Actually, it's good that you've started this thread as I've discovered a new variable that I've been meaning to post about.
There are additional registry entries needed to avoid potential no signal in live TV when a background recording finishes problems.
Background:
I've discovered that the only RecordOrder/WatchOrder entries that MCE/VMC actually adheres to are the '0' ones. When a recording is due, it will select the RecordOrder=0 tuner, but it will pick a tuner for the second, third, fourth, etc. concurrent recordings randomly. So, effectively it could use the WatchOrder=0 tuner as the 2nd recording tuner. When it does & then that tuner's recording ends, it throws MCE in to confusion if you are watching live TV because it attempts to switch your live TV to that tuner. That often results in a sudden no signal message, & if you're actually using the time shift buffer - good night nurse.
The reason it does this is understandable - it's designed to be a 2 tuner system so logically, the WatchOrder=0 tuner would/could be the next recording tuner.
Solution:
I've tested this as much as I could, but I haven't had 3 concurrent recordings with Live TV on the go much, so I'm not 100% sure (about 98.6749% sure
).
The other key registry entries are the WatchPreferred/RecordPreferred entries. Previously it was thought that these were simply duplicating the WatchOrder/RecordOrder=0 entries, but what they actually seem to refer to is, "what should the primary job for this specific tuner be?"
So RecordOrder=0 also has RecordPreferred=0xffffffff, & WatchOrder=0 has WatchPreferred=0xffffffff, but what about the other tuners? I have configured my other 2 tuners (RecordOrder=1 & RecordOrder=2) to both have RecordPreferred=0xffffffff.
Therefore, I have 3 tuners which have a primary task of recording & 1 tuner which has the primary task of live TV.
When set that way, I haven't had a single recording try & use the Live TV tuner (except if a 4th concurrent recording starts).
The only possible problem with this approach I can see is if you use extenders for live TV. If that's the case, then you might need to set RecordOrder=2 to WatchPreferred=0xffffffff & RecordPreferred=0. You have more of a chance of seeing the no signal problem, but less of a chance than you had before adding the extra WatchPreferred/RecordPreferred entries.
I'll try & put up some screenshots of my registry settings so that it is clearer.
Justin