Live TV and PVR on same box with openelec XBMC - how to?

[mjkuwp94]

hi All,

Before I get into the details (and I have read lots) I was hoping someone could give me a rough outline for how to do this. I have a Fusion system (see signature) that I have built with really low effort thanks to openelec! However the live tv setup still mystifies me after tons of reading.

Can I set up the tuner and openelec on the same box? (frontend and backend on the same box)

Where can I start for instructions?

btw, I have also installed XBMC on Ubuntu and XBMC Live and tried MythTV, etc. I had trouble with all and so far the only ways I have seen my tuner work is through Windows 7 and the Hauppauge software and through Ubuntu on the same computer but I don't remember what viewer I used... not XBMC.

[Snippo]

Check this out: http://openelec.tv/forum/12-guides-tips-...t-tutorial

If your TV card is supported in OE you can get the latest build here and install the OScam add-on from the add-on browser within XBMC and start the guide at step 5. Maybe you'll also have to disable the kernel module but I didn't test if that is fixed yet.

If there are no drivers for your TV card included then it's going to be complicated .
You can easily see if the card is recognized by installing the TVheadend add-on and browsing to http://ip-adress:9981 . Look under configuration -> TV adapters and see if your card is listed in the "Select your TV adapter...menu

[mjkuwp94]

Snippo, thanks for the quick reply.

based on that - I wonder why when I first read about openelec it was billed as an easy way to add live tv to XBMC. It looks extremely technical.

What is OScam and smargo? Yes, I can read but believe it or not I read and searched for a bit and these things don't really make sense to me. Maybe they are things I don't need.

I don't need a cable access or satellite access card if those things are related. The TV is broadcast over the air and free - I can pick it up with the Hauppauge TV tuner and connect it with USB.

I have XBMC/OpenElec with frontend addons but the system keeps complaining I don't have a service running. I suppose it means a back-end for TV but I don't understand why openelec doesn't come with this.

[Snippo]

Smargo is the brand of the cardreader and oscam is the software that reads the data from the card.
If you have free access to your channels then you can just skip the entire cardreader part.

In order to watch Live TV you have to download/activate the TVheadend addon in OpenELEC. You can find it under add-ons -> Get Add-ons -> OpenELEC addons -> services -> hts-tvheadend. Once you downloaded and enabled it you need to reboot. After that you can access the configuration page with http:// ip-address:9981 in your browser. You'll only need to add the right muxes and click 'Map services to channels' once it's done scanning. After that you should be able to watch Live TV in OpenELEC.

[mjkuwp94]

Thanks!

By "ip-address" do you mean the IP address of my HTPC? And is the browser that I would use on a different computer?

sorry - I am sure these questions seem tedious to experienced people. Does anyone know why the PVR version of openelec does not include the addins? seems odd I would have to do that.

What backend am I using in this scenario? all that I have seen on TVheadend including the name indicates it is a front end.

[Snippo]

Yes, the network IP address of your HTPC (usually 192.168.2.x). You will have to use a browser on a different computer on the same network as your HTPC (in theory you could do it on the HTPC itself, but OpenELEC doesn't have a browser integrated (yet?)).

The add-on that can be downloaded from the OE repository is actually the TVheadend backend. The frontend is the XBMC PVR build. I think the only difference between the 'normal' and PVR build of OpenELEC is a different version of XBMC and TV card drivers. You could even use a different OpenELEC PC as a backend if you download the hts-tvheadend add-on on that PC. But to be able to actually watch the stream that TVheadend produces you will need a frontend, in this case OpenELEC PVR.

[mjkuwp94]

Snippo, thanks!

I got hung up (confused) on the frontend/backend and I think the names or descriptions are not clear. In addition to that problem I am not familiar with using IP addresses. Other than this project, I have only had to use one to set up my wifi ADSL router.

In the TV headend web interface there were no entries for my USB ATSC tuner. the tuner did work under MythTV under Ubuntu. It was listed as Auvitek AU8522 subtype ATSC on MythTV and is branded Hauppauge

It seems like this may be possible, but I am going to give up the Live TV end of things and find a non PVR build. Not that it wouldn't work but I have a job/family/ other hobbies. etc. Just didn't want or expect this to get so drawn out.

I do appreciate the help and sorry I couldn't troop on further. I really like the openelec project but I think it is not ready for very widespread use yet.

[joeythelips]

I had a similar issue when I first installed the PVR Fusion build. The hts-tvheadend (backend!) version supplied with the build would not pick up my USB stick tuner. You need to follow the advice from Snippo earlier in the thread

"In order to watch Live TV you have to download/activate the TVheadend addon in OpenELEC. You can find it under add-ons -> Get Add-ons -> OpenELEC addons -> services -> hts-tvheadend. "

In the services menu you need to click on upgrade/install and get version 2.0.2 of the hts-tvheadend package. Once installed and re-booted it should identify your USB tuner. I see you are based in the US as you refer to ATSC. I'm in Europe so in DVB-T land, but slecting all the auto options in the hts-tvheadend config menu for the adapter allowed me to pull in my local TV/radio multiplex. You have to re-boot the box after the initial scan of the multiplex to allow the mapping of found services to Tv and radio channels.

[mjkuwp94]

joeythelips - I appreciate you taking the time to respond and add your experience.

best I can tell, I did follow the steps that you and Snippo have suggested. I installed the service, rebooted, etc. It seems the issue is that my TV tuner is not supported/yet while yours is.

What I am doing in the meantime is using my Windows 7 machine and Hauppauge software to record TV shows. After I have the shows I watch them as videos over the windows network share.

I'll go back to live tv and/or PVR if the developers can work their magic and make it easy someday.

[Snippo]

I stopped using OpenELEC for the same reason as you mentioned. I'm pretty sure I can get Live TV to work but that takes away the whole point of using OpenELEC for me. I loved how OpenELEC provided me a working xbmc within 2 minutes. Once I found out that Live TV wasn't working I spend quite some time on it. After I finally got everyting to work I updated to the latest version and... it stopped working :dry: . I think I know what the problem is but I suspect that it will not be the last problem I encounter while using Live TV on OpenELEC. Instead I went back to xbmc live because it's easier to customize things and install additional drivers.

However, when I get a second dedicated HTPC that doesn't need stuff like Live TV it's definitely going to run OpenELEC.

What you also could try is using TVheadend in a virtual machine on your Windows 7 machine. There is a guide somewhere on the forums here that describes how to do that. If setup right you should be able to access it from your OpenELEC box and watch Live TV that way.
I'm not sure if the MediaPortal (or 4TheRecord even) add-on is included in OpenELEC but if it is you could also use that as backend on Windows 7.