Comcast, HDHR & Sage

[BigRig64]

I had HDHR working great with Comcast and Sage after the digital switch. I was getting a total of 87 digital channels. Then suddenly the upper channels (above 30) quit ... again. Sage just displayed NO SIGNAL. Went in and did a channel rescan in the HDHM software and got all the channels back when viewed with VLC.

I deleted the tuners and reinstalled them several times and did the full channels scan in Sage but I still get NO SIGNAL in Sage but VLC plays them just fine. Is there a trick to get them working now?

Don't know if this means anything but in the HDHR software, all the upper channels have a .1 or .2 on them now. Not really sure where to go from here short of uninstalling everything and start over from scratch. Anyone have an easier idea?

Sage 6.5 XP Home

Thanks
Russ

[Hornet]

Comcast is switching over to their digital service and I no longer get my local stations in HD. They all come in in the digital format, but 2.1 (ABC) 11.1 (NBC), etc, no longer are found in a scan. I still receive those channels with my QAM compatible TV sets but not my Hauppauge WinTV HVR-1800. Anyone else having this problem? I now get 87 all digital channels but no HD

[tahoetim]

I am not even going to try to chase any of these items until AFTER the June 12 cut over. My channels are flaky almost daily.

Besides, I get a WAF free pass for two weeks

[carlgar]

Originally Posted by BigRig64

Don't know if this means anything but in the HDHR software, all the upper channels have a .1 or .2 on them now. Not really sure where to go from here short of uninstalling everything and start over from scratch. Anyone have an easier idea?

Where are you seeing the .1 or .2 numbers? From Sage or the HDHR software? I suspect that is your problem. I do not see .X numbers anywhere in my setup. The HDHR software does show channel numbers like CH83-1 and CH115-2. Since you can see the channels with VLC, you should also see them with Sage. It is probably some issue between HDHR and Sage. You should also check the Sage directory and make sure The *.frq files are newer than the *.scn files.

[BigRig64]

I am seeing the numbers in the HDHomeRun Setup under Guide Number. Under Tune it says CH109- 14 Then Guide Name KPTV Then Guide Number 12.2 . Most all of them have this x.1 or 2 now.

The *.frq and *.scn files have the same time stamp. Should I manually delete these files then set the tuners up again?

[evilpenguin]

The guide number should match the numbers in Zap2it's TV listings, so you'll probably need to go though manually and match them up.

[carlgar]

I think the guide numbers should be OK, they should the logical channel numbers that sage uses in the EPG.

The *.scn files are created by the HDHR software when you save the channel setup, they should be OK. The *.frq files should always be newer than the *.scn files. They are created by the Sage software when you do the scan. You must also scan for each HDHR tuners you have in Sage. I believe the HDHR software deletes the *.frq files when it creates the *.scr files but not sure.

Are you using the current HDHR software? I am using the 20090415 HDHR software.

[carlgar]

I agree with evilpenguin the guide numbers should match the Zap2it listings. I believe HDHR uses these values for its resource guide. Before you change them, you should look at the *.scn files and see what HDHR is passing as the minor number. My guide number all all integers and are passed correctly in the *.scn files. I believe the major number should be 1008, but I am not sure about that. I believe what you will see is that HDHR is passing the interger part as the major number and the fractional part as the minor number which may be what is causing your problems.

[jhkoenig]

Originally Posted by tahoetim

I am not even going to try to chase any of these items until AFTER the June 12 cut over. My channels are flaky almost daily.

Besides, I get a WAF free pass for two weeks

If your experience matches mine in the S.F. bay area, your troubles will not be over on June 12. Our area "transitioned" months ago and Comcast is still moving the channels about. Nearly every week I miss some important show because Comcast swapped CBS and Fox or something... or an hour of "no signal" instead of our favorite sit-com.

Good luck and remember "trust but verify" is your safest course.

[Taddeusz]

June 12th is only the cuttoff for analog OTA. Unless the current administration changes the date the cable TV industry has untill 2012 to continue to carry analog channels.

[jasonl]

As others have mentioned, the guide number should always be set to an integer in HDHomeRun Setup when using Digital Cable with SageTV. This is by design because SageTV falls back to channel numbers to match up guide data when it can't match by name, and there won't be an "11.1" on the cable guide for your area. Deleting the scn and frq files won't hurt anything because HDHomeRun Setup will simply generate a new scn file when you open it and click Apply, and SageTV will create a new frq file when you run a channel scan and it imports the scn file.

Jason
Silicondust Support

[BigRig64]

OK, I am slowly getting this figured out.

I deleted all the tuners in sage. Closed Sage. Deleted all *.frq and *.scn files in the Sage directory. Opened HDHR setup and jumped through that hoop. Most of the channel #'s that end in *.1 or 2 is a duplicate. Deleting the .whatever seems to work. Applied all that. then went back to the Sage hoop.

I set up a video source in Sage and bingo. This first try was not quite right (on the HDHR end) but I believe I figured out what I need to do. So I undid everything and started at step one to do it the correct way.

Now my problem is I get no channel line-ups. none, nodda , zip. What's up with that? I was this close (at least I think so). Is this something on my end?

Thanks
Russ

[Opus4]

Are these the instructions you've been following?

HDHR setup for Windows

If not, do exactly as it says there.


Or, are you suffering from the current known issue where some zip codes are having EPG problems? What is your zip code? If you get no providers to choose from when you enter your zip code in SageTV, you'll need to wait until that is resolved.

- Andy

[BigRig64]

I didn't know about this link but these were the steps I was doing. Except for the STV and SageTV3.xml which I did check on. Still nothing.

My zip is 97386. Where would I go to check if mine is involved in this EPG problem? I kinda think this is my problem. Any estimates as to when this will be resolved?

Thanks for the help
Russ

[Opus4]

Originally Posted by BigRig64

My zip is 97386. Where would I go to check if mine is involved in this EPG problem? I kinda think this is my problem. Any estimates as to when this will be resolved?

That is probably the issue because I get no providers for that zip code. It should be resolved sometime today & there is a topic in the EPG forum that will be updated as more info becomes available.

- Andy

[BigRig64]

OK, seems the EPG problem has been resolved. Reinstalled the tuners in Sage and all seems right with the world again. All the channels I tested seem to work now.

I'll probably have to redo this when Comcast shuffles everything again, but at least I now know what to do.

Thanks for all the help
Russ

[jm9843]

Originally Posted by BigRig64

Most of the channel #'s that end in *.1 or 2 is a duplicate. Deleting the .whatever seems to work. Applied all that. then went back to the Sage hoop.

This sound a lot like the problem that I am currently experiencing. Jason from Silicondust described it as Sage tuning the proper HDHR channel, but not the proper program. Sage is always defaulting the program to a 0 or -1 (which translates to a 0).

For example, if a channel shows as 74.3 in the HDHR setup: 74 is the channel # while 3 is the program #. But when trying to view the channel in Sage, it is trying to tune to channel 74, program 0 which results in "No Signal." Perhaps when you deleted the ".1" or ".2" in the HDHR setup, it was effectively giving all of your channels a program # of 0. This strikes me as hacky workaround rather than the fix which would be for Sage to properly tune to channel 74, program 3.

I've gone so far as to uninstall Sage, delete the SageTV program directory, reboot the server, reinstall a clean copy of Sage, and only add the HDHR as my sources. Yet I am still getting "No Signal."

I'm not sure what happened to my previously working setup to cause Sage to not set the proper program #, but I'd like to get it resolved soon. Any suggestions out there?

[BigRig64]

Don't know if everything I did was necessary but this is how I got everything to work. I now have more channels that show up in the program guide than I did before.

First I removed all tuner sources in Sage, then closed it. Went to the Sage directory and deleted all files with *.frq or *.scn.

I then opened HDHR Setup and did a channel scan. Then I went to Zap2it to verify what I came up with. There were quite a few discrepancies. There were many places where the Guide Name was wrong for the Guide Number and was even duplicated on another Guide Number. Some of the Guide Numbers were duplicated ( For instance KOIN 6.1 KOINDT 6.2 KOINDT2 6.3). Then seemingly at random I would have a .1 added to some Guide Numbers.

So I went down the list on Zap2it. Made sure the Guide Name matched the Guide Number and in many cases viewed the program to see if what I was seeing was actually what was suppose to be on. All the channels that I wanted Sage to use I deleted the .1 if one was there. In the case of duplicates I had to choose one. As in the case of KOIN 6, KOINDT seems to be HD and KOINDT2 seemed to be something totally different. It took awhile but I finally matched all Guide Names - Guide Numbers with what was suppose to be on at that time.

Applied the changes. Opened Sage, added the tuners (this went smoothly after the issue with the EPG was resolved). The channel scan went flawlessly. All the channels showed up in the Program Guide and none that I have checked gives me a 'NO SIGNAL'. I have 8 channels that show 'no data' in the program guide since they do not show up on Zap2it, yet when I play these channels they work just fine.

Bottom line, it works

Thanks for all the help
Russ

[gplasky]

That's great. And that's all part of the instructions. All the channel names and channel numbers need to be changed to the Zap2It names and numbers. For the most part none of the channels names or numbers will match. (At least that is what I have seen and based on various user posts.) You should always use the Zap2It name (like WXYZDT and not WXYZ-DT (those are not the same thing)) and the Zap2It number (like 232 and not 7.2 or 7-2.)

Gerry

[jm9843]

Originally Posted by gplasky

That's great. And that's all part of the instructions. All the channel names and channel numbers need to be changed to the Zap2It names and numbers. For the most part none of the channels names or numbers will match. (At least that is what I have seen and based on various user posts.) You should always use the Zap2It name (like WXYZDT and not WXYZ-DT (those are not the same thing)) and the Zap2It number (like 232 and not 7.2 or 7-2.)

Gerry

You keep going on about this but it is clearly not the problem that some users are experiencing. You do realize that the Zap2It number is used to help Sage match the guide data with the logical channel number? Sage still needs to tune the proper channel and program numbers. In my case, it tunes to the correct channel but not the correct program #.

Take a look at my .scn file for zip code 17201:

# Generated by HDHomeRun Setup
CH:1 major:1008 minor:21 prog:8 phy:115 frq:739250000 mod:0 #:CBB
CH:2 major:1008 minor:9 prog:10 phy:115 frq:739250000 mod:0 #:WUSA
CH:3 major:1008 minor:5 prog:11 phy:115 frq:739250000 mod:0 #:WTTG
CH:4 major:1008 minor:6 prog:12 phy:115 frq:739250000 mod:0 #:WHP
CH:5 major:1008 minor:17 prog:10 phy:114 frq:733250000 mod:0 #:QVC
CH:6 major:1008 minor:236 prog:1 phy:110 frq:709250000 mod:0 #:WLYHDT
CH:7 major:1008 minor:234 prog:2 phy:110 frq:709250000 mod:0 #:WPMTDT
CH:8 major:1008 minor:240 prog:1 phy:109 frq:703250000 mod:0 #:WITFDT3
CH:9 major:1008 minor:233 prog:2 phy:109 frq:703250000 mod:0 #:WHPDT
CH:10 major:1008 minor:249 prog:3 phy:109 frq:703250000 mod:0 #:WHPDT2
CH:11 major:1008 minor:231 prog:1 phy:108 frq:697250000 mod:0 #:WHTMDT
CH:12 major:1008 minor:232 prog:2 phy:108 frq:697250000 mod:0 #:WGALDT
CH:13 major:1008 minor:246 prog:4 phy:108 frq:697250000 mod:0 #:WHTMDT2
CH:14 major:1008 minor:248 prog:5 phy:108 frq:697250000 mod:0 #:WGALDT2
CH:15 major:1008 minor:20 prog:2 phy:102 frq:661250000 mod:0 #:PCN
CH:16 major:1008 minor:3 prog:1 phy:78 frq:547250000 mod:0 #:WHTM
CH:17 major:1008 minor:8 prog:3 phy:78 frq:547250000 mod:0 #:WGAL
CH:18 major:1008 minor:10 prog:4 phy:78 frq:547250000 mod:0 #:WITF
CH:19 major:1008 minor:14 prog:5 phy:78 frq:547250000 mod:0 #:WLYH
CH:20 major:1008 minor:13 prog:6 phy:78 frq:547250000 mod:0 #:WPMT
CH:21 major:1008 minor:2 prog:9 phy:78 frq:547250000 mod:0 #:WJAL
CH:22 major:1008 minor:55 prog:11 phy:78 frq:547250000 mod:0 #:CSPAN2
CH:23 major:1008 minor:7 prog:4 phy:77 frq:541250000 mod:0 #:WJLA
CH:24 major:1008 minor:12 prog:7 phy:77 frq:541250000 mod:0 #:WHAG
CH:25 major:1008 minor:4 prog:10 phy:77 frq:541250000 mod:0 #:WRC
CH:26 major:1008 minor:101 prog:11 phy:77 frq:541250000 mod:0 #:WTHRSCN

So for WGALDT:

WGALDT - guide name from Zap2It
232 - cable formatted channel number from Zap2It

But in the bakground, Sage still needs to tune the HDHR to physical channel # 108 and program # 2. According to Silicondust support, in my case Sage is tuning to 108 correctly but tuning to program # 0 instead of 2 which results in a "No Signal."

Keep in mind that the HDHR worked fine for me until I installed the latest Sage beta. Since then I've tried uninstalling Sage, deleting the install directory, rebooting the server, and reinstalling. I still get "No Signal."

Take all of this with a grain of salt because I've only in the last two days had to go digging into .scn and .frq files and the such. Before it "just worked."