SageTV V4.1.13 Beta Is Available

[Narflex]

Hello all! SageTV 4.1.13 Beta is now available.

SageTV V4.1.13 Release Notes 4/15/06

IMPORTANT NOTE: This version does not correctly work with DVB-T. So if you've been using DVB-T with the betas, do NOT use this beta.

HDTV Update: If you're using HDTV you should go into Channel Setup again for your HDTV card in SageTV and rescan for channels. SageTV will now find all of the channels & subchannels available and add them to the channel list automatically.

Here's the notes from the first release on Placeshifting it in case it's new to you (be sure to read the IMPORTANT note at the end):

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.

This release also includes automated UPnP setup of the port forwarding for the Placeshifter if you have a UPnP enabled router.

There's a few things you should know about placeshifting:
1. To setup the Placeshifter, the easiest way is to go through the main configuration wizard again.
2. 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.

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_13Setup.exe

SageTV Client
http://download.sage.tv/SageTVClient_V4_1_13Setup.exe

SageTV Placeshifter
http://download.sage.tv/SageTVPlaces..._1_13Setup.exe

See this post for info about running just the placeshifter on a Windows PC w/o installing the full client. Or for running the Placeshifter on any Java-enabled platform (without video).

SageTV V4.1.13 Release Notes 4/15/06

Core Updates
1. Added support for the AverMedia M1A2 capture card and the Asus VixS capture card
2. Removed feature where running SageTV as a pesudo-client would duplicate the Sage.properties file on first startup.
3. MAJOR FIX: Losing of Sage.properties files from hard crash of machine is now fixed!
4. Bug fix: Stuttering every 5 minutes when watching SageTV, fixed by optimization to how Seeker sorts media files
5. Fixed bug where thumbnails for DVD imports never get refreshed if they were changed after the DVD was first imported
6. Fixed bug where the capture devices & IR devices weren't getting closed when the system was going into standby/hibernate
7. Fixed exception in deep sleep (standby/hibernation) that caused devices not to be released at that time.
8. Fixed a bug where selecting an airing to view at the last second before it ends can cause the Media Player to be playing nothing.
9. Fixed bug where WMA files were having the file paths incorrectly prepended to the song title
10. ATSC Channel Scanning (DTV in the US) now will correctly find ALL of the channels and subchannels that are available (it may not have EPG data for them all though)
11. Changed DX9 memory allocation to use the managed pool instead of the default pool

Extender Updates
1. Added optimized transcoding mode for playing back VOBs
2. Ignore VMWare network adapters on Windows when finding the network adapter to attach the MVP server to
3. Fixed bug where the MVP server socket wasn't correctly closed.
4. Fixed bug where new Media MVPs would hang on Loading Application...
5. Fixed 'green screen' crash in the MVP (we hope)
6. Fixed bug where the STV selection wouldn't stick on an extender
7. Fixed bug where extender or placeshifter sessions could linger and use up an extender license.
8. Power cycling on the MVP no longer does a full reboot of it

Studio Updates
1. Reset status message when FileTransfer starts
2. Fixed bug where downloading of large files didn't work correctly
3. Changed the way default focus is given out in the Pseudo UI system. SageTV should now correctly choose the focused item better when refreshing UIs with components that change.
4. Added support for forcing a Locator update via the API call UpdateLocatorServer()
5. Added support for reloading system hooks while running using the API call ReloadSystemHooks()
6. Fixed bug where newly added stations from the API don't have their Airings reset
7. Fixed support for sorting lists that may not be naturally comparable
8. Added Global API calls for downloading files from a SageTV Server: StartFileDownload(ServerName, SourceFile, DestFile), CancelFileDownload() and GetFileDownloadStatus()

Placeshifter Updates
1. Optimized transcoder for placeshifting
2. UPNP Updated with fix from Nielm for some routers
3. Lowered bitrate classification bounds in transcoder
4. Full screen mode state of the miniclient is now tracked on the server explicitly.
5. Redid the bandwidth calculation equations used in the UI channel for the Placeshifter
6. Updated MiniPlayer to do it's own bandwidth estimate at startup if it didn't get one from the UI.
7. Added initial socket connection timeouts when doing Locator lookups
8. When the Placeshifter is busy doing UI transfer work it will now show the hourglass cursor
9. When flushing the push stream in the placeshifter, sync the file descriptor at the same time.
10. Added friendly error messages for connection problems with the Placeshifter
11. Fixed bug where Placeshifter client would max the CPU when it went full screen
12. Fixed a bug where we were caching the UPnP routers we found on the network.
13. UPnP mappings created by SageTV are now removed at shutdown.
14. Added support for automatically updating the Locator server when we detect an external IP address change from UPnP

STV Updates
1. Added lower case NTE properties & defaults for upper & lower case English letters.
2. If the currently highlighted video is the one playing in preview mode & it is playing normally, then the Play command will initiate a jump to the playback screen.
3. When creating a new Placeshifter user on a client, the default STV is "SageTV3.xml". If that file is not found, the user is asked to select an STV on the server from the file browser.
4. Port forwarding Config Wizard: If UPnP was previously used, but the settings can not be discovered now, ask user what to do about it.
5. The Locator ID server is updated immediately when the user configures a new external port to use for the Placeshifter server.
6. Video pop-up options menu: in advanced mode, centered the Close button across the bottom line by itself.
7. Remote Config Wiz: added option for MCE style remote.
8. Changed some variables to be distinct for the file & directory browsers so the 2 browser types couldn’t interfere with each other.
9. Updated code to copy media from the library on a client to use new API calls for that purpose.
10. The confirmation dialog when reassigning a key to a different command now defaults to "No".
11. Changed Directory & File browsers to operate either locally or via the server, depending on the browser need.
12. Updated Channel Scanning for Digital TV to add channels it finds to the lineup automatically.

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

Thanks again for your help!

[Polypro]

Just got in from a trip...installing now

P

[stanger89]

Originally Posted by Narflex

5. Fixed bug where thumbnails for DVD imports never get refreshed if they were changed after the DVD was first imported

I'm not sure if I should or I just did a workaround for that in my STVi. Thanks though

[robk]

10. ATSC Channel Scanning (DTV in the US) now will correctly find ALL of the channels and subchannels that are available (it may not have EPG data for them all though)

Can someone explain what this is? Does it do an automatic scan of all channels on Directv (DTV) that I subscribe to and set them up? How do I use it?
Thanks,
Rob

[ke6guj]

The DTV that they are talking about is Digital TV over antenna, not DirecTV

[robk]

OK, thanks for clarifying that. I love SageTV, but it keeps getting more complicated! 4.1.13 seems to work well, although I'm not using the advanced features.
Rob

[agover]

Originally Posted by robk

10. ATSC Channel Scanning (DTV in the US) now will correctly find ALL of the channels and subchannels that are available (it may not have EPG data for them all though)

Can someone explain what this is? Does it do an automatic scan of all channels on Directv (DTV) that I subscribe to and set them up? How do I use it?
Thanks,
Rob

Rob,

This is for folks that have Over the air HDTV tuners (like fusion 5's). Its something many of us have REALLY wanted since HD support was introduced, as it makes it easier to figure out what your card is receiving.

Basically sage just goes from digital channel 1-100 and looks for a signal.

If it finds it it attempts to figure out what is on that channel and then adds it to your lineup.

It works ok (not perfect). In my case it correctly added all channels BUT it could not identify their zap2it/tribune channel data. Also it seems to have issues with subchannels (still).

None the less its a great feature. And important for people with OTA ATSC tuners.

[Narflex]

Originally Posted by agover

It works ok (not perfect). ... Also it seems to have issues with subchannels (still).

Can you submit a bug report on the issues you're having please? (and be specific) http://sagetv.com/bugs.html

[agover]

Originally Posted by Narflex

Can you submit a bug report on the issues you're having please? (and be specific) http://sagetv.com/bugs.html

Jeffrey Im working on it... It looks like theres a few problems... Im sending it in now I just wanted to get a full idea of what is going on first..

[lovingHDTV]

I just installed and did a rescan. SageTV got most of them. There are 4 subchannels for our PBS, but SageTV only found 2 of them. I'll check and scan later also, as I'm not positive that they always broadcast all 4. Maybe tonight the upper two are not being broadcast.

[Polypro]

The Media Libraries are FUBAR with regards to thumbnails in all sections: Music, Video, and Pictures. Music is passable, I just can't get some album art to show up (all were fine in 4.1.12) and .wmv videos are still showing up listed in the Album section (maybe others). Video and Pictures are showing different/wrong thumbnails for a lot of media, and some duplicates. In my DVD collection for example, there are 3 of the *same* thumbnails for 3 *different* movies, and some thumbnails for .wmv music videos are in there too. For some .wmv files I'm getting thumbnails from my Pictures library. The Pictures Library is not showing thumbnails for some folders...opening it up and clicking on a pic w/o a thumb, brings up a blank screen. I have thumbs from my "Helocopter" folder showing up in my "Motorcycle" folder, etc... Clicking on one of those, brings up a blank/black screen. Total chaos. My trouble shooting steps were to delete the import directory, refresh, wait for the hardrive activity (~25 seconds), navigate back to the folder to insure they were deleted (they were), and re-import. I then tried the same thing, except with a re-start before re-importing. No dice, something is busted. More to come, I just want to post things as I happen across them.

P

Edit: But yes, the folder path is no longer listed for song titles

[gplasky]

Photos are broken. No thumbnails, no pictures. Nothing shows. I get the folders but no thumbnails. I generated thumbnails for 869 photos. Nothing. Nothing in the slideshow. I'll file a bug report.

Gerry

[Opus4]

I'm don't know what is different, but I still seem to have all my photos & thumbnails. For the ones missing: were they gone at startup, or after something was changed?

- Andy

[Polypro]

I had everything showing in 4.1.12, when I upgraded and went back to the folders... Music, Pics, Vids, doesn't matter...a lot weren't showing and some were showing on the wrong folders. So I refreshed the thumbnails, thinking that would fix it, but it didn't. I just now deleted all contents of my GeneratedThumbnails folder and replaced it with my 4.1.12 folder...still no worky (And I think that is just for pics...no clue on the videos thumbnails). I still can't get 4 album covers to show. I've resized and re-saved, moved them, etc... Sage just hates ZZ Top, Cat Stevens, Bo Donaldson, and the Kinks...but The Commitments came back

P

[Opus4]

I just sent a log in also -- a client connected to a different system had the same problem with that system's pictures.

- Andy

[Polypro]

I just deleted 4.1.13, re-started, and deleted the SageTV folder. I then installed 4.1.12, replaced the default install folder with my backup copy of 4.1.12...and everything is back to normal. All pics are back and correct, and all video thumbnails are correct. Oh, my 4 albums are back too.

Two things I noticed before I got rid of 4.1.13: While trying to get the pics working by refreshing and trying to view, I noticed some sluggishness. I exited and brought up Task Manager...explorer.exe was at 99% and chewing memory. No idea if it was Sage related, but I've never had my HTPC do that before (It's *that* stable). Also a minor thing: There looked to be a small white artifact over every lower case "e" in Album View, for the artist name.

I'm in the Pictures Library a lot, so I may have to sit out on 4.1.13

P

[Bandit]

I havent tested my pictures yet to see if I am having that problem, but will say this version seems to have fixed the constant stuttering issue I had on my MVP's with the previous 2 betas. That makes this version good for me, now I can use the MVP's again!

[Pork Chop]

IMPORTANT NOTE: This version does not correctly work with DVB-T. So if you've been using DVB-T with the betas, do NOT use this beta.

Hello Jeffrey

Can you help myself and other DVB-T users understand when you plan to address the DVB-T performance in SageTV. I thank Sage is a marvellous piece of software. However having spent nearly £600 so far on tuner cards and additional HD capacity I have yet to use SageTV in anger.

Cheers

PC

[DIBU]

i have made a little check with the new version...wow mvp works great..no stutter or other thinks...smooth mvp..

[Alfiegerner]

3. Fixed bug where the MVP server socket wasn't correctly closed.

Might this address the occasional problem that would cause the MVP to crash when the server is rebooted?

edit: incidentally, do you guys ever stop working - releasing on the weekend?