So if you use a Mediacenter combination like this,

• LibreELEC / Kodi Rpi clients
• Server running Windows 10, MediaPortal, MySQL (for Kodi central settings and MePo) and Windows SMB shares

…and the 1804 update is installed automatically on the server, you might notice your client mediacenters won’t work any more.

So here is my Mediacenter checklist in case this happens again with future updates:

• Re-check Windows Firewall Advanced settings -> Incoming connections -> Re-Open ports TCP 3306 (MySQL) and TCP 9596 (MediaPortal / TVServerKodi Plugin)
• Re-check Windows shares, e.g. on the server by calling \\localhost.
  • If you use additional RAM disk software e.g. for speeding up TV timeshifting, check if the product is still activated. It might happen those products get deactivated or even uninstalled by Windows upgrades.
• One further option would be disabling Windows updates at all (for the “server”). I do not recommend to ignore updates, but with this setting you decide yourself when it’s the best time to upgrade your system. At the moment, disabling the “Windows Update” service seems to be the simplest way.

[:]

Kodinerds IPTV

Die IPTV-Senderliste von Kodinerds ist kostenlos, völlig legal, wird regelmäßig aktualisiert und beinhaltet viele der bekannten TV-Sender, unter anderem aus Deutschland, Österreich und der Schweiz (z.B. ORF, ARD, ZDF, SF1 usw.).

Variante 1: Kodi mit PVR-Addon IPTV Simple Client

Der einfachste Weg z.B. für erste Tests mit dem Kodi Mediacenter bietet sich über das Addon IPTV Simple Client, zu finden im offiziellen Kodi Addons-Repository unter “PVR-Clients”.

In der Addon-Konfiguration einfach die entsprechende URL angeben, danach füllt sich die Kodi TV-Ansicht mit Sendern.

EPG

Für das TV-Programm bietet sich das Addon Rytec EPG Downloader an, welches jedoch des öfteren als defekt gemeldet wird. Alternativ lassen sich die EPG-Daten auch manuell von http://rytecepg.ipservers.eu/epg_data/ oder http://koditvepg.com/epgs/ http://xmltv.xmltv.se/ beziehen. Die XML-Datei nach dem Download entpacken und in dem IPTV Simple Client-Einstellungen angeben. Der Vorgang lässt sich natürlich auch über ein Shell-Skript automatisieren. Teilweise sind nach dem XML-Download noch einige Anpassungen in der Datei zu machen, um die automatische Senderzuordnung zu ermöglichen.

Beispiel: Bei österreichischen Senden ist teilweise in EPGs das Präfix “AT: ” angegeben, welches entfernt werden muss, z.B. mit diesem Befehl im Skript:

sed -i 's/AT: //g' /[mydownloadsfolder]/guide.xml

Variante 2: Kodi-Client mit Tvheadend-Server

Die weitaus flexiblere, jedoch etwas aufwändigere Variante bietet sich in Kombination mit Tvheadend (anstatt des Simple Client) an.

Vorteile:

• Saubere Trennung von Client und Server -> sinnvoll, wenn es mehrere Kodi-Stationen im Haus gibt
• Eigenständige, detailliertere Verwaltung von Senderlisten, Senderlogos, EPG-Daten, zentralisierte TV-Aufnahmen uvm.

Tvheadend-Server einrichten

Tvheadend.org und Ubuntuusers.de bieten sehr gute Tutorials für die Installation an, daher werde ich nur eine Kurzanleitung für Ubuntu beschreiben.

1. Ubuntu Server installieren; auf Hardware, in virtueller Maschine, oder alternativ auch Raspbian auf einem Raspberry Pi.
2. Tvheadend-Repositories lt. obiger Tutorial-Links hinzufügen und tvheadend-Paket installieren (“stable”-Zweig empfohlen).
3. Das Webinterface ist danach unter dem Port 9981 erreichbar.

Zum Hinzufügen der Kodinerds IPTV-Listen einfach dem Wizard folgen und den entsprechenden Link angeben (Achtung: “pipe“-Listen verwenden!).

Weitere Listen können auch später hinzugefügt werden, über “Configuration -> DVB Inputs -> Networks”. Dies ist z.B. hilfreich, wenn die Kodinerds-main-Liste mit über 400 Kanälen zu unübersichtlich erscheint; in diesem Fall verwendet man z.B. die abgespeckte Senderliste für die deutschen Hauptsender, und zusätzlich die Liste der Österreich- und Schweiz-Kanäle.

Nach Ergänzung einer Liste den vollständigen Scan abwarten und prüfen, ob die Sender im Bereich “Muxes” und “Services” aufscheinen; ggf. Services -> “Map all services” ausführen.

Debugging

Tvheadend läuft – vor allem während der Konfiguration – nicht immer perfekt, meist sind jedoch Probleme nach Neustart des Dienstes behoben:

sudo service tvheadend restart

Unter /var/log/syslog befinden sich unter anderem auch die Tvheadend-Logs.

EPG

Es gibt zahlreiche Wege für die EPG-Aktualisierung. Eine mögliche Variante:

1. Tvheadend -> Configuration -> Channel / EPG -> EPG Grabber Modules -> “External: XMLTV” aktivieren; alle anderen Module deaktivieren.
2. Skript erstellen (Variablen und evtl. den sed-Befehl für andere Länder anpassen):

   1. #!/bin/bash
      
      HOME=/home/hts
      XML=$HOME/guide.xml
      URL=http://epg.koditvepg.com/AT/guide.xml
      SOCKET=/home/hts/.hts/tvheadend/epggrab/xmltv.sock
      
      rm $XML*
      echo "$(date) Download starting..."
      wget $URL -P $HOME -nv
      sed -i 's/AT: //g' $XML
      cat $XML | sudo socat - UNIX-CONNECT:$SOCKET
      echo "$(date) EPG update finished."
      

       

   2. Berechtigungen anpassen (chmod +x epgupdate.sh) und ausführen; nach kurzer Zeit sollten die EPG-Infos unter Tvheadend -> “Electronic Program Guide” sichtbar sein.
   3. Evtl. zur täglichen Ausführung als Cronjob anlegen (crontab -e).

Update 11.2019

koditvepg.com ist mittlerweile kostenpflichtig.

Aktuell funktionierende – und kostenlose – Variante für den deutschsprachigen Raum:

• EPG-Grabbermodul “XMLTV: German speaking area (Egon zappt)” in der Weboberfläche aktivieren, Standardeinstellungen belassen. Alle anderen Module deaktivieren.
• Konfigurieren des Moduls per SSH:

  • su hts
    tv_grab_eu_egon --configure
    #Standard-Url
    #Einzelne Sender aktivieren, oder alle

     

• Ausführen z.B. per Reboot, Service-Restart oder “Re-Run”-Button; dabei /var/log/syslog beobachten.
• Sollte sich EPG nicht aktualisieren, Service stoppen, Cache löschen (/home/hts/.hts/tvheadend/epgdb.v2) und wieder starten.

Kodi-Client einrichten

Abschließend das Kodi-Addon “PVR Tvheadend” am Client installieren, aktivieren und konfigurieren.

IP oder DNS-Name des Tvheadend-Servers angeben und optional die gewählten Zugangsdaten, mit denen sich Kodi zum TV-Server verbinden darf.

Danach erscheint, wie auch in Variante 1, die gewohnte TV-Senderliste mit EPG in Kodi.

 [:]

To make sure the DB causes the issue, have a look at kodi.log, e.g. under /storage/.kodi/temp/kodi.log. It could contain logs like

13:25:06 5264529.500000 T:1758819392 NOTICE: Thread FileCache start, auto delete: false

13:25:07 5264530.000000 T:1800766528   ERROR: SQL: The database disk image is malformed

Query: SELECT addon.*,       broken.reason,       addonextra.key, addonextra.value,       dependencies.addon, dependenc

13:25:07 5264530.000000 T:1800766528   ERROR: GetAddon failed on addon 161287

13:25:07 5264530.500000 T:1800766528   ERROR: SQL: The database disk image is malformed

In most cases these DBs can be repaired with simple commands.

E.g. for OpenELEC or LibreELEC, use these commands to repair the local Addons DB via SSH:

cd ~/.kodi/userdata/Database
sqlite3 AddonsXX.db #replace XX with the actually existing file; can also be several files
sqlite> .mode insert
sqlite> .output dump.sql
sqlite> .dump
sqlite> .exit

# edit dump.sql
echo -n '' > AddonsXX.db #replace XX like above
sqlite3 AddonsXX.db #same here
sqlite> .read dump.sql
sqlite> .exit
rm dump.sql

Same procedure works for the other kinds of DBs (videos, EPG, …).

Reference[:]

If you are already using a visualization tool like OpenHAB for your smart home, it’s quite easy to get it running.

Because every smart home installation is configured very individually, I will only explain some basics here.

OpenHAB 2

If you are running OpenHAB v1, please upgrade it to v2. Most OH1’s add-ons, bindings etc. can be used with OH2 and the migration process is quite feasible.

Upgrade recommendations:

• Use a fresh installation for OH2 (new Ubuntu VM, Raspberry Pi etc.)
• Decide at the beginning which of the 3 configuration types (text-based, Paper UI, Karaf) you would like to use in the future. It could be error-prone to change in the future, because every type saves the configs to other places. I would prefer Paper UI, but the migration doc linked above recommends text-based config.

When you have OH2 ready to run, install the addon “Hue Emulation”:

• Text-based config: In services/addons.cfg, uncomment the “misc =” line and add “hueemulation”
• Paper UI: Open Add-ons -> Misc -> Install Hue Emulation

Then open your items file. For testing purposes, simply add “[ “Lighting” ]”  or “[ “Switchable” ]” to an already switch.

Example:

Switch myswitch "Test" <myicon> (mygroup) [ "Switchable" ] { channel=... }

Save the items file, then run the Alexa app, connect it and let it search for devices. You can also do this via voice command, e.g. “Alexa, search for connected devices”, or in German “Alexa, suche nach verbundenen Geräten”. Make sure you have enabled the Pairing mode, e.g. via Paper UI addon config.

Alexa should find a device called “Test”. Try it e.g. by saying “Alexa, switch Test on.”.

Send HTTP commands

Sometimes it can be useful to make Echo Dot call simple HTTP GET commands, especially with a KNX / smart home server, which reside in your local network and you want those commands to be called directly in your LAN, not via cloud/Skill feature etc.

To achieve this, enable the OpenHAB HTTP binding. You might also need the TCP binding.

In your items file, add a simple switch item like:

Switch AlexaRollershutters "Shutters" [ "Switchable" ]

You do not have to add it in your sitemap, so it can stay invisible.

Append to your rules file:

rule "Alexa: Rollershutters"
        when
                Item AlexaRollershutters received command
        then
                //sendHttpGetRequest("http://myserver/myCommandToControlShutters") //if you don't have an existing OH switch for your shutters, you could use this way
                switch(receivedCommand) {
                 case ON : MyRollershutters.sendCommand(DOWN)
                 case OFF : MyRollershutters.sendCommand(UP)
                 }

        end

Add the “Shutters” device to Alexa like described above. You should now be able to control your rollershutters.

For debugging purposes, you can temporarily add the switch AlexaRollershutters to your sitemap to test it manually.

Example with Squeezebox / Logitech Media Server:

sendHttpGetRequest("http://10.1.0.21:9000/status.html?p0=play&player=da%3Ada%3Ada%3Ada%3Ada%3A10")

In this case, the MAC address (ID of the player) is “da:da:da:da:da:10”. The command tells the certain player to start playing.

Send SSH commands

This can be one way to execute remote commands on Linux machines, e.g. tell your Raspberry Pi, OpenELEC / LibreELEC / Kodi Mediacenter to power up (see also here).

You can either configure SSH to accept password-less logins (certificates), or the slightly more convenient way would be to install apt-package “sshpass”.

First, connect Putty to your OpenHAB 2 server (in my case Ubuntu 16).

Double-check if the command or script you want to run remotely can be executed by the local openhab user, i.e. check if it has the correct permissions. To test the behavior, run a test command like

ssh root@yourRemoteIp reboot

SSH will ask if it should save the connection hash (important: choose Yes), and then run the reboot command after you have entered the password.

If this works, try the same using sshpass:

sshpass -p yourpassword ssh root@yourRemoteIp reboot

The reboot command should work immediately on the remote machine.

So to integrate this process into OpenHAB and therefore combine it with Alexa, create a simple Switch like in the HTTP example above and create a rule, e.g.:

rule "Alexa: TV on/off"
        when
                Item AlexaTv received command
        then
                executeCommandLine("sshpass -p libreelec ssh root@10.1.0.91 /storage/.kodi/userdata/onOffHelper.sh &")
        end

Be careful if you have to use quotation marks within your SSH command. You can use e.g. “@@”. For more details, have a look at the OH configuration documents.[:]

• SSH (command line)
• Samba / CIFS
• Web interface

Important files

• \\[ip]\Userdata\advancedsettings.xml
  • Use it e.g. for centralized settings, like a central DB or substitute paths
• \\[ip]\Userdata\guisettings.xml
  • Settings which you find in Kodi’s settings menu. You can also copy settings from there and use it in your advancedsettings.xml
• /storage/.cache/connman/
  • LAN settings
• sources.xml, mediasources.xml
  • E.g. shortcuts for HTTP repositories, internal network favorites etc.
• remote.xml, Lircmap.xml
  • Remote control configuration

Installing addons remotely

Copy the .zip file to /storage/.kodi/addons/packages and unzip it to /storage/.kodi/addons (first have a look at the structure of existing addons). It should run on next Kodi restart.

For the most addons, user data is saved under Userdata\addon_data.

Enabling / Disabling addons remotely

Make sure the integrated Webserver service is enabled, then connect to http://[ip]. Use Firefox, not IE.

Under settings -> addons, you can enable or disable installed addons.

In general, the Kodi web interface is a very convenient way for remote configuration of other settings, too.[:]

Mediaportal PVR client for Kodi Live TV worked fine with LibreELEC 7.90.003, but in the following alpha versions it became worse; after some seconds the image was freezing, including Kodi.

Workaround

In Kodi -> Player settings -> enable “Sync player to display”.

Update:

On Rpi1 and Rpi3 it can help to enable OMX Player hardware acceleration instead. Unfortunately, it did not show any effect on my Rpi2.

If you deploy settings using advancedsettings.xml, you can use this configuration part:

<videoplayer>
        <useomxplayer default="true">true</useomxplayer>
	...

 [:]

After updating all packages via Retropie Setup, no more bluetooth is found.

Solution

There seems to be a problem with the current bluetooth package, so you have to download this single package.

Steps to solve the issue:

wget http://archive.raspberrypi.org/debian/pool/main/p/pi-bluetooth/pi-bluetooth_0.1.0_armhf.deb
sudo dpkg -i pi-bluetooth_0.1.0_armhf.deb
reboot

 [:]

This one was fine when SD card’s common sizes were 4GB or lower. E.g. with a 16 GB SD card, backup or recovery might take half an hour or longer.

It is possible to shrink raw .img files using GParted or Linux in general, but it is not a really convenient way.

One good alternative is to use Acronis True Image.

You simply choose to backup your SD card drive (which contains a FAT and an Ext4 partition), set a destination and start the backup.

E.g. a 16 GB SD card with OpenELEC (Kodi) installed would result in a 16 GB image file by default, but Acronis’s image file is about 250 MB and takes less than 5 minutes to create (or restore).

Another benefit of this shrinked image file is that you can restore it on other SD cards with lower file space capacities.

Another alternative could be Paragon Backup. There is also a free version, but I have not tested Paragon yet.

 [:]

The 8-channel Unicable compatible TV card DD Max S8 is quite new and seems to have problems with current versions of DVBViewer, Mediaportal and even DD-TV.

Channel scan does not work, and only a few channels can be tuned.

An additional problem might be that in DD Control Center not all compatible Unicable LNBs / switches are listed, like the Inverto Quad LNB.

Solution for Mediaportal with Astra 19.2E

Current Mediaportal version 1.10 seems to have a problem getting the correct transponder file for this satellite.

Download and extract the following file and copy it to C:\ProgramData\Team MediaPortal\MediaPortal TV Server\TuningParameters\dvbs.

Mediaportal Corrected transponder list 19.2°E Astra 1KR,1L,1M,1N for DD Max S8

Restart TVServer, then the channel scan should work.

Source

Using Inverto Quad-LNB with DD Max S8

Note: If you use this LNB with Max S8, only 4 parallel tuners can be used. But in favor, you do not need an additional Unicable multiswitch.

To be able to select the right LNB, you have to modify C:\Program Files\DigitalDevices\DVB-Utils\SCIFDataBase.xml. You can also download and extract my modified Digital Devices SCIFDataBase file and replace the original one. Then restart and you should be able to select your LNB with integrated switch.

Only select tuner 1 – 4 in DD Control Center, tuner 5 – 8 are not usable in this case.

If you have any other Unicable LNB or switch which is not included by default, you can also insert it into this XML file. The syntax is quite simple. All you need to do is to enter the right Unicable frequencies for every channel.

Bei gewöhnlichen Receivern lässt sich das bewerkstelligen, indem man das Gerät für einige Minuten auf einen zu entschlüsselnden Sender stellt, z.B. ORF 1 HD. Mit TV-Karten bzw. TV-Software ist dies jedoch in einigen Fällen nicht so einfach, da viele Anwendungen nach einem Timeout von wenigen Sekunden das Tuning abbrechen.

Mediaportal

Mit Mediaportal funktioniert die Aktivierung meist gut, es müssen jedoch vorübergehend Einstellungen in der TVServer-Config geändert werden (Originalwerte notieren!):

• Timeshifting -> Wait for unscrambled signal: 30
• General -> Scan -> Alle Werte erhöhen, z.B. auf 200
• Bei Verwendung von Kodi: Im TvserverKodi-Addon ebenfalls die Timeouts erhöhen.

Dann den TV-Server neustarten und per “Manual Control”, Mediaportal-Client oder Kodi etc. auf den gewünschten Kanal wechseln und abwarten.

Als Alternativen sollten auch der DVBViewer (ungetestet, Demoversion sollte reichen) funktionieren. Leider kann die Aktivierung auch mehrere Stunden dauern, und die meisten Timeouts in den TV-Servern sind stark begrenzt. In diesem Fall scheint nur ein gewöhnlicher Sat-Receiver Abhilfe zu schaffen.