Newbie Q --> Running SageTV

[falchulk]

Intellegent recoeding learns what you like and schedules them round what you scheduled. This just deletes them when needed, without having to exit sage.

[salsbst]

The power button on my remote puts SageTV to sleep and Windows is in charge of switching to a screensaver after some inactivity and shutting off the display after a longer period.

With the level of frustration that some people have over this sleep business with live tv, I hope Jeff can just put an option in to stop live TV at the end of a show. It's clearly a big issue for some people.

[Opus4]

Originally posted by salsbst
With the level of frustration that some people have over this sleep business with live tv, I hope Jeff can just put an option in to stop live TV at the end of a show. It's clearly a big issue for some people.

It could have fairly simple rules too:

a) If watching live tv with no input for a long time, perhaps pop up a notice that live tv will end in a couple minutes unless any button is pressed. If no input by the time the show ends, return to the main menu & stop recording.

b) If at a menu when the show ends, stop live tv. (Could always add an idleness timer here too.)

c) Of course, someone will want to override this, so I suppose it will have to be an option whether to always record or have it time out.

This way, the Live TV recordings at least keep going until the current show ends.

Personally, I have no problem putting SageTV to sleep, since my PC is used for more than just TV... but I can understand that those who dedicate a PC to SageTV may not want to do so. But, as others mentioned above, the screen saver mode of sleeping does seem to cover that.

- Andy

[Opus4]

Forgot the 1st part!

Originally posted by salsbst
The power button on my remote puts SageTV to sleep and Windows is in charge of switching to a screensaver after some inactivity and shutting off the display after a longer period.

I tried that & then set SageTV to keep the monitor on while it is active, since the UI is not on my xcard... but then the monitor never shuts off even when SageTV is sleeping. Have you ever tried that?

- Andy

[falchulk]

salbst, the majority of peopl in this thread want sage to constantly record.....kind of the opisite of the usual complaint.

[Cabalsan]

So let me get this straight, since we got 6 ppl saying diff things, here are the Options ppl use for SageTV v2.0.x:

1) Hit the Green button on silver Hauppage remote, causing SageTV to minimize to system tray. Then HTPC's ACPI function kicks in and puts HTPC in hibernation. Next time u use SageTV, wake up the system, and then either restore sageTV from system tray by right mouse click on icon (or in my case exit sageTV and restart due to bug). No garbage was recoded, or worse yet, it records over shows you recorded during the night but since you are low on hard drive space, unwatched shows get cannabalized. Un Cool!

2) Go into Detailed Setup and ENABLE sageTV screen saver to where when now when u hit Geen button on top of silver haup remote, a screen saver appears. SageTV will record shows in this mode, you do NOT need to come out of Screen Saver mode by hitting the Green button again. SageTV is smart enough to know that it will only record what you select not whatever the SageTV happens to be parked on a channel.

3) Let SageTV run 24/7 and manually delete Garbage recorded shows. Takes awhile to dlete the 20 shows it recorded over night on the channel you left the SageTV on. This could cannabilize shows you havent watched yet, due to your hard drive situation.

4) Ver 2.0.13 throws a wrinkle into the mix with the following statement in the release notes <snip>>>IMPORTANT: Changed behavior when Intelligent Recording [IR] is disabled so that it will continually delete the files it records that you didn't request; rather than waiting until it exits.<<</snip>. I have no idea what this means. I do know i do NOT use IR.

5) Use Option #1 above and a scheduling program to wake up a hibernating PC. (Too cumbersome for me - see at bottom for how I use SageTV)

Therefore, if say you watch TV at night. Want to goto sleep, go worky next day, and you want sageTV record the 5:30PM National News the next day, but you don't get home untill 6:00pm to wake up the SageTV, then Options #2 and 3 are for you. Otherwise with #1, u missed it.

Also, Option #4 sounds like it could be dangerous. Here's how I use SageTv and why option #4 doesnt sound good to me. I like to park SageTV on a channel and let it just record whats on, and watch TV normally. I rarely watch liveTV through SageTV, unless nothing else is on at that time. Normally, there always is another show to watch, so I let SageTV park and grab the shows for later viewing. Option #4 sounds like I would manually have to go into schedule and make sure I hit the record button for all the shows on that channel. Pain in the arse. I rather just put sageTV on Comedy Central while I watch NBC for 4 hrs. I might have 8 - 30 min shows. But I can delete them as needed. Takes awhile, but it deletes. If only sageTv would put a column in like Lotus Notes where you can flag all the shows at once you want to delete, then delete them with 1 button hit, as it is set up now (CTRL+I). What a time saver!


FWIW: Here is my dream setup for SageTV, which I am probably the only 1 with a small shuttle HTPC (only 1 tuner fits in the breadbox) who uses this setup.

I want SageTV to sit on a channel and just record the shows. I want it to be able to go into a suspend mode, where live Tv shows are not saved (cut down on the junk TV recorded). I want SageTV to be able to come out of its suspend (Screen Saver Mode?) and record what I asked. Now here is the kicker. I would love to have the option to be able to turn an option, that I must manually select each time (maybe a button on the interface to enable) that functions as a Time Out. Time Out being sageTV will put itself into Suspend after X minutes after it records the show I select. I do NOT want this option on at all times, as then my "parking" strategy would be shot down. Am I asking too much??


The short version of the above; I want SageTV on all the time with an easy way to delete garbage shows and it NOT record over shows I havent seen yet! Period.

I appologize for the length also. I get long winded sometimes.

Please don't flame me too badly for my lack of brevity!

-Cab

[salsbst]

I don't get what the problem is. Color me confused.

[jominor]

Originally posted by falchulk
This thread is almost to the point where it's almost funny. This is the way PC based PVR's have always worked. I dont really want my harddrive constantly running. I read here daily about how people's Tivos do this or that. If Tivo is so great why are people going this way? It's more complicated......its more work.......but it allows so much freedom. They could throw in a 30 minute buffer like tivo's but I would turn it off. My PC is in the family room connected to my 55 inch set. During the day its in suspend until its time to record. It then wakes up, records and retruns to its slumber. When I come home, I hit a key on the remote and it wakes up. I select what I want (Games, ripped DVDs, web, home automation or TV) and it runs. No one knows its a PC because I have customized the interface. To me THATS what a dedicated PVR SHOULD do.

I've never had a Tivo, but the reason I want something LIKE a live buffer is so I can separate and archive stuff I want to keep from stuff that gets recorded.

I like the intelligent recording and the way sage records "live" TV. However, when I want to keep shows analogous to tapes, I want that stuff physically separate because that is the stuff I really care about.

[salsbst]

You can make something permanent by putting it in the library or setting it to "never delete" or something like that for a favorite. Right?

[mikejaner]

I have just noticed, this recent beta .13 is not listing shows which haven't been selected for recording. I think this is schweeeeet. The only show appearing in the shows listing is the one being currently viewed, and of course your favorites etc.... This is exactly the behavior I was looking for in this product.
mikejaner

[Cabalsan]

The short version of the above; I want SageTV on all the time with an easy way to delete garbage shows and it NOT record over shows I havent seen yet! Period.


That's the problem.


I guess the onus is on me for only having an 80Gb hard drive in the HTPC. It fills up sooo fast. And for those wondering, I can't get a new bigger hdrive yet (broke).

I'm working now as we speak on taking my saved shows (21GB) and reducing down to be burned on a few DVD+Rs. I 'll sacrifice quality to get more episodic shows on a single dvd via DVDSHRINK & ULEAD (if this works).

I think the deletion of garbage (not erroneously recoreded shows, they mean 2 diff things) by use of a multiple selection option would solve my problems. Studio 2 where are you!
If I leave SageTV running all night into the next day (11pm - 6pm) thats 19HRS of programming to delete. Thats almost 40GB of GARBAGE. The deal is, I don't want it asleep, because I want it awake to record a program at 5pm the next day.



Setting shows to Fav to not lose the shows I recorded is NOT an option. I watch shows that are not favorites, but are only midly interesting (say I Love the 80's Strikes back - fun show, but not a Fav).

Does anyone else understand what I'm talking about here? Anyone? Bueller?


-Cab

[mlbdude]

Yes and no

The deal is, I don't want it asleep, because I want it awake to record a program at 5pm the next day.

Sage will record shows while it is asleep. I may just be misreading this.

Also, if you leave Sage running in TV mode does it mark the shows that come by as Watched? Watched shows will get deleted ahead of any unwatched show.

[falchulk]

Intellegent recording and scheduled recording all take place while sage is asleep. The only thing that des not happen is the infinite recording of the same channel you left it on.

[Llamas]

This thread is almost to the point where it's almost funny.

What you mean is that you don't agree. That's fine, but characterizing it this way is a little bit condescending.

This is the way PC based PVR's have always worked.

That doesn't mean that there isn't room for improvement.

If Tivo is so great why are people going this way?

Network video distribution, and cumulative cost of multiple "clients" if running 3+ non-networked units (or networked ReplayTVs). I also agree with this next statement, within limits (depending on how much difficulty is involved):

It's more complicated......its more work.......but it allows so much freedom.

Yes, and an example of this freedom is flexibility of configuration. In this case, what does the user want to do with live TV? Record into a limited, but undifferentiated buffer? Record as whole shows? If so, do these shows go into the general pool, or do they go into a pool with a limited quota?

They could throw in a 30 minute buffer like tivo's but I would turn it off.

Configuration options like those above would not affect users that put their Sage app to sleep, and would help those that use Sage as the only app running on their machines. So, buffer options would not affect you if you choose to sleep your client. Or you could turn it off. You would have the choice. Right now, it's not even an option.

I select what I want (Games, ripped DVDs, web, home automation or TV) and it runs. No one knows its a PC because I have customized the interface. To me THATS what a dedicated PVR SHOULD do.

That's not a dedicated PVR. A dedicated PVR would cover TV, and could encompass other digital media; but games, home automation, web, email, etc. are not Recorded Video. You are describing an HTPC.

I think that's where the difference in our user experience lies. I am looking at things from the point of view of someone using Sage as the only app running on the client computer. The only interface I want to see is Sage, not the Windows desktop, not IE, etc. When I turn on the TV, I want to see the Sage menu or a TV show waiting for me. When I am done, I want to turn off the TV without extra shut down steps being required.

Anyway, it's not that I want things to work one way instead of the other, but rather to be configurable so that it's an option.

I might give Cabalsan a run for his money in the long-winded department.

--Mike

[Llamas]

the majority of peopl in this thread want sage to constantly record.....

Not exactly...I, at least, just don't want live TV to fill up the hard drive if left on. I don't mind if its not recording/buffering when sleeping.

[Cabalsan]

LLamas... Amen on both counts: filling up hard drive and taking the wind outa my sails, so to speak Mr long winded

mlbdude...sageTV does not record when it is asleep. This is different from ENABLING screen saver. I haven't figured out yet if Screen saver comes on automatically, or after X time limit. I dont like X time unless its can be set upto 3 - 4 hrs!

falchulk.. yes, right on the money. This can be beneficial or a boondoogle, depending on your use.




Again. Just make it easy goto screen saver (not sleep) after 4 hrs, then wake up to grab the shows I want then got back to screen saver mode in same X as previously set (4hrs)

And put in the multi-delete option!

-Cab

[waffle]

Originally posted by mikejaner
I have just noticed, this recent beta .13 is not listing shows which haven't been selected for recording. I think this is schweeeeet. The only show appearing in the shows listing is the one being currently viewed, and of course your favorites etc.... This is exactly the behavior I was looking for in this product.
mikejaner

Based on my limited testing of .13, this seems to be accurate. My Recorded Shows window isn't filling up with garbage. Yay.

[Opus4]

Cabalsan -- I think what the rest of us do not understand is why you don't want to let SageTV record while it is sleeping or in screen saver mode? All you have to do is mark what shows you _want_ recorded & let it do its job. If you turn off Intelligent Recording, it will _only_ record what you ask it to while it is sleeping.

Why does it need to "wake up to grab the shows I want then got back to screen saver mode" when it can record those shows while it is sleeping??? The only reason you are getting nothing while sleeping now is you said your PC goes into hibernation mode. Of course SageTV can't record when the PC is hibernating, which is why I suggested you turn that off & someone else suggested using some utility to manage your PC so that it will wake up in time to record.

Set up your favorites or go through the EPG and manually mark shows to record -- you will get ONLY those shows recorded and you won't have to sit and delete 12 hours of junk.

Are you missing out on the whole purpose of this program, or are we still not understanding what you are trying to do?



- Andy

[jominor]

Originally posted by salsbst
You can make something permanent by putting it in the library or setting it to "never delete" or something like that for a favorite. Right?

It should be physically separate, at least IMO. Things I want to keep, I want stored on a different partition. For example, I put DVDs compressed to Divx on one drive. I would like shows the same way. That way, if can just blow away when I want.

[Cabalsan]

OK.
I am trying something new. I put the Screen Saver to ENABLE.

I know hit green button, screen saver pops on. I'm gonna try n record 1 show at 2am and hopefuly tomorw when I get home from work, all I record is that 1 show.

X-ing fingers.



-Cab