A few questions before I deside to buy.

[Ack]

Hello all,

I’m building a new HTPC and giving SageTV a whirl as software to use (with the trial period) before I see if my meager Linux skills, and patients are up to the task of making another Mythtv box, or possibly a SageTV/Linux box.

So far I really like the latest SageTV. It is very easy to work with and basic setup is a snap. And after poking about the forums for a bit it seems as though with a few user made plug-in’s and a reasonable amount of my time. I should have little trouble setting up comskipping and transcodeing . Although before take the plunge and purchase SageTV I would like to see if I can fix one small problem. And ask a few questions of SageTV’s functionality.

First off some of the more important system info and how I have it setup at this point:
Vista 64, AMD 3GhzX2 , 8GB, ATI HD4550 512MB W/HDMI out going to a 42”LCD Samsung, and with a Hauppauge 1600 and a Hauppauge HD-PVR. This is set up as a standalone with server capabilities. At the moment the HD-PVR is set as the only video source. And I’m using the optical audio out to the motherboards sound systems optical in. The 1600 is only being used for the IR at this point. All though it is working in SageTV if set it up as a video source, which is ultimately the plan, as the network only video source if possible.

Ok first the small problem I would like to fix. When tuning in a channel from the HD-PVR the video stutters a bit, but if I pause the video for just 2-3 seconds the video plays fine. And will stay fine even through same channel show/time changes, and as long as the channel is not changed to a different TV station, if changed a short pause is necessary again.

Now after a few quick searches of the forums to see if it’s fixable. I came across an older post that mentioned that maybe the “delay_wait” setting in a config file (which I can’t remember the file name ATM) and setting that to 4000 would fix some pausing issues with the HD-PVR. So I took a quick look and it seemed it was set to 4000 by default. And also a post that mentioned a recording HD cluster size of 64k may help, although my recording partition is 64k clusters. And didn’t really find any other posts that may fix the pause, It’s was a quick search like I said. Can that little pause be fixed?

Ok now on to the functionality questions that I have:
Can SageTV be set to use the HD-PVR as the primary video source for the main computer (server/client) and only use the 1600 card and it’s channel lineup(automatically) as a live TV back up for the main computer if the HD-PVR is busy recording?

And also is it possible to set the 1600 card as the only live TV option for clients that connects to the server to see and/or use?
And the last question. I have one client that duel boots Vista and Linux, will I need to buy one copy for each OS for that one particular client computer?

Thats it for now,
Thanks
Ack.

[stanger89]

Originally Posted by Ack

Ok first the small problem I would like to fix. When tuning in a channel from the HD-PVR the video stutters a bit, but if I pause the video for just 2-3 seconds the video plays fine. And will stay fine even through same channel show/time changes, and as long as the channel is not changed to a different TV station, if changed a short pause is necessary again.

Now after a few quick searches of the forums to see if it’s fixable. I came across an older post that mentioned that maybe the “delay_wait” setting in a config file (which I can’t remember the file name ATM) and setting that to 4000 would fix some pausing issues with the HD-PVR. So I took a quick look and it seemed it was set to 4000 by default. And also a post that mentioned a recording HD cluster size of 64k may help, although my recording partition is 64k clusters. And didn’t really find any other posts that may fix the pause, It’s was a quick search like I said. Can that little pause be fixed?

What you describe is not exactly the same issue. For yours, take a look for a live TV hold off setting. It tells Sage how far to stay behind the recording to prevent running out of recording (if playback is a tad faster than recording), which causes the pausing.

Ok now on to the functionality questions that I have:
Can SageTV be set to use the HD-PVR as the primary video source for the main computer (server/client) and only use the 1600 card and it’s channel lineup(automatically) as a live TV back up for the main computer if the HD-PVR is busy recording?

You can tell Sage which one to use first, but no you can't assign tuners specifically for live TV.

And also is it possible to set the 1600 card as the only live TV option for clients that connects to the server to see and/or use?
And the last question. I have one client that duel boots Vista and Linux, will I need to buy one copy for each OS for that one particular client computer?

If Placeshifter works for you, one license for that will work for both.

[Ack]

Thanks Stanger89,

What you describe is not exactly the same issue. For yours, take a look for a live TV hold off setting. It tells Sage how far to stay behind the recording to prevent running out of recording (if playback is a tad faster than recording), which causes the pausing.

Where would one find that setting? (TV hold off). I’ve looked in sage.properties and within the GUI setting. Or did I just miss it?

You can tell Sage which one to use first, but no you can't assign tuners specifically for live TV.

Can I choose the priority of the tuner to use in the client? Or is the client bound to the server priority settings?

Thanks for your help.
Ack.

[stanger89]

Originally Posted by Ack

Thanks Stanger89,



Where would one find that setting? (TV hold off). I’ve looked in sage.properties and within the GUI setting. Or did I just miss it?

It might be this (in milliseconds):
videoframe/local_encoding_to_playback_delay

Can I choose the priority of the tuner to use in the client? Or is the client bound to the server priority settings?

It's global. There's no distinction between liveTV and recordings in Sage's recording logic, LiveTV is just another recording as far as the Sage recording logic goes.

[Ack]

It might be this (in milliseconds):
videoframe/local_encoding_to_playback_delay

Found it and a setting of 7000 did the trick. any lower and still had the shudder.

thanks for that.

Ack