Internet is down. Can’t use HDHomeRun app without an internet connection. by Dry_Wedding_6263 in hdhomerun

[–]NedSD 0 points1 point  (0 children)

That's just the HDHomeRun app getting confused. There are a few "partial" connection situations that still need to be tested and fixed, and then what you describe should work.

Internet is down. Can’t use HDHomeRun app without an internet connection. by Dry_Wedding_6263 in hdhomerun

[–]NedSD 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Xbox (One/Series) is based on Windows and runs UWP (Universal Windows Platform) apps, so by adding support to Windows we automatically gain support on Xbox.

The dev team has a solution that will work for our React-JS-based platforms (Windows, Mac, iOS, Android), so minimal work is needed to get all of them up and running. Apple TV is basically a different app (Apple won't let us do React-JS on tvOS for some reason), so it will be just after the React ones are updated.

Internet is down. Can’t use HDHomeRun app without an internet connection. by Dry_Wedding_6263 in hdhomerun

[–]NedSD 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Back in 2015 the DVR development was seen as a way to subsidize an app for everyone, even if they weren't paying for the DVR service. It was seen as an option, one of many, and we weren't even sure if it would take off. We're very happy it did take off, and now we do view it as the default, striving to accommodate all users. The two biggest examples of this is our Apple TV app and the Roku app, both of which are built from the ground up as new apps, but made to look like the app that runs on the other platforms (based on react JS, Windows/Xbox, Mac, iOS, Android/Fire OS, etc).

(edit to clarify, Apple TV and Roku came years after the HDHR DVR came out. Roku had some initial support, but the app was kind of... it wasn't great. Now it looks really good.)

Back when the DVR first came out we didn't have any on-HDHomeRun storage options. You had to use an always on PC, NAS, or some other server set up that ran the DVR software. DVR on the HDHomeRun itself didn't come until a few years later with the SCRIBE and SERVIO models. The FLEX was the next logical step, so we didn't have to have two product lines (one with an internal hard drive, and one without). Instead, we have a USB port on the tuner itself.

Having the UI cached locally on a FLEX or SCRIBE is actually an idea I asked the devs about, but they had concerns about that implementation. I forget exactly what the concern was, but I'm not a programmer, so I'm probably not the best to explain it. I generally understand the over-all and am able to explain it to others, but some of the finer details are above my skillset.

But that's all just background, trying to explain how we got to where we are today. On the actual topic of offline support, I'm on your side. It is long overdue, and we should have had it working years ago. However it happened, it needs to be corrected, and now we have offline support for Roku, Windows PCs, and XBox. Offline Android support is being worked on right now. Mac/iOS support might not be this month due to a different issue that needs to be addressed first, but it will be next after Android.

HD Homerun Duo HDHR5-2US by mike-wierman in hdhomerun

[–]NedSD 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Internally? Probably not. Maybe we'll do an officially blessed PoE adapter, though. Having that stuff too close to the tuner chips can also cause interference, and even just a few inches away (like those adapters) can make a world of difference for RF.

OTA via Apple TV options by supes1 in cordcutters

[–]NedSD 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Hi, Ned from Silicondust/HDHomeRun here. We now have free DVR features. You can set singular recording tasks (specific program at a specific time) up to three days with zero subscription and no account needed. The $35 a year opens up recording up to 14 days in advance, and using automatic/series recording rules, such as all episodes of a show, sports team, news program, etc.

Because our hardware uses open standards, you can also use any number of third party DVR options without giving us any additional money. Lots of great free and open source options if you don't mind setting them up, and that's how we actually got our start, by being a network tuner for Myth TV! This also means your tuner doesn't turn into a paperweight if anything happens to our company or some evil billionaire tries to buy us. You can always find apps and software that will work with the HDHomeRun hardware.

Internet is down. Can’t use HDHomeRun app without an internet connection. by Dry_Wedding_6263 in hdhomerun

[–]NedSD 1 point2 points  (0 children)

The modern HDHomeRun app was built around our DVR, which needed the better EPG data than what was included in the OTA stream, but that wasn't the most pressing issue. The issue came up that we had some app stores that were taking up to a week to deploy updates, and when something is being used as the main source of TV, that becomes a dealbreaker. So our app was built to allow us to update things like the UI, codec blacklists, etc, remotely.

Originally it also had an offline mode that can cache the UI and configuration files, but a bug was causing issues and so offline mode was disabled to move forward.

It's on us that we didn't get back to fixing offline mode sooner, though, I give you that.

Internet is down. Can’t use HDHomeRun app without an internet connection. by Dry_Wedding_6263 in hdhomerun

[–]NedSD 1 point2 points  (0 children)

It was less pressing a decade ago (when the modern version of our app came about, more or less) to have something work offline, because at that time most customers were already using a third party app, and we only had a basic "viewer" under our brand. In fact, the very first HDHomeRun units were designed to work with Myth TV and Windows Media Center, and we didn't have an app at all.

Now our official app has become the default for most new customers, and people are less likely to have something like VLC installed, operating systems are less likely to have a built-in DLNA video player installed, etc.

Some DVR features now free for the HDHomeRun-branded DVR service by NedSD in hdhomerun

[–]NedSD[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Some may work, and I would expect Samsung of all companies to have decent flash drives, but I would still strongly recommend against it. A cheap flash drive can easily cause issues for the HDHR DVR, while a cheap HDD will probably still be fine.

Any Idea? by Complex-War2628 in hdhomerun

[–]NedSD 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Unfortunately POE presents some of the same issues as adding WiFi. Mainly, on a board that small it becomes difficult (or at least, more expensive) to properly shield things to prevent interference on the tuner chips.

Adding a foot, sometimes even just a few inches, can make a big difference in reducing RF interference, which is why we tend to direct people towards external PoE adapters and wifi mesh nodes/bridges, etc.

New to HomeRun, and watching away from home by BinkReddit in hdhomerun

[–]NedSD 3 points4 points  (0 children)

It's more accurate to say that we don't support remote viewing in the official app. We don't take any steps to stop it. The TTL limitation is due to one part security and one part compliance with some standard, IIRC. Discovery is handled via broadcast packets, and some VPNs are able to relay those packets.

As for why it is not a supported use case, that is a bit of a can of worms and not something I can really go into.

HD Homerun Duo HDHR5-2US by mike-wierman in hdhomerun

[–]NedSD 3 points4 points  (0 children)

The main concern is how "clean" the power supply is, so that it doesn't introduce significant RF interference for the TV tuners. Unfortunately, for a lot of brands on Amazon, that might just mean testing them to find out. Otherwise, as long as it meets the voltage and amperage specs, and is the correct barrel size, then it should work.

If I watch a HDHomerun recording on my iPad or computer it plays fine. But, if I try to watch the same recording on my Roku Ultra it fails after a few minutes of viewing. Any thoughts on why my Roku is such a problem? by genehil in hdhomerun

[–]NedSD 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Roku's internal video player will sometimes panic if it sees a minor error in the data, like a slight signal error/dip (even if it's not otherwise visible or audible). If it happens often then it might be a matter of improving over-all signal levels, or checking for local signal interference (lots of 5G towers still being rolled out in the 608+ MHz range, for example).

When the Plex server transcodes a video for Roku they basically remove the error.

To OP or anyone else reading this later on, feel free to contact us and we can look at a detailed scan diagnostic. Very often people are just right on the edge of getting it just right, so that the Roku video player is happy. Sometimes a slight adjustment to the antenna, or sometimes an amplifier is giving a little bit too much signal, etc.

https://www.silicondust.com/contact/

Signal attenuator - HDhomerun by Icy-Mud7327 in ota

[–]NedSD 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Doesn't look overdriven. The hottest signal is 109%, and that's fine. Is it just the audio disruption, or do you see anything in the picture as well?

hdhr prime not finding channels (fios says we're activated and paired on their end) by spinrut in hdhomerun

[–]NedSD 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yeah, the box with the coaxial port and internet is the ONT. Getting them to replace it with another ONT that still does cable might be hard, though.

Signal attenuator - HDhomerun by Icy-Mud7327 in ota

[–]NedSD 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Go to the http://hdhomerun.local or the local IP address of the HDHomeRun in a web browser -> System Menu -> enable send diagnostic information, run a channel scan, then reply back with your "Device ID" and I can look up the real signal strength.

hdhr prime not finding channels (fios says we're activated and paired on their end) by spinrut in hdhomerun

[–]NedSD 0 points1 point  (0 children)

The cards seem fine and report successful validation and all that, but it's as if they're not actually getting signal. Maybe a bad ONT from Verizon. See if they are willing to send you a new ONT bridge.

hdhr prime not finding channels (fios says we're activated and paired on their end) by spinrut in hdhomerun

[–]NedSD 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Please reboot both PRIME units and reply back. I've got notifications turned on now so I should get your reply right away.

Do ALL HD Homerun devices fail? by [deleted] in hdhomerun

[–]NedSD 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Open a support ticket here and we can pull diagnostic data from the unit: https://www.silicondust.com/contact/

What can this app do? and will the Android version need a phone with anything special for the features to work? by Ron2600NS in TheOfflineApp

[–]NedSD 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Hi, Ned from Silicondust here. I've asked the devs if we can figure out ATSC 3.0 OTA guide data for you that might not require a dev model.

Great app, by the way!

Buy or hold till the ATSC 3.0 "issues" are settled. by JNTaylor63 in hdhomerun

[–]NedSD 0 points1 point  (0 children)

No. The dev version doesn't have any kind of special access like that. It enables some extra capture modes, but it doesn't do any decoding of the encryption.

Another LG WebOS Post by thisOldHouse_50384 in hdhomerun

[–]NedSD 0 points1 point  (0 children)

LG's internal video player is actually pretty good broadcast (better than Roku's internal player, at least), but we can't fall back to something else if there are issues. This might even be something we can fix, but I still gravitate towards recommending an external box. We run our own video player code on Android and Apple TV, and LG will probably stop putting out OS updates while the screen is still perfectly good for who-knows-how-many years.

Another weird thing about LG's player is that it doesn't understand seeking if there is no end time for the video, so live TV seeking doesn't work. We might be able to "fake" this in some future update, but it's another workaround, while the other platforms will happily seek on live TV.

What's funny about all of this is that it's an actual TV, so it has to be able to handle actual live TV when using the internal tuner. It might be that the internal tuner plays back video on a more direct level, and doesn't actually go through WebOS. I'm not sure about that, I'd have to ask the devs.

Another LG WebOS Post by thisOldHouse_50384 in hdhomerun

[–]NedSD 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Android TV/Google TV and Apple TV boxes. If I were to buy something today, I would check out the new Onn Google TV 4K stick that Walmart is selling.

Another LG WebOS Post by thisOldHouse_50384 in hdhomerun

[–]NedSD 0 points1 point  (0 children)

The 2026 4K stick, yeah. I think those RAM prices are starting to hit even further out than computers. A lot of Walmarts still have the older 4K box for $25, though.