Has anyone been able to consistently record live tv with Plex? I’ve been working with Plex for a couple of weeks now. I get the wrong show recorded, half a show recorded, no show recorded and it occasionally tells me the signal is weak but I can see the channel on all the tuners from other devices. Windows Media Center records just fine. I’m running 3 HDHOMERUN tuners and a Hauppauge 2250 on the Plex server.
Very disappointed in this application…
I have two (2) HDHomeRun Quatro tuners in my home in Missouri. This give me 8 tuners. I have a rooftop antenna that brings in 19 different HD channels which is all I can get in my area.
I run Plex Media Server on a Windows 10 Professional computer solely dedicated for this function.
I also run MCEBuddy on the same computer to convert and compress the recordings from the TS (mpeg2) files to MKV (H.264/AC3) files. MCEBuddy is also setup to use ComSkip to remove commercials from the recordings. Note that the commercial removal is not perfect and sometimes we lose content.
Some nights I have up to six shows getting recorded and some nights, there are 3 to 4 shows getting recorded at the same time. For example, right now on Friday, November 15th, it is 7:46 pm and the Plex Media Server DVR is currently recording "The Blacklist and Hawaii Five-0, both started at 7:00 pm. It also recorded American Housewife from 7:00 to 7:30. American Housewife has already been converted with commercials removed.
I would say that my Windows 10 computer is over kill hardware wise. I built it myself and here are some of the hardware specs…
Intel Core i7-4790K 4.0GHz processor
16.0 GB of DDR3 RAM
SanDisk 1 TB SSD for OS
Seagate 10 TB Hard Drive for storage
You see, I used to spend a lot of money every year on DirecTV. The way I figured, in the long run, I am going to save money by “cord cutting”, so I decided to invest in hardware that was going to more than handle the tasks of a DVR.
My playback devices are nVidia Shield TV media players running Android. I also have Plex for LG on my two LG TVs.
Additionally, I have a HD HomeRun Prime 3 Tuner box setup at my Brother’s house in New York with a Cable Card from his Verizon Fios TV subscription that I pay $5.00 per month for.
There is another Windows 10 computer running Plex Media Server. That computer is also running a Core i7 processor with 16 GBs of RAM, a SSD for Windows and 6 TB hard disk drive. All so that I can record and watch NFL football games of the NY Giants and NY Jets.
I have been an IT guy for over 30 years, so this setting all of this stuff up was not very hard for me.
If you have any questions, I will answer them as best I can. I don’t get on the Plex forums all that much, but I do check in at least once a week.
EDIT: It is now 8:01 PM and the Plex DVR is now recording Dateline, Magnum P.I. and 20/20. The computer is also trans-coding and converting The Blacklist and Hawaii Five-0.
Greetings and thanks for the response.
I an running 2 - HdHomeRun Connects using n external antenna for Central Tx ( 38 channels) and one HDHomeRun Extend on another antenna for local Austin (33 channels). The media workstation is running is CyberPower with Windows 7 Pro 64bit and has a Pcie Hauppauge 2250 dual tuner on the amplified Austin local antenna (35 channels). That a totals 8 tuners. HDHomeRun tuners are LAN connected on GB ethernet. The workstation is an AMD FX 1850 8 core processor running at 3.6Ghz with 16GB Memory. System drive is a 250GB SSD with a 2TB physical internal SATA drive. PLex Recordings go to the SATA drive. After recording, the keepers are moved 2 -3TB mirrored NAS systems. I have 465 movies and 352 TV series episodes. I also use MCEBUddy. When it’s working, Plex does a fair job at removing commercials. Moving the Transcoder form the System drive to the SATA drive eliminated the 3015 playback errors i experienced with the last Plex upgrade. I also run PlayOn Media Server. I have had is for years.
I have another Dell PowerEdge T20 server with 16GB running WIndows server 2012 with AirVideo server that access my NAS systems for remote on the iPhone. Ples is the only server I have found that does Live TV remotely.
Firmware on the HdHomeRun tuners is up to date. All tuners function correctly and can be viewed using the HDHomeRun viewer or WIndow Media Player. WMC work perfectly. Since Microsoft is dropping support for the EPG in January, I am trying to stabilize Plex as a replacement. I like the way Plex displays my movie collection. I just can’t seem to get Plex to record live TV consistently. I am using FireTV and Roku plus a PS4 for connectivity to Plex. I remote access Plex on my iPhone through AT&T Gigabit fiber.
I have never like cable companies. Sounds like we are very similar in that I have been in IT for over 35 years and currently work in Critical Windows Server support. Plex is exhibiting a new issue tonight. Channel 14.3 (H&I) is completely breaking up and unwatchable, however, channel 14.2 works fine on the main server Plex browser. Also, 14.3 plays fine on the HDHomeRun viewer on the PC and my iPhone and from the turner on the TV directly to the same antenna. WMC also plays 14.3 fine and it is running on the same CyberPower workstation as Plex. I have rescaned the HDHomeRun Tuners and re-set up the tuners and rescanned channels in Plex, but the same issue persists. Yesterday, this was not a problem. I haven’t changed a thing today… very frustrating. Plex failed recording Hawaii 50 tonight. I have specifically pointed the record to a known good channel.
Any suggestions? Rick
Update: I was able to resolve the tuner issue by deleting the HDHomeRun tuners and updating the guide to the local Hauppage 2250 tuners. Once 14.3 was playing correctly, I added the HDHomeRun tuners back one at a time, updating the guide each time and checking channel 14.3. All tuners are back working correctly. Hopefully, the recording will stabilize now.
Impressive setups!! I’m glad that you were able to resolve the tuner issue and I hope that your recordings will be more stable now.
I wonder if having a mixed brand tuner environment will continue to encounter issues. It really shouldn’t be a problem. I would only say that different manufactures use different components with different sensitivities for pulling in TV signals. Again, having a mixed tuner environment really should not be a problem.
One of the problems that I encounter on a fairly regular basis is “extra” channels showing up in my guide on the HDHomeRun view app. (Note, this is not a Plex issue).
It seems that the HDHomeRun tuners will re-scan periodically and often times, if the weather conditions are just right, they pick up channels from out side of my area. While this does not cause any issues with recording, it is annoying to see channels that I know I don’t have and won’t display a signal. It also causes issues with the EPG in Plex from time to time.
OK, so now, here is what I am getting:
I asked Plex to records Supergirl, it recorded Bob’s Burgers.
I asked to record The Flash on CW and it recorded the Resident on FOX.
I missed 10 minutes of NCIS.
It freezes constantly with s3016 on playback.
Recorded Bull, freezes s3016 on playback.
Basically worthless. I specifically set the DVR to the proper channels to record and used 0 minutes for start/after end.
I have no idea where to go and there appears to be Zero support.
You said that you have one DVR setup for Central TX and another one setup for Austin. Are these setup on the same Plex Media Server? If so, I’m going to speculate that Plex is getting confused.
I would suggest that you start over. Keep it simple.
Remove all the DVRs and then setup a DVR with just the 2 - HDHomeRun Connects for Central Tx (38 channels). Let the guide refresh and then schedule some shows to record and see how it goes. If you get the results you expect, then add a 2nd DVR for the HDHomeRun Extend and see if that works.
Good luck!
I recognized multiple listings for the same show on different channels was a potential issue, so I specifically select the DVR recording to the channel I want recorded. With the recent upgrades, I am cautiously optimistic that things are starting to stabilize. Plex seems to have the most issues when chain recording programming on the same channel. So I have set the DVR start and end to Zero minutes to avoid conflict. For example, on Tuesday evenings, I record NCIS, FBI and NCIS New Orleans on the same channel. Emergence and Flash record concurrently on different channels. It’s odd that I get a “Recording Failed” error message, but the recording works anyway. I suspect there is something in the code still looking at the concurrent channel listings even though they shouldn’t be used. Anyway, I’m making headway! I like the 2nd DVR suggestion, I’ll give that a shot if things don’t settle down,Thanks 
Well, I finally have everything figured out and working correctly. Recordings have been working smoothly now. Plex recorded the Tuesday evening CBS lineup perfectly and did a nice job cutting commercials. Appreciate all the suggestions! Looks like I can replace Windows Media Center with Plex.
Sounds great and I’m glad that you have everything working now. Best of luck!
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