SageTV for Linux

[pzasso]

Can anybody out there confirm that the Linux version of SageTV works well? I currently run Mythtv under Gentoo and although it works ok, it is not as clean as it could be for Live TV. I am sure it will get there in time. Being that I am looking to setup an HTPC that will be used by the wife and kids, I would like to make sure that this is doable on Linux?

My current mythtv setup has a backend server with 3 HVR-950 tuners on it, and then I point frontend clients at it over a wired Gigabit network in my home. I am looking to do something similar with SageTV. It would be nice to only have to leave the backend server on and power up the frontend clients just while sitting in front of the TV. If the Linux solution isn't quite there yet, then I need to know that as well, and I will just go with the Windows solution.

Thanks in advance.

--Paul

[bastafidli]

It works very well, but I do nto use it for TV at all, just as an media library and online access. Here is my exact setup

http://forums.sagetv.com/forums/showthread.php?t=29968

The setup is very straight forward. I use HD Media Extender as frontend. There are lots of users reporting success with TV as well.

[stuckless]

I'm running SageTV server under linux. No problems so far. Like Bastafidli, I use it mainly for the media center functionality (which i find lacking). I do have a Bell ExpressVu receiver hooked up that I control using LIRC (I updated the LIRC Tuner controller, and wrote a separate External Command Tuner Plugin to control the box; It's in the file download section if you need it).

Personally, I've setup Myth in the past and I liked it... until I had to do upgrades. I use Sage with the MVP and HD extenders, and it makes life so much easier.

I think that comming from Myth, you may find some things lacking, but you may also like other things better. For example, Sage doesn't support a "Games" section where you can launch Mame, etc. But the Sage has better online support for other things, such as connecting to a large selection of online video content (youtube, google video, etc). Personally I like the way Sage does it's recording, epg, etc, but I used to find that a default Myth setup would frustrate me. Not that Sage doesn't frustrate me from time to time.

All in all, I'm very happy with my decision to go with Sage. I think you'll find the forums easy to deal with, as long as you don't bash Sage (there are a lot of very passionate Sage users )

[bcjenkins]

I currently run 3 HVR-1600s in my Linux server and we watch a ton of TV. The best thing to do is put the HD extender to use.

B

[zoop]

I have been running solid for several years now (was one of the betas for Sage Linux actually) and have loved every minute. Rock solid and no annoying windows crap to deal with... just waiting for mature HD PVR drivers to throw that sucker on the linux server as well.

[pzasso]

Since there is no evaluation copy for Linux, which I totally understand, I have only seen the Windows version of Sage so far. I am liking what I am seeing so far, but I am just trying to figure out the best way to leverage the hardware that I have, and what I still need to buy.

Currently I have built a beefy quad core machine, which is installed out in the living room, which is where the main tv is and will be used a lot. Below is the hardware, and please let me know if you see a potential issue with any of it.

ASUS P5E-VM HDMI (Intel Graphics)
Quadcore 6600
2GB Ram
SATA 500GB OS Drive
SATA 750GB 64k block Sage Drive
SATA CD/DVD
(3) Hauppauge HVR-950 Tuners
USB-UIRT IR Receiver (On order)
Windows XP SP2 w/updates
SageTV eval

Since this PC will be on most of the time, I just need to add TV to one more room in the house, and I was thinking of going the extender route? I could build a smaller PC for upstairs, but not sure if that is needed? The upstairs TV can only do 480, but I will probably throw a 720p up there eventually, which is what I have downstairs connected to the beefy PC.

Any advice you can give me would be appreciated. Since the wife doesn't understand this stuff, she just wants it to work like the ReplayTV boxes I am dumping, so pause, ff, and rewind are a big deal to her.

One last question. I am noticing on some of the stations I view, there is a slight scramble in the video across the very top of the screen. I have seen this on Mythtv as well, but I am not sure if there is a way to make it go away? Since this is a Windows box, I am not sure if there is a video adjustment that can be done?

Any advice you guys can give me would be appreciated. I must say that I am liking this forum. Much like the Gentoo forums where I usually go for help, I have found that the people here are pretty cool.

Thank you,

--Paul

[bastafidli]

I think your PC would be just fine. I advice to put it into closet and put an HD extender next to each TV. You will enjoy the complete silence in your living room.

[pzasso]

Ok, so it sounds like I should use that quadcore as a backend machine and just throw extenders in each room? I won't lose any functionality on the backend server going with the Linux setup as opposed to windows? (I would hope it would be more robust)

I am getting ready to order this up, so I want to make sure I have it straight. I am assuming my 3 HVR-950 tuners will work with SageTV(Linux version) since I had them working with Mythtv under linux and Sage under Windows.

And since I am looking at going with the Extenders, do those work well with the Logitech Harmony remotes?

Thanks again,

--Paul

[bcjenkins]

Yes the HD extenders work great with Harmony remotes. The only thing you may want to do is make sure your HVR cards work with something in Linux prior to trying SageTV.

B

[_Demo_]

The HVR-950 can only capture ATSC. They don't contain a hardware mpeg encoder.

_Demo_

[pzasso]

Not having an mpeg encoder only affects Analog channels right? Do I lose anything by not having that when just viewing the Digital channels?

[_Demo_]

Channels received over digital ATSC are already compressed so those should work with a hvr-950.

[svemuri]

I think you are talking about VBI data. You can cut this off by modifying aspect ratio settings. Setup/Detailed Setup/Multimedia/Aspect Ratio Settings. You can specify Vert. Stretch to be around 104% or play with Vert. Offset.

Originally Posted by pzasso

One last question. I am noticing on some of the stations I view, there is a slight scramble in the video across the very top of the screen. I have seen this on Mythtv as well, but I am not sure if there is a way to make it go away? Since this is a Windows box, I am not sure if there is a video adjustment that can be done?

[pzasso]

Svemuri,

Stretching it to 104% fixed the problem. The screen now looks perfect!

Thank you!

--Paul

[pzasso]

Ok, after running SageTV for a few weeks, I am pretty happy with it. I see what you mean about going with the media extenders over trying to use the Server as a frontend as well. Setting up the media extender takes all of 5 mins and you are done. Using the server as a front end takes a lot more tweaking, at least it does with my setup.

Having said that, I am going to go with the suggestion of throwing the server in the closet, and purchasing another media extender for downstairs.

Since I am going this route, I was going to go ahead and build out the server on Linux while I am at it. I have a few more questions about the Linux install.

I am most familiar with the Gentoo Linux distro, and am going to go with that. Does anybody have a make.conf file they can share with me? I am most interested in the USE flags, and I can tweak the rest for my hardware. I was going to go with the lastest .26 kernel since my tuners are officially supported under that kernel.

I am also assuming that JFS is the way to go for the filesystem that will be used for recordings, music etc.?

Will anybody even notice the difference when using the media extenders connected to the Linux SageTV server? Does everything look and function exactly the same from the frontend as it does with the Windows server today? i am guessing yes, but just figured I would ask to be sure.

Once again, thank you for your help.


--Paul

[bastafidli]

Originally Posted by pzasso

Will anybody even notice the difference when using the media extenders connected to the Linux SageTV server? Does everything look and function exactly the same from the frontend as it does with the Windows server today? i am guessing yes, but just figured I would ask to be sure.

No difference that anybody in our family can tell. I am running CentOS so I cannot help with the rest.

[rrambo]

Originally Posted by pzasso

Ok, after running SageTV for a few weeks, I am pretty happy with it. I see what you mean about going with the media extenders over trying to use the Server as a frontend as well. Setting up the media extender takes all of 5 mins and you are done. Using the server as a front end takes a lot more tweaking, at least it does with my setup.

Having said that, I am going to go with the suggestion of throwing the server in the closet, and purchasing another media extender for downstairs.

Since I am going this route, I was going to go ahead and build out the server on Linux while I am at it. I have a few more questions about the Linux install.

I am most familiar with the Gentoo Linux distro, and am going to go with that. Does anybody have a make.conf file they can share with me? I am most interested in the USE flags, and I can tweak the rest for my hardware. I was going to go with the lastest .26 kernel since my tuners are officially supported under that kernel.

I am also assuming that JFS is the way to go for the filesystem that will be used for recordings, music etc.?

Will anybody even notice the difference when using the media extenders connected to the Linux SageTV server? Does everything look and function exactly the same from the frontend as it does with the Windows server today? i am guessing yes, but just figured I would ask to be sure.

Once again, thank you for your help.


--Paul

I went with Ubuntu.. I THOUGHT I had lots of problems with it and it was actually just a problem with my license being locked out... stupid mistake on my part.. it runs perfectly on Ubuntu and the entire install including Ubuntu took maybe 45 minutes and that's including the 223 ubuntu updates that I applied before installing Java and then sage... no problems with lirc or anything, it just works...

[jpappas]

Originally Posted by pzasso

I am most familiar with the Gentoo Linux distro, and am going to go with that. Does anybody have a make.conf file they can share with me?

IIRC the SageTV has the build scripts and other gentoo install info on the SageTV Linux OEM page http://sagetv.com/linuxOEMinstall.html. Gentoo is the originally supported linux platform, so I am sure that support can even provide the information you seek (once you are a licensee of course

Originally Posted by pzasso

I am also assuming that JFS is the way to go for the filesystem that will be used for recordings, music etc.?

I use XFS, as it handles large files very well. I have used Reiser and EXT3 (Large File config) and was reasonably happy. The deletes can take a bit (on any FS), so a little patience is required (or use the Web interface so that you can do it in the background rather than waiting for the TV's UI). I am not familiar with JFS on Linux, but there has been filesystem discussions in the past on this forum.
HTH,
John

[rrambo]

Originally Posted by jpappas

IIRC the SageTV has the build scripts and other gentoo install info on the SageTV Linux OEM page http://sagetv.com/linuxOEMinstall.html. Gentoo is the originally supported linux platform, so I am sure that support can even provide the information you seek (once you are a licensee of course

I use XFS, as it handles large files very well. I have used Reiser and EXT3 (Large File config) and was reasonably happy. The deletes can take a bit (on any FS), so a little patience is required (or use the Web interface so that you can do it in the background rather than waiting for the TV's UI). I am not familiar with JFS on Linux, but there has been filesystem discussions in the past on this forum.
HTH,
John

Yes, but the installation instructions state downloading Gentoo 2006.1 if I'm not mistaken, and it's no longer available on the gentoo mirrors.. I tried with the latest gentoo, 2008, and there was no option to load an install config for the installation... since I was already new to gentoo I figured it would be easier to go with Ubuntu...

[rrambo]

Originally Posted by rrambo

Yes, but the installation instructions state downloading Gentoo 2006.1 if I'm not mistaken, and it's no longer available on the gentoo mirrors.. I tried with the latest gentoo, 2008, and there was no option to load an install config for the installation... since I was already new to gentoo I figured it would be easier to go with Ubuntu...

When I was having trouble (I thought) with my install and talked with support I mentioned the inability to install (as far as the directions go) on gentoo 2008 and asked them what was the supported linux platform now.. without giving me a definitive answer they just said that ubuntu should work fine.