Change Order of Capture Cards

[Tofu]

I have a PVR-150 and a PVR-500. The order of the cards in the tuner list is PVR-500(tuner1), PVR-150, and then PVR-500(tuner2). I would like the PVR-150 to be the first card used because it's quality is better then the PVR-500 (due to the new tuners). Does anyone know how to change the order? It seems to retain the order no matter how I add them using the wizard. Thanks

[ke6guj]

the setting you need is "encoder_merit" in sage.properties. Sage must be completely shut down while editing the sage.properties file (use notepad). YOu can specify the order you would prefer Sage use the tuners. So, set the 150 to a number higher than zero, and it'll prefer that tuner first. Sage will use the higher numbers in order down to the lowest tuner.

[hemicuda]

on the same note...

is there a way to set my MVP to use a lower priority encoder for "live tv"? it always seems to grab the 1 tuner I have that gets good reception on cbs when I have a favorite scheduled in that timeslot.

[ke6guj]

AFAIK, nope. Sage does not really differentiate between "liveTV" or recording for tuner priority.

It has been asked many times as a feature request for the ability to designate a "live TV" tuner.

[mike1961]

True, but what you could do is if you knew you wanted to watch a live TV show on tuner #2 which has a lower encoder merit at say 2:00 and there was a favorite at 3:00 on say channel 2. Then at 2:00 you watch live TV on channel 2 which uses tuner #1 then Record the show and then switch to channel 7 or whatever channel you want which will the force Sage to use Tuner #2 and then cancel the recording on channel 2 (tuner #1). This leaves tuner #1 available for the favorite. Three (potential) problems:

1. It's kind of a roundabout way of doing things.
2. It's something you could do but is probably low on the WAF.
3. I don't know if say at 2:30 in the above example if the show ends if Sage will then go back to using Tuner #1 if you continue watching Live TV due to the encoder merit settings. Maybe someone else knows.

But, perhaps a more simple solution would be to just get the same tuner card for #2 and trash the lower quality tuner card.

Mike

[hemicuda]

interesting ideas to solve my tuner merit issue. thanks.

thing is, i'm out of slots. my good tuner is the 350. the 'bad' tuner is the 500mce. another option might be to add an amp to that line. this house is strange though. i get better signal on my server than the livingroom tv that has 1/2 the coax between it and the cable-installed splitter. actually it's not that major of a thing unless something comes on worth archiving. all i need is a 4-drop amp. someone posted a link to some quality amps; i'll check on them.

i can see where the live-tv tuner setting could cause problems. say you're on a lower-merit encoder and decide to save the show. probably be a headache to get the better encoder fired up and not hose the continuity of the mpg.

[mike1961]

Tofu and Hemicuda - I should have mentioned, I think the PVR500 is a piece of trash. I had that tuner for a while and my wife always complained and even I thought the PVR500 quality was pretty bad. I junked it for the NVidia Dual TV tuner which I love. The quality is far better than the PVR-150 and the PVR-500 and the NVidia Dual TV tuner like the 500 only takes one card slot.

Mike

[hemicuda]

would be nice if they could iron out the 500's issues. anyway, has nvidia worked out having more than one of their dual tuner cards in a system yet?

i'd almost be tempted to ebay my 500 and my 350 if they had that limitation axed; and i really like my 350.

[blade]

Originally Posted by hemicuda

has nvidia worked out having more than one of their dual tuner cards in a system yet?

Yes and no. Narflex said awhile back that Sage had tested drivers that allowed multiple Nvidia cards to be used with Sage and verified that it worked. Problem is Nvidia has chosen not to release the drivers for some reason (a.k.a. multiple cards still won't work in MCE so don't release a driver that gives other PVR apps even more of an advantage over MCE).

Well the last part is my consipiracy theory. Maybe Nvidia will prove me wrong and finally release a driver that would help to sell more of their product instead of sitting on it for some mysterious reason.

[FidgetyRat]

While on the topic of encoder cards. Is it possible to have sage use the tuners evenly?

Currently my first PVR150 is scheduled for 15 recordings where my second is scheduled for 1.

I figure it has got to be good to have them both do the same mileage in the long run.


Also, thanks. I was considering getting a pvr500 but ill stick to getting a third 150 instead.