Restoring Scheduled Events

peterpi

Member
I have the CF on my machine and there are a couple gremlins which I would like to sort out.

If I restore an auto backup of my recording schedule, I get multiple instances of the programs I want to record. I've just spent some time tidying up the restored schedule after a re-scan and done a manual backup in case I start getting multiple instances, when it does an auto backup again.

The other thing is not really a big deal but a bit weird. I leave the machine switched on permanently, otherwise when it switches on, it re-boots once or twice before it stays on. This is OK if I'm doing it manually, but if it is switching itself on to do a scheduled recording, when it switches off and does the re-boot thing, the recording is not made.

Any ideas please?

Pete
 
Sounds like you do have several problems - which might be linked.
However, it would be helpful if you were to publish which hardware you have, and which Software and CF versions you are using.
The transmitter to which you are tuned might be relevant to the recording schedule problem
HTH
 
In case it's helpful a few comments on things I've noticed about re-booting on my machines:

If the box is in standby and a recording is due the box performs a cold (power up) restart before the recording.
I saw this in both my boxes one has CF V2 the other (now dead sadly) CF V3
I have a 2 minute "padding" before and after set.

Could it be that if you have zero padding the machine takes long enough to restart that the program has begun
and that somehow prevents the recording (I dont think it should though - maybe someone could jump in and advise)

Also I have noticed with the recovery of the schedules that the box may do a double reboot after a full retune with
the second reboot maybe a few minutes after the first. On mine I've assumed that was because I do recovery
of schedule and also auto channel deletion.

All the above reboots seem logical enough to me so I just ignore it.

I did have an issue last year with multiple entries in the shedules table which I cured by doing a full clean and
re-install of CF.
 
Ok - so please fix the faulty software.
I don't think there are major issues with the software, but nothing is perfect. There are known bugs in the standard firmware which can only be fixed by Humax and cause problems from time to time. The problems I encounter are occasional lock ups and, very infrequently, the unit will lose its settings and need to be installed again from scratch (Wizard). I also find the latest version of iPlayer to be volatile on this model, occasionally causing reboots.
With all scheduled recordings, the unit will come out of standby into half-awake mode (no TV picture and DLNA server but most processes running) before the scheduled start time. With padding I think it comes on 5 minutes early, with AR (no padding) it comes on 18 minutes early. With AR you can get recording failure due to 'failed to track' errors, but this is rare unless you have the unit tuned to more than one transmitter. If you want to tune multiple transmitters, you have to use padding for reliable recording. When half awake before an impending recording the unit should not reboot. If it does this is a fault condition.
The standard Humax software uses numerous SQLite databases. These can be modified by custom firmware, but changes have to be applied at boot time. If you retune, then restore your schedule this requires a reboot to apply the changes. So if you have the unit set up to delete unwanted channels after a retune it will reboot. Auto schedule restore then requires a second reboot. I'd try turning off auto schedule restore temporarily and see if your situation improves.
Restoring the schedule from a backup at any time should wipe the old entries first. If you end up with multiple entries for the same recording you have a database corrution problem. To fix this you are best to do a rectory reset (do not format the HDD) and set the unit up again. A corrupt DLNA database can also cause problems and I think this one only usually gets deleted by formatting the HDD. However, if you disable content sharing you can wipe it using the Web-If option. At this point I would also run the fix-flash-packages diagnostic. This will remove any custom firmware packages that are stored in flash memory and reinstall them. I'm not sure this is strictly necessary (if anyone wants to set me straight, please do) but it is quick.
There are other problems that might cause reboots. I recommended following the procedures outlined in the link posted by Black Hole to troubleshoot these.
 
...These can be modified by custom firmware, but changes have to be applied at boot time. If you retune, then restore your schedule this requires a reboot to apply the changes. So if you have the unit set up to delete unwanted channels after a retune it will reboot. Auto schedule restore then requires a second reboot. I'd try turning off auto schedule restore temporarily and see if your situation improves.
I am not aware that these events create a reboot rather than just requesting one. There is too much likelihood of the reboot stalling with power off to do it unattended.
 
In case it's helpful a few comments on things I've noticed about re-booting on my machines:

If the box is in standby and a recording is due the box performs a cold (power up) restart before the recording.
I saw this in both my boxes one has CF V2 the other (now dead sadly) CF V3
I have a 2 minute "padding" before and after set.

Could it be that if you have zero padding the machine takes long enough to restart that the program has begun
and that somehow prevents the recording (I dont think it should though - maybe someone could jump in and advise)

Also I have noticed with the recovery of the schedules that the box may do a double reboot after a full retune with
the second reboot maybe a few minutes after the first. On mine I've assumed that was because I do recovery
of schedule and also auto channel deletion.

All the above reboots seem logical enough to me so I just ignore it.

I did have an issue last year with multiple entries in the shedules table which I cured by doing a full clean and
re-install of CF.

With zero padding (Accurate Recording Set). the box wakes 15 minutes before any recording is due to watch for the broadcaster accurate recording starts. During this period the epf gets refreshed. If you use padding the box wakes and shuts down at the specified times so no epg refresh takes place. If you don't otherwise turn on the box (say with a power on/off timer or watch reservation), the epg loses a day every 24hrs. This is clearly an issue if you go away for more than 7 days.
 
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