DVD Burning process stuck on yellow balloon & comskip problem

[ddilbeck]

I just installed the newest SageTV DVD Burning plugin v2.0d & ComSkip monitor following exactly the instructions in each of the posts, but when I selected multiple recorded shows to burn dvd the batch process seems to be stuck on the yellow balloon when I look in my "Other Programs" menu screen. I also don't think that my ComSkip is working...how can I verify that the ComSkip is functioning correctly? I can see the ComSkip options in the advanced setup menu. I will try to outline what steps I took last night to install:

1.) Upgraded SageTV from v5.0 to v6.0.15.115
2.) Downloaded & Imported the ComSkip v.1.2.2
3.) Installed DirMon2 v.0.6.2
4.) Installed ImgBurn v2.1.0.0
5.) Downloaded & extracted SageMC Video Tools STVi v2.0d
6.) Ran the perl2DVDsetup.exe and pretty much accepted the default values
7.) Downloaded & extracted, imported Neilm's dynamic menus & icons

Here are the directories for the components installed in my HTPC:

SageTV program: C:\Program Files\SageTV\SageTV

SageTV recordings: E:\RecordedTV

SageTV others: C:\sageOthers
There are two files in this directory:
-The Daily Show With Jon Stewart(4).dvdlist.0.burn_i
-The Daily Show With Jon Stewart(4).dvdlist.0.burn_i_jpg

DVD Work folder: C:\Program Files\SageTV\SageTV\qdvdFolder
There are two files in this directory:
-The Daily Show With Jon Stewart(4).dvdlist.0.qdvd
-dvdList.log (attached to this post)

DirMon: C:\Program Files\Dragon Global\DirMon2

ImgBurn: C:\Program Files\ImgBurn

I hope I provided enough information, but please let me know if you need me to provide anything else. I think I'm all but one step away to getting this to work. Thanks in advance for any assistance provided.

[evilpenguin]

If there's no qdvd.log file being created then dirmon2 probably isn't executing the process. Can you check your task manager to make sure that a dirmon2.exe process is running?

Also, by default the DVD creation waits until a comskip .edl file is created so it can use it for cutting commercials. So nothing is going to happen until you get comskip working also.

[ddilbeck]

What directory will the qdvd.log file be saved?

[evilpenguin]

It should be right next to the qdvd file.

[ddilbeck]

Thanks. I've also come to the conclusion that I have not installed the ComSkip monitor, just the playback STVi, so I will get that done when I get home tonight. I will post my results.

[ddilbeck]

OK, I'm still stuck on trying to get this DVD burning plugin to work. I've got the ComSkip monitor working so that is fine now, it ran all night to process all recorded shows. (I can see the "CS" next to each show)

I still get just the yellow balloon when attempting to select a show to burn to DVD. I've tried to configure dirmon2 manually and also verified that the service was running. The last time I attempted to burn a dvd the only files I could see were the ones from my C:\sageOthers directory:
-The Daily Show With Jon Stewart.dvdlist.0.burn_i
-The Daily Show With Jon Stewart.dvdlist.0.burn_i.jpg

I cannot get the other files that I had listed in my first post to show up now in the C:\Program Files\SageTV\SageTV\qdvdFolder (see above)

Now I'm attempting to run the perl2dvdsetup.exe again and this is what I get:

Step#1 - I close out of sagetv, then shut down sagetv & dirmon2 services
Step#2 - I select option 3 to schedule, transcode & burn
Step#3 - I set C:\Program Files\SageTV\SageTV as my program directory
then it skips to
Step#5 - Setting Other Programs dir if nessisary...
*Found other Programs, C:\sageOthers , directory in sage.properties...
*Found other Programs, C:\sageOthers , directory in sage.properties...
*Found Other Programs dir in both prefs , leaving alone
*Using Client paths for pref file

**> DONE!

Attached are the config screens for my DirMon2 installation. What am I doing wrong???

[evilpenguin]

Originally Posted by ddilbeck

OK, I'm still stuck on trying to get this DVD burning plugin to work. I've got the ComSkip monitor working so that is fine now, it ran all night to process all recorded shows. (I can see the "CS" next to each show)

I still get just the yellow balloon when attempting to select a show to burn to DVD. I've tried to configure dirmon2 manually and also verified that the service was running. The last time I attempted to burn a dvd the only files I could see were the ones from my C:\sageOthers directory:
-The Daily Show With Jon Stewart.dvdlist.0.burn_i
-The Daily Show With Jon Stewart.dvdlist.0.burn_i.jpg

I cannot get the other files that I had listed in my first post to show up now in the C:\Program Files\SageTV\SageTV\qdvdFolder (see above)

Now I'm attempting to run the perl2dvdsetup.exe again and this is what I get:

Step#1 - I close out of sagetv, then shut down sagetv & dirmon2 services
Step#2 - I select option 3 to schedule, transcode & burn
Step#3 - I set C:\Program Files\SageTV\SageTV as my program directory
then it skips to
Step#5 - Setting Other Programs dir if nessisary...
*Found other Programs, C:\sageOthers , directory in sage.properties...
*Found other Programs, C:\sageOthers , directory in sage.properties...
*Found Other Programs dir in both prefs , leaving alone
*Using Client paths for pref file

**> DONE!

Attached are the config screens for my DirMon2 installation. What am I doing wrong???

I think you want to select all the options in perl2dvdsetup.exe (1,2,3)

Also, you need to click the start button on the last tab of the dirmonGUI.

Hopefully that will get you going.

[ddilbeck]

Yeah, I have the dirmon2 service started. Sorry I posted a image of it when it when I was going thru the perl2dvdsetup.exe again. I have verified that the dirmon2 service is running, but still the same problem.

[ddilbeck]

Here are some more screen shots after attempting to burn one episode of The Daily Show this morning...

[Chroner]

I was having nearly identical behavior a few days ago setting it up in sage 6. I would just get a yellow balloon that wouldnt change to blue. I let it sit for hours and it just remained queued. I restarted my pc and presto, everything worked. Don't know if you tried a restart, but if not, its worth a shot.

[evilpenguin]

Ok, lets step back a second and try this...

1) Open up the dirmon2 GUI and stop it
2) Pick a video that has a corresponding .edl file and drag n' drop it over the "single_video_dragNdrop.bat" file.

That should kick off the process for a single DVD and place all of the log files next to the original video. If that works, then the problem is with dirmon2 not kicking off the jobs, if that doesn't work then go ahead and post any .log files that get created, especially the qdvd.log file.

[ddilbeck]

Chroner - I'm pretty sure I did a couple of reboots last night when I was attempting to get this working, but I will try that again when I get home.

Evilpenguin - that sounds like a great suggestion, I will try that as well and post my results after I get home.

Again, thank you for all of your assistance on this, I'm very computer savay, but when it comes to SageTV customizations, it's all fairly new to me.

[ddilbeck]

Chroner - the reboot didn't help.

Evil - I was able to drag a recorded show to the single video dragNdrop.bat and it completed successfully, it created an .img file that I burned with ImgBurn and it plays perfectly in my DVD player. I couldn't attached the log files since it seemed to delete them after the process completed.

Hope this information helps...do you think there is a problem with my DirMon2 installation and/or configuration?

[evilpenguin]

Well it could be two things. First, when you select a show to make a DVD out of in Sage add2dvdq.exe will make a qdvd file in your qdvd folder. Then dirmon should see this file and kick off the creation process.

So, first try stopping the dirmon service and selecting a show to make a DVD. Verify that it makes a qdvd file.

Then, restart the dirmon service, and watch it to make sure that it picks up that qdvd file. If it sees it and trys to run it but keeps failing then you'll see the qdvd file poping up and disappearing in the first tab over and over. If it successfully launches the DVD creation process then a .work file will appear next to the qdvd file.

If the dirmon2 part doesn't work, try downloading dirmon2 5.5 and using that.

Let me know if any of that works.

[ddilbeck]

Evil - I don't see it making the qdvd file. I did get a qdvd file one of the first time I tried when I initially set it up, but over the last couple of days of testing there is no qdvd that appears in the "qdvd Folder"

I will attempt to install the version you have suggested and see if that makes a difference.

[evilpenguin]

Originally Posted by ddilbeck

Evil - I don't see it making the qdvd file. I did get a qdvd file one of the first time I tried when I initially set it up, but over the last couple of days of testing there is no qdvd that appears in the "qdvd Folder"

I will attempt to install the version you have suggested and see if that makes a difference.

If no qdvd file is getting created that that's a problem with add2dvdq. Can you please post your perl2dvd.pref and perl2dvd.advanced.pref?

[ddilbeck]

Evil - i'm starting from scratch now. I'm almost thru the complete setup, I just have one question...would I import the DVD_Burn STVi prior to running the perl2DVDsetup.exe? This is my steps, so far:

1.) uninstalled DirMon2 & ImgBurn
2.) Restored back to clean 6.0.15.115 SageTV
3.) Installed ComSkip monitor & Imported ComSkip Playback STVi
4.) Installed DirMon2 & ImgBurn
5.) Extracted Nielm's Logos to SageTV directory
6.) Extracted Nielm's Dynamic Menu STV to SageTV directory
7.) Imported Dynamic Menu STVi
8.) Extracted Sage Video Tools to SageTV directory (it prompted me to overwrite the df_sageutil.jar file, so I did)
9.) Imported the Other Programs STVi & added the internal menu screen

this is where I'm at now...after each step, I have been rebooting and testing to ensure the proper results are accomplished. I just need to know if I import the DVD_Burn STVi prior to running the perl2DVDsetup.exe script.

Thanks!

[ddilbeck]

OK. I have success. (I ran the perl2dvdsetup.exe prior to importing the DVD_Burning STVi) Sorry I didn't post results recently, but I figured out what I was doing wrong. On the DirMon2 setup, I was just selecting 3, instead of 1,2,3 for my HTPC to do all functions. All seems to be working now, but the first time I attempted to record 2 different shows on one dvd, it hung on the blue balloon and never finished. If I select 2 or 4 of the same show title, it completes successfully. Any thoughts on why two different shows won't complete? Maybe I will just need to que it up again, but wondered if there was some issue with placing different shows on the same dvd. Thanks!

[evilpenguin]

Originally Posted by ddilbeck

OK. I have success. (I ran the perl2dvdsetup.exe prior to importing the DVD_Burning STVi) Sorry I didn't post results recently, but I figured out what I was doing wrong. On the DirMon2 setup, I was just selecting 3, instead of 1,2,3 for my HTPC to do all functions. All seems to be working now, but the first time I attempted to record 2 different shows on one dvd, it hung on the blue balloon and never finished. If I select 2 or 4 of the same show title, it completes successfully. Any thoughts on why two different shows won't complete? Maybe I will just need to que it up again, but wondered if there was some issue with placing different shows on the same dvd. Thanks!

Glad you have it working

As for making DVD's you should be able to cram up to 7 different shows on a DVD and everything should work just fine. The only catch is that you really should keep the total time down to under 1.5~2.5 hours. If you could produce some logfiles for the DVD that failed it would help me figure it out.

[ddilbeck]

No worries, I'll try some more dvd burning and if I have problems I'll post the log files. Thank you very much for all of your help!