Timer (Start Time + Duration) != End Time

Rund um den terrestrischen Empfang
DeltaMikeCharlie
WebController
WebController
Beiträge: 469
Registriert: Di 7. Mai 2013, 05:11
Wohnort: Australia

Timer (Start Time + Duration) != End Time

#1

Beitrag von DeltaMikeCharlie » Di 19. Nov 2013, 04:40

Apologies for posting in English.

With both of my terrestrial TMS PVRs (Australian 7160 & 2460), I have noticed that there are some timer records where the start time plus the duration does not equal the end time stored in the flash as returned by FireBird's routines.

I have also noticed, that my PVRs will permit new timers to be created that should conflict with these incorrect timers. I suspect that this is because the PVR is checking the incorrect end time and considering the new timer record valid.

Has anyone ever encountered this phenomenon before?

I did a number of quick tests creating and extending timers using the standard PVR GUI as well as TMSTimer. Unfortunately, I was unable to recreate the error.

When I try to modify one of the existing timers (with the wrong end time), I then get a conflict error highlighting the new timer that I should not have been able to create, but could. This error occurs if I try to modify with the PVR GUI or TMSTimer.

These quick tests suggest perhaps that this may not be a timer creation problem, but a problem with reoccurring timer rollover as all of the problems that I have seen are for reoccurring timers that have existed for many months. I have "reset" the end time by editing the timer (and changing nothing!) and I will watch them over the coming weeks to see if they change again.

Benutzeravatar
FireBird
Suspekter verdächtiger Zauberküchenchef, TAP & Firmware-Guru
Suspekter verdächtiger Zauberküchenchef, TAP & Firmware-Guru
Beiträge: 28745
Registriert: Fr 9. Dez 2005, 09:59
Receivertyp: SRP-2401CI+ TFIR
vu+ Duo 4k
Wohnort: Wien

AW: Timer (Start Time + Duration) != End Time

#2

Beitrag von FireBird » Di 19. Nov 2013, 09:08

I can't remember that I've seen such timers but I've never used reoccuring timers.

DeltaMikeCharlie
WebController
WebController
Beiträge: 469
Registriert: Di 7. Mai 2013, 05:11
Wohnort: Australia

AW: Timer (Start Time + Duration) != End Time

#3

Beitrag von DeltaMikeCharlie » Do 21. Nov 2013, 19:56

The problems are back. It would seem that as soon as the timers are triggered, the enddate in flash is wrong again.

I know that TMSTimer periodically scans the timers and updates the eventid, I need to check to see if TMSTimer may be doing something crazy. Failing that, it could be a firmware bug.

Because TMSTimer does periodic scans, I could modify it to check for this condition and either log the condition or update the enddate accordingly.

I am also going to delete and manually (via firmware, not TMSTimer) recreate one of the timers in question.

DeltaMikeCharlie
WebController
WebController
Beiträge: 469
Registriert: Di 7. Mai 2013, 05:11
Wohnort: Australia

AW: Timer (Start Time + Duration) != End Time

#4

Beitrag von DeltaMikeCharlie » Di 26. Nov 2013, 00:16

I was doing some further analysis. It would appear that the timers that have the wrong end time in flash are always 03:16 (196 minutes) shorter than they should be.

I currently have 4 examples from my 2 PVRs. All 4 are 196 minutes too short. Of the 4 recordings in question, 3 are on different channels.

Another common factor is that all of the timers cross midnight and end the next morning. They all end at 00:**, none end at 01:**.

19:57 - 00:57
19:55 - 00:40
20:25 - 00:35
20:26 - 00:19

"19:55 - 00:40" happens tonight, so I am going to extend it to end at 01:05 and see what happens.

I do have other recordings that cross midnight, but they end at 01:** and they have the correct end time in flash.

DeltaMikeCharlie
WebController
WebController
Beiträge: 469
Registriert: Di 7. Mai 2013, 05:11
Wohnort: Australia

AW: Timer (Start Time + Duration) != End Time

#5

Beitrag von DeltaMikeCharlie » Sa 30. Nov 2013, 11:47

I have been doing some more testing and asked another ex-Australian forum user (there is no more Australian forum) to do some testing.

He has able to recreate the issue at will and his timers had no relationship to midnight at all. It seems like my sample set was skewing my findings. I have also been able to create the error for a 4 hour weekly timer in the middle of the day.

Can somebody please test this on a European PVR?

It has also been found that a 475 min timer will become 196 mins short and that a 476 min timer will become 392 mins short once triggered. There seems to be a doubling threshold between 475 and 476 minutes. I have not yet identified the exact point at which the original error occurs, but it appears to be between about 220 and 240 minutes.

Benutzeravatar
FireBird
Suspekter verdächtiger Zauberküchenchef, TAP & Firmware-Guru
Suspekter verdächtiger Zauberküchenchef, TAP & Firmware-Guru
Beiträge: 28745
Registriert: Fr 9. Dez 2005, 09:59
Receivertyp: SRP-2401CI+ TFIR
vu+ Duo 4k
Wohnort: Wien

AW: Timer (Start Time + Duration) != End Time

#6

Beitrag von FireBird » Sa 30. Nov 2013, 16:32

I'll add some code to my TimerDiags TAP and see if I can reproduce it. All I have to do is to create a long, recurring timer?

/Edit: it was easier than excepted. A 5h weekly timer ended up with the wrong end time as soon as it fired.

Before:
Duration = 012c (300 minutes)
Start = dd321021 (2013-11-30 16:33)
End = dd321521 (2013-11-30 21:33)

And after:
Start = dd391021 (2013-12-07 16:33)
End = dd391211 (2013-12-07 18:17)
Zuletzt geändert von FireBird am Sa 30. Nov 2013, 16:43, insgesamt 1-mal geändert.

DeltaMikeCharlie
WebController
WebController
Beiträge: 469
Registriert: Di 7. Mai 2013, 05:11
Wohnort: Australia

AW: Timer (Start Time + Duration) != End Time

#7

Beitrag von DeltaMikeCharlie » Sa 30. Nov 2013, 20:56

Thanks for testing/confirming FireBird. Your difference is also 03:16. It would appear that the error is not restricted to Australian firmware.

TMSTimer has a background timer processing function that sets EPG flags and adjusts one-time timers if the EPG event changes. I'm going to add a check for this phenomenon and fix it with TMSTimer.

It may seem like a minor technicality, but for the whole time that I have had my TMS unit, it has randomly (infrequently) cut some timers short. As a non-related issue, it also occasionally allowed me to create timers that should conflict, but did not. Bringing these 2 apparently separate factors together it is now clear that the problem with the timer end date allowed AutoScheduler to create a timer that conflicted with 2 existing timers.

Ultimately, it would be great to be able to hook into the firmware function that controls timer activation and rescheduling and fix the problem before it occurs. Or even better, Topfield could identify the (global?) bug and fix it.

DeltaMikeCharlie
WebController
WebController
Beiträge: 469
Registriert: Di 7. Mai 2013, 05:11
Wohnort: Australia

AW: Timer (Start Time + Duration) != End Time

#8

Beitrag von DeltaMikeCharlie » Mi 18. Dez 2013, 09:44

I have modified TMATimer (v4.22) to detect and remedy this situation as part of its background processing functionality.

Antworten

Zurück zu „DVB-T“