Ceton Tuner – Should it go into my WHS or HTPC?

This topic has 12 replies, 6 voices, and was last updated 13 years, 2 months ago by Aaron Ledger.

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July 14, 2011 at 1:56 pm #26146
PAPutzback
Spectator
I posted this yesterday and it seems to have disappeared so I’ll try again.

I’m not positive how recording works on the HTPC but if I map a drive for recording to the WHS 2011 server and have the tuners in the WHS server will the data go straight to the mapped drive or will it buffer to the WMC and then go there?

Also if the tuner is in the HTPC will the HTPC wake up if an extender tries to hit it?

And finally, for now, if other W7 pcs try to access the tuner is the software smart enough to allocate tuners dynamically? Recently I had a disabled tuner in my HTPC and occasionally the OS would tell me a scheduled recording would not work because the tuner is in use but it would always record on another one.
July 14, 2011 at 4:05 pm #30637
phoneguyinpgh
Mikinho would be the best source for the intricacies of the Ceton turner.

But, I have mine installed in my WHS 2011 box. My HTPCs wake up to record, they record to their assigned internal HD and then then transfer the recording to the WHS Recorded TV directory, then I can watch on any PC or stream via remote web access.

From what I recall my old WHSv1 installed a plugin to MC that gave me 2 extra start menu links for my main MC menu, one to see basic WHS stats the other for setting up the recorded TV transfer service(enabled or disabled). Since I have moved to WHS 2011 the main link is gone, but the recorded TV tansfer link is still there and it works, recorded shows get sent to the WHS recorded TV directory just as before after the recording is complete on the HTPC.

I have never mapped the WHS recorded Tv directory as a network drive and tried to record directly to that so I’m not sure it will work.

I don’t use extenders so I can’t comment on waking up the HTPC when then extender wants to use a tuner.

I do know that the ceton tuner does not dynamically allocate tuners to clients. You must assign the specific tuner/s to a client and that is it. The new Ceton provided WMC plugin is smart enough to know that you have already allocated a tuner to another client and will not make it available when you are trying to set up other clients.

If I am understanding what you’re asking correctly, it seems like you want to be able to use the Centon card for both HTPCs and extenders.

An extender would require an operating copy of WMC running at all times if I’m correct. So using some sort of VWare software to operate a virtual W7MC machine inside your WHS 2011 system that has however many tuners for the number of extenders want to use assigned to it might fit the bill.

Again, Mikinho would be the best source of info to set up that sort of system.

I have a fairly simple set up. 2 HTPCs and a WHS 2011 box with the Ceton card installed and networked. Each HTPC is assigned 2 tuners so I can watch and record at the same time on both HTPCs.

Good luck with your set up.
July 14, 2011 at 4:58 pm #30641
PAPutzback
That sounds like the way to go. I’ll put the Ceton into my WHS 2011 box and allocate 2 Ceton tuners and 2 HDHomerun tuners to my main HTPC. Then 1 Ceton and 1 HDHR to each of my other PCs.

I’ll probably upgrade the NIC in my Server to an Intel gigabit once I see what slots I have left.

Can I install the Ceton Tuner without the CC so when I get the CC I can just slide it in?
July 14, 2011 at 5:42 pm #30642
swoon
I definitely recommend against trying to record to a network share. Do what phoneguyingph does with his WHS setup and let the program record to an internal HDD and then transfer the file to WHS.

Yes, you can first install the InfiniTV and driver, then you can insert the CableCARD at a later point in time.

If you’re interested, I have an Intel Gigabit CT PCIe card that I’m not using. I’ll sell it to you for a good price (cheaper than ebay) 🙂 Just PM me when and if you’re ready for it.
August 31, 2011 at 6:15 pm #31116
cnims
Phoneguyingp, do you do any commercial scanning? Is is best to do this on the Media center client or WHS?
August 31, 2011 at 6:16 pm #31117
cnims
Phoneguyingp, do you do any commercial scanning? Is it best to do this on the Media Center client or WHS?
August 31, 2011 at 6:38 pm #31118
Aaron Ledger
It depends on what your goals are and whether the server or client is better equipped to handle the process.

If you want to scan for commercials while recording, you’ll want to do it on the client. If you would like to offload due to resource issues on the client, that is a good reason to have the server do it.
August 31, 2011 at 6:39 pm #31119
jrandeck
I have my Ceton card in my main HTPC since I do all my recording there anyway. I already have my HDHomerun using network bandwidth while recording and sometimes have glitches that might be attributable to networking issues, so why burden my cable card recordings with that as well? Theoretically gigabit ethernet should be able to handle it, but in practice sometimes it doesn’t work like that, at least for me.

Now, if your cable drop happens to be next to your server rather than your HTPC then I can understand putting the tuner there 😉
August 31, 2011 at 7:08 pm #31120
mikinho
I agree. Keep your InfiniTV installed locally unless are splitting the tuners up and your “primary” HTPC is set to sleep and don’t want to mess with WoL.
August 31, 2011 at 7:27 pm #31121
phoneguyinpgh
Sorry, I don’t do any commercial scanning or removal, I just use my skip button, so I can’t offer any advise on that.
August 31, 2011 at 11:31 pm #31122
RehabMan
There is only one advantage of having the InfiniTV4 hosted by the always on server… when the HTPC wakes up, the tuners are instantly available from the server… there is no minute-or-so authorization time after wake-up like there is when the InfiniTV is in the HTPC.

That said, I have a WHS 2011 machine and I still run my main HTPC with the InfiniTV local, as I just don’t trust the network that much to rely on it to record my favorite shows. That and I don’t watch live TV that much (almost never) to care about waiting the minute or-so it takes for live TV to be available.

If you watch live TV often, and like the cable-box feel of having live TV instantly available after wake-up from sleep, then host your InfiniTV in an always-on server, or never allow your HTPC to sleep.
September 1, 2011 at 1:56 am #31124
skelly
Just out of curiosity, how do you guys handle copy protected recordings when using multiple WMCs with WHS?

Does WHS have some method to let CP recordings on one HTPC be played on another? I have Time Warner and a Ceton, and prety much everything except the local channels are flagged as copy protected, so I can’t play or stream them to other PCs.

Or is there something I’m missing?
September 1, 2011 at 1:59 am #31125
Aaron Ledger
No. Copy Once content only allows the device that originally made the copy (recording) to play back the copy.

The reason you might transfer to a server is because you would rather store them there.
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