[vdr] Re: two VDR boxes

[Carsten Koch <Carsten.Koch@icem.com>]

Thomas Glomann wrote:
...
> You probably want to do the same thing as I: set timers on the client and have 
> the server record it. 
> So I would be glad to hear if you or anyone else has a simple solution to 
> this.
I have a *very* simple solution for this.

On my client, I am doing this

   rm -f timers.conf
   su -c "$VDRCMD" $VDRUSER
   if test -s timers.conf
   then
      ./svdrpsend.pl -d vdr newt `cat timers.conf`
   fi

in my vdr run script.

In other words, every time the client vdr terminates,
if it has a timer entry, the entry is copied to the
server vdr.

So, all I have to do to program a recording, is to
program it on the client and do a menu/setup/restart.

If I want to record it on the client, I simply do not
restart its vdr.



> First I thought of shared config files like timers.conf, but that doesnt work 
> because the server vdr would not be aware of any 'external' changes made by 
> the client. 
I am also sharing channels.conf, simply by coping it
from the server to the client every time the client restarts.

I am also initializing the client's epg.data by
using two different file names for it on the server
(/video/epg.data) and on the client (/video/svdrepg.data)
and copying the server's file over the client's file
every time the client restarts.
This is because the server is always on and has two DVB
cards, so its EPG data are almost always more up-to-date.


All that is extremely simple, requires no changes to vdr
whatsoever and works reliably here.

Here is the complete script that I use on the client
to run vdr:


#!/bin/sh -x

VDRDIR=/home/cko/VDR
VDRUSER=cko
TOOLDIR=/home/cko/bin
VDRCMD="./vdr -c . -E /video/svdrepg.data -s $TOOLDIR/killvdr"

/bin/setserial  /dev/ttyS0 uart none
modprobe lirc_serial
/usr/sbin/lircd

mount -av

cd $VDRDIR

while (true) do
   $TOOLDIR/killvdr

   /etc/init.d/dvb stop
   /etc/init.d/dvb start

   chmod +r /var/log/messages

   /usr/sbin/ntpdate duron

   cp /video/epg.data /video/svdrepg.data
   cp /vdr/home/cko/VDR/channels.conf .
   chown $VDRUSER /video/svdrepg.data channels.conf
#   ulimit -c unlimited
   LD_ASSUME_KERNEL=2.4;export LD_ASSUME_KERNEL
   rm -f timers.conf
   su -c "$VDRCMD" $VDRUSER
   if test -s timers.conf
   then
      ./svdrpsend.pl -d vdr newt `cat timers.conf`
   fi

done



Please note that I am not using the /videoN scheme, but
only one /video directory with links to other disks on
various machines.

My client vdr mounts the server's /video as /video and also
mounts the other disks from various machines in the same
way the server does.

Carsten.