What PVR are your running with FreeXlobby?

[rembetis]

After years of dealing with various cable companies and their pricing shenanigans, I think I am finally ready to give them the boot and go with an OTA setup and try to incorporate PVR into Xlobby if possible. If you already have this running, it would be a huge help to me if you could answer the following quick questions.

(I know this has been covered before (probably quite a bit), but it's a swiftly moving target and I'd greatly appreciate current input. I know Naylia had something working with SageTV and others have used MediaPortal but both those programs have been substantially upgraded and Freelobby has of course stayed the same.)

1. What version of Windows?
2. What tuner(s)?
3. What PVR backend?
4. Incorporated into Xlobby or used separately?
5. Problems?

Many thanks in advance.

[Marbles_00]

Hey Rem,

I have two systems, each one is setup differently for PVR use.

MediaPVR:
1. WinXP Pro w/SP3
2. Hauppauge Win-TV PVR-150 (nonMCE version) comes with the 45-button remote and IR receiver/blaster
3. GBPVR backend
4. GBPVR partially incorporated, but uses its own skin...see more details below
5. No problems so far beyond initial integration and setup.

I use a satellite STB for TV viewing in that location. So I have the PVR-150 connected to its s-video connection, and "y" the audio between the MediaPVR and the TV. I ended up using GBPVR on that system because I found it relatively easy to setup to control external boxes (using it along with a small IR Blaster application). I tried MediaPortal so I could match the HTPC (which I'll get to next), but I couldn't get it to control the STB. I've stripped GBPVR to only show the basic menu (LiveTV, EPG, Settings, System Info, and Exit), so I only used it to setup to do timed recordings or to Pause LiveTV (daughter likes that feature). Once the shows are recorded all playback is done through Xlobby (via MPC-HC), or I can transfer the file over to my server so any computer can watch it at that point. So I have a button that opens GBPVR and it takes focus from Xlobby. When I exit GBPVR, it just goes back to the Xlobby window...pretty simple stuff really. I've tried to do some basic skinning of the GBPVR screens, but it is not easily done as in Xlobby...so I've just stuck with the Community WS skin.

Control of the entire system is done via the Hauppauge remote, where I've modified the irremote.ini file to control Xlobby, Zoomplayer, TheaterTek, MPC-HC, and GBPVR.

HTPC:
1. WinXP Pro w/SP3
2. Hauppauge HVR-1250 ATSC tuner card - comes with the 45-button remote and IR receiver
3. MediaPortal backend
4. Have used MP as standalone, but plan to integrate it with Xlobby with the TV3 Service Plugin...see more details below
5. On its own, I have had some server issues, where I ended up re-installing MP. I haven't played too much with the plugin to really comment yet.

The HTPC has the true ATSC tuner card, and the card works very well. It is very sensitive in receiving the weaker signals...where right now, my newer Samsung LCD seems to miss on. MediaPortals TV server for the most part is very well done. It integrates well with MP standalone, and it seems to work well with the TV3 plugin. I've had some instances of crashes with MP, which I have had to perform full re-installs...which gets rather frustrating. I wasn't planning on using MP in the beginning, but it doesn't appear that Hauppauge's WinTV7 works with xMoveWindows...which forced me to look at other options for TV viewing...which led me to try MP again. MP along with its StreamedMP skin (the influence for my current xStreamed skin...yeah....shameless plug ) is pretty slick I must admit. But until the system on whole becomes more stable...I can't fully jump from using xlobby.

Hope that helps.

[rembetis]

Thanks for the feedback Marbles. That gives me a bunch to chew on. I'm actually considering a complete switch to XBMC, which allegedly has a PVR backend solution coming down the pike, but for now I'm sticking with what I know.

[lar282]

Thanks for the feedback Marbles. That gives me a bunch to chew on. I'm actually considering a complete switch to XBMC, which allegedly has a PVR backend solution coming down the pike, but for now I'm sticking with what I know.

I thought they were gonna come out with a frontend not backend. Just a client to Mediaportal I thought!

//Lasse

[rembetis]

I thought they were gonna come out with a frontend not backend. Just a client to Mediaportal I thought!

You are correct. I must have meant to write "frontend".