Help with 'No Channels Scanned'

[iannbrown]

Would appreciate any help on the following.

I am a fairly experienced SageTV server user and experienced IT consultant. I've built around 6 different SageTV Servers, on XP, Vista and W7, with 2, 4 and 6 tuners, just for me and friends. I am based in Australia and use XMLTV Importer for SageTV with IceTV data for EPG info.

The issue I have, or the thing that I am missing and have never worked out, is that almost without exception, each time I build one, or like today, try to modify tuners, I get a constant issue with the tuning.

Today I went to a friends with a 2 tuner system, to add another tuner. It added fine, I used the same lineup as the other tuners that have been working fine for a year, and worked perfectly. But it knocked out both of the exising tuners, so when I tuned in is showed 0% signal. Same antenna etc...but neither would work (was DVICO Dual4). New tuner was fine.

Almost every time I build a server, I get a similar thing. Install tuners (I have used DVICO, Happauge, K-World, and Winfast and this happens on all of them) - check that the supplied TV Viewing program works with the cards/USB sticks and can tune in. All this OK.

Install and configure SageTV, usually as a service, add tuners, do a full channel search and it finds nothing. (Occasionally it does find the full range of channels)

Until today, I thought it was to do with the .frq files, yet the new tuner I put in today, scanned fine, yet the .frq file for it had a date created from 11/2009, which is impossible, and it showed the old line-up that the previous working two cards had. I know this as we have had new digital channels come on line recently, and it had scanned these, and tuned into them successfully, yet they did not show in the .frq file. (Even though the lineup created through XMLTV Importer for SageTV had these in it.)

As another example, I had built an entire server with XP, added 2 tuners, and been unable to scan anything in SageTV. After 6 hours mucking around decided to rebuild in Vista, done the exact same process and tuned in fine.

I guess what I am trying to establish is where are the specific files or settings that hold the lineups (if these arent the .frq files)? Also when it scans sometimes it only scans briefly, for say 4 or 5 channels, other times for 30 or 40, as though it is sometimes limited to a certain range. I had previously thought this was to do with the default DVB-T .frq file, which has all the country ranges in it, yet I have had this happen numerous times with the same file in place.

Usually the only around these issues I have had is to keep trying different OS rebuilds until they work, which is time consuming and tedious.

I have read all the threads about no channels scanned, yet none seem the same as mine. It seems to be indifferent to all OSes and Tuner card brands as it happens pretty much with all of them.

Has anyone had similar experience of frustraion? Does anyone have a complete handle on correcting this type of behaviour? Am I missing simple fundamental understanding of this?

Thanks in advance.