cable card equiped sage, could it happen?

[Deacon Crusher]

http://www.engadget.com/2009/04/29/d...equipped-htpc/

anyone know if that card is supported under Sage?

[reggie14]

I don't see how it possibly could now. And, I'm not sure getting do-it-yourselfers hacking together cablecard equipped boxes is likely to help anyone besides VMC users (at least, for a while). The cablecard cards were only designed to work with VMC, so I can't imagine anyone besides Microsoft really knows how to interface with them. And, as long as people are using them under VMC, their use is still restricted by VMC. So, I don't see why CableLabs and cable companies would care very much about this.

[Brent]

I have a suspicion it could happen. But will it? That would depend on how much dev time/money SageTV would put into it for a solution that would be usable only by those willing to really "go the extra mile." SageTV would need to make the CableCard a usable tuner in SageTV

So possible? yes. Probable? you never know, but I'd say unlikely. That being said, I hope so.

[evilpenguin]

This is good news if your a VMC user who didn't want to buy a new PC to use a Cable Card, but it still means nothing to Sage.

[PLUCKYHD]

Originally Posted by evilpenguin

This is good news if your a VMC user who didn't want to buy a new PC to use a Cable Card, but it still means nothing to Sage.

Like most things take that with the smallest grain of salt

First the cable card key only has a certian amounts of activations then it is dead and can no longer be activated. Look at tgb there are several legit users that have had thiers locked

I came from cablecard pc believe me they are drm nightmare sage I don't think could hack it or needs too

The diy that are trying this will get their coa locked eventually so to me it is all for nothing

I also don't think sage could do it ecause it is drm'd before it leaves the tuner and microsoft has the only certified decoder

[ghostlobster]

I doubt we'll see CableCARD in SageTV anytime in the near future. MS pandered to CableLabs with the entire CableCARD fiasco, pretty much agreeing to everything they demanded in order to come out of the box being able to say that they (MS) offered it first. This not only included the OCUR BIOS, but the PID and their insane DRM policies, pretty much turning a sweet HTPC rig into a glorified TiVo with absolutely no content portability.
All that being said, I don't see SageTV as the kind of company who would be willing to sell their soul in oder to be able to provide this functionality. For MS, it was no big deal, as they have no soul. Besides, we have native HD-PVR support, giving us a bit of a stick-it-to-the-man trump card. Complete provider independance, DRM-free recording, no hack-job that has the potential to crash and burn as soon as the published PID gets blacklisted, and no ties to a specific OS. Granted, the HD-PVR is ugly, adds more cables to the bird's nest, and has its share of issues, but it works.

**Edit - Holy schniekies! When did I become an Aficionado!??? Think I'll pop a beer to celebrate (as if I need an excuse)

[aflat]

With all the new info coming from TGB about being able to install CableCard tuners on just about any machine, my question is, does Sage support CableCard? I'm guessing not, since CableCard probably won't let them without DRM, but you never know.

* merged *

[sainswor99]

Engadget just posted a DIY guide to getting a CABLECard in a build-your-own PVR system. I'm not sure how viable this is for SageTV but it's an interesting step.

http://www.engadgethd.com/2008/09/24...-for-sale-sep/

* merged *

[jm9843]

According to a commenter, the recordings are still encrypted and playable only through VMC.

While I'm intrigued by the idea of getting cable card working in a DIY system, VMC is obviously a non-starter. I'll be sticking with the HD-PVR for protected content.

[ghostlobster]

Originally Posted by sainswor99

Engadget just posted a DIY guide to getting a CABLECard in a build-your-own PVR system. I'm not sure how viable this is for SageTV but it's an interesting step.

http://www.engadgethd.com/2008/09/24...-for-sale-sep/

Right now, with the work done on OSFR Loader, a CableCARD OEM BIOS is not required for hardware compatibility with CableCARD tuners, so, from a hardware perspective, a DIY CableCARD ready PC is an easy build. The magic bullet is going to be the PID. Yes, Engadget posted an OEM PID in the past, but who knows how long that will last. On top of that, Windows Media Center is the only front end that has the ability to use this as a tuner. When you pile the DRM restrictions and lack of any flexible extensibilty solution on top of the other Windows Media Center limitations, it's really not that big of a deal.
Now, if SageTV, Media Portal, BTV, MythTV, etc., could find some way of making use of a CableCARD tuner...that would be something worth looking into deeply. For now, from a personal standpoint, I'm really not overly excited.

[Clift]

If this had come out 6 months ago I would be all over it. I'd still like to test it, though. But I'm pretty happy with my SageTV setup than to go and try a whole set of work-arounds in VMC.

With all that being said though, I'm actually pretty excited over this whole thing. Something about being able to bypass stupid restrictions. Call me immature or whatever, but that's a good feeling. Now, someone needs to crack 5C...