Client and Blank Screen

[Watter]

I purchased SageTV quite some time ago. A few weeks ago, I went ahead and picked up a license for the client as well for use on a machine I have elsewhere in the house.

This second machine doesn't have a video encoder in it, but then again, it shouldn't need one. I'm not using it for encoding, just watching things previously encoded by the sageTV server.

The first problem is that when I installed, I needed to choose an MPEG decoder codec. Unfortunatly the list of codecs in the Detail Setup:Video section is pretty screwy. I can only assume that the list in the drop down box there is being pulled from the server because I know for a fact that I don't have any of those codecs on my second machine. Very unintuitive.

I chose one of the decoders in the list. No go. When I tried to watch something, Sage TV tells me that the filter can't be found. Well, no duh. Of course it can't be found. So I went and downloaded Elecard's MPEG2 decoder. Installed it. I selected this decoder in the dropdown list (thankfully, I also had it installed on the server; if I didn't, I assume it wouldn't show up on the list). Ok fine. Eveything works.

10 days later: The evaluation period on the Elecard decoder ends and now I have a dancing box and messages running across my video. I bite the bullet and go to the site and purchase their MPEG Player (you apparently can't simply purchase the decoder). I install the MPEG player. Soemthing's wrong now. There are no errors displayed, but when I'm playing a program in SageTV all I get is a black screen. the timer and everthing is moving and I can activate all of the controls, no problem. I can even use the newly purchased MPEG player to play the SageTV mpg files directly with no problem, but that's not what I want.

I am NOT going to go purchase a PVR250 or 350 for this second machine just to watch TV. That would be ridiculous. No offense, but perhaps it should have been made clearer when purchasing the Sage TV client that it's useless without some other third party software (a decoder).

So basically, two problems:

1) Why does the client show the decoders that exist on the server instead of the client when in detailed setup?

2) Any ideas how to get more than a black screen on the client now that i have the fully registered and installed Elecard decoders?

-Watter

[Narflex]

1 - it's a bug, it's fixed in the 1.4 betas that are currently avaiable
2 - not exactly sure why it doesn't work, haven't heard of this problem yet. Anyone else have this issue?

[Watter]

1. Thanks. Great to hear it!

2. I'm an idiot... well, maybe not that bad. Turns out mt Satellite receiver was out and that the shows I was testing with had been recorded while the Sat receiver was inoperable and that's why I had the black screen. So sue me...

-Watter

[Watter]

As an addendum, you may want to include a decoder with the client; perhaps just as an extra $5-10 option. For some folks, myself included, it's really not very obvious what needs to be done to get the client working if there isn'a decoder already installed on the target machine.

-Watter