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CH4C — Test Build

16 May 18:56
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CH4C — Test Build Pre-release
Pre-release

CH4C — Test Build

A rolling build from the latest main, bundling two new features that are up for review as pull requests. Grab ch4c.exe below and help test. 🙏

🪟 1. Run CH4C as a real Windows service

CH4C can now install itself as a genuine Windows service — visible and manageable in services.msc — instead of a scheduled task or a batch file.

Why it's built the way it is: a Windows service runs in session 0 with no desktop and an elevated token, and Chrome refuses to launch in that environment (CH4C even guards against it). So the service itself doesn't run Chrome. Instead:

  • The service runs as LocalSystem and its only job is a small launcher.
  • The launcher spawns CH4C into your logged-in desktop session, using your normal, non-elevated token.
  • Result: Chrome, audio devices, and logins behave exactly as they do when you start CH4C by hand — but it's a real service.

What it does for you:

  • Starts CH4C automatically whenever a user is logged in.
  • Restarts CH4C automatically if it crashes or exits.
  • No account or password setup — it just works.

Under the hood: it uses the WinSW service wrapper (downloaded automatically on first install) plus a tiny C# launcher that is compiled at install time using the .NET Framework compiler already present on every Windows machine — nothing extra to install.

Commands:

Command What it does
ch4c service install Install + start the service (asks to add ch4c to your PATH)
ch4c service logs Tail CH4C's log live — see below
ch4c service status Is it installed / running?
ch4c service start / stop Start or stop the service
ch4c service uninstall Remove the service

ch4c service logs — because the service runs hidden with no console window, this is how you watch CH4C. It prints the current log and then streams new output live until you press Ctrl+C.

Try it:

  1. Download ch4c.exe below.
  2. Open Command Prompt as Administrator, cd to wherever you saved it, run ch4c service install.
  3. Say Y to add CH4C to your PATH.
  4. Open services.msc — you'll see CH4C - Chrome HDMI for Channels running.
  5. ch4c service logs to watch it live.

📺 2. DirecTV overflow channels

When DirecTV puts more than one program on the same channel number — sports overflow feeds, "ALT" feeds — those channels used to collide on a single number.

Now the primary channel keeps the whole number and each additional feed gets a decimal suffix:

206     → primary feed
206.1   → overflow / ALT feed
206.2   → overflow / ALT feed

This matches the logic used by the bnhf adbtuner DirecTV grabber, so overflow channels map cleanly into Channels DVR.

⚠️ Notes

  • This is a rolling prerelease, rebuilt on every change to main — not a stable release.
  • macOS is unaffected by the Windows service work. The DirecTV overflow fix applies to all platforms.
  • Installing the Windows service requires Administrator privileges.

📋 Feedback

Comment on the matching pull request or open an issue — include your OS, what you did, and (for service issues) the output of ch4c service logs.

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