How To Disable PVR-LiveTV TimeShifting (HDD Constant Recording)

[EyeCandy]

Great Forum. Head still spinning looking for a solution to disable the SageTV 'LiveTV' TimeShift function. Is there an option to disable the constant recording to the HDD, whilst viewing and channel changing. This feature is not always required, and generates unwanted heat and wear-and-tear on the HDD, and lengthens considerably, the time taken to switch between channels. Thanks in advance for your guidance.
Cheers.

[Opus4]

FAQ: How do I stop Sage from recording everything I watch during Live TV?

- Andy

[EyeCandy]

Thanks Opus4. Read the articles you recommended, however, I do not wish to put the system to sleep. Rather, an option to disable the constant recording to the HDD, whilst viewing and channel changing. By providing a facility to display the MPEG transport stream (TS) or (PS) directly to the SageTV display, I believe will allow the viewer to change channels at a much improved speed. Traditionally, the PVR time-shift function automatically switches ON, when the viewer has chosen to PAUSE the telecast, the MPEG file recording commences, and the viewer can then continue to view the programme in delay. Once the viewer has changed channels, the system would delete the MPEG file, unless the viewer chose to SAVE the recording for future viewing. Should the viewer chose to enable the time-shift function, a mechanism should be provided within the interface, so to permit the viewer the option.

Is there a coding solution to facilitate this?

Again, Thanks All for the help. Cheers.

[takeshi]

Interesting. I've never experienced delays while changing channels. I can't even count the number of versions of Sage or years that I have used it (though my join date is a pretty good indicator). Even when my system was running on a P3 700 there were no delays.

What tuner are you using with Sage?

As for HDD wear -- I have yet to kill the video drive that I have been using from the start. 4 years+ and counting.

[Conejo]

You may never find what you're looking for since sage is a disk-based system. Everything received from an encoder is first transferred to disk then read. This is primary to the overall function of allowing pause, rewind, rewind-to-beginning, and fast-forward.

An alternative might be to request that Sage make an application change to include writing to flash-based memory for Live-TV, though I doubt flash-memory write speeds are up to the task.

What you want is usually provided by the applications that come with your capture/tuner card since they usually just use small memory buffers. I use VLC Media Player when I'm bored to watch the VOD programs people in my neighborhood play on their cable boxes... It's fun and I get to live vicariously by watching them rewind the same part over and over and... uh, sorry, never mind.

Yes, it would be nice if the whole system was faster at channel change and rendering. But from what I've read on the forums most of us rarely, if ever, use the LiveTV feature any more.

[Conejo]

If you select LiveTV in SageTV it will commandeer a tuner and stream program after program to the hard drive and playback system until it comes across a scheduled program, you put the application to sleep, select STOP or exit the app. FAQ: ...once LiveTV has started, how do I stop it?

That is why you read the reference to "putting SageTV to Sleep". This is one method of stopping the constant recording cycle. Akin to turning the TV off BEFORE you fall asleep (angry swipe at my stupid brother).

[GKusnick]

Originally Posted by EyeCandy

Traditionally, the PVR time-shift function automatically switches ON, when the viewer has chosen to PAUSE the telecast, the MPEG file recording commences, and the viewer can then continue to view the programme in delay.

That's not how Tivo works. Tivo, like Sage, starts recording the moment you start watching, so you can rewind all the way back to that point if you like, and not just to the point where you first hit Pause. Having to pause once in order to enable rewind functions seems like an inferior UI design to me, since it's hard to know in advance when you're going to want to rewind.

[MeInMaui]

Originally Posted by GKusnick

That's not how Tivo works. Tivo, like Sage, starts recording the moment you start watching, so you can rewind all the way back to that point if you like, and not just to the point where you first hit Pause. Having to pause once in order to enable rewind functions seems like an inferior UI design to me, since it's hard to know in advance when you're going to want to rewind.

I don't know if this has changed in more recent models, but my series 2 TiVo recorded all of the time into a 30 minute buffer. There was no way to stop it (short of pulling the plug). I think that they intended the user to feel that live TV was the natural state of the system. They were probably assuming that this is what users are used to coming from TV and VCR's. Menus would timeout and kick you back to live TV after a while and the remote had an exit button that would exit the menus and drop you back to live TV.

Aloha,
Mike

[mikejaner]

Traditionally, the PVR time-shift function automatically switches ON, when the viewer has chosen to PAUSE the telecast, the MPEG file recording commences, and the viewer can then continue to view the programme in delay.

I don't know where you got this info, but I highly doubt you will be able to point us to solid evidence of this. Tivo, CableDVR's, Satellite DVR's, and DVR Software (SageTV, MythTV, etc...) all record to the hard drive when there is a TV signal being displayed, whether recorded or not.

What you might be thinking of how Tivo and other software like Snapstream do their LiveTV, with a circular buffer. There is not much benefit to this as it is still recording a file to the hard drive. The only reason why a developer might use this is so the Live TV file never grows beyond it's allocated size.

[Fonceur]

According to the Studio user guide, you could make use of the WatchLive(CaptureDeviceInput, PauseBufferSize) and if you set PauseBufferSize = 0 (assuming SageTV supports it for that capture device), then it will do just what the OP asked (i.e. no buffer, but no control either...). Modifying the STV to do that is left as an exercise to the reader...

[EyeCandy]

Appreciate the feedback. I guess I'm used to watching LiveTV, "LIVE" and not in delay. The PVRs I have currently provide an option to disable the TimeShift function. These being: Topfield TF5000PVR (DVB-T), Topfield TF5010PVR Masterpiece (DVB-S) and the trusty Divco TiVX M-4130SH. You can see why I'm keen to find a system/software to do all this and more in one box. I believe the SageTV software is the best I've seen so far, and with the support of the kind souls of this forum, I think this may be possible. From what I read so far, a hardware decoder card is a must and a fast HDD. More reading. Perhaps some feedback of the Tuner Cards for DVB-T, DVB-S that everyone is using would be great. Cheers.

[Fuzzy]

Just give sage a try as is first. A few weeks with sage, and you will probably forget TV is ever 'Live'. I think the only thing I ever watch 'Live' are music channels... and I guess I don't really 'watch' them.