Stability Tips ?

[Kryspy]

Hi,

I am determined to make Sagetv work for me. Up to now on both XP and Vista I seem to get weird annomolies and stability issues running Sagetv.

I sometimes back out of a screen to the main menu only to find it is black except for the bar at the top. Other times I exit back to say the Videos screen and all my folders are gone unless I change views.

I am not running any wierd hardware as far as I can tell. I am running a Gigabyte 780G chipset with a ATI HD3200 IGP and AMD X2 4600.

Latest ATI drivers, PowerDVD codec, Haali splitter and AC3 for audio.

Any tips?

Kryspy

[Brent]

For starters lets talk about your system and setup:

What Computer CPU? AMD X2 4600 2.4Ghz right?
Memory?
What OS?
Are you running a single computer? Any extenders or client PCs?
Are you running SageTV as a service?
Any virus scanning software installed and running?
Firewall?
What version of SageTV are you using?
What version of Java do you have installed?
Any addons (STVi's or STVs) installed?

We can start with that, then run through your issues one-by-one. Hopefully we'll figure out whats causing the trouble.

[Kryspy]

What Computer CPU? AMD X2 4600 2.4Ghz right? <-- correct
Memory? 2 GB DDR2 800 (Kingston I believe)
What OS? Vista Business 32 bit but XP Pro SP3 gave similar results I recall
Are you running a single computer? Any extenders or client PCs? WHS install with a client PC
Are you running SageTV as a service? service on WHS I guess
Any virus scanning software installed and running? none
Firewall? off
What version of SageTV are you using? 6.5.9
What version of Java do you have installed? latest
Any addons (STVi's or STVs) installed? 6.3.8a full and 6.3.8b 12 with iTV theme advanced movie screen add-on

This a HTPC which only performs the task of a HTPC so only thing installed is OS, codecs and SageTV.

Do I need any codecs or property file edits on the WHS side or just the client?

I looked over your site but couldn't find any set up tips regarding codec choices and such. Since I have access to both XP Pro Sp3 and Vista Business; which would you recommend since I am doing a fresh install as I have Vista MCE installed now.

Thanks in advance,

Kryspy

[Brent]

So you're using SageMC 6.3.8a correct?


So starting with the first issue you mentioned.

I sometimes back out of a scren to the main menu only to find it is black except for the bar at the top

Not positive I understand what you're describing. It sounds like you're on a submenu such as TV or Videos etc. and hit the alt>back keys to go back one screen (to the home screen) and it's all black?

I have no experience with WHS so hopefully someone will chime in to help if that seems to be an issue. I'm wondering if you notice any issues if you run without SageMC for a day or so just to test. We need to eliminate those sort of things just to see if that might be the problem.

[scott2020]

When I was first playing around, I had a lot of add-ons and plug-ins going. One in particular was an older version of Slimplayer. By looking at the debug logs I saw a lot of errors from that one. Not to badmouth the app, and I'm sure the newest version is better, but that is what happened to me. Another thing I did was the increase of the Java heap size. But the biggest thing that solved my problems was to disable the picture screen saver I was running by pulling picture files from a network share. I went back to SageTV logo and that made all the difference. I don't know why, but it worked for me.

[Kryspy]

Okay,

I think I am going to install XP Pro SP3 when I get home from work. I'll install Sage without any add-ons and see how it goes for a day or two.

Then I guess the thing to do is add the 6.3.8 SageMC add-on with one theme and go another day and see how it goes etc.

Seeing as how EVR support is relatively new to Sage I feel maybe it is safer to stick with XP Pro and VMR9.

My other option is to sell my HTPS as I am not that attached to it and buy a HD-200

Where is the JAVA heap setting located and what does it do?

Kryspy

[Brent]

For info on Java Heap Setting read through this

Have you enabled logging? If not do so and watch for issues - check the log as soon as you experience the issue.

Also watch your CPU usage to see if it maxes out at the time when you experience the issue.

[Kryspy]

Okay,

So In installed SageTV on XP Pro SP3 with ATI driver version 8.5 and allis good in the world.

I am going to slowly put it threw it's paces and see what happens.

Kryspy

[Brent]

Excellent news. Now given that you've had issues in the past, I would take it fairly slow. Go a few days with everything stable, and add your add-ons and other stuff one at a time so in case one of those things introduce any problems you'll know what is causing it.

I'm hoping your system will be fine from this point forward, but slow and steady makes a lot of sense in this case. Good luck!

[alfi33]

Originally Posted by Kryspy

Okay,

So In installed SageTV on XP Pro SP3 with ATI driver version 8.5 and allis good in the world.

I am going to slowly put it threw it's paces and see what happens.

Kryspy

I too am using a Gigabyte 780G motherboard running XP Pro SP3. I had a lot of stability problems initially and it seems it was mostly caused by the ATI drivers. I tried a bunch of different versions of ATI Catalyst before settling on 8.10 which I believe uses the 8.5 video driver (confusing). It is now very stable. (However, I still can't get VMR9 to work well....have to use Overlay.) I'm a little hesitant to try the newer versions of Catalyst because of all the trouble I've had.

[Kryspy]

alfie33,

I have VMR9 working. Follow my steps here --> http://forums.sagetv.com/forums/showthread.php?t=39594.

They may seem weird but it works for me. A full PowerDVD install causes VMR9 issues fo me.

Kryspy

Brent,

Thanks !!!

[Kryspy]

Well,

Even though I got it to a stable set up I have decided to move on to an extender/ WHS configuration instead.

I just sold my HTPC on ebay and have placed an order for a HD 200.

Kryspy

[chrishallowell]

Well,
Even though I got it to a stable set up I have decided to move on to an extender/ WHS configuration instead.
I just sold my HTPC on ebay and have placed an order for a HD 200.
Kryspy

I did the same about a month ago and never looked back. My wife has definitely noticed the stability improvement. (Before with my client, it would freeze up once or twice a week. I, too, had trouble with ATI drivers. I could only get 7.12 to work.)

[Texas-Hansen]

I'm using a HD200 extender with Sage Media Center on my WHS. Works great and love it. I have the SageMC add-in too. I also get the black screen with white bar at the top every so often. When it happens, it's the result of hitting the "back" button when watching a video from the WHS. I can't recall what I do to get rid of it but I either hit the "back" button again or hit "home" and it goes away. I have not tried any debugging or problem solving as the time involved would outweigh the occassional inconvenience. I assume it's a bug somewhere. If it would help the developers to eliminate it, I'd be happy to dig into with the logs and provide more info.

[Kryspy]

For me it's all about noise as well. Our main PC is also in the recroom and I replaced it with an Eeebox so noise from my HTPC had to be remedied as well.

Kryspy