Re: [vdr] VDR not starting if a plugin fails to start?

2008-09-19 Thread Petri Helin
Jouni Karvo wrote:
 Petri Helin wrote:
 really causes VDR to not start also. My aim really was to start some 
 discussion on whether that should be changed. I myself think that VDR 
 should start although some plugin fails to start. I'd hate to find out 
 that some timed recording failed because the lcd display of the PC case 
 malfunctioned.

   
 
 Why not design plugins that start even if some non-fatal error happens?  
 To me it sounds natural that if
 some non-recoverable error happens, the whole program stops.
 

I regularly use the a constant set of following set of plugins: burn, 
extrecmenu, epgsearch, femon, lcdproc, live, osdteletext, 
skinsoppalusikka, streamdev and xineliboutput. I cannot come up with any 
reason for any plugin besides xineliboutput being critical for my normal 
use. And VDR can run by itself quite well even without xineliboutput. So 
there really is no reason for VDR not to start if any of those plugins 
above fail to start. In fact I am already wondering why plugins are not 
hot-pluggable...

-Petri

___
vdr mailing list
vdr@linuxtv.org
http://www.linuxtv.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/vdr


Re: [vdr] VDR not starting if a plugin fails to start?

2008-09-19 Thread VDR User
I like that VDR won't load if a plugin failed.  That means there was a
problem, and I should go fix it.  Also, it's the plugins job to
continue on non-fatal errors, not VDR.  How would VDR even know whats
a non-fatal error for a certain plugin?  From VDR's perspective either
the plugin is working or it's not.

___
vdr mailing list
vdr@linuxtv.org
http://www.linuxtv.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/vdr


Re: [vdr] VDR not starting if a plugin fails to start?

2008-09-19 Thread Petri Helin
VDR User wrote:
 I like that VDR won't load if a plugin failed.  That means there was a
 problem, and I should go fix it.  Also, it's the plugins job to
 continue on non-fatal errors, not VDR.  How would VDR even know whats
 a non-fatal error for a certain plugin?  From VDR's perspective either
 the plugin is working or it's not.
 

But why should even a fatal error (from plugin's perspective) cause VDR 
to not start? It should only cause the plugin not to be loaded. Of 
course plugins could also implement more intelligent initialization and 
try to deal with possible errors, but isn't it easier to just handle it 
in one place - at the VDR?

If I think of the core VDR, I see its main function as recording 
TV-programmes. From that perspective it's not that big of a problem if 
it doesn't start properly due to a plugin not bevahing properly if I am 
sitting next to the PC and can fix or circumvent the problem. But since 
it will mostly record when I am not sitting next to it, I would prefer 
that it would still record the programme, no matter if all the plugins 
failed.

-Petri

___
vdr mailing list
vdr@linuxtv.org
http://www.linuxtv.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/vdr


Re: [vdr] VDR not starting if a plugin fails to start?

2008-09-19 Thread VDR User
On Fri, Sep 19, 2008 at 8:20 AM, Petri Helin [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:
 But why should even a fatal error (from plugin's perspective) cause VDR
 to not start? It should only cause the plugin not to be loaded. Of
 course plugins could also implement more intelligent initialization and
 try to deal with possible errors, but isn't it easier to just handle it
 in one place - at the VDR?

You could also argue that the plugins the user has selected to load
are intended to be used and not optional 'if you load, fine.  if not,
no biggie'.  I can see valid points for both sides but in the end it's
my opinion that the plugins are responsibile to deal with their own
problems, not VDR.

 If I think of the core VDR, I see its main function as recording
 TV-programmes. From that perspective it's not that big of a problem if
 it doesn't start properly due to a plugin not bevahing properly if I am
 sitting next to the PC and can fix or circumvent the problem. But since
 it will mostly record when I am not sitting next to it, I would prefer
 that it would still record the programme, no matter if all the plugins
 failed.

I think it's a huge assumption (and incorrect one) to say the main
function of VDR is to record tv shows.  I know many people who use it
for watching live tv, email notices, weather report, playing other
media something like an htpc, etc.  Maybe Klaus would consider making
this optional the same way he did when users spoke out against VDR
automatically exiting because of video stream broken.  At least then
you could select to load VDR anyway and I could select to exit VDR so
I am notified  can fix the problem.  ;)

Cheers
-Derek

___
vdr mailing list
vdr@linuxtv.org
http://www.linuxtv.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/vdr


Re: [vdr] VDR not starting if a plugin fails to start?

2008-09-19 Thread Klaus Schmidinger
On 09/19/08 17:20, Petri Helin wrote:
 VDR User wrote:
 I like that VDR won't load if a plugin failed.  That means there was a
 problem, and I should go fix it.  Also, it's the plugins job to
 continue on non-fatal errors, not VDR.  How would VDR even know whats
 a non-fatal error for a certain plugin?  From VDR's perspective either
 the plugin is working or it's not.

 
 But why should even a fatal error (from plugin's perspective) cause VDR 
 to not start? It should only cause the plugin not to be loaded. Of 
 course plugins could also implement more intelligent initialization and 
 try to deal with possible errors, but isn't it easier to just handle it 
 in one place - at the VDR?
 
 If I think of the core VDR, I see its main function as recording 
 TV-programmes. From that perspective it's not that big of a problem if 
 it doesn't start properly due to a plugin not bevahing properly if I am 
 sitting next to the PC and can fix or circumvent the problem. But since 
 it will mostly record when I am not sitting next to it, I would prefer 
 that it would still record the programme, no matter if all the plugins 
 failed.

And what if such a plugin implements a device?

The definition of the Initialize() and Start() functions is:

  A return value of false indicates that something has gone wrong and
  the plugin will not be able to perform its task. In that case, the
  plugin should write a proper error message to the log file.
  The first plugin that returns false from its Initialize() or Start()
  function will cause VDR to exit.

So, if a plugin thinks VDR can well run without it, it should just
return true. If it's a plugin that's absolutely necessary for operation,
it shall return false upon failure. VDR can't know that by itself.

Klaus

___
vdr mailing list
vdr@linuxtv.org
http://www.linuxtv.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/vdr


Re: [vdr] VDR not starting if a plugin fails to start?

2008-09-19 Thread Petri Helin
VDR User wrote:
 I think it's a huge assumption (and incorrect one) to say the main
 function of VDR is to record tv shows.  I know many people who use it
 for watching live tv, email notices, weather report, playing other
 media something like an htpc, etc.  

Ok, let me rephrase it: for my purposes, the main task of VDR is to 
record TV programmes. I do use it for lots of other purposes also, but 
for me that is its main task.

Some kind of an analogy could be drawn between Firefox and VDR: Although 
I use a lot of extensions with Firefox, I wouldn't want one that doesn't 
really behave to stop me using Firefox altogether. And before you ask, I 
don't know how Firefox reacts to a badly behaving extension ;)

-Petri

___
vdr mailing list
vdr@linuxtv.org
http://www.linuxtv.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/vdr


Re: [vdr] VDR not starting if a plugin fails to start?

2008-09-19 Thread Josce

 So, if a plugin thinks VDR can well run without it, it should just
 return true. If it's a plugin that's absolutely necessary for operation,
 it shall return false upon failure. VDR can't know that by itself.

Maybe all plugins could have a setting on failure terminate vdr ? 
Then the user could choose what plugin is vital and what is just extra,
so if the user sets it to no, then vdr would just continue.

Josce

_
Invite your mail contacts to join your friends list with Windows Live Spaces. 
It's easy!
http://spaces.live.com/spacesapi.aspx?wx_action=createwx_url=/friends.aspxmkt=en-us___
vdr mailing list
vdr@linuxtv.org
http://www.linuxtv.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/vdr


Re: [vdr] VDR not starting if a plugin fails to start?

2008-09-19 Thread Udo Richter
Petri Helin wrote:
 In fact I am already wondering why plugins are not 
 hot-pluggable...

They are, to some degree, by using the proxy plugin. The proxy plugin 
can delay loading a plugin, and for some plugins it can unload a plugin 
while VDR is running. It can also do the requested continue-on-error for 
plugins.


Cheers,

Udo

___
vdr mailing list
vdr@linuxtv.org
http://www.linuxtv.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/vdr


Re: [vdr] VDR not starting if a plugin fails to start?

2008-09-19 Thread Petri Helin
Udo Richter wrote:
 Petri Helin wrote:
 In fact I am already wondering why plugins are not 
 hot-pluggable...
 
 They are, to some degree, by using the proxy plugin. The proxy plugin 
 can delay loading a plugin, and for some plugins it can unload a plugin 
 while VDR is running. It can also do the requested continue-on-error for 
 plugins.
 

Well that was nice news. Haven't heard about the proxy plugin before for 
some reason, but I will give it a shot and see what it is capable of. 
Thanks.

-Petri

___
vdr mailing list
vdr@linuxtv.org
http://www.linuxtv.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/vdr


[vdr] VDR not starting if a plugin fails to start?

2008-09-18 Thread Petri Helin
Hi,

I have been running VDR as a daemon started via init script for some
years now. I am currently using version 1.6.0-2. The problem is, that
every now and then VDR doesn't start when I boot the server. The culprit 
seems to be lcdproc plugins, which for some reason cannot always connect 
to the LCDd daemon. In VDR's log it shows up like this:

OK:

Sep 18 16:31:49 vdrkone2 vdr: [4890] starting plugin: lcdproc
Sep 18 16:31:49 vdrkone2 vdr: connection to LCDd at localhost:13666 
established.
Sep 18 16:31:49 vdrkone2 vdr: LCD output thread started (pid=4890), 
display size: 2x16

NOT OK:

Sep 18 19:05:45 vdrkone2 vdr: [4876] starting plugin: lcdproc
Sep 18 19:05:45 vdrkone2 vdr: [4876] stopping plugin: femon
Sep 18 19:05:45 vdrkone2 vdr: [4876] stopping plugin: burn

Now, the question is, does this really cause VDR to shut down? And if 
so, should VDR behave in some other way in such a case? Or is it just 
lcdproc plugin that causes such a behaviour? Is it possible for VDR to 
retry starting plugin which failed to start?

-Petri


___
vdr mailing list
vdr@linuxtv.org
http://www.linuxtv.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/vdr


Re: [vdr] VDR not starting if a plugin fails to start?

2008-09-18 Thread Diego Pierotto
Petri Helin ha scritto:
 Hi,

 I have been running VDR as a daemon started via init script for some
 years now. I am currently using version 1.6.0-2. The problem is, that
 every now and then VDR doesn't start when I boot the server. The culprit 
 seems to be lcdproc plugins, which for some reason cannot always connect 
 to the LCDd daemon. In VDR's log it shows up like this:

 OK:

 Sep 18 16:31:49 vdrkone2 vdr: [4890] starting plugin: lcdproc
 Sep 18 16:31:49 vdrkone2 vdr: connection to LCDd at localhost:13666 
 established.
 Sep 18 16:31:49 vdrkone2 vdr: LCD output thread started (pid=4890), 
 display size: 2x16

 NOT OK:

 Sep 18 19:05:45 vdrkone2 vdr: [4876] starting plugin: lcdproc
 Sep 18 19:05:45 vdrkone2 vdr: [4876] stopping plugin: femon
 Sep 18 19:05:45 vdrkone2 vdr: [4876] stopping plugin: burn

 Now, the question is, does this really cause VDR to shut down? And if 
 so, should VDR behave in some other way in such a case? Or is it just 
 lcdproc plugin that causes such a behaviour? Is it possible for VDR to 
 retry starting plugin which failed to start?

 -Petri


 ___
 vdr mailing list
 vdr@linuxtv.org
 http://www.linuxtv.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/vdr

   
Hi,
what i now there is a patch inside Extension Patch that allow VDR to
start even if a plugin fails.
I don't remember which it's, just check inside the package.

Diego Pierotto

-- 
Member of the Italian VDR Wiki
http://vdr.spaghettilinux.org/


___
vdr mailing list
vdr@linuxtv.org
http://www.linuxtv.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/vdr


Re: [vdr] VDR not starting if a plugin fails to start?

2008-09-18 Thread Petri Helin
Diego Pierotto wrote:
 Petri Helin ha scritto:
 Hi,

 I have been running VDR as a daemon started via init script for some
 years now. I am currently using version 1.6.0-2. The problem is, that
 every now and then VDR doesn't start when I boot the server. The culprit 
 seems to be lcdproc plugins, which for some reason cannot always connect 
 to the LCDd daemon. In VDR's log it shows up like this:

 OK:

 Sep 18 16:31:49 vdrkone2 vdr: [4890] starting plugin: lcdproc
 Sep 18 16:31:49 vdrkone2 vdr: connection to LCDd at localhost:13666 
 established.
 Sep 18 16:31:49 vdrkone2 vdr: LCD output thread started (pid=4890), 
 display size: 2x16

 NOT OK:

 Sep 18 19:05:45 vdrkone2 vdr: [4876] starting plugin: lcdproc
 Sep 18 19:05:45 vdrkone2 vdr: [4876] stopping plugin: femon
 Sep 18 19:05:45 vdrkone2 vdr: [4876] stopping plugin: burn

 Now, the question is, does this really cause VDR to shut down? And if 
 so, should VDR behave in some other way in such a case? Or is it just 
 lcdproc plugin that causes such a behaviour? Is it possible for VDR to 
 retry starting plugin which failed to start?

 -Petri


 ___
 vdr mailing list
 vdr@linuxtv.org
 http://www.linuxtv.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/vdr

   
 Hi,
 what i now there is a patch inside Extension Patch that allow VDR to
 start even if a plugin fails.
 I don't remember which it's, just check inside the package.
 
 Diego Pierotto
 


I may have been a bit vague and unclear in what I wrote earlier. I did 
check the source code and noticed that if a plugin fails to start it 
really causes VDR to not start also. My aim really was to start some 
discussion on whether that should be changed. I myself think that VDR 
should start although some plugin fails to start. I'd hate to find out 
that some timed recording failed because the lcd display of the PC case 
malfunctioned.

-Petri

___
vdr mailing list
vdr@linuxtv.org
http://www.linuxtv.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/vdr


Re: [vdr] VDR not starting if a plugin fails to start?

2008-09-18 Thread Jouni Karvo
Petri Helin wrote:
 really causes VDR to not start also. My aim really was to start some 
 discussion on whether that should be changed. I myself think that VDR 
 should start although some plugin fails to start. I'd hate to find out 
 that some timed recording failed because the lcd display of the PC case 
 malfunctioned.

   

Why not design plugins that start even if some non-fatal error happens?  
To me it sounds natural that if
some non-recoverable error happens, the whole program stops.

yours,
   Jouni


___
vdr mailing list
vdr@linuxtv.org
http://www.linuxtv.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/vdr