SageTV V4.1.8 Beta Is Available - Placeshifting! (improved streaming)

[Narflex]

Howdy all! SageTV 4.1.8 Beta is now available.

SageTV V4.1.8 Release Notes 2/23/06

This is the second release to have Placeshifting. Here's the notes from the first release on it in case it's new to you:

Placeshifting adds a new client program that allows the user to connect to their SageTV system from anywhere on the Internet. The placeshifting client has the full SageTV UI and it can also stream live/recorded audio & video. It will be known as the SageTV Placeshifter.

This release also includes the Locator feature of SageTV which can be used with placeshifting. The Locator feature allows the Placeshifter to find the IP address of your home server automatically. It does this through a 16-digit unique ID that is generated by SageTV. You can find this ID in System Information or in Detailed Setup->Advanced. Information on disabling this feature is in the release notes.

There's a few things you should know about placeshifting:
1. To access your SageTV Server through the Internet with the Placeshifter you will need to open port 31099 on your firewall/router and forward it to the computer that is running the SageTV server.
2. The current Placeshifter is included in the SageTV Client installation. It is called the SageTVPlaceshifter and is in the Start Menu as well as in the SageTV program folder.
3. To enable the placeshifting server in SageTV, simply enable the media extender server in Detailed Setup->Advanced.
4. IMPORTANT: The licensing for the Placeshifter is done on the server. It uses the same licensing as the SageTV Media Extender. They share the same trial period as well. After the trial is up you will need to have a Media Extender license installed on the server for each simultaneous connection you want to have for either a Media Extender or a Placeshifter.
5. The placeshifting server requires a password for any non-local connections. This password can be set in Detailed Setup->Advanced. NOTE: SageTV does utilize strong security (RSA/Blowfish) in order to protect your passwords, but be sure to choose passwords that are not easy to guess or too short in length.


That was the attempt to get you to read some of the more important release notes. And here's the download links:

SageTV
http://download.sage.tv/SageTV_V4_1_8Setup.exe

SageTV Client and SageTV Placeshifter
http://download.sage.tv/SageTVClient_V4_1_8Setup.exe

See this post for info about running just the placeshifter on a Windows PC w/o installing the full client.

Core Updates
1. Fixed bug in placeshifting transcoding that would cause it to stutter when in dynamic rate mode.
2. Updated placeshifting transcoder to support PAL frame rates/resolution
3. Lowered initial video bitrates when dynamic streaming is used
4. Setting the airing explicitly on a MediaFile now marks it as a 'complete' file so it will show up in the default filtering of file lists.
5. Fixed problem with text being rendered outside of its bounds on the Placeshifter
6. Added support for using Java 1.4 cryptography (DH instead of RSA)
7. Added experimental smooth scrolling support. This is enabled with the property experimental_smooth_scrolling=true
8. Improve media file type( PS,TS) detecting, (wrong type may cause SageTV locks up, more happens on espcailly bad quality recordings)
9. Add timeout control (default 10sec, or WaitingTimeForData in registry [SOFTWARE\\Frey Technologies\\Common\\DSFilters\\MpegDeMux] ) to protect from dead-looping in parsing mpegbuf data to cause channel Scan hangs.

Placeshifter Updates
1. Fixed issues with incorrect keystrokes on the Placeshifter
2. Fixed initial locator IP address lookup
3. Change local server discovery period from 10 seconds to 5 seconds
4. Disabled post processing for pull mode playback. This can be overriden by setting the property disable_pull_mode_postprocessing=false on the Placeshifter

STV Updates
1. Added option in Detailed Setup -> Customize to disable new drive dialog pop-up; uses "ui/notify_on_new_drive property".
2. Remember last folder viewed in Video Library if "last_video_folder/remember" property is true (default: true). Resets last video folder to root import folder when entering Video Library from the Media Center menu if the "last_video_folder/reset_from_lib_menu" property is true (default: false).
3. Remember last folder viewed in Photos menu if "last_picture_folder/remember" property is true (default: true). Resets last photo folder to root import folder when entering Photos menu from the Media Center menu if the "last_picture_folder/reset_from_lib_menu" property is true (default: false).
4. Restored name of "CustomizeSetupPanel" so that STV imports can find it again.
5. Completed first draft of code to manage Place Shifting user names.
6. Modified SecureLogin.xml to use multi-username capability.
7. Added empty mouse listener so that mouse clicks did not act as Enter.
8. Show user a message when there are no avalilable users for login & then exit the PS client.


We hope you all enjoy. Please submit any bugs at http://www.sagetv.com/bugs.html

Thanks again for your help!

[stanger89]

So what exactly is "smooth scrolling"?

[Opus4]

BTW: There is a new Placeshifter user name/password configuration process in Detailed Setup -> Advanced. You can now create multiple PS users, each with their own password and assigned STV. The old password config will no longer work, so be sure to create at least one PS user before trying to login remotely.

Note: the login system does not ask for the user name, it only asks for a password right now. The login process will use the first user name that has the entered password, so it is advised that you assign unique passwords to each PS user that is created on the server.

- Andy

[Narflex]

Originally Posted by stanger89

So what exactly is "smooth scrolling"?

It's an experimental thing. It basically works right for scrolling panels, but scrolling tables are somewhat funky. Although it's somewhat entertaining (yeah, I'm entertained by code...are you surprised?) so I wanted to let people play with it if they wanted.

[garystein]

Not sure whats changed but one of my tuners PVR-USB2 is much slower at initialising channels on betas 4.1.7 and 4.1.8, other tuner pvr 150 is fine. There is about a 10 second delay initialising the video stream. Reverted back to 4.1.6 to check and all is well again? Any clues?

[srothwell]

Jeff,

A couple of notes on 4.1.8:

Under 4.1.7 if I left Dynamic Streaming on, I would never see video until I set it manaully. 4.1.8 is the same.... no video.

Is the remote miniclient supposed to ask for the username & password or just the password. That's all it's doing. It will log in with any valid password just not ask for a username

Lastly, The notes say that it's supposed to remember the STV. These don't. When you close the miniplayer and open again under the same user, it reverts back to the default STV. (Did this on 4.1.7 also)

Stacy

[Narflex]

Originally Posted by garystein

Not sure whats changed but one of my tuners PVR-USB2 is much slower at initialising channels on betas 4.1.7 and 4.1.8, other tuner pvr 150 is fine. There is about a 10 second delay initialising the video stream. Reverted back to 4.1.6 to check and all is well again? Any clues?

Can you please send your log files from 4.1.6 as well as 4.1.8 to betatest at sagetv.com email? Thanks.

[Narflex]

Stacy,

Please send your log files to betatest at sagetv.com for the server and the Placeshifter. To get log files for the Placeshifter just invoke it directly from the command line in the SageTV folder:
java -cp MiniClient.jar sage.miniclient.MiniClient

[pciccone]

Narflex, can you clarify firewall ports for placeshifting? Just port 31099 right? TCP only or is UDP required? Anything else required to connect from the internet besudes tcp/31099?

Thanks!

[Narflex]

Originally Posted by pciccone

Narflex, can you clarify firewall ports for placeshifting? Just port 31099 right? TCP only or is UDP required? Anything else required to connect from the internet besudes tcp/31099?

Thanks!

Port 31099 TCP is all that is needed.

[srothwell]

Originally Posted by Narflex

Stacy,

Please send your log files to betatest at sagetv.com for the server and the Placeshifter. To get log files for the Placeshifter just invoke it directly from the command line in the SageTV folder:
java -cp MiniClient.jar sage.miniclient.MiniClient

Just sent to you....

Stacy

[MTuckman]

Jeff,

First, I think I am growing to like the Placeshifting client more than the SageClient!!! (I'll leave the discussion of the licensing to another thread. )

Any chance the port in the client can be configurable per destination? I can set up my router at my home to map an inbound port (such as 80) to the 31099, but I need to be able to use port 80 on the client to get past the firewall at work.

Thanks,

Mike

[ke6guj]

Well, first glance at 4.1.8 looks good. placeshifrting works for Java 1.4 but I'm having problems with imports of .mpg files. Sageservice goes to max CPU trying to scan an .mpg file. The same files have been acceptable to Sage from V2 all the way up to 4.1.7.

Rolled back to 4.1.7 and it works just fine. Upgrade to 4.1.8, even DL'ed a new copy, and it'll hang. check the logs and it stopped scanning on an .mpg file. SO, I'm back to 4.1.7 for now.

[dnlmln]

Using version 4.1.8

When using placeshifter, there is no sound when playing mp3 files. Live TV and recorded show are are OK.

When using SageTV Client, mp3 files play OK.

Is this a known issue for 4.1.8 (I saw it mentionned in the 4.1.7 thread) ?

[rickgillyon]

Can Placeshifter be used just as a Client, i.e. without compression? It makes sense to only have one "Client" licence so I can use it on any PC in the house, but I don't really want my Server encoding video while recording other channels, I'd rather it just streamed like the Client does...

[mechling-burgh]

After some work I got sage place shifting loging in from work. I can connect, I get the menu interface I can select things. When I select, watch tv, play recording or even play mp3 I get the error. There was a playback error in playback. Details: sage.playbackException. Is this a firewall issue? Is there a setting I need to adjust? Thank You for any help.

[mikejaner]

Can Placeshifter be used just as a Client, i.e. without compression? It makes sense to only have one "Client" licence so I can use it on any PC in the house, but I don't really want my Server encoding video while recording other channels, I'd rather it just streamed like the Client does...
Reply With Quote

Yes, that is an option in the settings of PlaceShifter. You can choose to use no compression, ie.. it will just stream the mpeg2 file like it does with the clients. This probably wont work if you're trying to do this over the internet though.

[bcjenkins]

Narflex,

The release notes have no mention of the 1:26:44 bug being fixed. Has this been addressed as well, will it be addressed soon? I have filed a bug report a few days ago, willing to work with Sage on it.

Thanks,

B

[mikejaner]

I second the ability to change ports for Place Shifter. Jeff, could you make this a customizable option?

[bcjenkins]

Originally Posted by MTuckman

Jeff,

First, I think I am growing to like the Placeshifting client more than the SageClient!!! (I'll leave the discussion of the licensing to another thread. )

Any chance the port in the client can be configurable per destination? I can set up my router at my home to map an inbound port (such as 80) to the 31099, but I need to be able to use port 80 on the client to get past the firewall at work.

Thanks,

Mike

You ought to check out Cygwin's SSH Server. Run the SSH server over whatever port, then tunnel apps through it.

http://sshwindows.sourceforge.net/

B