How to enable duplicate recording?

[lenkost]

Does anyone know how to disable these 2 features as described in SageTV manual:

1. If it is already recorded & sitting in the list of SageTV Recordings, it won't be recorded again.
2. If the episode is marked as 'Watched' or 'Don't Like', SageTV won't record it again

I would like to use SageTV as a TimeShifter recording everything on 2 of my favorite channels. I use Favorite by Keyword "Title:*" on a selected channel. I would like to record ALL shows in sequence regardless of their status so the

LIST OF RECORDED SHOWS MATCH THE GUIDE.

This will cause duplicate recordings, but they will all be deleted when space is needed.

Thanks.

[Slugger]

If you mark them as manual recordings then those rules are ignored.

[lenkost]

How do I mark ALL shows for a channel as manual?
The only way I know is a Favorite by Keyword "Title:*"

[Slugger]

You'll have to write a plugin or install the remote API (sagex) and write a script that does this for you. The latter probably being the easier/quicker option of the two, though neither one is particularly difficult - assuming you can code.

If you can't code, then the only other way (that comes to mind immediately - maybe someone else knows some other way) would be to actually manually mark them as manual recordings one by one in EPG guide.

[Fuzzy]

You could run a couple clients always tuned to live tv on those stations.. that would get them always recording... i guess the real question is, WHY do you want to do this?

[lenkost]

Fuzzy, I have a single dedicated computer with VGA cable connected directly to my TV running SageTV as a Server and a client.
I wish there was an option in Favorites setup allowing to record ALL shows as specified. I was hoping that there is some Sage property to do that.

As for why, I usually watch only 2-3 channels anyway and do not have time to set up recording for specific shows. I prefer just brouse thru and pick a show I like.

I installed SageTV 7.12 but it does not have this option for favorites as well.
It should not be difficult to add.

[Fuzzy]

My point being, that the main premise of a DVR is to get away from scheduled items anyways. If you've got the * favorite working, with a particular channel, that should be enough to capture everything the channel airs. What is the point of filling your drive with duplicate recordings?

SageTV is much better once you realize that the POINT of it is so you can decide what you want to watch, and not just watch whatever is on.

[lenkost]

I indeed have all the shows recorded. But I would like to have them in the recordings list in the same order as in the guide, so I have the same experience as watching a live channeel. Gaps in the timeline make me think that something was not recorded for some reason.

I want to see the chanel like it is a live TV just shifted in time.

[Fuzzy]

yeah, I'm guessing then that sage, out of the box, is not the product for you. It is however, very customizable, and as was already pointed out, could be scripted to do as you are requesting, though i'd really recommend giving the more traditional DVR usage a try.

[lenkost]

It does not have to be acual duplicate file. It could be just a link in a recording list pointing to that file. But if I have scheduled it I would like to see something for that time spot. As far as using HD space, there is nothing else I need to use it for. And I would like to have a chance to decide by myself.

[lenkost]

In addition to that I am using XMLTVImport plugin. It uses epgdata.XML file generated from web published schedule for Russian channels. Shows in the XML file do not have ShowID assigned to them and ShowIDs are generated by SageTV.
In a number of cases there were different episodes with exactly the same name and SageTV assumes it is the same episode and does not record it.

It is much more important to me to be sure that all episodes are recorded then save hd space by not recording duplicates. I would like to have an option and to be able to decide how to record a favorite.

And about "Watched" and "Do not like". If someone in my family watched episode or did not like it and deleted it, it does not mean that I should never have a chance to record and watch it myself. And again I would like to be able to choose how to record favorite.

[GKusnick]

Originally Posted by lenkost

In a number of cases there were different episodes with exactly the same name and SageTV assumes it is the same episode and does not record it.

It's probably the plugin and not SageTV making that assumption and assigning the same episode ID to different episodes. If the plugin can be modified to use generic show IDs instead of specific episode IDs, SageTV will play it safe and record them all.

Originally Posted by lenkost

If someone in my family watched episode or did not like it and deleted it, it does not mean that I should never have a chance to record and watch it myself.

This sounds like more of a social problem than a technical problem. Nevertheless, if something gets deleted by mistake before everybody's watched it, you can go back and manually clear the Watched and Don't Like flags, and Sage will record it again next time it airs.

Originally Posted by lenkost

And again I would like to be able to choose how to record favorite.

The Favorites feature is meant to address the most common use cases for recurring recordings. Yours is a rather unusual use case that doesn't fit well with the Favorite paradigm. I'm guessing there aren't many users who will want to do what you're trying to do, so the likelihood of getting the Favorite behavior changed to suit your needs is probably not very high.

But as Slugger said earlier, you always have the option of taking complete control over how things are recorded by writing a script or plugin that chooses programs for manual recording using whatever rules you like. If that's within your technical ability, then it's probably the most expedient solution to your problem.

[lenkost]

Originally Posted by GKusnick

The Favorites feature is meant to address the most common use cases for recurring recordings. Yours is a rather unusual use case that doesn't fit well with the Favorite paradigm. I'm guessing there aren't many users who will want to do what you're trying to do, so the likelihood of getting the Favorite behavior changed to suit your needs is probably not very high.

Well, lets accept Favorite paradigm and forget about Timeshifting. Here is what is quite confusing for me:
When I look at Program Guide or Recording schedule I see episodes which are supposed to be recorded by favorite do not have a red icon with "F". The reason for this is that the episode is already recorded or marked as "Watched". But I dont know the reason and therefore worry whether or not I am missing an episode.

It would help a lot if:

1. Such episodes had an icon explaining the reason (e.g. yellow "R" for already recorded or yellow "W" for watched)

2. They also should be added to Recordings as LINKS to previosly recorded show if shows are ordered by time.

[Slugger]

Originally Posted by lenkost

It would help a lot if:

1. Such episodes had an icon explaining the reason (e.g. yellow "R" for already recorded or yellow "W" for watched)

Agreed. However, in the default UI, an episode that is already watched is displayed in italics. Not so obvious, but "watched" episodes are indeed marked in the EPG (I'd agree that more obvious marking/icon would be better). But a marker for an episode that's currently on disk and available to be viewed is a pretty good idea. I'd even take it a step further and if I select such an airing that it then allows me to start watching it. (This may already happen, never tried it.)

2. They also should be added to Recordings as LINKS to previosly recorded show if shows are ordered by time.

Disagree with this one. If I've recorded an episode of Seinfeld I definitely do not want it listed in my recorded programs once for each occurrence in the EPG. That would be a nightmare to navigate through (b/c any one episode of Seinfeld is on dozens of channels all the time).

[Fuzzy]

Originally Posted by Slugger

I'd even take it a step further and if I select such an airing that it then allows me to start watching it. (This may already happen, never tried it.)

It wouldn't do this currently. Because from the guide, the object you are looking at is a specific Airing. I supposed there MIGHT be a way to have it check the Show object associated with that airing, and see if there are any current MediaFiles associated with that Show, and offer some options for that. Don't see myself ever using it, but I don't think it would be that hard to add.

[stanger89]

Originally Posted by GKusnick

It's probably the plugin and not SageTV making that assumption and assigning the same episode ID to different episodes. If the plugin can be modified to use generic show IDs instead of specific episode IDs, SageTV will play it safe and record them all.

I think we need to go back to this, because this seems to be the root of the problem. It seems as though the data importer is incorrectly tagging different episodes with the same episode ID.

Episode ID format should only be used when the guide data is unique (and ideally correct) for each episode. If your guide data is not unique for each episode, then the Show ID format should be being used.

I thought the XMLTV or other guide data plugins offered functionality to enable/disable something like this (ie guessing based on the data if the episode information is unique).

If this isn't the issue, and the OP is really asking for the same episodes, with the correct metadata, to be re-recorded every day, regardless of if they're on disk already, well then I guess custom plugin is what you're looking for, because as Greg said, almost nobody wants that sort of functionality.

[lenkost]

I started this thread with a request which does not seem to be popular.
But as I stated earlier my main concern is "where is that show?"

For future recordings additional icons in Program Guide for show that will not be recorded should be OK.
(e.g. yellow "R" for already recorded or yellow "W" for watched)

For the past recordings there should be an easy way to find out what happened without doing investigation involving ShowIDs etc.
It could be a simple one click report from Recordings screen with a list of daily recording activity: what was recorded, what was not and why.
Going back number of days.
It could be something else.
Bottom line is that it must be easy:
You expected something to be recorded? It was not and here is why.

[Fuzzy]

I think it's easier to just trust that sage is recording what you tell it to record. If something is missed, it will trigger a system message saying why it was missed (either by conflict, or tuner failure).

[lenkost]

Trust is hard to come by these days.
Well, I tried my best and now I give up.
Hope Sage will make their product better so it can be used not just by geeks but by a layperson like myself.
Thank you everyone for discussing this.

[spacecadet]

Originally Posted by lenkost

Trust is hard to come by these days.
Well, I tried my best and now I give up.
Hope Sage will make their product better so it can be used not just by geeks but by a layperson like myself.
Thank you everyone for discussing this.

Jumping into this late, but if your goal is to have the "live channel" experience, What about setting up recurring manual recordings that capture the channel in 8 hour chunks of time? You wouldn't have info about what shows were in the recordings, but you'd be able to watch the channel "live", duplicates and all.

Just my 2 cents.