General Help in making the jump from WMC to Windows 10 HTPC

[riverboat2001 20]

Hi All.

 

I've been using Win7 and WMC for years, along with "My Channel Logos" -  "EPG123"  - "Media Centre Themer"  - "ServerWMC" and a few other helpers.

I stayed with this set-up as I was using Xboxes as extenders, I swapped to old discontinued Lynsys extenders, but they freeze a couple of times a day, and are no longer updated.

Also It works so well with my Harmony One Remote.

 

My son in law introduced me to Android TV boxes and now I love them, they are silent and fairly easy to operate (having had Android phones for years)

So I'm now using them as extenders, so I can now move away from Win7.

 

 

I have windows 10 on all my other machines and like it, so Win 10 on the HTPC seems to be the way to go.

Emby Theatre appears to get understandably more love than WMC 

 

Please bear in mind its about five years ago since I set this all up. I'm not a constant tinkerer. 

I have an Emby Premier account.

 

 

This PC will be a HTPC and nothing else, it will have Emby Server and Emby Theatre on it plus any additional software needed.

 

 

So, leading on to my questions. (which may seem really simple to you guys, I may be an old lady, but I'm willing to read and try to understand)

 

​1/  Without WMC how does one setup the tuners? 

​2/ Will I still need epg123 and my channel logos? Do I need any additional programs as workarounds or does Emby in Win10 manage it all.

​3/ If Emby manages my recordings what file type does it record in? and does it still keep rwd pause and ffwd controls?

​4/ Does Emby come with some codecs installed for avi, mp4, mkv etc. 

​5/ Harmony One remote - will it still work? I'm happy to adjust or re-program it.

 

​6/ Are there any other things that I should be aware of? 

 

​Really appreciate any help in making this huge step.

 

 

[PenkethBoy 2068]

Hi

 

What tuners do you have - as that will dictate to a degree how "you set them up" - either with a plugin or the native emby method

 

emby records to .ts files by default - although these can be transcoded on the fly to mkv's - depending on the power of your win 10 pc cpu

no codec's need for emby or ET

others are using Harmony remotes - so they would have to comment - but i believe they work

For EPG data i would go with Schedules Direct - small fee but very good results

 

What i would do is download the Stable server and load a small test library and see what issues if any you have an report back

 

Think you will enjoy the change once you get over the loss of WMC

 

The best Android box (assuming you have not bought all you need) is the Nvidia Shield - more expensive but "just work"

[riverboat2001 20]

Wow, thanks for the quick reply.
My PC has a TBS6982 DUAL DVBS/S2 BDA tuner card.

So I get twin satellite feeds via an old Sky dish.

The PC has 16gb ram and 2tb drives, all networked up via homeplugs to Synology 16tb Nas system.

 

I've just retired from work and cannot afford to spend loads of money on upgrading my hardware.

 

For live TV I mainly watch ITV and BBC, everything else is either recorded or stored on the NAS.
​Now they are in either MP4 or MKV and sometimes AVI, will I still not need any codecs?

Edited April 6, 2018 by riverboat2001

[PenkethBoy 2068]

Ok

 

Tuner - as its not a HDHomeRun or a Hauppauge Tuner you will need to use a plugin - as a start i would suggest NextPVR (software - free) and the NextPVR plugin (so emby can talk to NextPVR) from the emby catalog. Once you have the software and the plugin installed - in NextPVr you need to enable remote access (for the plugin) - think its on Misc or Misc2 tab in nextPvr settings so it matches the Plugin settings.

 

If you go to youtube you can find a video or two to show you how to add in Schedules Direct Epg to Nextpvr - you can try SD for 7 days for free - works well with UK TV - $25 for the year - you dont need it but it makes life a lot easier

 

Codex might be needed for other software - but not Emby Server as it uses "ffmpeg" which can usually play anything. ET uses MPV which covers most things.

 

If you get stuck with NextPVR - try posting in the subforum or comeback here and i will try and help - i have used it recently but dont have it installed at the moment as i do not need it with my tuners.

 

Homeplugs - hmm - can be a bit flaky - depends on your wiring etc if it works ok for you great - but if and when you get into streaming 4k movies then it will probably be an issue

[riverboat2001 20]

Hi, I'm just installing Win10 now. I've had a look at some videos on the installation and setup of Nextpvr.

 

As I intend to use Emby as my Server and Client on the HTPC, how far along do I go in the setup of Nextpvr after I've setup the tuners?

 

EG Which program do I use to set up my channels, and where should I put my schedules direct login details for the epg? Emby or Nextpvr?

 

For my purposes will Nextpvr become a set and forget program?

 

Appreciate the help so far.

[paulsalter 84]

Hi,

You will want to fully setup NextPVR first, get it to scan channels and add sign into Schedules Direct from within NextPVR

 

Then i would test using NextPVR on its own, make sure you can watch TV and also just test a scheduled recording

 

If these work without issue then NextPVR can be mostly forgotten about

 

You can then add the NetPVR plugin to Emby, this just interacts with NextPVR in the background, so no need to setup the guide in Emby or Schedules Direct, it will read and show what you have setup in NextPVR

[riverboat2001 20]

Hi I'm a bit stuck on the channel numbering in Nextpvr

 

I'm in the UK

 

There are at least 30 ITV channels which are very unhelpfully not regional identifiable. So you have to catch the news to work out which region is showing.

That's time consuming unless anyone has a better way of doing it. 

 

BUT the channels are not in the correct order. So channel 4 is in position number one (instead of BBC) 

I cannot find a way to re-order or rename the channels. HORROR channel to Horror channel for example. 

 

Finally for this bit anyway.... How do I stop the 400 channels that are in Nextpvr from showing up in Emby.

 

And can I set Emby server and Client up to enable us to watch stored Media, and then go back to adding in the TV tomorrow?

 

Edited April 9, 2018 by riverboat2001

[PenkethBoy 2068]

You can delete, renumber, re order and rename channels in Nextpvr

 

also 400 - sounds as if you did not pick the transmitter for your area but the whole of the UK

 

you need to google your local transmitter and re scan for channels (for each tuner) - then you should only get ~100 - looks like its Hemel Hempstead for Watford 

 

You can watch anything you like - livetv does not stop you watching your own media

[riverboat2001 20]

Sorry I've updated my home location (I moved to Kettering UK a year ago)

 

I added my schedules direct login details and put in my Postcode and it came back with 484 channels.

 

It was very tedious checking all of the channels for a picture. And the process for moving channels up and down is mind numbing.

 

I've finally got it were I want it apart from the BBC and ITV regional channels. 

 

BBC is easier they're are at least labled with their regions so it's just a matter of watching a couple and deciding which one suits us.

 

ITV is the really awkward one as I have twenty ITV channels and will have to watch the news until I stumble upon ITV Central. Then I'll have to repeat the same process for the ITV+1 channels.

 

(I get a picture on all of the channels)

 

Unless you can suggest a better  way to manage these three.

[PenkethBoy 2068]

you have way to many channels for the UK - you must have lots of duplicates

 

https://www.nextpvr.com/nwiki/pmwiki.php?n=Walkthrough.ConfigureDVBDeviceWithOTAEPG

 

its a little outdated but the process is the same - pick you local transmitter by name - this will limit the number of channels - and be specific for you region

[riverboat2001 20]

Ah, Okay, it's done now, I scanned Astra 2G (I think) 

​I've got it whittled down to the channels that I want now.

 

I might revisit this when I get a bit of spare time.

 

Thanks for the help.