SageTVservicecontrol and SageTV (local client) won't start.

[MattHelm]

All,
Just started having this problem. I can not run either the SageTVservicecontrol.exe or the SageTV.exe on the local machine. The server on this machine is running just fine, as I can Use SageTV Client from my "main" machine. All media plays fine, and the tuners work, but those 2 programs won't. I've also ran other programs on that machine, and as near as I can tell, all other programs work.

Any suggestions on what has happened?

This system has been running fine for months. (server #1 in my sig)

[APillowOfClouds]

I ran into something similar - in my case everything worked fine other than the sage client would not run on the server, it would lock up. In my case I had enabled the server to be started when the Sage client GUI is loaded, and then I also enabled it to start via the service control. So, when Windows loaded, the service control would start Sage, then I guess when I went to load the client it would ALSO try to start the Sage server. It would go to a black screen after the splash screen and peg the CPU and force me to do a "kill process" on it. After I finally realized and disabled the options in the service control program, the client started loading and running just fine, as it originally had. A bit of a bug but also my bad for enabling both.

[GKusnick]

Originally Posted by APillowOfClouds

In my case I had enabled the server to be started when the Sage client GUI is loaded, and then I also enabled it to start via the service control. So, when Windows loaded, the service control would start Sage, then I guess when I went to load the client it would ALSO try to start the Sage server.

You're confusing "server" with "service". They're not the same thing.

Enabling the server allows clients and extenders to connect to your SageTV server. You enable this option through the Detailed Setup screen.

Running Sage as a service means that the recording engine starts when Windows boots up and runs in a separate process from the UI. You can configure this mode using the SageTV Service Control applet or directly from the Windows Services console (Control Panel > Administrative Tools > Services).

It's perfectly sensible to run the recording engine as a service without allowing client connections. Conversely, you can enable the server to serve clients without necessarily running it as a service (but in that case the server will run only when the UI is running).

The OP's issue sounds to me more like either a Java problem or some sort of corruption in the SageTV installation. I'd suggest updating to the latest version of Java and/or reinstalling Sage to see if that helps.

[APillowOfClouds]

Originally Posted by GKusnick

You're confusing "server" with "service". They're not the same thing.

Enabling the server allows clients and extenders to connect to your SageTV server. You enable this option through the Detailed Setup screen.

Running Sage as a service means that the recording engine starts when Windows boots up and runs in a separate process from the UI. You can configure this mode using the SageTV Service Control applet or directly from the Windows Services console (Control Panel > Administrative Tools > Services).

It's perfectly sensible to run the recording engine as a service without allowing client connections. Conversely, you can enable the server to serve clients without necessarily running it as a service (but in that case the server will run only when the UI is running).

The OP's issue sounds to me more like either a Java problem or some sort of corruption in the SageTV installation. I'd suggest updating to the latest version of Java and/or reinstalling Sage to see if that helps.

Actually, I understand servers and services, programming is what I do for a living :-) The SageTV *service* implements the SageTV *Server* and what I found is if you use the service control program to start the *service* which makes the SageTV *Server* available and you also have Sage set up to start the SageTV *Service* when you run the Sage GUI on the server, then when you go to run the GUI it displays the splash screen, then goes to a black screen and locks up. Disabling the non-GUI auto start of the service using the service control applet results in the GUI starting fine and starting the SageTV *service* properly. His situation is similar to mine in that his setup was working fine before and in that the suggestion for mine as well was that it may be a Java problem, if I remember correctly. I may have read that last part in a diff. thread.

[GKusnick]

Originally Posted by APillowOfClouds

...and you also have Sage set up to start the SageTV *Service* when you run the Sage GUI on the server...

This is the point where I think you may be confused. There is no setting in the SageTV UI (or anywhere else) to auto-start the service when the UI starts.

There is a setting in Detailed Setup to enable the server (i.e. the ability to accept client connections), but this does not have the effect of starting the service as a separate process. If the service is already configured to run on Windows boot-up, this option enables the service to act as a server. If the service is not configured to run, this option enables the UI process to act as a server (but only while it's running, obviously).

Again, there are two independent choices here. Once controls whether SageTV is allowed to act as a server and accept client connections. The other controls whether SageTV runs as one process or two. Enabling one does not have a side effect of enabling the other.

(There's also a separate option to control if and how the UI process auto-starts when you log in to Windows, but this again has nothing to do with starting the service.)

I am really not trying to pick a fight here, and I apologize if it seems like I'm talking down to you. I'm just trying to be as clear as I can about how the system works so that you and the OP can effectively troubleshoot your particular problems (which may or may not turn out to be related).

[MattHelm]

Originally Posted by APillowOfClouds

His situation is similar to mine in that his setup was working fine before and in that the suggestion for mine as well was that it may be a Java problem, if I remember correctly. I may have read that last part in a diff. thread.

It was Java. Tried an uninstall, it complained about "jre1.6.0_10-c.msi" missing. Tried an install, it complained again, reset machine, and all is now working. Thanks!

[APillowOfClouds]

Originally Posted by GKusnick

This is the point where I think you may be confused. There is no setting in the SageTV UI (or anywhere else) to auto-start the service when the UI starts.

There is a setting in Detailed Setup to enable the server (i.e. the ability to accept client connections), but this does not have the effect of starting the service as a separate process. If the service is already configured to run on Windows boot-up, this option enables the service to act as a server. If the service is not configured to run, this option enables the UI process to act as a server (but only while it's running, obviously).

Again, there are two independent choices here. Once controls whether SageTV is allowed to act as a server and accept client connections. The other controls whether SageTV runs as one process or two. Enabling one does not have a side effect of enabling the other.

(There's also a separate option to control if and how the UI process auto-starts when you log in to Windows, but this again has nothing to do with starting the service.)

I am really not trying to pick a fight here, and I apologize if it seems like I'm talking down to you. I'm just trying to be as clear as I can about how the system works so that you and the OP can effectively troubleshoot your particular problems (which may or may not turn out to be related).

OK, no biggie :-)

If the UI acts as a server when you enable the server option in there then the problem that I had makes more sense - the service version of the server was running in the background and the UI was trying to act as a server as well instead of connecting to the service for some reason, at least that would be my theory. I had tried rebooting several times and that didn't fix it but as soon as I disabled the service from the service control app the UI started fine and I guess it then acted as the server. Should have tried re-enabling the service and then starting the UI to make sure the problem was consistent but the WAF was very low at that point and since it was working I didn't want to mess with it LOL