are you looking to implement it? Do you just make it available to people when they ask?
    Although, I imagine it is something people will do guides on. What level of noob are you looking to make it available for?
    I knew how to navigate to the usb stick I used. But I suspect that might need explaining somewhere with it for complete noobs?

    Quote from Grarea

    Out of curiosity, how are you looking to implement it?

    Thanks for your feedback.

    My personal vision is that once the normal LibreELEC Setup Wizard executes its current final step, the user will be asked if they want to configure a PVR. If they answer ‘Yes’, this script will be run.

    Before this can occur, I think that much more testing against a wide range of different systems will be required to prove its resiliency and stability. This could take some time.

    At the very least, it would nice to add it to the LibreELEC repository for easier installation, however, it is still very early days.

    crazyturk - Thanks you for testing. You seem to be running a beta version of Kodi v21 on CoreELEC with TVHeadEnd v4.3.

    One of the last messages in the log is ‘unsupported protocol(script)’. As I have developed and tested this script on LibreELEC using Kodi v20, I suspect that perhaps there could be an issue with the Kodi version. There is also a small possibility that CoreELEC vs LibreELEC could also be contributing to the error.

    I will install Kodi v21 on a test machine and see if the script fails.

    From your screen print of the TVH adapter page, there is also a very good chance that I am handling the satellite setup incorrectly too. I will add some more debugging information to the script and ask you to rerun in in the next few days.

    I’ll be back soon at my setup as soon as an unexpected arrival of relatives depart 😂

    In the meantime if I was you I’d stick with the emphasis on LE for your Wizard addon. Best not to introduce confusion by introducing CE into the equation for obvious reasons. Primarily it’s a Kodi addon. Have you introduced it to the Kodi community yet.

    Quote from petediscrete

    I’ll be back soon at my setup as soon as an unexpected arrival of relatives depart

    OK, Thanks.

    Quote from petediscrete

    Have you introduced it to the Kodi community yet.

    No not yet. I know that it is technically a Kodi addon, but its primary purpose is to help setup LE as a PVR. Broadening its scope would mean having to deal with external TVH IP addresses, not just localhost, etc. Perhaps I could try to detect if it is running on LE and if not, add some more logic.

    TVH advertises using Avahi / ZeroConf. I have been thinking about making ZeroConf available to Kodi binary addons so that pvr.hts client can auto-configure like the NextPVR client can. It would not be too difficult to allow Python addons to get ZeroConf data too.

    Quote from petediscrete

    I’d stick with the emphasis on LE for your Wizard addon

    I agree in principle, however, if there is an issue with the Kodi version, regardless of the underlying platform, then I'd like to get that resolved because one day LE will probably upgrade to Kodi v21 and beyond.

    Quote from DeltaMikeCharlie

    I agree in principle, however, if there is an issue with the Kodi version, regardless of the underlying platform, then I'd like to get that resolved because one day LE will probably upgrade to Kodi v21 and beyond

    Of course but references here to CE can cause a little confusion and as it’s an LE forum that’s the last thing you would want.

    DeltaMikeCharlie sorry I have unavailable and look forward to testing this, plus later on adding NextPVR as an option. I hope to have a look this week.

    I will actual test on CE (I am not an RPi fanboy) and since it is python I don't understand the controversy. You will find even on LE various builds of pythons across the platforms.

    I am strongly opposed to this being part of the initial LE setup and the extra prompt will be confusing since h/w PVR is still niche. No doubt some people will figure "why not" and install it without the required knowledge and since a scan can take 15 minutes or more there is a lot to prepare, and understand (scanning, conf files, EPG source that is not OTA).

    Also the LE team recommendation has been to install an external backend. Also many LE/CE users have many clients so the prompt can becomes annoying and again some users will install the server when they only want a client.

    Quote from emveepee

    No doubt some people will figure "why not" and install it without the required knowledge

    Good point. I can see how this could lead to potential problems.

    I briefly considered countering with 'what about a splash screen explaining what a PVR is', but the likelihood of an inexperienced person just pressing 'OK' would also be high.

    Once tested/vetted/working, what is your opinion of adding it to the LE repository for easy installation by those who want it?