[badnts] Package To Clean Up Faulty BBC3HD/BBC4HD Recordings

Edit: beaten to it!

@af123: I have some questions. Will badnts run automatically on a HD-Fox? If it does, will it be possible to configure which folder it checks, or will it just run in \drive1\video?

Is it straightforward to recreate the HMT files? You mentioned that if no official fix is forthcoming, you might create a utility to recreate the NTS files. Badnts will delete the defective NTS file and the HMT file after decryption, but down the line, the HMT file is needed for trick play functions. If it not easy to recreate the HMT files is it possible to divert them into a folder in case they are needed later? Presumably such a folder would need to be configured to prevent the lone HMT files being deleted as orphaned HMT files, and to prevent the RS server ( if you have RS installed) picking them up as failed recordings and sending out e-mails.

If you have undelete installed they can be retrieved from there, but I don't think the faulty files will be of much use.

I am not sure whether the badnts package is of much use to HD-FOX - do the WebIF decrypt options work whe the HD-FOX is booted in HDR Mode? If they do I need to update my information about decryption on the HD-FOX, and nobody has reported that so far.
 
Results of overnight recordings:
Fox T2. YouView
BBC3. OK. OK
BBC4. OK. failed AGAIN!!

So final results for Sutton Coldfield using AP (24 hrs 8-9 Jan 2014)
Attempts. Fox 2 Fails. YouView fails
CBBC. 1. 1. 0
CBeebees. 1. 1. 0
BBC3 2. 0. 2.
BBC4. 2. 0. 2.

EDIT: sorry should have said, I'm on 2.18/1.02.32 old style T2

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Have installed BADNTS and run decrypt on 0 .nts recordings.

Result seems to give decrypted recording BUT STILL LEAVES 0 .nts file with final result. It's as if BADNTS is not triggering..
I installed BADNTS -and rebooted from cold, no difference.

Here are screen prints.
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ImageUploadedByTapatalkHD1389264723.739590.jpg
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HELP!!! What am I doing wrong.

I assume that if I restore the original file from the "Original" directory, I can retest.

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HELP!!! What am I doing wrong.
badnts only triggers following automatic decryption, not manual.
If you want to fix selected files then you need to create a directory/folder which is flagged for automatic decryption and then drop the recording into there.
 
Af123 and BlackHole: thanks for your answers. Web-If auto-decrypt does indeed not function on the HD-FOX, even in HDR mode, that is why I wondered if the package would work on this model. Af123 (or whoever has the pemissions), could you add '(HDR only)' to the description of 'badnts' in the available packages tab of the package management section of Web-If?

Re. the HMT file, is this also defective when a recording fails, or is just the NTS? As stated, a decrypted TS file will play with no sidecars, but without trick play functions. Recreating the NTS is crucial for trick play but the HMT also needs to be present. If you pick a normal decrypted recording (I've only tried this on a HD file) and temporarily move the HMT to a different folder, the remaining TS/ NTS combo also loses ff and rew functionality.
 
Tried a few more Fox T2 recordings on CBBC and CBeebees. ALL FAILED!

No great loss to me really, but it looks like Sutton Coldfield is consistently failing for these two channels on Fox T2. Whereas BBC3/4 have given no problems.

In the case of YouView BBC4 seems to consistently fail for me.

Interesting?


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Have now tested BADNTS on a number of file. All were processed successfully.

Thanks AF123.


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The .hmt is also defective (the decrypted file will not play if only the .nts is deleted).
How do you know that the HMT file it is defective? If this file were defective would it even be possible to decrypt the recording? If you take a perfectly good decrypted programme and remove the NTS file, the programme will not play, you get a 'recording failed: unknown error' message pop up on screen.

As I mentioned, in post #25, the combination of TS and NTS files is not enough to get trick play functions, you also need the HMT file. That is why I think it is a good idea to save the HMT files, placed in the [Deleted Items] folder by badnts, as regeneration of the NTS file on its own is not enough to get trick play back.
 
How do you know that the HMT file it is defective? If this file were defective would it even be possible to decrypt the recording? If you take a perfectly good decrypted programme and remove the NTS file, the programme will not play, you get a 'recording failed: unknown error' message pop up on screen.
If you take a decrypted bad programme and remove the NTS file, the programme will not play, but you still get a 'Recording (less than 30 secs) may not be stored' message pop up on screen. You do not get the same message as a good recording with the NTS file removed.
Additionally on the Media list the recording is still listed as 0 mins, while for the good recording the length remains as x minutes in the Media list.

I.e. it is not just the nts file which is corrupt. That only leaves the HMT or the TS file and 1 of them must be also corrupt.
 
If you take a decrypted bad programme and remove the NTS file, the programme will not play, but you still get a 'Recording (less than 30 secs) may not be stored' message pop up on screen. You do not get the same message as a good recording with the NTS file removed.
Additionally on the Media list the recording is still listed as 0 mins, while for the good recording the length remains as x minutes in the Media list.

I.e. it is not just the nts file which is corrupt. That only leaves the HMT or the TS file and 1 of them must be also corrupt.
Fair enough, I didn't have a failed recording to test. To get the trick play functions back though, both NTS and HTM files would need to be recreated.
 
...but as af123 said, recreating the .hmt is easy.

There is one flag in particular within the .hmt file which tells the Humax that the recording is encrypted and therefore requires decryption on playback. As long as that flag is unaffected, it matters not what the rest of the .hmt says. Removing the .hmt before the .ts is decrypted would make the .ts unplayable and undecryptable (the Humax would treat it as unencrypted).
 
Removing the .hmt before the .ts is decrypted would make the .ts unplayable and undecryptable (the Humax would treat it as unencrypted).

Innocent question ...
So on that basis, if you got into that situation, presumably you could copy any old .hmt file, from another unencrypted file, and rename it to match .ts file.
Would that then enable the unencrypt/decrypt process?

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...but as af123 said, recreating the .hmt is easy.

There is one flag in particular within the .hmt file which tells the Humax that the recording is encrypted and therefore requires decryption on playback. As long as that flag is unaffected, it matters not what the rest of the .hmt says. Removing the .hmt before the .ts is decrypted would make the .ts unplayable and undecryptable (the Humax would treat it as unencrypted).
Thanks for the reply. Now that Luke has explained to me how the 'failed' recordings behave, I understand the situation. Had the HMT from a failed recording been OK it might have been worth saving, in case it became possible to create a replacement NTS at a later date. As the HMT also has errors it is not worth keeping.
 
Innocent question ...
So on that basis, if you got into that situation, presumably you could copy any old .hmt file, from another unencrypted file, and rename it to match .ts file.
Would that then enable the unencrypt/decrypt process?
Possibly... not sure how the Humax would react. Fancy testing the hypothesis?
 
The HMTs just include meta information about the recording - they're easy enough to recreate - recalling the EPG details to put in there is the tricky part.


If you do recreate the HMT can I suggest that it include something to show that the recording was faulty and badnts has had to be invoked. Maybe even a bespoke icon for it (both webif and on the box if possible).
This would help us keep track of failures and allow some certainty of when the problem has been fixed .... if ever :rolleyes:
 
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