New to SageTV and PVRs.

[n00blar]

I purchased the latest version of SageTV and I own a Hauppauge 500MCE card.
I'm able to record TV shows and all.
Here are a couple of questions I have and haven't been able to figure out.

1. Do I need two different input sources to be able to record two shows, in different channels playing at the same day and time? How would I set this up on SageTV?

Thanks.

[SHS]

What type of setup are you on Digital Cable, Analog Cable, Satellite or AIR way AnalogTV?.
You do know that with Digital Cable and Satellite you need 2 Receiver

[n00blar]

I'm on standard cable at the moment.
I gave up on digital cable some time ago, so I just have standard cable.

[GTwannabe]

You'll have to set up the second tuner in Sage's tuner setup menu.

[greggerm]

To simplify...

For each simulatanious show you want to record, you will need a card in your computer (or a USB2 box outside it). If you have standard cable, then all you'd need to do is split the cable, and run an individual cable to each tuner.

I have three tuners in the computer, a cable modem outside. I split the one cable line into two, one to the modem, another towards the TV. I then split the TV line again, this time into three, and each one goes to a tuner card. I have had no signal loss or other ill effects from this setup.

With this setup, I can record THREE shows at once. It's rare for me that all three are active, but it has saved my rear end during sports seasons when the girlfriends favorite shows conflict with my Red Sox and Patriots.

If you have a sat. setup, or digital cable which requires an external tuner/converter box, then you'd have to take that into account when thinking of multiple tuners. You will probably need multiple decoders or sat receivers, as well as some additional hardware to handle the controlling of those boxes.

Once you go to Sage, you'll never go back!
-Greg

[Opus4]

n00blar: For analog cable, the single coax line going into the pvr-500 will connect to its 2 tuners, since the card has an internal splitter. As was mentioned above, just set up both sources in SageTV, by using the Setup Wizard twice -- see chapter 5 in the v2.2 manual, starting on p. 109.

- Andy

[n00blar]

Originally Posted by Opus4

n00blar: For analog cable, the single coax line going into the pvr-500 will connect to its 2 tuners, since the card has an internal splitter. As was mentioned above, just set up both sources in SageTV, by using the Setup Wizard twice -- see chapter 5 in the v2.2 manual, starting on p. 109.

- Andy

Yes, I've setup both tuners in SaveTV and have enabled all channels for both tuners. However, If I want to record a program on Monday, say channel 10, at 7:30PM and then another program that same night on a different channel, at 7:30PM also, I get a recording conflict. Shouldn't I be able to record both programs (on different cable channels and at the same playing time) at the same time with two tuners?

[Opus4]

Yes, you should be able to record 2 shows at the same time with the pvr-500.

1) On the Source Wizard Summary screen, how many already-configured sources are shown? What are their names? If you click on each one, do they say they are "functioning"?

2) Does the Recording Schedule show something set to record on both tuners at that time already? (Anything you forgot about?)

- Andy

[n00blar]

Originally Posted by Opus4

Yes, you should be able to record 2 shows at the same time with the pvr-500.

1) On the Source Wizard Summary screen, how many already-configured sources are shown? What are their names? If you click on each one, do they say they are "functioning"?
2) Does the Recording Schedule show something set to record on both tuners at that time already? (Anything you forgot about?)

- Andy

1. Hauppauge WinTV PVR PCI II Capture #2 TV Tuner, and
Hauppauge WinTV PVR PCI II Capture #2 TV Tuner and both are funtioning

2. This is where I think I'm missing something...
No, none of my recordings show that.
Currently my menu options for my preset recording programs don't show any options to pick a particular tuner or both for recording.

[Opus4]

Originally Posted by n00blar

1. Hauppauge WinTV PVR PCI II Capture #2 TV Tuner, and
Hauppauge WinTV PVR PCI II Capture #2 TV Tuner and both are funtioning

Unless you mis-typed something here, I don't believe they should both say #2. If this isn't a typo, can someone with a pvr-500 confirm that it should say #1 & #2?

2. This is where I think I'm missing something...
No, none of my recordings show that.
Currently my menu options for my preset recording programs don't show any options to pick a particular tuner or both for recording.

From the Main Menu, I meant for you to go to Schedule Recordings -> View Upcoming Recording Schedule in order to see what was scheduled to be recorded at the time in question.

- Andy

[blade]

I have dual 500's in my setup and they appear as:

Hauppauge WinTV PVR PCI II Capture
Hauppauge WinTV PVR PCI II Capture #2
Hauppauge WinTV PVR PCI II Capture #3
Hauppauge WinTV PVR PCI II Capture #4

[n00blar]

Yes, I forgot to change my copy/paste, hehe.
They appear as:
Hauppauge WinTV PVR PCI II Capture
Hauppauge WinTV PVR PCI II Capture #2

I don't know if I'm making myself clear or if I'm confusing things.

The dual tuner come up and they show up as operational.
I'm able to record shows just fine.

What I can't do is:
Record Show1 on channel 66 at 10:00PM and
record Show2 on channel 45 at 10:00PM

[Opus4]

Yes, I know what you are saying, but I wanted to check some things, because it sounded like perhaps only 1 tuner was operational since you couldn't record 2 shows at once, or perhaps there were already 2 things scheduled for the time in question.

I'll leave the rest to others since I don't have first-hand experience with the pvr-500. One thing you should probably check, though, is to make sure you have up-to-date drivers for that 500.

- Andy

[n00blar]

Yes, I do have up to date drivers.

Isn't there a way to tell SageTV what tuner, or input, to use for a particular channel I want to record?
I mean, that's not supposed to be a hardware feature, but a software feature.
How does SageTV know from what tuner to get the program from when two are scheduled to kick in at the same time on the same day/night from two different channels? I would imagine that there's a way to tell a particular recording to use a particular tuner.

And why is this hardware support, this is a software question..I don't seem to be having problems with my 500MCE.

[Opus4]

Originally Posted by n00blar

Isn't there a way to tell SageTV what tuner, or input, to use for a particular channel I want to record?
I mean, that's not supposed to be a hardware feature, but a software feature.
How does SageTV know from what tuner to get the program from when two are scheduled to kick in at the same time on the same day/night from two different channels? I would imagine that there's a way to tell a particular recording to use a particular tuner.

SageTV automatically schedules recordings on any available tuner that can record the show; the user does not specify a tuner. That reminds me, though: are both tuners using the same provider & channel lineup?

And: by any chance, did you set the encoder merit property for each tuner? If you did, it will always try to use the higher merit, tell you there is a conflict & then try the next tuner. What happens when you tell the conflict notification to record the original show that was scheduled?

View the Recording Schedule in Parallel format (select it via the Options command) -- is _anything_ ever set to record on the the 2nd tuner?

And why is this hardware support, this is a software question..I don't seem to be having problems with my 500MCE.

I guess that depends... it doesn't look like both tuners are getting used. The hardware forum is for hardware used with SageTV & there seems to be an issue getting the source configured correctly so you can record 2 shows at the same time. See the end of the first paragraph in the answer to Q4 in the rules discussion thread. I try to keep capture device related items in the hardware forum, just like the desciption of the forum states.

- Andy

[davin]

Try removing one of the two sources and see if it lets you watch livetv with it. First remove the "Capture #2" input and try it. Then remove that and add a single source using the "Capture" card.

It seems like it's having a problem with at least one of the sources.

[WLNE-TV]

Hi,

I am having similar problems with the setup I am building at home. I have two PVR-500's, but Sage will not let me create more than one manual recording for any given time period. I have all 4 tuner set up to use the same Extended Basic lineup, and the Source Wizard lists all of them as functional. I set up one recording and it works fine. If I try to create a second recording for the same time frame I don't even get an error. I go through and schedule the second recording, and when I choose Daily Sage locks up real tight, and my CPU usage goes to 99%, Memory Usage hovers around 250MB and stays there until I close Sage. It's starting to drive me a little nuts. I want to be able to record all three local newscasts at the same time so I can see what each one lead with, etc.

I am running a custom system with a P4 3.0 (HT turned off) and 2GB of memory. Any ideads? I am also running Sage 2.2.8. Any help would be appreciated.

Thanks,
Jt

(PS, I hope the 3.0 beta is coming out soon, I'm getting tired of recreating my schedule every two weeks at work.)

[Opus4]

Is this problem with manual recordings made by selecting a show to record from some place like the LiveTV Guide, or are they all Timed Recordings from Schedule Recordings -> Create Timed Recording?

- Andy

[WLNE-TV]

Originally Posted by Opus4

Is this problem with manual recordings made by selecting a show to record from some place like the LiveTV Guide, or are they all Timed Recordings from Schedule Recordings -> Create Timed Recording?

- Andy

I have never tried recording from the Live TV Guide. I am having this problem from Schedule Recordings -> Create Timed Recording.

[BobPhoenix]

I noticed the same symptoms with the 500 with COAX input. Conflict when recording (manual recordings from program guide). However when I select "do nothing" SageTV goes ahead and records the show anyway. It does not appear to be a problem when using one tuner for COAX and the other with RCA Jacks from digital box. Also favorites do not appear to have this problem. Never bothered to turn in a bug report because I thought it was me. This does not appear to be occuring now so I suspect it was me and I did something to eliminate it. Like maybe deleting and adding back the tuners in a different order maybe?

Sorry I can't be of much help just wanted to post that it has happened to me and report what I determined might be a possible cause (both tuners as COAX on same card) and what I may have done to fix the problem.

BobP.