BTV user tries Sage, but it is no good due to sleep bug

[Otto]

There are some things I don't like about BTV, and I really want to get Sage working, but this sleep bug makes it almost worthless to me. I use myHTPC as a front end, along with many other people. When I sleep sage, focus is not returned to myHTPC, so I can't use the remote or get to any options within myHTPC.

I have read through the forums and found suggestions, but none of them work.

I have tried setting "dispose_windows=true".
This didn't work, even with 3D acceleration disabled. What does this do anyway? Every other property is documented here, but this one isn't for some strange reason.

I have tried editing the irremote.ini file according to the FAQ. Not only did this not work, but it ruined any other programs the use the remote, because it mapped the green power button exclusively to sage, no matter what what program you are in. Bad idea.

Some people think this may not be a big deal, but it's a huge problem in my opinion. I use my htpc for a lot more than just TV (weather forecasts, radar, local showtimes, games, DVD catalog/server, mp3 player, streaming music, etc.) Whenever I use Sage, I can't get back to anything else because Sage still has focus. I have to either force a hard reboot, or fire up the other PC and VNC back into it, and give myHTPC focus. Other programs like BeyondTV do this just fine - not sure why this is such a difficult fix. If anyone has other suggestions I can try, I would be more than happy to give them a shot.

[falchulk]

If you have XP, you might want to download and install tweakui from MS. Uncheck the box that says "allow app to steal focus". I did this plus used an alt + tab after the sage power down command in the irremote.ini. I have never had a problem.

[Otto]

Originally posted by falchulk
If you have XP, you might want to download and install tweakui from MS. Uncheck the box that says "allow app to steal focus". I did this plus used an alt + tab after the sage power down command in the irremote.ini. I have never had a problem.

Is the tweak UI mod really needed, or will just the alt+tab do it?

Also, how do you add the alt+tab? The sage sleep command is {ctrl}z, so how would you add alt+tab after that?
{ctrl}z{alt}{tab}??

[falchulk]

yes and yes

[Opus4]

Originally posted by Otto
I have tried editing the irremote.ini file according to the FAQ. Not only did this not work, but it ruined any other programs the use the remote, because it mapped the green power button exclusively to sage, no matter what what program you are in. Bad idea.

Remapping the GRNPOWER button was done in response to the unending question style of: "Why can I not use the remote to wake SageTV after putting it to sleep with the remote? This is horrible and needs to be fixed." But, there is no rule that says you have to use that setting & you are certainly free to edit irremote.ini to work any way you wish. In fact, I completely switched remotes and have completely separate power commands for every program I control. The silver Hauppauge remote is simply too limited, in my opinion.

Also, I much prefer controlling SageTV via SendMessage, since it doesn't even have to have focus any more.

Whenever I use Sage, I can't get back to anything else because Sage still has focus. I have to either force a hard reboot, or fire up the other PC and VNC back into it, and give myHTPC focus.

I'm not sure why any sort of reboot would be needed, as I have never had a problem simply alt-tabbing to another program after sleeping SageTV, or simply clicking on another window. With my remote set to be able to run other programs, simply running a new program gives focus to the new app, even if the program was already running. I haven't seen any comment from Frey about fixing the lack of giving up focus when SageTV is put to sleep, but they are certainly aware of it now -- hopefully it will be fixed in some future update.

Also, is there a different version of Tweak UI for XP? Under General -> Focus, mine has a check box for "Prevent applications from stealing focus". I'm not certain if the above description was backwards from memory, or if mine is a bit out of date. Regardless, I don't have a problem switching focus away from SageTV w/either setting.

- Andy

[falchulk]

Opus4, Yes it was from memory. Back when I set this up 8 months or so ago, I was unable to get alt+tab to switch to myhtpc reliably after exiting sage without doing this with tweakui. I know there are better ways to do it, my way was just simple and i have not had to touch it.

[Opus4]

Originally posted by falchulk
Opus4, Yes it was from memory. Back when I set this up 8 months or so ago, I was unable to get alt+tab to switch to myhtpc reliably after exiting sage without doing this with tweakui.

OK -- I was just curious whether you were seeing something worded differently. I keep Tweak UI set that way too, but it is strange that IE still takes focus sometimes when a new page is loaded. Maybe the setting got corrupted, so this reminded me to go reset it. (I think my XP installation is just gettig too old & flaky... but I dread the thought of reinstalling _everything_! I don't know of a way to reinstall XP & then reconfigure all my apps w/o reinstalling them.)

- Andy

[Otto]

Originally posted by Opus4
I'm not sure why any sort of reboot would be needed, as I have never had a problem simply alt-tabbing to another program after sleeping SageTV, or simply clicking on another window.

Some of us don't have a keyboard & mouse hooked up to our HTPC's. Mine is on a stand under the TV in the living room, so I'm trying to keep is as neat and "Tivo-like" as possible. Having the wife use a mouse & keyboard to watch TV is not an option, so everything is done through the remote for simplicity. I'll have to try the above suggestions to see how they work.

Are there any downsides to disabling the setting "allow app to steal focus"?

[Opus4]

Originally posted by Otto
Some of us don't have a keyboard & mouse hooked up to our HTPC's. Mine is on a stand under the TV in the living room, so I'm trying to keep is as neat and "Tivo-like" as possible. Having the wife use a mouse & keyboard to watch TV is not an option, so everything is done through the remote for simplicity. I'll have to try the above suggestions to see how they work.

Oh yeah... I let my kids play their educational games on my SageTV server & keep forgetting that not everyone has the full complement of peripherals connected. BTW -- here are a couple other things to keep in mind:

In the [Default] section of irremote.ini, I believe the following is set:

MENU={switch(*task*)}{shift}{tab}

This makes the remote's "Menu" button bring up the Windows task switcher. Simply arrow over to the app you want & press OK. Edit: Note that this button won't work this way if 1) the irremote mode is still in [SageTV] due to forcing it to be there via a mode(SageTV) command elsewhere or 2) if it is there due to SageTV having focus & no forced mode(Default) has been used after {ctrl}z.

Also, if you always want a particular program to run when you close/sleep SageTV, try adding "{run(Drive:\Path\app.exe)}" (w/o quotes, of course) after the {ctrl}z, instead of {alt}{tab}. As long as that doesn't start a new instance of the chosen app & it has been coded properly, it will bring the app forward & give it focus.

Are there any downsides to disabling the setting "allow app to steal focus"?

I haven't noticed a downside, but then I haven't compared it to having it unchecked lately.

- Andy

[Hector]

Originally posted by Otto
Mine is on a stand under the TV in the living room, so I'm trying to keep is as neat and "Tivo-like" as possible.

Otto = Otto of Tivo backdoor codes fame?

[falchulk]

No there are no drawbacks for doing the tweakui tweak. None at all.

[Otto]

Originally posted by Hector
Otto = Otto of Tivo backdoor codes fame?

Nope, different guy I guess.

[Otto]

OK I got this to work. A couple observations:

The "allow apps to steal focus" setting is actually disabled by default on Win2K/XP. The registry key (the same one that tweakui changes) is
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Desktop\ForegroundLockTimeout
If it is set to zero, apps can steal focus. If it is set to 00030d40 they cannot.

All I did was add {alt}{tab} to the entry in remote.ini file. So now it says GRNPOWER={ctrl}z{alt}{tab} and goes right to myHTPC when put to sleep through the green power button. However, you still cannot use the "sleep" selection on the sage UI. If there is a way customize the menu option, that would be nice.

[falchulk]

Otto, default is defintely to allow focus. Regardless, making myhtpc to take focus when using the Sleep button will be possible once studio is released. Then again, you will not need myhtpc when studio is released....