SageTV Setup "Video Source Capture" Problem

[Mandingo609]

I am quite new and very inexperienced with Sagetv (and media servers in general) and am attempting a first time installation. It is with some desperation that I am penning this message with some hope of obtaining a solution to my problem.

Background:

I have purchased the following equipment to build by media server system:

1. Hauppague HD-PVR
2. SageTV HD Theater 300
3.RCEXT300 (External IR Receiver for HD300)
4.WIFI200 (USB Wireless b/g/n Adapter for HD Theater)
5. Synology DS210+ for NAS support

I followed steps from postings on this and related forums making sure I installed Java, DirectX and the most recent drivers etc.

I first worked on installing the HD-PVR device to provide the TV tuner function for video capture. The HD-PVR setup was successful and I am able to use ARCSoft TME to view and record live tv complete with audio. The second step of the system installation i.e. the sagetv server installation is where things go off the rails.

REQUEST DESCRIPTION:

1. I am unable to get the SageTv Server installation process to successfully execute the Video Source Setup step. The Video Source setup step fails with results described in the attached screenshots.

2. Although the Video Source Setup step fails, I was able to go to the final step and configure the channel selections from the RCN EPG. However, when I attempted to preview any of the selected channels I received an error that the capture device had a failure.

I have updated all drivers I could think of including NVIDA, Dxwebsetup (Directx).exe, and HD-PVR.

Here is my System Setup & Environment:

SOFTWARE: SageTV
VERSION: Version V7.0.23246 (Windows Vista 6.0)
TYPE OF USER: Licensed User
Computer: Dell XPS M1530 Laptop
OS: WIN Vista Home Premium
OS( 32 Bits ):
UAC: Turned Off
SageTV installation: Run as Administrator
CAPTURE DEVICE: Hauppauge HD-PVR CAPTURE DEVICE ( OTHER? ):
PROCESSOR: Intel Core 2 Duo CPU T5450 @ 1.66GHz
MEMORY: 2046MB
GRAPHICS CARD: NVIDIA GeFORCE 8400M GS
Graphics Driver (Updated) 7.15.11.5663
Connector Type: Internal (Not HDCP compliant) BLU-RAY-DD [F:\] ELBY CLONEDRIVE HD DVD Drive [F:\] ELBY CLONEDRIVE Software Player: ArcSoft Total Media Theatre 2.2.6.129 DVD MPEG2 ENCODER:
Java Version 1.6.0

ADDITIONAL HARDWARE:

HD-PVR setup executed successfully
Source: HD-PVR
Functioning: True
Network Encoder: False
Input Type: Component
Audio: RCA Back

SERVICE PROVIDER: RCN
BROADCAST CITY (LOCATION): Easton PA
COUNTRY: USA
SERVICE: * SageTV Service or EPG Plugin
SERVICE TYPE: Cable
STB: Motorola DCH3200

I have attached a set of screen shots including the log files from my installation runs.

I have messed around with this problem for days without success! Any help would be greatly appreciated!

[Codell]

Hello. In your second screenshot, the Available Video Diskspace is shown as -20GB. That doesn't look good.

In the fourth screenshot, I see you have one recording directory: \\localhost\Videos\SageTV. I wonder: when you set up this recording directory (Setup -> Detailed Setup -> General -> Video Recording Directories), did you set up that directory with the diskspace usage rule of "leave 20GB free"? If so, maybe Sage thinks the \\localhost\Videos\SageTV directory has no space available (maybe due to issues in DNS or file shares or access?), so maybe Sage thinks the total space available is -20GB after applying the diskspace usage rules.

A few things to try:
1. As Fuzzy suggested to someone else in a recent post (http://forums.sagetv.com/forums/showthread.php?t=53288), log into your server as the same user that the Sage service runs as, and (since I see from your screenshots you're running Vista) go to Start -> Run -> type in \\localhost\Videos\SageTV and see if you can open that directory. Does that work? If the directory doesn't work from Start -> Run, I don't believe it will work within Sage; and if we find a directory that does work in Start -> Run, then I expect it would also work within Sage.

2. As a quick, temporary workaround, try to add a video recording directory that exists on a local disk (e.g. some directory on C. Your Available Video Diskspace should become a positive number. If so, does that fix your Sage problem?

3. Maybe your Vista machine doesn't know how to resolve localhost? You could try adding the video recording directory as \\127.0.0.1\Videos\SageTV. Or make sure that localhost is defined in C:\Windows\System32\drivers\etc\hosts by adding the following line if it isn't there already:

127.0.0.1 localhost


Also, just curious, why are you using a recording directory on your local PC instead of on your Synology box? We're you just trying to keep things simple at first, or is the Videos share on your server actually a mapped connection from the Synology box? If the latter, then that might be part of the problem; it seems you'd be better served referencing it as \\name-or-IP-of Syn-box\sharename-on-Syn-box\SageTV instead of \\localhost\Videos\SageTV.


Hope this helps. I hope you're able to get things working so you can enjoy your Sage environment as much as we enjoy ours.

[rrhorer]

You should probably not set up you Video Directory (i.e., for recording) to be the same as your Import Directory for Videos (i.e., for you collection of video files -dvd rips and such). While I have not tried to make them both the same, it seems as if it might cause the type of problem you are having.

[Mandingo609]

Hi Codell:

Thanks for your kind response to my request for help.

You stated:

"Hello. In your second screenshot, the Available Video Diskspace is shown as -20GB. That doesn't look good.

In the fourth screenshot, I see you have one recording directory: \\localhost\Videos\SageTV. I wonder: when you set up this recording directory (Setup -> Detailed Setup -> General -> Video Recording Directories), did you set up that directory with the diskspace usage rule of "leave 20GB free"? If so, maybe Sage thinks the \\localhost\Videos\SageTV directory has no space available (maybe due to issues in DNS or file shares or access?), so maybe Sage thinks the total space available is -20GB after applying the diskspace usage rules."

<mandingo609> You are correct that I did select the rule "leave 20GB free" I was under the impression that Sagetv would leave 20GB of my currently available 76GB free. I have subsequently configured the rule as "use only 60GB" hoping that Sagetv then allocates 60GB for recording.

<mandingo609> I tried running SageTV as you suggested via the "Start -> Run -> type in \\localhost\Videos\SageTV" but it did not work (see attached screen shot)

You stated:

3. Maybe your Vista machine doesn't know how to resolve localhost? You could try adding the video recording directory as \\127.0.0.1\Videos\SageTV. Or make sure that localhost is defined in C:\Windows\System32\drivers\etc\hosts by adding the following line if it isn't there already:

<mandingo> I am not sure how to edit the host file to include the syntax you indicated. Vista is complaining that it does not know how to open the hosts file.

Also, you are quite right about my decision to go simple at first by not messing with the DS210+ drive. Having said that however, I am not even sure how one goes about actually pointing Sagetv to the Synology DS210+ drive....I could not find an obvious way of doing so. I would appreciate any suggestions in this regards.

Again thanks much for you help. I am very much anxious to get to a point where I can begin to enjoy the much lauded benefits of the Sagetv system!

[Mandingo609]

Originally Posted by rrhorer

You should probably not set up you Video Directory (i.e., for recording) to be the same as your Import Directory for Videos (i.e., for you collection of video files -dvd rips and such). While I have not tried to make them both the same, it seems as if it might cause the type of problem you are having.

Hi rrhorer:

Thanks for your kind reply to my post on the video capture problem.

I did not realize that I had in fact setup my video recording and import directories to be the same. I am somewhat completely at sea here. How do I ensure that these directories are in fact defined separately?

Thanks for any suggestions to address the above.

Regards,

[rrhorer]

First, I am not certain that this is your problem since I have not experienced the issue myself; but, you might try the following:

1. Add a new directory named "\\localhost\SageRecordings" as an example.
2. Then, select it for your recordings with whatever size restriction you decide upon.
3. Delete "\\localhost\Videos\SageTV" because it is a sub-directory under the Import Directory "\\localhost\Videos".
4. Leave your Import Directories, including "\\localhost\Videos", as named.

Once it is working, you'll be very pleased with the setup. Good luck.

[rrhorer]

After thinking on it some, I should explain the rationale a little better. An Import Directory is used to store your movie collection which can include many movie files and fan art contained within separate folders (i.e., sub-directories). DVD rips, for example, will be in a folder named for the DVD and will contain yet another folder (TS_VIDEO) that holds the actual video files. By putting your Recording Directory under the video Import Directory, you may have confused Sage into thinking it is simply one of your movie collection folders.