Patch for #520: Start / End bookmarks missing on recording

[prl]

Here's an alpha patch of the changes that fix Bug #520: Start / End bookmarks missing on recordings. The fix will also have the (intended) side-effect of making start/stop marks visible in chase-play as soon as they have been detected in the recording.

This patch doesn't address the issues described in Bug #579: Recording start/end marks set to last "now" event rather than the last. They will be the subject of a separate fix.

The patch has been tested with firmware version 2017-04-22 beta. It may not work with other versions.

This patch is for the T4 firmware. Using it on another model may not work correctly (in ways unrelated to the intended fix).

To apply the patches, download the linked .ZIP file, and extract it. It will create a new directory/folder called cue-update-installer, which contains two files, installer and uninstaller.

Copy the two files somewhere convenient on a T4 (like /home/root), then log into the box using telnet or ssh, change directory to the place you put the installer/uninstaller files. If you put the files in /home/root you'll be in the right place as soon as you log in.

To install the patches run:

sh installer

and restart the GUI (or reboot).

To uninstall the patches, log in and go to the directory as you did to install, and run

sh uninstaller

Make sure you uninstall before doing an upgrade. Don't run the installer if you've already installed & don't run the uninstaller if you've already uninstalled.

You can check whether the patches are installed by logging in and running this on the box:

find /usr/lib/enigma2 /usr/bin -name \*.bak

It should print nothing if the patch isn't installed. It should print:

/usr/lib/enigma2/python/Screens/InfoBarGenerics.pyo.bak
/usr/lib/enigma2/python/enigma.pyo.bak
/usr/bin/enigma2.bak

if the patch is installed.

Comments welcome!

I'm not able to upload the ptch ZIP file as an attachment.
Download it from my Dropbox account: cue-update-t4-installer.zip

[Grumpy_Geoff]

It installed fine.

[prl]

It installed fine.

Great.

Please let me know if it causes any problems. There is a small oddity that if you chaseplay, and stop the chaseplay before the recording finishes, the start/end marks won't be written to the cuts file when chaseplay stops. They'll be added to the cuts file when the recording finishes. However, if you chaseplay again before recording finishes, the start/end marks will be read from the object controlling the recording, so they'll look like they were there.

When the recording finishes it unconditionally adds the start/end marks to the cuts file, so the playback can't write them to the cuts file unless the recording is finished. The playback re-writes the whole cuts file.

All that should be invisible for most use, but it will be visible in the cutlist editor. But it's probably a bad idea to run the cutlist editor on an active recording anyway. You can also see the effect in the cuts file if you look at it with something like "od".

[Grumpy_Geoff]

It passes the chase play test,
First chase play had start marker. Waited a bit, then went back in when event had ended whilst still recording, and now both start and end markers were there.

[prl]

Thanks.

The markers should appear while chaseplay is in progress. There shouldn't be a need to exit and re-enter chase play to see the marker updates. How's that for service.

Does it fix the actual bug, though?

[Grumpy_Geoff]

You wanted me to read the spec? Sorry, I hadn't.
Will do when I get some time (school pickup soon).

[prl]

You wanted me to read the spec? Sorry, I hadn't.
Will do when I get some time (school pickup soon).

The actual bug being addressed is that if you chaseplay and stop chaseplay after the recording has finished, the start/end marks are lost. All the rest is a bonus

All the gory details here: Bug #520: Start / End bookmarks missing on recordings.

The dynamic updating of the start/end marks is part of my resolution of the problem that "may get to be a bit messy" in the last comment on the issue.

[Grumpy_Geoff]

[Posting from Trevor, still @ school, son is still playing]

Had a chance to read the issue, and followed steps. I only had time to check two recordings. Both kept their start/end marks after stopping playing once recording had finished.

For me, the 'bonus' of having a start mark when chase playing is the great feature. I'm not too fussed about bookmafks if I've already watched all of the recording.

I'll keep monitoring.

[prl]

[Posting from Trevor, still @ school, son is still playing]

Trevor doesn't seem to have done anything untoward this time.

For me, the 'bonus' of having a start mark when chase playing is the great feature. I'm not too fussed about bookmafks if I've already watched all of the recording.

When I got thinking about the problem, I thought that that would be a great thing to have as a side-effect, and one reason why I started working on it. We often delete programs that have been chaseplayed while they're still recording, and even if not, they usually get deleted as soon at we've watched them, but having a start mark when you start playing is nice

I'll keep monitoring.

Thanks.

[Grumpy_Geoff]

It's a bit creepy watching the bookmarks 'creep' along the infobar

[IanSav]

Hi Geoff,

It's a bit creepy watching the bookmarks 'creep' along the infobar

Creepy maybe, comforting like on the Classic Beyonwiz definitely (for me ).

Mind you I can't test this myself but what you describe sounds reassuring.

Regards,
Ian.

[prl]

... Mind you I can't test this myself but what you describe sounds reassuring. ...

I've run T4 enigma2 binaries on a T3 before. Some things are a bit odd, but it seemed to do most things correctly, despite my warning. If you want to try it out, you could give it a try anyway. Just do it at a time when you don't want to do any real recordings. You may lose the front panel display running the T4 binary on a T3.

Anyway, I'll probably do a pull request early next week if no-one yells at me about it over the weekend.

[prl]

I'm working on a new patch to run on the recent 20170421 beta. The posted patch may or may not work in 20170310.

[prl]

I've updated the patch linked to in the OP with a new version that runs on firmware 20170422.

[Grumpy_Geoff]

As I expected, it installed fine and still operates fine (both in chase play and fixing issue #520).

[prl]

Thanks for the confirmation. It's working on our in-use T4, too.

I'm bogged down trying to get OpenViX to build for Beyonwizes so that I can try offering the changes upstream.

[prl]

I've submitted a fix to Bug #520 Start / End bookmarks missing on recordings to the Beyonwiz repository and to the Dev branch of the OpenViX repository.

[prl]

Fix merged into OpenViX Dev branch.

[Paul_oz53]

Installed both this patch on the T3 and the IceTV patch.

Machine works ok but the front panel display is now stuck on 'Loading 100'.

Nothing I've tried unlocķs the display. Rebooted and same result but changes channels, brings up the epg, etc. as normal on limited testing.

Front panel settings all default values.
Running the 20170422 & 20057 firmware.

Not home now but any ideas what is happening or what to try next are welcome!

[prl]

Installed ... this patch on the T3 ...

From the post containing the patch, with added emphasis: This patch is for the T4 firmware. Using it on another model may not work correctly (in ways unrelated to the intended fix).

The IceTV patch will work on the T3 as well as it does on the T4, but it actually doesn't work as intended. There will be a new version of it in a couple of days that should work better. The new version is getting a few days' workout in our in-use T4.

[Paul_oz53]

Installed ... this patch on the T3 ...

From the post containing the patch, with added emphasis: This patch is for the T4 firmware. Using it on another model may not work correctly (in ways unrelated to the intended fix).

The IceTV patch will work on the T3 as well as it does on the T4, but it actually doesn't work as intended. There will be a new version of it in a couple of days that should work better. The new version is getting a few days' workout in our in-use T4.

Thanks prl.

I did read that but ever the optimist, took the gamble it might work on the T3 too.

Obviously, no one else has tried it successfully on a T3. I'll uninstall it and the IceTV patch too, pending the update.

Of the two, fixing IceTV is my greater desire for both machines.

Paul

[prl]

...
I did read that but ever the optimist, took the gamble it might work on the T3 too.

Obviously, no one else has tried it successfully on a T3. I'll uninstall it and the IceTV patch too, pending the update.
...

The problem with this patch is that it contains a compiled binary for /usr/bin/enigma2. This is the main application that runs the PVR. It is also compiled with different settings for each model, and a binary compiled for one model won't work properly on another.

The enigma2 binary contains a Python interpreter, and the main part of the UI is written in Python. Patches that only affect Python code will normally work on all models.

I have run the "wrong" enigma2 binary on a test machine (specifically, a T4 binary on a T3 as you did), and I never saw more than superficial problems. But I'd never run the wrong binary on an in-use PVR that I wanted to rely on.

I do quite often run alpha software on our in-use T4, and in fact, it's currently running both this patch and (the next version of) the IceTV one.

[Paul_oz53]

I have run the "wrong" enigma2 binary on a test machine (specifically, a T4 binary on a T3 as you did), and I never saw more than superficial problems. But I'd never run the wrong binary on an in-use PVR that I wanted to rely on.

I do quite often run alpha software on our in-use T4, and in fact, it's currently running both this patch and (the next version of) the IceTV one.

The good news is nothing important was/is broken and the patch appears to work as advertised!

Hopefully peteru will get past the current roadblocks soon and the fix will become permanent.

The T3's recording happily at the moment so I'll reboot when it finishes to complete the uninstall. The T3 is basically a backup unit for the T4 now so
I'm quite happy to experiment with it.

Thanks too for the explanation of the inner workings of the patch. Very informative and a key to understanding why it doesn't work without complications on the T3.
Paul