Looking to test the Sage waters

[mickdaly]

Originally Posted by mistergq

I am not sure anyone has tried this. For most of us, the HD200 is in the same room as the tv, so we use the remote with IR, not RF.

I have 3 HD200s in a Media Closet (one floor up), controlled from other rooms by 2 Harmony 880s (IR) and 1 Harmony 890 (RF) ... all work beautifully.

Mick
HP Mediasmart EX-470 server with 4.5tb storage, running Sagetv; 2 Hauppauge HD-PVRs; 2 Directv Receivers (H20 and H21 channel changing by usb/serial/usb cables); 4 Sagetv HD-200s; Pioneer KRP-500M Kuro plasma; Pioneer Elite SC-07 receiver; Panasonic TH-50PH9UK plasma; Sharp Aquos LC-C4067U LCD.

[gacevich]

Originally Posted by mickdaly

I have 3 HD200s in a Media Closet (one floor up), controlled from other rooms by 2 Harmony 880s (IR) and 1 Harmony 890 (RF) ... all work beautifully.

Mick
HP Mediasmart EX-470 server with 4.5tb storage, running Sagetv; 2 Hauppauge HD-PVRs; 2 Directv Receivers (H20 and H21 channel changing by usb/serial/usb cables); 4 Sagetv HD-200s; Pioneer KRP-500M Kuro plasma; Pioneer Elite SC-07 receiver; Panasonic TH-50PH9UK plasma; Sharp Aquos LC-C4067U LCD.

mick, thanks for the response. would elaborate on how you get the rf signal to control the hd200? thanks.

[cat6man]

hi,
been there..........done that.......(i.e. migrated from btv to sage)

love sage integrated with hd200 (no going back once you can set up recordings at the tv set)

as for BD playback, there are 2 issues for me, playing back the correct file/menu navigation/etc and getting HD audio out (no hdmi1.3)

if you have the patience (i thought i didn't but amazingly i do!), you can be like me and wait for the next extender which i hope is sometime next year (no, nothing has been announced but looking at other products that are hitting the market but not yet ready for prime time, like the pch and hdi boxes, i'd guess
1Q10 for the next gen sigma chips and syabas f/w to be stable enough for them to consider an hd300)

integration of hd200 and sage is so cool it changed my viewpoint completely regarding my system priorities............i have 2 hd200 and need 3, but i'm waiting for hdmi1.3/etc version for main home theater system, then i'll move one hd200 from home theater to basement system where i have an old ziova network media player

[SamVimes2]

Hi gace,

I'm SamVimes2 over on the CQC forums, one of the ones who recommended you check out STV.

My setup sounds very similar to yours/your goal. I have a single WHS server running CQC and Sage.

I have two HD200s fed by the server. I control them using MX-850 remotes over RF to MRF-250 base stations, which then flash the extenders (among other things).

You're not SOL if the longest file is not the main movie - you can navigate to the correct .m2ts file and play it in the browser. I also use CQC+MyMovies with Sage, so I just point MM to the right file. I've only ever had one BR where this was a problem (but I don't have a large collection).

I hope this is helpful.

[gacevich]

Originally Posted by Agonostis

I have two HD200s fed by the server. I control them using MX-850 remotes over RF to MRF-250 base stations, which then flash the extenders (among other things).

this was very helpful, thanks. do you need to use girder to help flash the extenders or will the mrf-250 be enough by itself?

[SamVimes2]

Originally Posted by gacevich

this was very helpful, thanks. do you need to use girder to help flash the extenders or will the mrf-250 be enough by itself?

MX-850 to RF-250 works all by itself for controlling the HD extenders. It's exactly like your MX-800 and RF-200.

You only need Girder currently because BTV is a software based playback system. If you were planning on using the Sage PC Client for playback you'd need an analogous setup.

One of the many advantages of the the HD extenders is that they're 100% remote-based CE devices. It comes with a remote that you can just learn to your MX-800, or you can use the premade one available for download somewhere here on the forum.

[autoboy]

You can also delete the playlist file for the directors cut in the Blu-ray file and it will play the correct file. Rumor is that playlist selection is coming to the HD200.

WHS and the HD200 are a good combo. Once you go extender, you'll wonder why you ever dealt with a PC client.

Linux and HD200 is also a good combo if you know your way around linux.

I've never missed HD audio once switching to a HD200 for most of my BD playback.

[gacevich]

Originally Posted by autoboy

You can also delete the playlist file for the directors cut in the Blu-ray file and it will play the correct file.

let me start by saying that i'm still waiting on my hd200 to arrive so i don't know if this will be obvious once i use it....but, right now i rip br dvd's as .iso. if br is a .iso file, where do i see the playlist file to delete the director's cut?

[Fuzzy]

Honestly, I'd avoid using .ISO files. I don't think it works correctly, and you'd have to mount it separately. If BD-Live and menus aren't important to you, then you'd be better off ripping and remuxing JUST the main feature and the audio channels you want (if you are only using HD-200's, you'd be better off just keeping a single AC3 track), into a single video file (MKV works well using ClownBD and MakeMKV). It would save space, and be much simpler. Would also avoid problems with it detecting the wrong playlist.

[CollinR]

My TX-1000 has the STP-100 in it's code database, the HD200 uses the same codes.

Keep girder it's good for a crapload of other stuffs.


You can also control the HD200 from the webserver interface plugin, this can be used with girder and wget to create integrated interface in cqc. However I think that functionality already exists.


Trust me the next thing you will want is CQC on your HD200 as once you get fully wet. I have HomeAutomatedLiving just for that as there is a SageTV plugin.

[gacevich]

Originally Posted by Fuzzy

then you'd be better off ripping and remuxing JUST the main feature and the audio channels you want (if you are only using HD-200's, you'd be better off just keeping a single AC3 track), into a single video file (MKV works well using ClownBD and MakeMKV)

right now i'm using anydvdhd to rip to iso. anybody ripping specific files with anydvdhd? trying to avoid having to get another piece of software. thanks.

[bits]

Originally Posted by gacevich

right now i'm using anydvdhd to rip to iso. anybody ripping specific files with anydvdhd? trying to avoid having to get another piece of software. thanks.

Are you saying that you can only rip to iso with AnyDVD? I used the trial version of AnyDVD and was ripping to video_ts and not ISO. I use DVDFab for DVD and BD but I think AnyDVD will output to video_ts (IFO) for DVDs. Not sure about BD since I have not actually ripped one.

I just received and setup my first HD200 and I am quite pleased so far. Been messing with network media players for years and this is the best of the bunch by far. No more VMC or WM7

If you are running XP then I see no advantage to upgrading to W7. I was running Vista therefore there is an advantage to upgrading to W7!

My main PC, the one I use for everything including the SageTV server has 6 internal HDDs. I can surf the web, record two differnt shows, do commercial detection, do video conversions and stream video to the HD200 simultaneously without skipping a beat. It is a newer system (Q9550/W7) but I am sure it is quite a bit more than what is really needed.

I have another XP machine with BTV on it and I use it to do some recording and commercial removing but I mainly keep it as a server. It has 5 internal HDDs. On nights that I am not recording I shut it down. So you may consider keeping the PC you think you want to get rid of as a server. IMHO the only digital stuff that needs to be backed up is personal non-replaceable stuff. So if you have an xp rig, stuff some drives in it and use it as a PC/server.

So far, the HD200 is everything it is advertised to be! WAF is easy with this unit!

[cat6man]

+1 for ripping backups to video_ts (file format)

[CollinR]

Agreed do not rip to ISO, those are basically disk images you must mount to use. This just makes the process more complicated, I don't even think there is any space savings either.

[Fuzzy]

In most cases, you LOSE space ripping to ISO, as it contains all the useless disc parameters. AnyDVDHD will run in the background, and automatically remove the protection on the fly, so you can simply copy and paste from windows explorer if you want (DVD or BD). Instead, though, I'd suggest using ClownBD or MakeMKV (both free, i believe) to do the copying. They are quite capable of reading the disc formats, and remuxing just the files you want.

[hucker]

Originally Posted by gacevich

i started wondering if whs is the right answer for my htpc when i saw that the system drive could only be 20gb. seemed rather limiting to me. my htpc is currently xp based, is there a strong reason to move to win7 vs staying with xp? why spend the $$$ on win7 when i could spend the $$$ on sage, huh?

I'm not sure what the worry is with the 20gb system drive on whs. This is space for the operating system, not the data.

One thing you don't need to worry about with whs is storage. You literally plug in a new drive into a free sata/usb/esata/ide connector and add it to the drive pool and you are done. It is either 2 or 3 mouse clicks.

[gacevich]

so i have finally been able to find some time dip my toe into the sage waters. mediacenter installed fairly easily. got my hauppauge 250 installed and channels mapped. this tuner seems to work fine. went thru the steps of getting the hdhr installed. it works...kinda. i can tune to all the channels and they come in fine. however, when i try to change channels on the digital broadcast of the ota signals, sage crashes. that is, sage reports an error, sends it to microsoft and i'm staring at my desktop with sage not running. this has happened about dozen times and i can't figure out the problem.

installed by fusion hdtv ota digital tuner card. station scan seemed to go fine. was able to see one channel preview properly before sage crashed again. the crash looked a lot like the crash when changing channels on the hdhr channels. very disappointing.

finally, i can't seem to record successfully. i always get an error message that same something along the lines of not being able to access a file. all recording is done to on a hdd on the htpc running media center. i haven't even tried to hook up the extender and get it working.

boy, for a first time playing with sage i'm a bit disappointed. i know the gui would be difficult, but i was expecting a more solid, stable program. i'm sure that some of the problems are my own doing thru sage ignorance, but this is the part of switching to sage that i was dreading: a steep learning curve with all sorts of potholes.

hopefully i can get more time today to sift thru my setup and correct the problems.

btw, using most recent version of sage and hdhr software.

[bits]

Originally Posted by gacevich

so i have finally been able to find some time dip my toe into the sage waters. mediacenter installed fairly easily. got my hauppauge 250 installed and channels mapped. this tuner seems to work fine. went thru the steps of getting the hdhr installed. it works...kinda. i can tune to all the channels and they come in fine. however, when i try to change channels on the digital broadcast of the ota signals, sage crashes. that is, sage reports an error, sends it to microsoft and i'm staring at my desktop with sage not running. this has happened about dozen times and i can't figure out the problem.

installed by fusion hdtv ota digital tuner card. station scan seemed to go fine. was able to see one channel preview properly before sage crashed again. the crash looked a lot like the crash when changing channels on the hdhr channels. very disappointing.

finally, i can't seem to record successfully. i always get an error message that same something along the lines of not being able to access a file. all recording is done to on a hdd on the htpc running media center. i haven't even tried to hook up the extender and get it working.

boy, for a first time playing with sage i'm a bit disappointed. i know the gui would be difficult, but i was expecting a more solid, stable program. i'm sure that some of the problems are my own doing thru sage ignorance, but this is the part of switching to sage that i was dreading: a steep learning curve with all sorts of potholes.

hopefully i can get more time today to sift thru my setup and correct the problems.

btw, using most recent version of sage and hdhr software.

Is the XP server you are having trouble on the same one that had BTV on it?

Sometime back when I was doing yet another SageTV trial I installed it on my XP Pro along side BTV and had nothing but issues. I uninstalled the SageTV trial and was happy that my BTV install still ran ok. I also ran into something similar when I tried SageTV on my Vista Home PC. I was trying to run SageTV and VMC side by side. In that case it was VMC that started having recording issues.

FWIW I made the switch about 6 weeks ago. Installed SageTV on my W7 Home Premium and hooked up my new HD200. There was a learning curve but all in all it went quite smoothly and we (my family and I) are very pleased with the HD200. The SageTV server software has not caused a crash nor crashed even once. I have it recording from a PVR150 hooked to a cable STB changing channels using USB UIRT and from a DVICO FushionHDTV USB7 to record OTA HD.

[tmiranda]

Originally Posted by gacevich

finally, i can't seem to record successfully. i always get an error message that same something along the lines of not being able to access a file.

Can you elaborate on this? What specific error are you getting? How are the drives on the HTPC configured and where have you put the recording directory? How much space do you have on the drive(s)?

If Sage can't save the recordings you will see some of the other errors you are reporting.

[gacevich]

thanks for everyone's feedback, especially bits. indeed, btv was still on my xp based htpc machine. uninstalled btv, rebooted and viola...many of my issues have vanished. i have made good progress in getting my system working and am now working out the kinks. if you can help me out with any of the below items i would be very appreciative. thanks in advance.

1) as noted in my auto sig, i have various tuners attached to my system. how do i know which tuner will be used to record a show if more than one tuner is capable of recording the show? i ask this because in may days using btv i found that my hdpvr was my least reliable tuner, but my ota fusionhdtv tuner was my most reliable. i'd like to direct recordings, when possible, to my most reliable tuner. unfortunately, i have not yet figured how to tell which tuner will be used nor how to direct the recording to a specific tuner.

2) i have some exercise videos that i have ripped to my hdd and like to watch while i workout. with btv it was easy...i could create a directory at a location of my chosing then add this directory folder to btv and presto...all the videos in that folder were easily accessible and viewable. i can locate these files via the media center option and scroll to the files but its not easy to get there. ideally, i'd like to have the videos located in Videos (from the main menu) in a new folder called "Workouts". is this possible? i skimmed thru the 400 page sage manual but did not see where this topic was addressed. might be easier if i was pointed to the applicable section.

3) i'm hoping this is a simple setup issue. i added my hdpvr as a source. sage learned the codes from the remote i use to control my external stb. i was able to preview every channel i wanted during setup. worked beautifully. finished the setup and went to the program guide and tried to select a digital hd channel just viewed via my hdpvr. no joy. go a "No Signal" error. also noticed that the usb-uirt was not flashing when the channel was selected (it flashed during my earlier setup). why might my usb-uirt now not be flashing? is non-flashing the only reason i can't see the channel via the hdpvr?

4) i cruised on over to the online videos. this was cool, when i could view the video. several times i got errors saying that the selected video did not have the correct file type (mpeg4, avi, etc) or "Unable to determine the videofile to download". the later came from just about every youtube video. are there settings that i have not properly set? again, this may be easier to answer if i am pointed to the best spot in the sage manual to read.