MPEG2 (DVD/HDTV) Playback Random 'Freezes'

[Necro]

I just spent the last 2 hours trying to narrow this down to ensure it is Sage that's causing the issue and not something else...and I'll detail everything here.

Problem: Randomly after a few minutes (0-10 minutes), playback will freeze. After 30 seconds to a minute, Sage will drop back to the menu. This only occurs in MPEG2 video (DVDs and HDTV) in both Sage v5 and v6 w/default STVs. MPEG4 videos play fine in SageTV6

Narrowing Down Methods (Abbreviated):
- HDTV: Only freezes in Sage, no freezes in WatchHDTV program. Tried default and all encoders installed on my system (Nvidia, ATi Cyberlink, Sage Default, 'MPEG Decoder' - as well as all combonations with audio decoders and renderers which were the above with a second ATi decoder and AC3 as well). ATi video (Cyberlink) and AC3 audio seemed to work the best.
- DVD: Only freezes in Sage. The settings that worked with HDTV didn't work with a DVD. The DVDs will play fine in WMP, but freeze up when playing a video segment in Sage even if everything is set to 'default'.

Note: Processor usage never went above 50% when watching 'live' HDTV, prior to freezing up.

HTPC Specs:
CPU: Athlon 3400+ (Socket 754)
Memory: 1gb
Graphics: GeForce 6200 PCI (84.21 drivers, I can NOT upgrade them. There are issues with this card and any driver set past 84.21 currently - it freezes when playing a video)

My Thoughts:
Sage is passing things through something additional that WMV isn't and that the WatchHDTV program (That uses the defauly ATI decoders) isn't. I need to figure out what it is and eliminate it somehow...


Any suggestions would be appreciated. I'm out of ideas and can't find any other settings in the Nvidia driver settings or anywhere else I can tweak. (I went through every video/audio setting I could find in sage...)

[Necro]

Just spend another hour or two on this. And I THINK I know what it is...

What would definitely answer the question is how are aspect ratio changes in overlay mode related to VMR9 mode?

VMR9 seems to spontaneously freeze while overlay freezes soon after I mess with aspect ratios.

[geogecko]

Have you tried using the nVidia NVDVD decoders? They seem to work the best with SageTV.

Also, what resolution are you running at? Running VMR9 at 1080p may be a bit much for that card, but I'm just guessing.