I am using HDHomeRun to view and record live tv. After beginning to use MCE Buddy, I found out quickly that the two don’t play well together. Once MCE Buddy converts the files and removes the commercials, HD Homerun can’t see the file because some of the stored information is deleted along with the commercials. As a workaround, I instructed my wife to use HD Homerun to view live tv and set up recordings. To view the recordings, I put a shortcut on the desktop to enable her to view the recordings with VLC Media Player.
It seems with so many folks using these two programs, there would be some way to make them work together. I read the forum entries entitled “How to keep HDHomerun from recording shows” but that solution doesn’t seem to address the problem described above. If there is a “fix”, please point me in the right direction. If there is no solution, let me know so I can save some time and I’ll stay with my workaround.
What profile are you using? For HDHR you should be using either the TS or TS Unprocessed profile and it will work fine. HDHR only supports TS files for metadata.
Make sure you have enabled the Add Information check box in the expert settings page of the conversion task to add the metadata back to the file after processing.
RBoy, thanks for your reply. I am really not far enough along to know about profiles. I tried to go back and find the original post and thread that led me to write you but now I can’t find it. I think it gave some instructions about profiles but I’m not sure. Can you point me to a post that explains profiles? It can’t be that difficult so I if you can give me some direction, I would be very appreciative. Thanks.
When you double click and open a Conversion Task the drop down box in front are the profiles. They tell MCEBuddy what format you want the output files in.
Since you’re using HDHR pick the TS Unprocessed profile to retain your original video quality without recording.
If you’re looking into the profiles themselves check out this post
I have selected the TS Unprocessed as you instructed so I will monitor the performance. Also, I forgot to mention that I had earlier deleted a file that was placed on one of my drives in an earlier install. I can’t remember the name of the file but I believe it might have been something like “grab”.
I want to make certain I know what to expect from the changes you instructed me to make. I assume the final file will have the commercials removed but will retain information that will allow HDHomeRun to see it so that it can be listed as a Recording.
I really appreciate your timely responses to my questions and concerns. I’m glad that I became a Premier member. I know you will stick with me until I get things worked out.
RBoy, since I asked for your help several weeks ago, I continue to have to use a workaround to make HDHomeRun work with MCE Buddy. The workaround I’m using is to establish a shortcut on the desktops of all my computers so that my wife and I can view and play the files recorded by HDHomeRun with commercials removed by MCE Buddy and Comskip. My method works fine but I would really like to learn how to make things work as intended; that is, to have HDHomeRun be able to see the files after processing by MCE Buddy. With the popularity of HDHomeRun, I would like to think that someone out there would have posted some instructions on how to set things up for these two software programs.
When you have a minute, please take another look at my posts and your replys to see if you can provide any more assistance on how to properly set up the two programs to work together. I will be happy to provide screen shots, logs, etc. if you need them so as to be able to help me solve the problem. I am in no hurry since the workaround is allowing us to see and play the recordings.
I really love MCE Buddy. I’ll love it even more if we can fix the problem. Thanks in advance for your help.
I’m a little confused as to what the issue with the playback is. The process as I understand is extremely simple and straight forward to use HDHR with MCEBuddy.
Create a Monitor Location to monitor your HDHR folder with the HDHR files
Create a Conversion Task with:
Profile as TS Unprocessed (it won’t recode and will preserve the original quality)
Destination folder is left blank/empty (i.e it will put the file back where it came from)
Disable the Rename option (this will cause the converted file to have the same name as the original file, effectively causing it overwrite the original file)
Set Commercial Removal to Comskip
And any other options you want
This will cause MCEBuddy to take your original file, remove commercials, preserve the original quality and replace the original file with the commercial free converted file and will automatically preserve all the original HDHR metadata as well.
Since HDHR can’t tell the difference between the original and commercial file it will continue to play it like nothing happened.
RBoy, I’m a bit confused. After working with the instructions you provided on back on September 12, I still cannot get HDHomeRun to see the recordings that have been converted by MCE Buddy. I payed very careful attention to your instructions and, at first, I used the TS Unprocessed and left the destination folder blank but it still didn’t work. When I had no success, I went back to the settings just to check things and I noticed that you have added two HDHomeRun options, 1) HDHomeRun Unprocessed and 2) HDHomeRun H264. I was surprised to see the change but I selected option one and will see if I have success with it. I am about to go crazy trying to get things to work. It really shouldn’t be this difficult. One thing I noticed is that each recording is being played by Movies and TV section of Windows 10. I don’t know if that makes a difference - it shouldn’t but who knows. When we get the problems solved, I want to write a “how to make MCE Buddy work with HDHomeRun”. But, we’re not there yet!
Lets confirm that the metadata is being preserved.
It really isn’t supposed to be that complex. It been working straight forward for the last year just select a TS profile and you’re don’t. MCEBuddy copies the metadata over.
Can you upload a copy of your original file and conversion log to the upload server for us to analyze. See the ReadMe before posting topic for details on how to upload it.
I apologize but I can’t seem to find anything in support on how to upload the conversion files. I desperately want to have you check things for me. Please give me some help for this.
I hate to give info different from rboy however the ts unprocessed profile wont work because of the output file extension. Try ether the hdhomerun unprocessed profile or add the following to the ts unprocessed profile
@techpro2004 you’re dead right! I’m sorry, that was my bad. For some reason I kept thinking that HDHR uses TS file where it’s actually a TS file in a MPG container.
I really need to take a vacation. The correct answer is to use the HDHomeRun Unprocessed profile and that should solve the issue.
The correct answer here (modifying my original post) would be:
For HDHR you should be using either the HDHomeRun H.264 or HDHomeRun Unprocessed profile and it will work fine. HDHR only supports mpg files for metadata.
Make sure you have enabled the Add Information check box in the expert settings page of the conversion task to add the metadata back to the file after processing.
Not a problem. I am always glad to help. About that vacation, I am not sure where you are located but here on the east coast (usa) we just had a storm and the beach combing is really nice.
RBoy and techpro2004, as you know, I have been struggling with this issue for several months now. I tried a bunch of different options but nothing seemed to work so I reluctantly stopped using MCEBuddy. Now, with the new instructions, I will try again. I have checked all my settings and will give it a go.
I’ll let you both know as soon as the test run is completed. Thanks for all the help.
I am always glad to help. I look forward to your reply. Please keep in mind that converting videos from other sources to the hdhomerun format requires available metadata (no home movies). Also sometimes you may have to restart the hdhomerun backend to get files to show up.
techpro2004, since so many people use both MCEBuddy and HDHomeRun, wouldn’t it be beneficial to have a guide of some type to help new users get off on the right foot? I know that, in my case, it would have helped me avoid a lot of heartache. I’ve been struggling with the problems for a number of months.
Thanks again for your help and thanks to RBoy for sticking with me on this. My test is now complete and it appears your suggestions solved the problem. All recordings appear to be showing up as they should.
