SageTV - Am I doing it right?

[zanthor]

I'm migrating from BeyondTV to SageTV and making some changes in my home setup. Before I get mired into making things work I wanted to make sure I had the right pieces to move forward with, and wanted to get feedback on a few issues...

I have Beyond TV running on a moderately beefy Athlon X2 with 4GB of ram and one HVR-2250, I've purchased a 2nd HVR-2250 to go into this box and plan on removing BeyondTV and running SageTV on this box. This box will be connected to a spare monitor for management, but no TV will be watched on this box.

Server
Athlon X2 5600 (2.8GHZ Dual Core)
Nvidia 8500GT Video Card
20GB C: Drive, OS/Program Files only
1.5TB E: Drive - Storage of DVD's, Music, Assorted Media
1.5TB F: Drive - Recorded TV Storage
10/100 NIC

Network
NetGear 10/100/1000 Ethernet Switch
LinkSys WRT54G Wireless Router (54mbit)

Extender(s)
HD300 connected to my Denon Receiver via HDMI - This is my main TV in the living room, I've decided to remove the PC from the equation because my Denon receiver doesn't play well with the PC's DVI->HDMI converted signal and I often have to reboot the PC to get video back. I can't imagine the HD300 suffering from this sort of issue.

Placeshifter - (Considering this) I'm considering the placeshifter but it's a secondary priority as of now.

64 Bit Windows 7 box running SageTV's Client (Considering this) - I've got the demo setup and like that I can fully manage SageTV from the comfort of my office as well as watch TV there.

Questions
Is there a specific "Server" version of SageTV or do I just use the standard "SageTV Media Center for Windows Version 7" license?

Will I need to purchase an additional Client license to run this from my office PC? Since I won't be using the client on the server... I believe the answer is yes I need to buy the client for my office.

Can I utilize the Web User Interface combined with the PlaceShifter to manage my sageTV installation from the office and watch TV there?

Is it a best practice to only record video to a dedicated drive or is it OK to store other crap there?

Is it possible to set defaults for 'favorites', in my test installation I've setup all my favorites, but I generally record 5 minutes before and after a show to ensure I don't miss anything, and couldn't figure out how to set that as a default setting.

I'm sure I'll have more questions... they just seem to be escaping me for the moment.

[GKusnick]

Originally Posted by zanthor

Is there a specific "Server" version of SageTV or do I just use the standard "SageTV Media Center for Windows Version 7" license?

If your OS is WHS, there's a separate installer for that. For all other versions of Windows, use the regular SageTV Media Center installer. Media Center is the server software.

Originally Posted by zanthor

Will I need to purchase an additional Client license to run this from my office PC? Since I won't be using the client on the server... I believe the answer is yes I need to buy the client for my office.

SageTV Client is a separate product, licensed separately. You will need one Client license for each installation of SageTV Client. (The server's UI is covered under the Media Center license.)

Originally Posted by zanthor

Can I utilize the Web User Interface combined with the PlaceShifter to manage my sageTV installation from the office and watch TV there?

The web UI plugin can be used for many (but not all) admin functions, but it's a third-party web app with a different UI and menu organization from the actual SageTV product. It has some hooks to allow playback of media files using third-party players, but it's kind of clunky in my opinion and I never use it for that.

Placeshifter and SageTV Client both provide full admin access, using the same SageTV UI as the server. Playback is supported natively within the UI. For wired LAN use on a desktop PC, I would recommend Client over Placeshifter for greater playback configurability.

Originally Posted by zanthor

Is it a best practice to only record video to a dedicated drive or is it OK to store other crap there?

It's really up to you. I would recommend a separate boot drive, but I see no reason not to keep music, DVD rips, and other media on the same drive as your SageTV recordings.

Originally Posted by zanthor

Is it possible to set defaults for 'favorites', in my test installation I've setup all my favorites, but I generally record 5 minutes before and after a show to ensure I don't miss anything, and couldn't figure out how to set that as a default setting.

Search the forum for "hidden extras" to find out how to access those settings.

[KeithAbbott]

Originally Posted by zanthor

Server
Athlon X2 5600 (2.8GHZ Dual Core)
Nvidia 8500GT Video Card
20GB C: Drive, OS/Program Files only
1.5TB E: Drive - Storage of DVD's, Music, Assorted Media
1.5TB F: Drive - Recorded TV Storage
10/100 NIC

Network
NetGear 10/100/1000 Ethernet Switch
LinkSys WRT54G Wireless Router (54mbit)

The C: drive seems a little on the small side for your server. You didn't mention what OS you were planning on running on the server. I have Windows 7 Home Premium on a 30GB SSD, and am utilizing 14GB now. I don't have any plugins and whatnot either. You might be able to get by with 20GB, but your options down the road may be limited.

Also, and you probably already know this, your server won't be able to take advantage of the gigabit switch. You should be ok with fast ethernet initially, as your system grows you might need to upgrade the server NIC to gigabit, especially if you plan to run multiple clients and extenders.

[zanthor]

I'm running Windows XP SP3 on the server, I've got about 5GB free space there, I've considered upgrading to Windows 7 or Windows Home Server, if I go this route I'll be upgrading my C: drive.

Thanks for the tip about Hidden Extras (Linked since I'm lazy)
http://forums.sagetv.com/forums/showthread.php?t=50000
(I wonder, did they do the thread # on purpose, or was that just blind luck?)

Placeshifter having the same UI as the client eliminates my concerns about remote admin, that is pretty slick...

The gigabit switch was primarily to facilitate filesharing between my other machines, the DVR machine has never shown a bottleneck there so if it becomes an issue I'll toss a new NIC in it.

[gambitpvr]

Personally, I moved from Beyond TV to SageTV a few months ago myself. I have my SageTV in the closet, HD300 extenders in my office and living room and a laptop with Placeshifter.

Sage can use multiple drives/folders for recording, the same way BeyondTV does it's 'drive pooling'. On my server, I have one drive with various things and a recording folder and the other drives are dedicated recording drives. By default, SageTV will record to whichever drive has the most free space. However, you may want a bigger C: drive. Personally, I don't like using anything smaller than a 30GB partition and sometimes that runs a bit tight. My server has a 40GB partition for the C: drive and it has plenty of free space, even with XPSP3, SageTV, PlayON, MyMovies and a few misc apps.

Placeshifter or the Client software can be used for watching TV or management. Generally, the client works better on a network but keep in mind that you will need to have the correct codecs for audio/video playback. The placeshifter doesn't have this limitation but it's performance isn't quite as good. The placeshifter is also good for a laptop, if you want to watch recorded shows while traveling.

The HD300's work great for me. They play everything that I throw at them and the playback is smooth and clear. I have them on 32" and 52" HD TVs and they actually work better than some PC's I've used with the Client software.

I've found that it's very handy to install TightVNC on my SageTV server. This lets me easily remote into it from any computer on my home network. On occasion, I need to restart Sage or tweak settings on the server itself and it's easier to do it this way than to walk to my wiring closet to use the attached keyboard/mouse.

[Slipshod]

Originally Posted by zanthor

I'm running Windows XP SP3 on the server, I've got about 5GB free space there, I've considered upgrading to Windows 7 or Windows Home Server, if I go this route I'll be upgrading my C: drive.

The WHS version of sage comes with a free Placeshifter license, since it doesn't have local playback. That, plus backups, makes WHS a pretty snazzy option if you're using extenders.

[zanthor]

Adding a few notes to this thread so I don't lose track of things...

Commercial Detection
http://forums.sagetv.com/forums/showthread.php?t=49958

Plugins:
Always Show SubMenus
Auto Aspect Ratio or Automatic Aspect Ratio Mode Switcher

[SomeWhatLost]

Originally Posted by zanthor

Plugins:
Always Show SubMenus
Auto Aspect Ratio or Automatic Aspect Ratio Mode Switcher

well, if you doing plugins... don't forget SMM and Diamond 3.0

[gambitpvr]

For Sage v7, use 'Automatic Aspect Ratio Mode Switcher', it's the updated version. I installed it a few days ago and have been happy with it.

However, the debug window is enabled by default but, it can be disabled under: Setup-> Detailed Setup -> Customize -> Automatic Aspect Ratio Mode Switching Options

Commercial Detector UI works fine out of the box for most shows. However, you need to get the 'donator' version of Comskip if you want to use it with HD shows recorded with an HD-PVR. The free version of comskip has some limitations on what types of files it can scan.

[zanthor]

Sage My Movies (SMM I'd assume)
http://www.mediasmartserver.net/2010...7-walkthrough/

SageDiamond
http://code.google.com/p/sagediamond/
Walkthrough
http://www.mediasmartserver.net/2011...e-walkthrough/

Is it still accurate I need the latest SageTV Beta for Diamond? As slick as it looks, Beta Software kills WAF.

[zanthor]

So it's been an interesting two weeks since I started looking at Sage... I was completely frustrated with BeyondTV, having never gotten my QAM setup right, the channel mapping was a pure nightmare...

Now I've got the SageTV server running in the basement, I've got 4 digital tuners setup with only a few minor issues that need fixed on my channel lineup (and hey, it's not like I watch PBS anyhow...) I've upgraded to the Beta and Diamond 3.0 really shines as a UI...

The HD300 works better than my computer ever did (due to my receiver I believe) and my WAF is through the roof because she now has closed captions functional... something I was never able to make happen before!

Anyhow, wanted to say thanks for the help, advice, etc... great product, great community!

[tmar89]

This is inspiring as a potential BTV migrator. I still haven't made the jump yet..

[jptheripper]

If you are only using the client license for management (and not playback), you could skip it and go the VNC route for server management.

But you would lose the added benefit of client playback.