Reload-Media-Player required to cure problems

[stevech]

I am disappointed greatly at Sage's indifference to resolving this and the slo-mo problem that I and others have reported. I did get feedback that they couldn't reproduce the problem. I think they need to try harder. This is a for-sale product, not shareware.

This is a copy of a problem report I filed with Sage:
One recorded file would not playback correctly. Others played OK. The fault was that there was no sound and the video was dropping many frames each few seconds.

I told Sage to "Reload Media Player".

This cured the problem.

This may be related to the "slo-mo" problem that I and several others have reported in recent weeks.

I implore Sage to correct this problem, please.

[gplasky]

If they can't reproduce the problem it makes it very difficult if not impossible to fix it. The vast majority of users do not have this issue. What have YOU tried to fix the issue? Have you removed all unsed codecs from your machine? Have you reinstalled Sage as a fresh install? Have you gone so far as to reload Windows? Some users who had this issue solved it with some or all of these methods.

Gerry

[Narflex]

Have you submitted a bug report on either of those issues? Please file one and then we can get the information we need from you to figure out what's going on. We're very much interested in fixing problems in the software, but with the near infinite number of hardware/software combinations used by people we can't always reproduce issues some of you are seeing, so your help is appreciated.

[stevech]

yes I have filed a bug report, some time ago, as have several other people with the same problem. Because of the elapsed time, I believe that there's indifference at Sage, given I am not the only customer with the problem.

I have done everything I can to correct the problem. My bug report said that my system is generic; I'm using only the two codecs provided by Sage. The bug report showed I'm using a very popular ATI video card. I have all the latest XP and media player updates. When Sage fails to playback properly, it does so over and over and over. And I exit restart Sage and it still errs. That same file plays fine with XP's media player.

About one in 15 shows has either slo-mo as I described or no sound and high dropped frame rates. In either case, the cure that always works is to tell Sage to reload the media player. This should be a clue.

[src666]

Originally Posted by stevech

yes I have filed a bug report, some time ago, as have several other people. Because of the elapsed time, I believe that there's indifference at Sage, given I am not the only customer with the problem.

First off, let me say I do believe you have a problem. I understand how annoying it can be (I've run into slo-mo programs a few times myself). But be clear - if they can't reproduce the problem, then they are going to find it VERY VERY difficult to solve (unless it's something stupidly obvious).

You have every right to be frustrated with the situation. But telling Sage that they aren't taking you seriously, and that they don't care, is the WRONG way to try to solve it.

What you need is a continuing dialog with Sage. Keep talking to their support group until they get it right. Run whatever tests they ask you to, send them the logs and files they need, and they will work to solve it.

But remember, they only have hearsay evidence to go on. They can't see your system. They can't debug on your system when it happens. They haven't been able to reproduce the problem, so they don't know why it happens.

If you want the problem solved, keep talking to them until it is fixed. Throwing down in the forums may feel satisfying, but it isn't actually doing squat to help your situation. In the year since I installed SageTV, I have found it's development and support staff to be some of the best I have seen in the industry. If you want lousy support and a buggy product to denigrate, go buy TimeTrax. They will give you more than enough to keep you busy.

[ke6guj]

+1 on continuing communications.

I have been chasing some import issues for a while. On every Sage release, I test to see if the bug has been fixed, and try to submit a new bug report each time if the problem is not fixed.

[stevech]

yes I have filed a bug report, *twice* some time ago, as have several other people. Because of the elapsed time, I believe that there's indifference at Sage, given I am not the only customer with the problem.