Trying out Sage, trying to match up some functions

[Zetavu]

I am trying to test out Sage for the third time. I currently use BeyondTV and Media Portal, and I want to give Sage as fair an evaluation as I can. Brent at Geek Tonic has been helping me out but there are a lot of functions or features that I'm having trouble figuring out or matching up. If you'll bear with me I'll list some, any assistance would be appreciated.

OTA HD - I've setup my Hauppauge HVR 1600 and one of my HVR 2250 tuners to record digital OTA (The others I'm using in BTV to run side by side comparisons of quality). The 2250 is listed as an analog tuner, but I seemed to be able to setup digital channels, subchannels exist, and when I record the file has similar properties to my HD transport streams from BTV. They are .mpg files, and do not record with subchannels. Is this normal? Have I set things up incorrectly?

Serial Port Tuning - I had trouble setting up my serial tuner (null modem cable and Iogear GUC232A into Directv H21). Any special tricks on how to get this working? Also, I tried to change the settings on the tuner after setting up my HD PVR input, it did not seem to give me any options, all I could think of was removing and adding the tuner again, but that wiped out my channel lineup changes. Is there a way to edit these settings? Can I disable tuners or can I only remove them?

Keyboard Shortcuts: I've matched up most of the functions I'm used to with the other programs, but have a few missing. Are there any shortcuts that can be used specifically to
1. Toggle between playlist view and menu view for music or video library
2. add or remove media from playlist (single click)
3. Switch between music view and full screen visulaizations

SageMC - I tried to install this skin (for lack of the proper term), it works on the menus but not on the Weather module, that still has the old view, are there settings to correct this or did I mess up application?

Is there a signal meter for setup or checking of OTA HD channels?

Online Services - a lot of the links in the default online services seem to be dead, is there a way to update these or have them update automatically?

PDA/Smartphone remote - I've gotten used to using my pocketPC as a wifi remote in Media Portal. I can browse music playlists on the PPC and choose songs, artists, playlists etc to play on my htpc, any projects similar to this with Sage?

What is the difference between link and placeshifter? Does placeshifter transcode on the server? I wanted to use linux boxes as clients, and am trying to figure out the best way to do that (link is not available for linux I believe).

I am trying to hunt down answers to these myself, as I find things I'll post in this thread. Any help again would be appreciated.

[stanger89]

Originally Posted by Zetavu

I am trying to test out Sage for the third time. I currently use BeyondTV and Media Portal, and I want to give Sage as fair an evaluation as I can. Brent at Geek Tonic has been helping me out but there are a lot of functions or features that I'm having trouble figuring out or matching up. If you'll bear with me I'll list some, any assistance would be appreciated.

OTA HD - I've setup my Hauppauge HVR 1600 and one of my HVR 2250 tuners to record digital OTA (The others I'm using in BTV to run side by side comparisons of quality). The 2250 is listed as an analog tuner, but I seemed to be able to setup digital channels, subchannels exist, and when I record the file has similar properties to my HD transport streams from BTV. They are .mpg files, and do not record with subchannels. Is this normal? Have I set things up incorrectly?

Nope Sage records as a program stream (instead of a transport stream) and only the subchannel you select, not all of them.

Also, I tried to change the settings on the tuner after setting up my HD PVR input, it did not seem to give me any options, all I could think of was removing and adding the tuner again, but that wiped out my channel lineup changes. Is there a way to edit these settings? Can I disable tuners or can I only remove them?

Unfortunately you can't disable tuners. What settings are you referring to.

What is the difference between link and placeshifter? Does placeshifter transcode on the server? I wanted to use linux boxes as clients, and am trying to figure out the best way to do that (link is not available for linux I believe).

I assume you mean BeyondTV Link. They server the same function but Placeshifter does more. Technically Link has more in common with SageTV Client, which are both for accessing the main server/system on a LAN. Placeshifter can do that too, but in addition it supports accessing SageTV servers over a WAN, including transcoding on the fly to fit your internet bandwidth.

There's a Linux Placeshifter available. See the download page.

[Zetavu]

Sorry, I meant client, what are the differences between client and placeshifter in Sage, are quality and server load the same on a network?

The settings I wanted to change were things like com port of the serial tuner. Finally got that to work, needed to change the mode to Faster.

Figured out weather on SageMC, need to click the weather on the main menu (needed to activate it first) and then I get the MC weather.

So am I correct that OTA HD recordings are labeled as mpg files? My Hd PVR recordings are .ts files.

[sainswor99]

Originally Posted by Zetavu

Sorry, I meant client, what are the differences between client and placeshifter in Sage, are quality and server load the same on a network?

Hey Zeta,

Welcome to the forums. I can't answer the rest of your questions, but the differences between client and placeshifter are succinctly described in the FAQ. http://forums.sagetv.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1601

HTH,
Stu

[Zetavu]

Thanks. Biggest issue here is that there is such a wealth of information it takes time to wade through (had the same issues with BTV and MP). It's been a while since I've had to wear the newbie hat.

Brief update on my progress: I've turned on the Sage plugin for eventghost, so I've been able to map all the controls except the 3 in the first post, it looks like there are no shortcuts for that, is there a way to make a custom shortcut?

HD PVR recordings look even with BTV for quality and ease. I have not tried commercial detection, need to brush up, maybe test tonight. Also need to test out video conversion. I'm waiting for a poor weather day to really test OTA differences with BTV, I'm splitting my 2250 tuner between the two programs so I can record the same show by both and compare quality. Does changing the mpeg file settings affect the process streams recorded in HD OTA?

I also installed Craig's PSE photo plugin (loved in in Beyond Media). Seems to work fine. What I couldn't find were settings for slideshow effects, I like the floating picture effect during slideshows (Ken Burns effect in Media Portal), is there a way to adjust slideshow settings like this?

I also need to look into how to add new visualizations for music. I was able to get the weather maps, but would like to replace those with custom animated dopplers for my area, is that possible?

Regarding placeshifter vs client, do you get the same playback quality and server load when used on the same network? (faq did not go into detail here, it mentioned that it transcodes for internet). How well does Placeshifter work with H.264 files?

[cncb]

Originally Posted by Zetavu

I also installed Craig's PSE photo plugin (loved in in Beyond Media). Seems to work fine. What I couldn't find were settings for slideshow effects, I like the floating picture effect during slideshows (Ken Burns effect in Media Portal), is there a way to adjust slideshow settings like this?

Hi Zetavu,

The PSE plugin uses the same slideshow player as the built-in photos module for the default STV. If you go into "Media Center/Photos" and choose the "Slideshow Options" button on the left side you can see the current options. Unfortunately, there is no "floating picture effect" as you describe currently available.

[Zetavu]

Hey Craig. Yeah, that's the thing, I can get most things working but there are always a few things that I can't get in Sage that either BTV or MP does. Not big things, but little things like the floating pictures or one click to add songs to a playlist. Likewise, little things like your plugin or the online section are in sage and not the others. Just noticed your recipe plugin, will have to try that out.

[cncb]

Originally Posted by Zetavu

Hey Craig. Yeah, that's the thing, I can get most things working but there are always a few things that I can't get in Sage that either BTV or MP does.

I hear you - it can be frustrating. I actually use my JRMC plugin in Sage for all media except TV (I don't use PSE anymore). I created a different slideshow player for the JRMC plugin so I could look into trying to reproduce the "floating picture effect" if you have any interest in using it (the JRMC plugin, that is).