For the first time, I played with DVR and Live TV today for about an hour or so. And I am amazed at how this bug fest can even be out of beta. Wow.
This thing even stumbles over directory names that have underscores in the name. Can’t record. Playback of Live TV from an Android phone: Throws a generic error message. The same version works fine on Android TV. Where are the channel names? It doesn’t even tell me what channel something is on. Browse this subforum? Nothing but problem reports.
Seems like recent Plex traditions just continue. Releasing unfinished, half-baked software just to create the next feature. I am not liking you much anymore, Plex.
@cryptochrome said:
For the first time, I played with DVR and Live TV today for about an hour or so. And I am amazed at how this bug fest can even be out of beta. Wow.
This thing even stumbles over directory names that have underscores in the name. Can’t record. Playback of Live TV from an Android phone: Throws a generic error message. The same version works fine on Android TV. Where are the channel names? It doesn’t even tell me what channel something is on. Browse this subforum? Nothing but problem reports.
Seems like recent Plex traditions just continue. Releasing unfinished, half-baked software just to create the next feature. I am not liking you much anymore, Plex.
I asked the same question back when they only released it for iOS and android, never got an answer.
I can only imagine that the entire staff at Plex has an extremely severe case of ADHD and that they all adamantly refuse to take any medication to control their inability to see project me through to completion prior to release.
And now I just found out that recorded TV does not use the EPG data. So in TV mode, you have all the details like plot, cover, actors and what not, but as soon as you record it, all that data is lost and it looks just like an unmatched movie or TV episode. Plex, you have got to be kidding me.
AH AH! I had the same reaction! How can this thing is not beta anymore! It is sooooooo full of bugs! I Invested in a new hard drive, a powerful antenna and a HDhomerun. I should have wait.
Dont disconnect from cable yet. Major deception on my side. File size are super heavy. Because they are so heavy you need a super fast wifi and a large hard drive. The recordings dont record. Files dont appear anywhere. Schedule is buggy. You cant watch live tv on ALL YOUR DEVICES (like they claim).
Wow… I just bought a giant antenna for the attic and a HDHomerun Prime with the intention to add a cable card shortly after… Have I already invested too much in this dream??
I have no issues with it. It’s been stable for quite a while. What I don’t do is use it to watch OTA TV. My TVs have tuners and a proper guide, so that would be silly. I record two shows all the time without issues. I NEVER looked at Plex’s DVR as a replacement to a TV tuner. It adds DVR functionality and it works if set up properly.
Most issues I’ve seen are user related, like trying to record two/three shows, while wanting to watch one of them, and Plex is running on a can opener with ONE SINGLE disk/controller or worse yet, a remote NAS disk. Disk, CPUs and networks all have limitations.
If you really like being able to stop/rewind etc… while watching OTA TV, I suggest a Channel Master. There is no monthly cost associated with it and it works like a champ. It’s regulated to one TV however. I gave mine away and I sometimes miss it. I might buy another one. Plex and Channel Master should get together and integrate, it would benefit both of them.
I run Plex on a i5 using six disks (RAID 10), link aggregation, have a tri-band router and a smart switch. The server, and the tuner are plugged into the smart switch. If I added another tuner and had problems, the first ting I would look at is disk utilization.
@DixieDad you are patronizing everyone who has problems with this feature as being stupid users who must be doing it wrong. It’s nice to hear that it works for you, but as you said, you are not even using it to watch TV, so I am not sure why you have to comment. To share how awesome your setup is? Meh.
Then you tell us we’re probably having disk utilization issues when none of the problem that I described aren’t even remotely related to disks. They are UI/UX problems. I can watch and record just fine (except on an Android phone).
@segaboy81 said:
Wow… I just bought a giant antenna for the attic and a HDHomerun Prime with the intention to add a cable card shortly after… Have I already invested too much in this dream??
If you ask me, stay clear. The implementation is far from being a finished product. Just read through this sub-forum to get an idea what kind of problems people have. They are plentiful.
I posted on the Plex Blog article that discusses [“Live TV and DVR now out of beta”](https://www.plex.tv/blog/control-time-space-sort/ ““Live TV and DVR now out of beta””) and noted that the number of posts in this forum would suggest the product isn’t even Alpha quality yet.
My post was deleted.
Let’s face it, Plex is simply a scam set up to extract maximum money from investors. They have nothing but contempt for their customers.
I think the problem is we as users always fell that our problems are show stoppers and it is the end of the world. It is easy to think that your problem is effecting everyone at large and the app just sucks. The truth of the matter can be very different. Our perception is really only our reality. Someone may be having a fine experience with Plex DVR. So just because your system is having issues and seems like a buggy mess that doesn’t mean everyone is.
We can’t forget we are talking about a platform that PLEX has little control on the conditions on our individual hardware. It isn’t like going and buying a Tivo or getting a box from the local cable company that was specifically designed to just do the task of being a DVR and those companies completely own everything it does. We are running the PMS on whatever hardware we can find with any wide range of OS’s and varying hardware. Add that to the wide range of skills we all have trying to do this and there are bound to be good and bad experiences.
I personally had issues with the DVR when i loaded 1.7.1 and 1.7.2. I did a ton of troubleshooting over 5 days. I have worked in computer system support and IT for over 15 years. So troubleshooting these kind of issues isn’t new to me. In the end what i found was that it was something to do with my platform (os+additional software) that was causing a problem with the app. It might not even be related to the software that was on the box at that time as my WHS was installed years prior and had a carried a wide variety of tasks over the years. After reloading the OS and carefully restoring the software for my current use cases everything is working great. I even ended up restoring my previous plex configuration from before the reload.
I believe the plex software itself is fine. It is something on our individual machines that is causing many of our issues. There are also no shortage of user related problem as well. I can’t tell you how many times i have responded to users wanting to use HD Homerun that thinks they should be able to record 2 show and watch a third at the same time. Talking about user related issues is no patronizing or calling anyone stupid it is just stating a problem that really exists when trying to look at what real issues exist.
I’m disappointed also. I’m unable to watch any HD channels over Plex through my FireTV’s. SD channels sometimes load. I get weird errors or Plex crashes most of the time. Hopefully they can fix it in the near future as I want to cut off cable for good. The problem for me is my house doesn’t have coax in each room so I thought this solution would be perfect for my situation.
After waiting, what, a year or more? I’m disappointed and amazed at the same time. Disappointed this feature is so amateurish and sloppy. Amazed so many people are actually using it. I’ve tried all of the Live TV applications. Nothing comes close to Windows Media Center, especially Plex. They could work on it night and day for the next 10 years and not even touch the finesse of WebTV on Windows 98. PlexPass was a waste and I won’t be renewing because I don’t expect Live TV on Plex to ever become a usable product.
