Issues with MVP client, Neilm's Customizable Menus, and java version

[zubblwump]

I'm trying to figure out a configuration that works, and have have almost no luck.

My problem started with running Matt's MVP client (v1.3). I've been using this for quite a while (the eversion that worked with sage v2.1). The main reason I haven't opted for the MVP client added to SageTV 4.1 and beyond is because I don't want to buy a seperate MVP client licence, since I may very well be putting a full PC client in the living room in the future. Anyway, I've been trying to get the lastest version of Matt's plugin (v. 1.3) to work for weeks with no luck. I did get it to work for a while today, but closed the client and I'm back to where I've been for the past few weeks: everything loads fine until it gets to the GUI server, which it repeatedly fails to locate.

Reading through the thread on matt's client, I ran across one post suggesting to update my java client to the latest from Sun. Amazingly, after doing so, the MVP found the GUI server no problem and I again have my beloved SageTV interface on my MVP! HOWEVER, apparently Nielm's dynamic menus dont work well with this version of Java, as you can see in the attached image.

I guess what I'm looking for is some intermediate Java version that works for both the MVP client and Nielm's customizable Menus. Anyone know if there is such a version? Or failing that, does anyone have any other suggestions to this working for me?

[zubblwump]

Well, that didn't take long. Immediately after making the above post, I took a look at a different client (PC, not MVP) I have running, and noticed that it has the same version of Java installed, but Nielm's menu import works just fine. So I deleted my custom STV, created a new one and imported Nielm's stvi into it, and everything looks good again!

So I believe I have the problem solved for now, but I'm wondering why I had to re-import the stvi into a new STV after updating the Java version? Can anyone give me some insight into this?

[zubblwump]

Well, I guess I spoke too soon. Everything appears to work fine after re-importing the stvi into a new copy of the default SageTV3 until I either restart the client or change the STV then back to my custom STV. Then I get the same thing as shown in the picture attached to my first post. It also seems to have nothing to do with the MVP, just Neilm's Customizable Men import and Java 1.5.

Any takers?

[nielm]

The stvi should work with java5 -- I was running it under java5 for a while...

This problem might be triggered if the stvi was imported more than once -- it does not support reinstalling over itself.

until I either restart the client or change the STV then back to my custom STV.

How are you restarting the client?
Are you sure the STV file is being saved (if you import via Studio), or the properties file is being saved with the new imported STV file name? Check the STV file name in detailed setup/advanced after import and after restart...

[zubblwump]

Hmm, now that you mention it, I guess I had proof all along that your import works with the latest java, since it's been working fine on the other client with that java version for a while now. But I'm still stumped.

I'm restarting the client by first putting it in standby and then choosing exit sagetv from the icon in the system tray. Then simply starting it again.

I'm not using studio, simply creating a copy of the default STV, renaming the copy to 'SageTV3cust', then importing your stvi into that new copy. Sorry, my calling a custom STV in my previous post was probably wrong and may have caused some confusion.

While I've done the above copy-import procedure countless times, I haven't copied the import into the same STV more than once.

I'm sure the properties file is being saved. Once the problem starts, I can no longer change the STV through the Sage interface, so I need to close the client and change it in the properties file manually.

The odd things here (to me at least) are:

1. that it seemed to work fine under java 1.42 (but the MVP wouldn't connect)
2. that it works fine under java 1.5 on the other client.
3. that it seems to work fine until I restart the client or change the STV.

I appreciate your help, Nielm. Any other thoughts/things to check out?

[zubblwump]

OK, digging a little deeper tonight I noticed (by looking at the modified date) that each time i start the client or switch from the STV from within SageTV, it moves the current STV to the backup file and creates a new copy of the STV. So SageTV3cust.stv becomes SageTV3cust.stv.bak and a new copy of SageTV3cust.stv is created. BTW, this only happens to the STV after I import Neilm's stvi. If I just make a copy of the default STV and rename it, I can close out the client or switch STVs multiple times and the file timestamp will never change.

But I noticed on the working client box, it does the same thing. However, the STV itself is 1.65MB on the 'bad' system and 6.5MB on the 'good' system. Both are merely copies of the default STV wtih Neilm's Dynamic Menu import added. The default STV is 1.55MB on both systems. So it appears that on the good system, around 5MB more information is "injected" by adding the import, while on the 'bad' system, only 0.1MB is added.

So I copied the sageTV3cust.stv from the 'good' system to the 'bad' system and everything appears ok for now.

Can anyone PLEASE confirm if the automatic moving/renaming of STVs (with injected imports) is normal behavior? Also, can anyone think of a reason that the import isn't working the same on both systems?

[GKusnick]

You shouldn't be using .stv files. The new standard (since V4) is to save STVs as .xml files. If you're not doing that, then perhaps Sage is automatically converting your .stv to XML each time you use it.

Make sure that the default STV you're starting from is called SageTV3.xml, not SageTV3.stv. The .stv file is a fossil left over from version 3, and if you're still trying to use that, all bets are off.

Also, you shouldn't have to manually copy the default STV before importing into it. SageTV automatically copies and renames it every time you import an STVI. So for instance after loading the default STV (SageTV3.xml) and importing Niel's STVI, you should find that your .properties file now points to SageTV3-1.xml. Any additional saving or renaming beyond that should not be necessary.

[zubblwump]

Actually, I believe the .xml STVs came about in version 4.1. I'm using 4.0, and am not about to change for a while unless absolutely necessary due to all the complications I've had getting (and keeping) tuners recognized, EPGs corrected, clients configured, MVP working, etc.

But since there are no default .xml STVs already in my sage directory, I can only conclude that the version of SageTV I have installed uses .stv extensions.

I've read that Sage is supposed to automatically copy and rename the STV after an import, but if I remember correctly when I tried it simply told me to make a copy. I'm not 100% positive of that, but I prefer to make copies and give them meaningful names anyway.

Regardless of the file format used, the main problem here is that it doesn't work the same between the two clients on different machines. Since both use the same version of Sage, I'd have thought they would behave the same.

[blade]

Originally Posted by zubblwump

I've read that Sage is supposed to automatically copy and rename the STV after an import, but if I remember correctly when I tried it simply told me to make a copy.

That feature was introduced at around the same time Sage started using .xml instead of stv. Being able to import without having to copy and rename the stv is a great feature. You can always go back and rename it once you get all your imports situated.