SageTV occasionally "forgets" its settings ... ?

[null_pointer_us]

Hi!

I have configured SageTV to start in the system tray in Vista x64 SP1.

Normally, it works fine. However, sometimes when I boot into Vista x64, SageTV pops its splash screen and then prompts me to select my country. IOW, I am prompted to go through the whole setup process again.



But the weird thing is that during all these setup wizard steps, SageTV auto-selects all my old settings...instead of auto-selecting the default settings. This means SageTV is pulling my old settings from somewhere.

So what could be causing this weird behavior?

How can I do a fresh install without losing my remote config (custom programming) and my recorded-show information?


EDIT: Oh yeah, whenever SageTV "forgets" its settings like this, System Restore fixes it. Mere rebooting doesn't help...

[null_pointer_us]

When this happens, SageTV also loses its guide data...

chkdsk seemed to think something was wrong with the master file bitmap. I'm still investigating this. The drive itself seems fine and passes error reporting, and it's on an Intel SATA controller with the same drivers I've been using, so I'm at a loss to understand where the disk corruption could be coming from.

Memtest86+ reports no errors after two full passes.

sfc reports that all system files are intact and are the expected versions. Oddly, my "networking" category icon in the Vista control panel is just a black square, no matter what -- no idea what's going on there. Oh, it just fixed itself. Again, no idea why.



I've backed up all my documents/bookmarks/settings, including the stuff from UAC's VirtualStore folders, because I intend to reinstall Vista from scratch sometime this evening.

[wbarber69]

i noticed this today myself after the latest windows updates were complete all i found was that sageclient.properties was totally gone and needed to be recreated the original settings are coming from sage.properties which seems to be unaffected i have found no source for this issue and have no chkdsk errors as you do and ran a total spinrite scan with no problems either

[Taddeusz]

I've seen this myself. Not sure what's causing it. I never filed a bug report about it during the beta. If you're using this system to record I'd recommend running in service mode.

[null_pointer_us]

I'm just guessing, but I think Vista's UAC may be causing the problem.

I did a clean install of Vista x86 followed by all updates, drivers, and then SageTV. Everything installed fine and worked without a hitch, even after many reboots.

Once Vista prompted me to install its SP1, the problems began. See, it says to shut down all programs, so I closed all my apps, tray icons, etc. including the SageTV service, which I mistakenly also Disabled. Then next reboot after SP1 installed itself, SageTV popped up and started asking me which country it's in...



Sadly, I've no idea why this problem occurs or how to fix it.


EDIT #1: This FAQ details how UAC affects how/where settings are stored.

EDIT #2:

More detailed info:

- When I boot, SageTV starts in app mode (not service mode, as I originally chose) and reads from "C:\Users..." copy of Sage.properties.
- This is when SageTV thinks it hasn't yet been configured (MCFullyConfigured=false) and then starts its setup wizard.
- Now I close the SageTV app window, which exits the process and writes to the "C:\Users..." copy of Sage.properties.
- Then I start the SageTVServiceControl app and use it to start the SageTV service.
- Finally, when I launch SageTV (now in service mode), it reads from the "C:\Program Files..." copy of Sage.properties.
- This means that all my settings are applied, and there is no prompt for the setup wizard.
- However, if I reboot, the cycle starts again from the beginning...

The solution (for me) seems to be:

1. Shut down SageTV completely.
2. Delete the C:\Users\<myname>\AppData\Local\VirtualStore\Program Files\SageTV" folder.
3. Reboot, and SageTV should start normally as a service.

But I can't confirm this yet because I'm recording something.

[null_pointer_us]

BTW, if the above fix does work, it'd be nice if the developers would expand the SageTVServiceControl app to provide some script or button for migrating from app mode to service mode (and vice versa). This UAC/VirtualStore stuff is really confusing. IMO SageTV users shouldn't have to be concerned about deleting hidden files/folders.

[null_pointer_us]

Originally Posted by null_pointer_us

The solution (for me) seems to be:

1. Shut down SageTV completely.
2. Delete the C:\Users\<myname>\AppData\Local\VirtualStore\Program Files\SageTV" folder.
3. Reboot, and SageTV should start normally as a service.

But I can't confirm this yet because I'm recording something.

This doesn't work, but there's another problem...

Even though the SageTV service is set as Enabled (i.e. Automatic in the Vista Services control panel), it won't start up during boot/login process anymore. Opening Event Viewer reveals the following:

Error (Event ID 7009): A timeout was reached (30000 milliseconds) while waiting for the SageTV service to connect.

The SageTV service starts (and works) fine when started from the SageTVServiceControl app, but not when started by Vista during the boot process. Weird...

[null_pointer_us]

I backed up my Sage.properties and Wiz.bin files, uninstalled SageTV, removed its folders from Program Files and VirtualStore paths, and reinstalled SageTV. Then I restored my old Sage.properties and Wiz.bin files. Now the service will start every boot as expected, but the actual SageTV app window keeps asking me for my country on every boot because it's still creating a default Sage.properties file in UAC's VirtualStore. WTF? Run as Administrator command doesn't help.

[Taddeusz]

Just a shot in the dark but what happens if you move the SageClient.properties file to the actual program folder?

[Kimper]

Your guess is right. Vista causes the problem you describe. That was yet another reason I rolled back to XP. There is a thread on here somewhere that describes exactly why Vista does this. Lemme search and see if I can find it...

[null_pointer_us]

Thanks, but I reinstalled SageTV and am sticking with app mode for now.