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The Avatar of Time

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Registered: 2008-01-11

Posts: 226

[SOLVED] Mythtv splits up recordings.

Hello all,

I have a problem with Mythtv. Anything that I try to record, whether from TV or a camcorder, gets broke into several parts. Each of which is about fifteen minutes long. I do not want this to happen, it is annoying. Does anyone know how to make Mythtv record something as one file? Does everyones Mythtv do this?

Thank you for any help.

Last edited by The Avatar of Time (2008-07-19 00:14:55)

The Avatar of Time

Member

Registered: 2008-01-11

Posts: 226

Re: [SOLVED] Mythtv splits up recordings.

Could someone just look into where Mythtv stores their recordings and see if they are one file per show or in many little pieces please? I would really like to know if Mythtv is supposed to do this, or if mine is setup incorrectly. Thanks.

The Avatar of Time

Member

Registered: 2008-01-11

Posts: 226

Re: [SOLVED] Mythtv splits up recordings.

Hello again,

Could someone please look into wherever their Mythtv recordings are stored (in my case ~/media-server/4/mythtv/recordings, but that is not the default, obviously) and see whether when you record a show it is saved as one file or several smaller ones? I would really like to know if it is standard for Mythtv to record in fifteen minute parts (approximately) or if that can be changed to record shows in one piece.

It seems to be a real organizational pain to have one movie be in ten pieces. Because then if I want to watch them with something other than Mythtv, such as VLC, I have to start a new 'piece' of the movie every ten-fifteen minutes. That is absurd, I think. If that is just the way Mythtv works then I guess that's fine, but if it can be made to record whole movies in one file, that would be really nice. It is even more annoying on shorter shows. If I were to record something that was say, sixteen minutes, then almost the whole show would be in one file with one minute on another one.

I plan to take the movies that Mythtv records out of that directory and put them elsewhere for more organized access. The way it is now, I would have to find all the parts of said movie and use some app to splice them back into one whole file to move, that way VLC can play them easier.

I have tried turning 'delete files slowly' off, because I heard on another forum that that might be the cause. However, that didn't help. So if a few people could just reply with a 'Yep, mine breaks them into pieces too.' or a 'Nope, mine records in one piece.' that would be great. It would give me an idea of what to expect and whether or not I am wasting my time trying to make Mythtv record differently.

If this is some really simple setting that I have missed then sorry. I can't find anything related anywhere, so any advice would really be appreciated. Thanks.

ould

Member

Registered: 2007-05-22

Posts: 124

Re: [SOLVED] Mythtv splits up recordings.

My mythtv setup records shows into one big file. Always has. I use an ATSC over the air tuner and two DVB-S tuners if that makes a difference. What file system are you using for your recordings? If you were say using Fat/Fat32 then I could see why the recordings may get split as they have file size limitations. I myself am using XFS for my recording drive.

Not sure what else to suggest although I will look through the settings and see if I see something interesting to you.

Kevin

The Avatar of Time

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Registered: 2008-01-11

Posts: 226

Re: [SOLVED] Mythtv splits up recordings.

Hello thanks for the reply,

I use ext3 for filesystem that I save the recordings on. I have a PVR-500 with two tuners. I have Dish Network satellite that I try to record. However, at the moment I do not have a guide for it of any kind (Schedules Direct, XML) and a friend suggested that perhaps that was the problem. I simply push 'R' on the keyboard to start a recording and 'R' again when I wish to stop it.

I will be getting a guide fairly soon, so perhaps that will fix that. However if I were to record something other than satellite with it I would still have the problem I think.

How do you record? Manually or scheduled? I wouldn't really think that the guide would make a difference but I suppose that it could. A program like Kino for instance has an option of whether or not to record as one big file. I have yet to find such on option with Mythtv, but that sure doesn't mean that there isn't one.

Thanks again for the reply.

Echo

Member

From: Ohio, United States

Registered: 2006-05-16

Posts: 239

Re: [SOLVED] Mythtv splits up recordings.

I use ext3 and all recordings are one "file", no splits. As far as I know there is no option to chop up a recording into segments. My mind drifted to file size limitations as ould said, but, at approx. 15 minute increments that's pretty big file size. I think the wall without allowing for larger file sizes is 2GB.

The Avatar of Time

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Registered: 2008-01-11

Posts: 226

Re: [SOLVED] Mythtv splits up recordings.

I use ext3 and all recordings are one "file", no splits. As far as I know there is no option to chop up a recording into segments. My mind drifted to file size limitations as ould said, but, at approx. 15 minute increments that's pretty big file size. I think the wall without allowing for larger file sizes is 2GB.

Thanks for the reply,

Do you record using a schedule or manually with the 'R' key? Do you think my using the 'R' key would have some bearing on this?

I had a person suggest to me that the 'delete files slowly' option had something to do with this, but I have had mine set both ways with no difference I believe.

Echo

Member

From: Ohio, United States

Registered: 2006-05-16

Posts: 239

Re: [SOLVED] Mythtv splits up recordings.

I usually record via sheduled recordings. I have never checked a file after pressing "R" key, I'll do it though. My guess is it will be handled the same as it references the schedule on how long to record, e.g., "Recording The Unit" or some such if I press the "R" key. I'll check it out and let you know.

Re: delete files slowly. I didn't know such a choice existed. I'm assuming it's not the default.

Echo

Member

From: Ohio, United States

Registered: 2006-05-16

Posts: 239

Re: [SOLVED] Mythtv splits up recordings.

<snip>Do you record using a schedule or manually with the 'R' key? Do you think my using the 'R' key would have some bearing on this?</snip>

Recorded via "R" key with no change to file construcion, i.e., one 1.9GB file.

Ech0

The Avatar of Time

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Registered: 2008-01-11

Posts: 226

Re: [SOLVED] Mythtv splits up recordings.

Thanks for checking on that. I just tried recording via 'R' again. Recorded just a little over five minutes and got one .mpg that is 3:21, and one that is 1:53. Oddly enough I can't even find them in Mythtv to watch. They view okay in VLC though. In the past I was always able to watch them in Mythtv just fine. Odd.

Are there any good alternatives to Mythtv? For watching tv as well as recording, even if they are two separate apps? Thanks for the help again.

Echo

Member

From: Ohio, United States

Registered: 2006-05-16

Posts: 239

Re: [SOLVED] Mythtv splits up recordings.

Freevo comes to mind. Although, I've never tried it.

Echo

The Avatar of Time

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Registered: 2008-01-11

Posts: 226

Re: [SOLVED] Mythtv splits up recordings.

I was going to try either that or tvtime but I am running Arch64 and cannot get the required 'twisted-web' package to install, or rather there isn't one.

I had also thought of taking the simpler approach of using mplayer or something similar to record my shows, given I would have to do it all manually.

Thanks for the help on this.

pressh

Developer/TU

From: Netherlands

Registered: 2005-08-14

Posts: 1,719

Re: [SOLVED] Mythtv splits up recordings.

Icannot get the required 'twisted-web' package to install, or rather there isn't one.

for the moment you can get it here:
http://ftp.parrswood.manchester.sch.uk/ … pkg.tar.gz

I'll fix it tomorrow

[edit]
should be fixed in freevo 1.8.1-4 which I've just uploaded.

Last edited by pressh (2008-07-07 20:40:17)

Echo

Member

From: Ohio, United States

Registered: 2006-05-16

Posts: 239

Re: [SOLVED] Mythtv splits up recordings.

I will be getting a guide fairly soon, so perhaps that will fix that. However if I were to record something other than satellite with it I would still have the problem I think.

How do you record? Manually or scheduled? I wouldn't really think that the guide would make a difference but I suppose that it could. A program like Kino for instance has an option of whether or not to record as one big file. I have yet to find such on option with Mythtv, but that sure doesn't mean that there isn't one.

I missed this at first and believe it to be your problem, i.e., MythTV records using the schedule when you "press R". It references the scheduled show, how long it's on and records until the end of that show. Pressing "R" does not record indefinitely until you stop it. So, I think getting a program schedule going from Schedules Direct would fix the problem.

Something else to try. Go into Schedule Recordings. There is an option in there to manually enter what time period you want to record, what channel, etc. Try that, I bet you get one big file. Schedule something by time for say a half an hour and see what you get. If it works it would confirm my suspicion of what's going on.

Ech0

Edit: Read the whole post again. Maybe you've already done this?

Last edited by Echo (2008-07-07 22:57:58)

The Avatar of Time

Member

Registered: 2008-01-11

Posts: 226

Re: [SOLVED] Mythtv splits up recordings.

Sorry to take so long to get back on here, I had some things come up.

I just got the schedule purchased and so far it looks like it will take care of the problem. Pushing 'R' still says 'Record unknown' instead of the title of the show that is playing, but that may be normal. Still messing with some settings and what not. I'll let you know when I know for sure.

Thanks for all the help.

The Avatar of Time

Member

Registered: 2008-01-11

Posts: 226

Re: [SOLVED] Mythtv splits up recordings.

Icannot get the required 'twisted-web' package to install, or rather there isn't one.

for the moment you can get it here:
http://ftp.parrswood.manchester.sch.uk/ … pkg.tar.gz

I'll fix it tomorrow

[edit]
should be fixed in freevo 1.8.1-4 which I've just uploaded.

Thanks, I managed to get Freevo installed now.

The Avatar of Time

Member

Registered: 2008-01-11

Posts: 226

Re: [SOLVED] Mythtv splits up recordings.

I will be getting a guide fairly soon, so perhaps that will fix that. However if I were to record something other than satellite with it I would still have the problem I think.

How do you record? Manually or scheduled? I wouldn't really think that the guide would make a difference but I suppose that it could. A program like Kino for instance has an option of whether or not to record as one big file. I have yet to find such on option with Mythtv, but that sure doesn't mean that there isn't one.

I missed this at first and believe it to be your problem, i.e., MythTV records using the schedule when you "press R". It references the scheduled show, how long it's on and records until the end of that show. Pressing "R" does not record indefinitely until you stop it. So, I think getting a program schedule going from Schedules Direct would fix the problem.

Something else to try. Go into Schedule Recordings. There is an option in there to manually enter what time period you want to record, what channel, etc. Try that, I bet you get one big file. Schedule something by time for say a half an hour and see what you get. If it works it would confirm my suspicion of what's going on.

Ech0

Edit: Read the whole post again. Maybe you've already done this?

Hello again,

Well, the guide did indeed fix my problem. I recorded a show all in one file, finally. And even though 'R' says record unknown, it is labeled right when I go to watch it in MythTV. Both 'R' and scheduling a recording are working fine so far.

Sorry to take so long, but thanks for the help on this. It's appreciated. I'm glad to have MythTV working. Now if I can just get it to control the satellite box............

Anyhow thanks again.

***Sorry I didn't get a chance to set up a manual recording before I got the guide, so I can't say whether that would have worked or not. I am pretty sure it would have though.

Last edited by The Avatar of Time (2008-07-19 00:14:06)