Low Volume in Windows 7

[Beaker]

I have a newly installed Windows 7 OS on a system previously running XP, SageTV, and no problems for years.

Now, with Windows 7's new way of handling audio outs, I have a problem with the volume slider in Sage only functioning for the top 40% (rough estimate). The lower 60% does nothing. When looking at Sage as represented in Window's mixer, I can see that the slider bottoms out when Sage's slider is at 60%.

Perhaps even worse, when I set the levels, as soon as I change the volume within Sage, the mixer's Sage drops to near nothing.

I have disabled the auto volume reduction for communications, but that didn't make any difference.

I have searched around here and found similar problems, but no answers. Same goes for Google searches: similar problems, but no answers. I'm open to any ideas, and I'd be very grateful for an education in the new Windows model for sound output.

[fidget]

I just reinstalled Windows 7 on my Mac and had the same problem. I had to go into the Detailed Setup area and change the Audio Renderer (in the Video / Audio section). In my case, I had to select "Direct Sound: Speakers (Apple USB audio device)" or "Speakers: (Apple USB audio device)"

[Beaker]

Thanks, fidget, but I've tried that (and just tried again). I guess what I'm looking for might be a way to hard-link Sage's volume with the mixer volume. Then again, maybe not. I don't fully understand the subsystem.

[ke6guj]

I submitted a ticket on the issue and Sage said that Windows 7 isn't supported, even though others mentioned the same problem in other OS's.

[Fuzzy]

While I've never had this problem, I also never use the Sage volume control. What you might try is using ReClock as your Audio Renderer. That provides the capability to use WASAPI output (the new direct Sound Card connection in Vista/Win7), which should mostly bypass the windows mixer.

[Beaker]

ReClock, huh? I just may try that. Does it uninstall cleanly?

[Fuzzy]

Yes

[doc]

Have you tried using the following setting in the sage.properties file?

media_player_uses_system_volume=true

[Beaker]

No, Doc. I never even thought to look in there. I'll experiment with that later today.

[Beaker]

So the entry in sage.properties solved the issue of Sage's internal volume being set to 0 at startup. That's handy.

As for the volume, I've set my remote to control system volume, rather than Sage volume. I use LM Remote KeyMap to configure my old MCE remote. So while I don't see Sage's volume slider on volume change, I do see the one provided by LM Remote KeyMap, which I have positioned in the same corner as Sage's own.

For those following this thread looking to make Sage 6 work with Windows 7, you may find, like I have, that upon starting Sage with your computer there are no recordings listed. This happens when the service isn't started. The service won't start when the Sage app is running.

To solve this I have set the service to Automatic, that is, start when Windows starts. Then I have configured the power button on my remote to start the Sage app if it isn't already running, or to issue Sage's sleep command if it is.