Identifying Recording Clashes

zenjamie

New Member
Is there a simple way of identifying recording clashes on the HDR-Fox?

I know that the box will warn me (and do it's best to offer solutions) when I set a recording but I'm thinking about when a clash is caused by the series link functionality.

The HDR-Fox is replacing a Topfield 5800 (with the MyStuff UI), and it was simple to spot clashes and decide which recording to "sacrifice". At the moment the WAF (Wife Acceptance Factor) of my new toy is high but it will drop rapidly if it starts to miss Coronation Street!

Thanks
 
We've been discussing this sort of thing recently, and distilling the reported experiences indicates that conflicts occuring after the initial schedulling do not generate any prior warnings. In the event of a conflict the Humax appears to record to the end of the current active recording before switching to the next reservation, potentially missing the start (or all of it).

You only get to find out when you try to play the file and it reports a problem. If you select "play it anyway" you get whatever was recorded.
 
In the event of a conflict the Humax appears to record to the end of the current active recording before switching to the next reservation, potentially missing the start (or all of it).
If the box is active rather than in standby the box does put up a dialog to allow you to choose whether to terminate an active recording or delay the start of a new recording; no use if the box is in standby or no one is watching.
 
I recently had a conflict which was not flagged by the humax when they were set. They were a series recoding.

When I installed remote scheduling it immediately showed a conflict and flagged them in pink :)

I was able to move one program to another recorder so lost nothing.
 
When I installed remote scheduling it immediately showed a conflict and flagged them in pink :)

Glad to hear it : ) - the conflict warning in the RS portal is a bit too keen and sometimes highlights a clash where there isn't one, but that's better than no warning.
 
Just registered and the portal seems to just show the next episode of a series link i.e. Coronation Street is currently only listed for Monday (don't mean to go on about Corrie but it's important - apparently!). On the Toppy I could check as far ahead as there was epg for which meant I only had to check once week or so, if I have to check every day I'm bound to miss one.

My day job is in databases so I guess I should give this a stab myself - I've got a draft approach in SAS's implementation of SQL. It doesn't work well if there are more than 3 programmes clashing but it's a start...

af123 - am I right in thinking that I need to be looking into "Jim" as a way to query sqlite3 on the HDR?
 
Perhaps it already does this without me knowing, but would an email alert from the RS of an impending conflict solve the problem?
 
I too have come from using a Topfield 5800 (with the MyStuff UI) and am at a loss as how to discover upcoming clashes. There are two disappointments for me with the Hummy - hopefully I am missing something hence the posting here :confused:

1. The Hummy does not seem to find alternative showings to fix the clash - is this because we are mainly recording HD there are no +1 HD channels and it doesn’t look at the SD channels as alternatives?

2. How do you discover upcoming clashes, are you only warned when the program is about to start - relies on you being in and watching something on the Hummy at the time.

The combined issue of the Hummy not finding alternatives and not giving an advance warning about the conflict is a real step backwards from capabilities of our old (broken) pvr :(
 
2. How do you discover upcoming clashes, are you only warned when the program is about to start - relies on you being in and watching something on the Hummy at the time.
It will flag clashes when setting schedules providing the clash is identifiable within the 7 day EPG data; we see clash warning messages quite frequently when setting scheedules and it does offer alternatives. Not sure why it isn't working for you; are you using padding or accurate recording? Obviously clashes due to a program running earlier or later than its scheduled time can only be identified at run time. Can you provide details of particular circumstances where a clash has occurred that wasn't flagged in advance?
 
We use padding. Pretty much everything is set up as series link recordings and as much as possible on the HD channels.

We have missed two entire episodes so far; when we went into the folder to watch the episode it appears as a file with no time against it and says something like No recording due to higher priority recording.

We did not see any clashes when setting the schedules up initially. Does the Hummy only warn in the following circumstances a) Clash is identified when the initial schedule is being set b) At the time when the clashed recording is meant to start. I HAVE seen notifications in both of these circumstances.

I am guessing that the issue is something like this...

Every Wednesday at 8pm we have scheduled Waterloo Road and Daddy Daycare. Today we notice a new daily series (something like the bank job) we want to record at 8pm starting next Tuesday so we schedule this. Everything appears fine until in a week and a days time when the three collide. From the schedule screen (or any other screen) is there any way of spotting this problem in advance?

It sounds like the web interface may be the way to go via the customised firmware (clashes show up in pink?) - I was hoping to keep with standard. Thanks for any guidance available.
 
OK, I'm out. I don't use padding (because accurate recording works very well for us but apparently not for everybody) so it is better for me to stand aside and let one of resident padding experts answer.
Thanks MartinLiddle: one bad accurate recording experience (missed the end of a program) when we first got the Hummy at Christmas swayed us back to padding which we had on the old Toppfield (although that did bookmark the start and end of the program based on broadcast signal for quick playback;)) .
 
Geotag: Speaker's Corner

Does the Hummy only warn in the following circumstances a) Clash is identified when the initial schedule is being set b) At the time when the clashed recording is meant to start?

Yes.

Remote Scheduler is definitely the way forward - af123 might need to add some functionality, but given what it does already I don't think it will be at all hard to make it inspect your schedule (your Humax will upload your schedule regularly when you have set it up) and email you a conflict warning.
 
Thanks for the confirmation - I was sure I was missing something and that the clashes would be reported somewhere.

Thanks for the skills of other members, and their willingness to share, it looks as if I can get to a better place. I've got some documentation to read now :bye: (and a home plug to buy)
 
Fantastic :)
I have taken the plunge and have put on the customised firmware and signed up for remote scheduling opting in to the new clashes email; now I will have to roll up the 10m cat5 cable, before the other half returns, and start looking for multi port powerline adaptor that compatible with a single passthrough one :D

Firmware update was a breeze, full web interface seemed to get stuck installing but worked fine via the usb method putting in the bundle.

Amazed at how good the documentation and advice is on this site as well as the skill of people like af123, BYT indeed
 
There are 3-port HomePlugs, I've been looking at using one, but an Ethernet switch might be more economical (if you can spare another mains socket for its inevitable wall wart).

[This conversation is now spawned off HERE (click)]
 
Really happy to get my first 'RS Conflict Checker' email today, it's a credit to the RS service that it identifies and notifies about clashes. Without RS notification it wouldn't be until we came to watch something that we would realise there had been a clash, so thanks again to all concerned for the development and running of this site and related services :)

I can now move things between +1 channels and not miss a programme.
 
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