I have a W95 (S905W) box that is currently running as a Tvheadend client. I’m running the -ng version and installed CoreELEC in memory using ceemmc if that matters.
I’m looking for some configuration advice and help in repurposing the box as a dedicated Tvheadend server.
Is there a way to easily access the box remotely for maintenance or should I plan to always have a HDMI TV connection available? I’m more of a GUI guy but can do command line entry when forced. I can install it in my entertainment center (TV available) or in my basement with some other hardware (my HDHomerun Quatro tuner being one of them). There is no TV available in the basement but I do have an old monitor that would need to use a USB to 9 pin serial adapter if that would work.
Would it be better to use my NAS for recording storage or a dedicated USB hard drive attached to the box?
There a couple of Tvheadend servers. I installed the CoreELEC 9.2.123 version. Is that the best version?
I can’t remember how to mount my NAS, can someone point me to instructions for the easiest but reliable method? The mount point is: nfs://192.168.1.148/nfs/Recordings
My NAS (WD MyCloud) doesn’t support running Tvheadend.
Right now I’m using my NAS as the target for recordings and timeshifting. Recording 4 channels simultaneously while watching a recording in progress brought it to it’s knees with constant buffering. Recording 3 channels while simultaneously watching a recording or live TV works OK.
I’m hoping the issue is network bandwidth through the 100Mbps port and that attaching my USB hard drive will fix that. However, that will require me disabling my current Tvheadend client/server system and I’m not ready for that yet.
TVheadend is a very undemanding piece of software in of itself. Just about any old box can be configured to run it well.
-Your options are to setup something like Armbian as a headless server (if you can find a working build for you box) and simply install the debian TVHeadend package.
-Run a Docker container of TVHeadend on your NAS server. Running it straight on your NAS will remove a few bottlenecks and eliminate network traffic in and out of your NAS helping it work better, the system savings might just be enough to compensate for the extra load created by the TVH server.
-Install it into a working version of CE and then disable the remote by disabling the IR receiver. This works well and once setup you can access your TVHeadend server via its web interface on x.x.x.x:9981. In many ways this is probably the simplest way to do it. You can happily freeze your CE version indefinately, disable updates and if you ever need to tweak your CE system you can plug in a keyboard and TV.
I used a VIM2 to run a CE version as a TvHeadend server for a while and it worked perfectly well headless for months. I now run a TVHeadend server on top of OpenMediaVault on an Atomic Pi, works fine.
TVHeadend is so undemanding that just about any hardware will run it.
However there are no working versions of TVH for Android systems.
I’m currently using a Shield TV for my Tvheadend client/server. I use a 3TB USB hard drive connected to the Shield for my recordings. I temporarily tried connecting the hard drive to the W95 CoreELEC box but I couldn’t see it under /var/media/.
Do I need to mount the USB hard drive?
I didn’t use it as adopted storage. I think it is formatted with NTFS but I can’t remember for sure.
Powered USB hard drive ?
Maybe needs power.
Some of these Boxes are pretty crap with power usb.
Make sure some other peripherals work using the USB slot.
NTFS should be fine so that’s not the issue.
Yes, it is a powered hard drive.
I did notice that my MX3 airmouse keyboard quit working when I installed CoreELEC to internal memory (it uses a USB adapter). I’ll try some other items in the the USB slots.
Can you tell me how you installed TVH server to the shield, as far as I am aware there is no Android TVH server app, there is a TVH client for the shield.
Check out this discussion: https://www.nvidia.com/en-us/geforce/forums/shield-tv/9/251405/tvheadendapk-the-easy-way-to-run-tvheadend-on-the-/
A user ported over a Tvheadend server version for use in the Shield TV. It works pretty good but there are a few issues.
My main concern is the author is MIA so it is just a matter of time before it stops working.
Occasionally, it stops working and needs to be restarted (or the Shield needs to be rebooted). So any recordings scheduled during that time period are missed.
I use Zap2epg for my guide data which requires Kodi to be running. Kodi stops running on the Shield quite often. Normally this isn’t a problem (but it is annoying) but I want to know that I can continue to get recordings if I go on vacation.
This is why I’m working on a dedicated Tvheadend server.
Thanks for this. I have a feeling at the back of my mind, I have seen this before, but couldn’t work out how to configure it from the opening page.
But I am in the process of setting it up via my browser.
I have TVH server on my synology nas, X96 max with CE. & hopefully this in a few minutes.
Well, I tried a flash drive and it worked fine. So I tried my USB hard drive again and it was instantly recognized.
It might be related to having my HDMI switch being powered from the box USB port. I unplugged it this time.
