How stable is the beta for version 2.0?

[kdlutes]

I just finished assembling my first PVR (VIA EPIA ME6000, PVR 350, Seagate 160GB, crammed into a Morex 2699 mini-ITX case thank you very much). I'm running Sage 1.4 and it seems to be working fine. I've been trolling these forums for about a week and it seems like version 2.0 will be much better. But how stable is the beta? I'd like to give it a try if it is pretty good, but it took me a couple of weeks of hardware and software tweaking to get this far and I don't want to screw it up with an unstable beta. Advice greatly appreciated.

[Cayars]

Seems to be pretty stable to me on my 8 tuner machine. Actually only 6 now as I moved to off the server to another running SageRecorder (so I could play with the beta of this). Still 8 total tuners however.

In the .13 beta there is a nasty bug that will hang the interface if you manually delete files. Recording still work fine however. This is fixed in .14 which should be released any day now. So if you don't manually delete files or you can be carefull how you go about it (preview the file while deleting) then go for .13. If you don't mind a day or two more then wait for .14.

You can/should make a copy of the SageTV directory before installing the beta. If the beta doesn't agree with you then you can put your original 1.4 back.

BTW, don't forget this is a beta version and it's not guaranteed to work perfect... By definition of it being beta there are still minor things that need working out. Nothing major besides the delete issue and that can be avoided anyway.

Carlo

[VinceInSeattle]

Be advised that the current beta has little support for mouse navigation, so if you navigate by right-clicking the mouse and using the toolbar, you might want to wait. Otherwise you will have to use keyboard commands.

[sjciccio]

Maybe You should abide by the old axim, "If it ain't broke, don't fix it"

[Cayars]

BTW, the mouse works everywhere (that I've noticed) properly except when actually viewing a movie. It's not that mouse support isn't functional at all.

Carlo

[phenixdragon]

I couldn't go back myself. The software is stable and the known bugs you can work around but they aren't anything that would stop you from using it.

[VinceInSeattle]

I take it back - w/ Beta 15, mouse support is much more functional. Thanks Sage!

[robertmcox]

The early v2 betas were a little scary as some of the features didn't work quite right and some new bugs were introduced. The early v2 betas were mostly feature teasers, I think. I almost (just a hair away) backrevved to 1.4 a couple times.

I would say as far as stability, I've never known Sage to have any stability problems as far as recording properly or causing windows to crash. Playback stability has always been an issue depending on your video card and/or dvd decoders -- this applies to ALL versions. Once you have the right playback, though, it is rock solid.

.14 and .15 are definitely worth the shot IMO, the user interface is SOOOO much better, v1.4 interface seems so blocky now. I won't go back to 1.4 at this point.

[krutaw]

Originally posted by kdlutes
I just finished assembling my first PVR (VIA EPIA ME6000, PVR 350, Seagate 160GB, crammed into a Morex 2699 mini-ITX case thank you very much). I'm running Sage 1.4 and it seems to be working fine. I've been trolling these forums for about a week and it seems like version 2.0 will be much better. But how stable is the beta? I'd like to give it a try if it is pretty good, but it took me a couple of weeks of hardware and software tweaking to get this far and I don't want to screw it up with an unstable beta. Advice greatly appreciated.

While I couldn't go back from 2.0 to 1.4, depending on how you're going to use that PVR-350, it may be wise to wait. I've heard several people state that the PVR-350 has had problems with the VIA Chipsets. I know for a fact that there are intel chipsets that it doesn't get along with.

Anyway, I would try it and see if works, but be cautious, and don't be affraid to revert if it's not meeting your minimum requirements.

[thatdude90210]

I'm still running 2.0.14 beta, I think it been up since I installed that beta. Right now, the instance uptime is at almost exactly 12 days.

[theMixxMaster]

The only problems I'm experiencing now is a freezing from time to time(very random, lasts around 3-10 second), and sometimes the there's no sound after fast forwarding/rewinding for about 2-3 seconds...
Other than that, so far so good.

[insomniac]

same

Originally posted by theMixxMaster
The only problems I'm experiencing now is a freezing from time to time(very random, lasts around 3-10 second), and sometimes the there's no sound after fast forwarding/rewinding for about 2-3 seconds...
Other than that, so far so good.

[theMixxMaster]

whew! Good to know it isn't just me. After my last big problem(major stuttering that required an RMA), I'm on pins and needles still...

[mlbdude]

Freezing or audio loss is generally due to decoders. What are you using and what have you tried?

[kny3twalker]

I get the same problems but for not quite as long and I am using powerDVD
for both audio and video

[mlbdude]

PowerDVD is know to have problems with Sage though some users get it to work. I can almost on command get it to freeze when doing fast FF keys.

[kny3twalker]

huh I only rarely lose audio and only for about a second longer than normally
also the rare pauses I am at a loss
I am going to watch my system though
I am not using 64K blocks, so maybe a defrag is in order

[insomniac]

Im using the latest hauppauge intervideo codecs with dxva and HWMC enabled

I.

[mlbdude]

For sound issues related to FF or REW (where it disappears then comes back with another FF) change your Audio Rendered from default to something else or from something else to default.

[theMixxMaster]

Originally posted by mlbdude
Freezing or audio loss is generally due to decoders. What are you using and what have you tried?

I've tried the Intervideo, Intervideo Non-CSS, NVidia, and Sonic for video decoders. I'm using VMR9, as Overlay doesn't work at all. Using defaults on the DXVA settings.

I've also tried changing around the audio decoders and MPEG2 Audio Decoder Filters.

No difference with any of them. I still get intermittant freezing, about every 30-45 minutes, which lasts for 3-15 seconds.