Random crashes every few minutes, no error messages. Totally lost.

[jbitely]

I'm totally out of ideas here so I'm hoping somebody will have had a similar problem.

The pc I'm running Sage on (v2.2) crashes every few minutes whenever Sage is running. If Sage isn't running the machine is rock-solid. As soon as I start up Sage everything goes to hell. It doesn't matter if Sage is recording, showing live tv, doing nothing, fullscreen, sleep mode -- as long as it is running in any form, the machine crashes every 5-25 minutes. It's not consistent about when it does so or how long inbetween crashes. There are no strange events in the event viewer and no error logs in the Sage directory.

I have the latest drivers installed for my capture card (Plextor Convertx) and video card (ATI Radeon 9100). The machine is a 2.4ghz p4 w/ 1gig ram. I removed everything Java and installed only the latest (1.5) version of the Java runtime. There is plenty of available space on the disks and I've defragged botht the disk with the Sage install and the recording disk. I've virus-scanned and spyware-scanned and the machine is totally clean. Almost no other software runs at the same time as Sage (only ZoneAlarm).

I have no error messages to work from and I've tried everything I can think of. At this point I'm so frustrated that I'm not thinking clearly about the issue. Has anyone experienced anything like this?

[gplasky]

Try this. Uninstall the latest Java and delete its directory. Uninstall Sage. Reinstall Sage and let it install the java that comes with it. (1.4.6 I think. It will start to install at the end of the Sage install.) See if that helps.

Gerry

[jbitely]

I will try this as soon as I get home from work and report back. Thanks.

[jbitely]

Sage 2.2 does not include Java; I was able to find Java 1.4.2 at another site, however.

It seemed to help a bit but there are still intermittent crashes. I have the Sage server running - is this a no-no? That's about the only non-default thing I have been doing.

[silkshadow]

Have you cheked the event viewer in the admin tools (assuming your on WinXP)? Maybe that can give you a hint as to what is killing your OS. Also, try bringing Sage up in safe mode and see if your box still dies.

[gplasky]

Have you downloaded the latest? Java is included-that's why the download is so big.

Gerry

[jbitely]

I downloaded 2.2.8 from www.sage.tv/download.html. When I ran the install (after uninstalling Sage and Java) it installed Sage but did not install Java. Then when I tried to run Sage it said I must install Java 1.4. At that point I had to go find Java 1.4 somewhere else.

There are no strange messages in the event viewer - that's why this is so frustrating. I have very few clues to go on. I will try safe mode; hadn't thought of that.

[Opus4]

BTW: Java is in the v2.2.8 downloads; that is why those downloads are now around 30 Mb. If java is not already installed & installing SageTV doesn't also install java, or at least offer to do so, then you should mention it to SageTV tech support.

You might also want to look for some sort of memory testing utility. Also: make sure there are no problems in the system device manager. Do the video/sound/tuner cards share any IRQs?

- Andy

[jbitely]

I've got a possible new working theory. I think it might be the MultiDCTTuner plugin; there might be a conflict between the com port I have it set for and something else on the system. I'm just taking a wild guess here. My only substantiation is that it DOES seem to crash sometimes right when changing a channel (not always though, which is why it didn't occur to me right away).

I should have mentioned I was using that and a serial cable to control the cable box; my mistake. Anyone know how to determine which port is the best to set it for?