How many people use SageTV Media Center for Linux?

[cenwesi]

I am currious as to how many people here use SageTV Media Center for Linux?

[cenwesi]

41 views and not one person using it?

[Fluffdaddy]

This does not surprise me.
I mean how popular is Linux........really?

[PGPfan]

Originally Posted by Fluffdaddy

This does not surprise me.
I mean how popular is Linux........really?

I agree completely. I have a Linux based server (UnRaid) yet there's just no compelling reason for me to look into it as a desktop replacement, let alone as the basis for a Sage system. Too much of a pain to setup/maintain..

-PGPfan

[cenwesi]

I will take it you two haven't played with linux lately.

[bcjenkins]

I don't know, I switched from SageTV on Windows to SageTV on Linux. I run 4 SD tuners and 2 HD tuners in one box. One is doing QAM the other is OTA.

Personally, I find the linux boxen to be much more stable with hd tuners

b

[cenwesi]

What OS are you running? Gentoo or Ubuntu....

[bcjenkins]

arch linux

started with gentoo, switched to ubuntu, then settled on arch. I was mostly impressed with the install size and their package manager is pretty easy to build your own and is quite powerful.

B

[jpwegas]

Originally Posted by PGPfan

I agree completely. I have a Linux based server (UnRaid) yet there's just no compelling reason for me to look into it as a desktop replacement, let alone as the basis for a Sage system. Too much of a pain to setup/maintain..

As a desktop replacement I won't necessarily disagree with you (although Ubuntu's desktop distro is evolving quote nicely - I was honestly surprised last time I played around with it).

As far as setup/maintenance, the OS level pains partly depend on what each person is familiar with. I'm a Mac and Unix guy so I would be completely lost trying to run Sage on Windows.

My Sage server (Ubuntu) box sits in the basement and runs pretty well (5 tuners - 1 HD, 3 Analog, 1 Analog via STB). My remote clients are MVPs or Placeshifter clients.

Installing Sage on Ubuntu was pretty straightforward. My Hauppauge cards and HD card were recognized without having to do anything special. (Although I did have to suppress the detection of a "phantom" analog card on the HD PCI tuner.)

My pain points for running Sage on Linux (so far) have been:

• Sage bugs specific to Linux. (Which are addressed fairly quickly by Sage when reported.)
• Difficult to get IR output working for STB control. (There are lots of hardware options, and the details on how to do it all can be confusing.)

--John

[cenwesi]

Thanks jpwegas. I plan on running Ubuntu Desktop v7.10 (Gusty). I currently use Ubuntu Server (64bit) for my Nas/VMware. I was also surprised when i tried Ubuntu how far linux/unix system has come along since the last time i tried it. I used the liveCD even on an OLD pc and it recognized everything and worked without asking about this hardware and what not. It is even much easier these days setting up a linux box as opposed to 5-8yrs ago. Anyway currently with my SageTV Media Center (windows) i reboot the box every night so sage doesn't act weired everything i have to use it... Long story.

[ntisdale]

To add my two cents...started off as a linux n00b (well near enough - I knew the 'ls' command) and installed SageTV on Gentoo using Sage's instructions over a year ago. The server powers two extenders and one windows client and i rarely reboot it. I've had my share of linux issues and sage issues but I've managed to fix the linux ones after searching the net and the sage issues tend to be during beta releases - sage support have always been very fast in fixing them when reported. The key to linux is stick with hardware that is well supported by your distro of choice.

All in all I'm very happy with my SageTV linux box! Good work sage!

Neil

[cenwesi]

Ok, i got it installed and and i am somewhat lost. Installed fine and i tested out the Plashshifter client which worked. What i am missing here is the way my windows box is currently setup. PC boots and SageTV comes up. On my Ubuntu box i do not see the gui for sage. The placeshifter connects and i am able to set things up but of course that is for the placeshifter setting.

PS, this linux box is strickly for Sage. I don not need the desktop or what not. I can handle the NAS/Samba stuff, but one thing at a time. How do i get the gui up when i boot up the Linux box?

[jpwegas]

Originally Posted by cenwesi

Ok, i got it installed and and i am somewhat lost. Installed fine and i tested out the Plashshifter client which worked.

What i am missing here is the way my windows box is currently setup. PC boots and SageTV comes up. On my Ubuntu box i do not see the gui for sage. The placeshifter connects and i am able to set things up but of course that is for the placeshifter setting.

PS, this linux box is strickly for Sage. I don not need the desktop or what not. I can handle the NAS/Samba stuff, but one thing at a time. How do i get the gui up when i boot up the Linux box?

I'm not sure if this answers your questions or not, but:

When you use Placeshifter to first connect to the server, it will initially ask you some setup questions. There is also a Setup menu from the main Sage interface. Many of the options under Sage's "Setup" menu are actually server specific configuration settings.

For example, I can configure the video capture devices on my server using the PS client on my Mac.

It can sometimes be confusing whether a setting is for the client or the server, but you can configure the server using the PS client.

--John

[cenwesi]

That is what happened when i ran my placeshifter on my windows box against the server and configured things. Now how do i get the server to display SageTV. Keep in mind that i want my current PC once the OS is done booting to show the SageTV screen like my current XP box does. I have my wiz.bin backed up and my movies/recordings are on my other Ubuntu server.

[jpwegas]

Originally Posted by cenwesi

That is what happened when i ran my placeshifter on my windows box against the server and configured things. Now how do i get the server to display SageTV. Keep in mind that i want my current PC once the OS is done booting to show the SageTV screen like my current XP box does. I have my wiz.bin backed up and my movies/recordings are on my other Ubuntu server.

Sorry, I'm a little confused.

You want to run a copy of the Sage GUI on the Sage server? - i.e. your Ubuntu box to act as both a Sage server (to record, etc) and Sage client (to view)?

--John

[cenwesi]

Exactly, basically my PC boots up, the SageTVServiceControl.exe runs and then the SageTv.exe runs, which is the gui.

I should also mention that all my recordings and movies are on my Ubuntu Server (samba) box.

I am kind of surprise that not too many people are charming in as to how they have their stuff setup.

[stuckless]

I run Sage under linux on my Ubuntu server. I use the MVP to watch tv because i don't want a computer in the main room. Works great. the MVP was really the defining thing that made me want to use a commercial product like sage over mythtv, mediaportal, etc.

I'm using a DVB-S setup, which sage doesn't support that well in linux or windows. But in linux, I was able to get dvb-s working in Sage by writing a sage compatible network encoder. Still a work in progress. Channel changing is a little slow, but that's not sage's fault. I working on updating the viewable channels in the guide based on what the network encoder has scanned. I wouldn't exactly say it's production strength, but it's a fun project

I'm not sure sage really wants to have linux users to be honest. If you are considering going Linux, then you have to shell out the money right away. There is no trial period. I think that in itself would deter most people. Fortunately for me, I know a couple of other people that are running the sage linux version, so I was able to see it first hand before buying it. I don't have any regrets.

If you are considering going Linux, be aware that most sage users are windows users, and if they write plugins, it's hit or miss that they will run under linux. I've run into that a couple of times so far.

[jpwegas]

Originally Posted by cenwesi

Exactly, basically my PC boots up, the SageTVServiceControl.exe runs and then the SageTv.exe runs, which is the gui.

I should also mention that all my recordings and movies are on my Ubuntu Server (samba) box.

I am kind of surprise that not too many people are charming in as to how they have their stuff setup.

One thing to note:
There are several types of SageTV "clients". The Sage TV Client (available for Windows and Mac), Placeshifter (available for Windows, Mac and Linux) and Media MVPs (aka "SageTV Media Extenders" - standalone hardware). If you have ripped DVDs as VOBs (you mentioned "movies", but I didn't know what format) on your server, the Placeshifter client will not play them.

If you are using the Ubuntu box as a server and a client, the only Sage client that is available is Placeshifter.

In order to have Placeshifter start up automatically, you need to set up a user to auto-login when the machine boots. There are some examples on how to do this on the MythTV wiki. Note that you have to have some minimal window manager running, since X must be running for Placeshifter to run.

Then just add the startsage script to the .cshrc or .bashrc or whatever shell your Sage user uses.

Just for reference, my setup is:

• Sage server running on Ubunut 7.04 (server only, no client).
  • 3x analog cable tuners
  • 1x analog input from external STB
  • 1x HD tuner card
• Media MVP for main TV
• Media MVP for bedroom TV (not done yet)
• Occasionally I use Placeshifter from my Mac when I am configuring things

I didn't want a large (and loud) box in the main TV room, so my server sits in the basement. The MVPs are completely silent.

--John

[jpwegas]

Originally Posted by stuckless

I'm not sure sage really wants to have linux users to be honest. If you are considering going Linux, then you have to shell out the money right away. There is no trial period. I think that in itself would deter most people. Fortunately for me, I know a couple of other people that are running the sage linux version, so I was able to see it first hand before buying it. I don't have any regrets.

Ditto here. Someone I know was able to show me Sage so I didn't have any issues with there not being a trial period. Although I agree that they could probably sell more if they had a Linux trial period.

Originally Posted by stuckless

If you are considering going Linux, be aware that most sage users are windows users, and if they write plugins, it's hit or miss that they will run under linux. I've run into that a couple of times so far.

I will note two additional things:

When the plugin problem was not related to an external Windows dependency (for example, not adjusting paths used by a plugin so they get automatically corrected regardless the platform), I've brought it up to the plugin developer and it's been updated.

Sage support has always been responsive to my support questions. I don't feel like as a Linux user I'm treated as a "second class" citizen. Occasionally the response I get is Windows specific but when I say "oh, I'm on Linux" they still give me an updated answer.

Many Sage issues (scheduling issues for example) have nothing to do with the platform (since the core Sage server is basically the same) so don't be afraid to report problems just because you are running Linux.

--John

[cenwesi]

Originally Posted by jpwegas

One thing to note:
There are several types of SageTV "clients". The Sage TV Client (available for Windows and Mac), Placeshifter (available for Windows, Mac and Linux) and Media MVPs (aka "SageTV Media Extenders" - standalone hardware). If you have ripped DVDs as VOBs (you mentioned "movies", but I didn't know what format) on your server, the Placeshifter client will not play them.

Yeah and it really suck, good thing right now is i don't have any ripped DVD's anymore. I converted them over to Divx.

If you are using the Ubuntu box as a server and a client, the only Sage client that is available is Placeshifter.

Yep, so far that is what i got from people here and i have it working. Next on my list of things to do is the remote.

In order to have Placeshifter start up automatically, you need to set up a user to auto-login when the machine boots. There are some examples on how to do this on the MythTV wiki. Note that you have to have some minimal window manager running, since X must be running for Placeshifter to run.

Then just add the startsage script to the .cshrc or .bashrc or whatever shell your Sage user uses.

Just for reference, my setup is:

• Sage server running on Ubunut 7.04 (server only, no client).
  • 3x analog cable tuners
  • 1x analog input from external STB
  • 1x HD tuner card
• Media MVP for main TV
• Media MVP for bedroom TV (not done yet)
• Occasionally I use Placeshifter from my Mac when I am configuring things

I didn't want a large (and loud) box in the main TV room, so my server sits in the basement. The MVPs are completely silent.

--John

I pretty much did that, but client/server is a shuttle xpc and it very quite.