Newbie Questions

[BFisher]

Sorry for the newbie questions, but I can't find the information here or in the manual (and some threads here are more than 100 pages long... ouch)

- How do I categorize recordings? I'd like to create a folder of my stuff, my wife's stuff, kids stuff, etc. I thought I saw some screen shots of someone doing this but I can't see how... just default categories.

- How do I cancel a scheduled recording? I don't want to mark it watched because I'd like it to record again at a later date, but I don't need it recorded now...

- How do I get a "watched" program to record again? example: we watch Seinfeld reruns just about every night when going to sleep. We want it to record and keep 3 episodes (so we have a choice). I can make it do that no problem, but once it's marked watched, it won't record it again... but we want it to. Ideally I'd like it to not record again for 30 or 60 days...

- Since I'm new, I figured I would get the current released version stable before I consider any beta software. Smart strategy?

- There are several customizations that look interesting... but their thread is over 100 pages long. Are there any "typical" new user ones I should focus on?

Thanks! Great stuff - very happy so far

< edit: should note that my server is headless, and I'm using MVPs to connect to the TVs... waiting on HD MVPs)

[bcjenkins]

Well, some of the questions I don't know much about, but my short list of must have add-ons is:

1) Sage Web server. Especially a must if you use MVPs. You can do everything from the web site that you can do with a remote except power on. (This includes reboot and power off)

2) Comskip STVi Set up comskip.exe or showanalyzer to scan your files (I am using comskip.exe and dirmon2) Then the STVi integrates it into the SageTV ui.

3) Favorite Channel Lists - This is a great add-on which allows you to define groupings of channels and restrict an MVP to a certain set of channels. Great if you have children. Use local lists to affect one MVP with restrictions.

4) IMDB Search and My file generator - Allows you to add ratings to shows or videos which don't have ratings. Or you can adjust the ratings of a particular movie (Handy for movies which came out prior to PG-13 being instituted.)

B

[BFisher]

Thanks - I'll look into those.

I want to add one more question...

- Why can't I delete a recording? Example, I recorded Jay Leno last night, but meant to record tonights episode. I have tried to delete last night's episode to no avail... it's still sitting there laughing at me. When I tell it to delete now... why won't it just delete?

Thanks

[Opus4]

Originally Posted by BFisher

- How do I categorize recordings? I'd like to create a folder of my stuff, my wife's stuff, kids stuff, etc. I thought I saw some screen shots of someone doing this but I can't see how... just default categories.

Recordings aren't categorized according to any folder structure. In the default STV, there is a Grouping option to choose what to group the recordings by. (The hidden features has the malore recordings menu, which has more grouping options & then there is SageMC, but I don't know how it groups things.)

- How do I cancel a scheduled recording? I don't want to mark it watched because I'd like it to record again at a later date, but I don't need it recorded now...

There is no "cancel this recording but leave it available for future recording" option. If you want to record something else instead, or even watch live TV, then just tell the confirmation dialog that you do want to stop the current recording & record the other show.

- How do I get a "watched" program to record again? example: we watch Seinfeld reruns just about every night when going to sleep. We want it to record and keep 3 episodes (so we have a choice). I can make it do that no problem, but once it's marked watched, it won't record it again... but we want it to. Ideally I'd like it to not record again for 30 or 60 days...

You have to clear the Watched status of the show -- you can do that individually for past airings, or go to the Favorite Details screen, choose Advanced Options, then select Clear or Set Watched Status for an option to clear the Watched status for all airings that qualify as that Fav.

- There are several customizations that look interesting... but their thread is over 100 pages long. Are there any "typical" new user ones I should focus on?

You may have already seen it, but the customizations section of the forum has a sticky near that top that is an index to many of the customizations available.

Originally Posted by BFisher

- Why can't I delete a recording? Example, I recorded Jay Leno last night, but meant to record tonights episode. I have tried to delete last night's episode to no avail... it's still sitting there laughing at me. When I tell it to delete now... why won't it just delete?

Have you installed ComSkip & it is still working on that file?

You could enable debug logging to see what the log contains when you try to delete the recording.

- Andy

[BFisher]

Thanks for the response. This gives me some items to research and review (ie malore options).

I can handle the Watched flag... not too hard to clear all at once every 2 months or so. I would like to have it "rolling" so it auto-clears watched after 2 months (or whatever), but ones that are newer, leave alone. I guess that's a potential feature request, but a low priority one (compared to HD MVP)

Not sure why Leno was hanging around so long. He finally disappeared this afternoon. I guess maybe it's because my hard disks are so empty (I have 1.7 TB of storage, and just started recording to them). I don't have ComSkip installed yet, it's one of the first customizations I need to look into.

Thanks

[BFisher]

I have another question... can I add a "Wishlist" (sorry, I come from TiVo-land) for an item that currently isn't on the schedule?

For example, my wife loves "Dances with the Stars". On TiVo, we had a wishlist for anything to do with this show (includes guest appearances on talk shows, etc.). However, when I search now for this, there is nothing in the grid guide, so I can't create any favorites with this title/keywords/descriptions, etc.

(Leno is back... I was trying to sort my recordings and there he is again. I assume it's because I have free hard disk space he isn't really deleted...)

[Opus4]

Originally Posted by BFisher

I have another question... can I add a "Wishlist" (sorry, I come from TiVo-land) for an item that currently isn't on the schedule?

For example, my wife loves "Dances with the Stars". On TiVo, we had a wishlist for anything to do with this show (includes guest appearances on talk shows, etc.). However, when I search now for this, there is nothing in the grid guide, so I can't create any favorites with this title/keywords/descriptions, etc.

You can create Favorites using a Keyword for all fields or just the title -- see the Favorites Manager section of the PDF manual, starting on p. 67 for v6.1.

(Leno is back... I was trying to sort my recordings and there he is again. I assume it's because I have free hard disk space he isn't really deleted...)

Unless the file is in use somewhere, it should be deleted when you say to delete it. As I mentioned above, check the debug log for possible comments on it.

- Andy

[BFisher]

Originally Posted by Opus4

You can create Favorites using a Keyword for all fields or just the title -- see the Favorites Manager section of the PDF manual, starting on p. 67 for v6.1.

Thanks, I had found that already. What I want is to create a keyword favorite when the show doesn't exist yet... There are no "dancing with the stars" in the guide, so it won't let me make a favorite for it (or, I should say, I don't know how to)... This means I have to remember to go check if it exists in another week or 2 and then make it. If it doesn't exist then, I have to remember to go check in another week or two. See the problem?

Thanks for your help. I'll check the error log file next time I'm on that machine.

[Opus4]

Originally Posted by BFisher

Thanks, I had found that already. What I want is to create a keyword favorite when the show doesn't exist yet... There are no "dancing with the stars" in the guide, so it won't let me make a favorite for it (or, I should say, I don't know how to)... This means I have to remember to go check if it exists in another week or 2 and then make it. If it doesn't exist then, I have to remember to go check in another week or two. See the problem?

This comment indicates that you didn't check out Keyword Favorites. Please see the manual section I referred you to above, since the show does not have to be in the EPG to create a Keyword Fav.

What you have been referring to is a Title, not a Keyword, Favorite. But, a Keyword Fav can be limited to just the title.

- Andy

[BFisher]

Ahhh... got it. This worked. The difference is that I was entering through the "Search" button, instead of "Manage Favorites". Much better... knew there had to be a way to do this Thanks!