Good Results from PVR-350 TV-Out with SageTV 3.05

[mayamaniac]

I've been using SageTV Client 3.05 with the PVR-350 TV-Out for last couple of weeks. The results are looking good. I've not experience any lockups or end of file (EOF) bugs. And I'm not exaggerating, I really meant zero lockups or EOF stallings, which were the biggest problems with the 350. The was a problem I've encoutered just once was video would freeze after issuing multiple Forward/Rewind commands. The OSD was still active, and stopping the video and replaying it restored normal functionality. Another problem is sometime I get the black and white scrambled picture on the TV after starting SageTV. Playing a video fixes this and normal functionality resumes. This problem also existed in 2.28. These are minor problems and I can live with it.

So I'm not sure if anything was done in 3.05 that affected it or some miracles happened, but the 350 TV-out is very stable now. I have not changed anything in my system. I'm still using the same drivers and hardware as I was using before with SageTV 2.28, which did have problems with the 350. More testing is needed, who knows, it might start crashing like crazy tomorrow. I'll report back to update the status of the 350 TV-out.

Any other 350 owners have luck with 3.05?

[carlgar]

While your post sounds good, I would view it with caution. I have often thought the 350 problems were solved only to encounter them later or find new problems. How long have you been running without problems? You even state that you did encounter 1 freeze after using multiple Forward/Rewind commands, you don't think this is a problem? Your last statement in very inappropriate in my opinion, just because you do not see a problem did not mean there are not any problems. The question should really be, does any other 350 owners using the tv-out still have problems with 3.05.

BTW: I have not yet tried 3.05, I would like too. However, I believe I would lose features that I currently have with the 1.4 version that I do not currently want to give up.

[mayamaniac]

Originally Posted by carlgar

While your post sounds good, I would view it with caution. I have often thought the 350 problems were solved only to encounter them later or find new problems.

Been there, done that. Trust me, I had my share of nightmares with the 350 TV-out.

Originally Posted by carlgar

How long have you been running without problems?

I already said that I have been using it for 2 weeks. And also stated that more testing is needed and I'll report back for updates.

Originally Posted by carlgar

You even state that you did encounter 1 freeze after using multiple Forward/Rewind commands, you don't think this is a problem?

I said that it is a minor problem and I can live with it considering I encounter some minor problems on other clients also that are without the 350. I also mentioned ways to quickly fix the problems, that is why I considered them minor problems.

Originally Posted by carlgar

Your last statement in very inappropriate in my opinion, just because you do not see a problem did not mean there are not any problems. The question should really be, does any other 350 owners using the tv-out still have problems with 3.05.

I don't see how the question is inappropriate.

Originally Posted by carlgar

BTW: I have not yet tried 3.05, I would like too. However, I believe I would lose features that I currently have with the 1.4 version that I do not currently want to give up.

Just curious, what features are you using in 1.4 that are missing in 3.05?

[pboodi]

Thats encouraging to hear. I.m upgrading from a 150 to a 350 specifically for that purpose. However I don't think I have the 3.05 software. I purchased it in march (I think its 2.somthing) Can anyone give me any tips. Do I need to upgrade the software? My system is running fine and the 350 should be here soon. I'd like to minimize the down time.

[mayamaniac]

Originally Posted by pboodi

Thats encouraging to hear. I.m upgrading from a 150 to a 350 specifically for that purpose. However I don't think I have the 3.05 software. I purchased it in march (I think its 2.somthing) Can anyone give me any tips. Do I need to upgrade the software? My system is running fine and the 350 should be here soon. I'd like to minimize the down time.

Always check here for latest Betas: http://www.sagetv.com/beta.html

3.07 was just released, but 3.05 is still there for downloads. Your 2.x license is needed to install 3.x as its not available to non sageTV owners yet. But yes, test it out and let me know how well it works for you. I'm using the latest 350 drivers from happauge and have TV-Out, OSD/UI enabled, and Hardware Decode Only settings in SageTV. Good luck.

[Humanzee]

both 3.05 and 3.07 showed no improvements for me with the 350. I'm thinking about finding a different mother board or switching to a different tv out method. I hadn't seen the black and white bars thing until I started running 3.x. What mother board/chip set do you use that works?

[mayamaniac]

Originally Posted by Humanzee

both 3.05 and 3.07 showed no improvements for me with the 350. I'm thinking about finding a different mother board or switching to a different tv out method. I hadn't seen the black and white bars thing until I started running 3.x. What mother board/chip set do you use that works?

All intel here:

Intel Pentium 4 3.2Ghz HT.
Intel motherboard D865PERLL / 865PE chipset
The rest of the info is in my signature, the SageTV Client computer.

The thing is, I had the usual 350 problems with these same hardware and same drivers on the 350 when using SageTV 2.28. But the problems went away and I didn't change anything besides upgrading to SageTV 3.0x. It's been 3 weeks now and still no freezes or lockups. So I'm not sure how this is happening if its not 3.0x related.

[jmiddleton]

My PVR-350 has been behaving itself pretty well since last fall when I learned that I have to keep it cool (fan blowing over the card) and I can't use the osd on the 350 without a lockup. Otherwise, this machine runs 24/7 and usually only gets rebooted for security patches. I have encountered the EOF problem with 3.05 but have decided I can live with these deficiencies in exchange for the output quality provided by the hardware decoder.