V7 upgrade questions

[gilded07]

Seems ok so far (used Narflex's mod'd .exe's) except:

1. TV option only shows recorded shows - there doesn't seem to be a watch live TV option...odd. Something need configured?
2. Weather feed is from March 2011, I believe. Again, configuration needed?

Thanks.

[tmiranda]

For item 2, you will need to update the STV (maybe several times to get to the latest) and then it will change to use Google weather.

[gilded07]

[QUOTE=tmiranda;523279]For item 2, you will need to update the STV (maybe several times to get to the latest) and then it will change to use Google weather.[/QUOTE

Oh yes, rookie mistake. I updated to the latest STV and weather is current and I now see the embedded menus with live tv (probably was there before and I just missed it).

Comskip question: I see the list of plugins has one called commercial detector that apparently includes (if I'm reading it right) the comskip playback STVi that I'm currently using in v6 and the comskip.exe utility that I'm using now (likely a more recent version?).

So I just install this and it will give me the three tools (comskip.exe, dirmon or equivalent, and the STVi playback)?

[tmiranda]

[QUOTE=gilded07;523285]

Originally Posted by tmiranda

For item 2, you will need to update the STV (maybe several times to get to the latest) and then it will change to use Google weather.[/QUOTE

Oh yes, rookie mistake. I updated to the latest STV and weather is current and I now see the embedded menus with live tv (probably was there before and I just missed it).

Comskip question: I see the list of plugins has one called commercial detector that apparently includes (if I'm reading it right) the comskip playback STVi that I'm currently using in v6 and the comskip.exe utility that I'm using now (likely a more recent version?).

So I just install this and it will give me the three tools (comskip.exe, dirmon or equivalent, and the STVi playback)?

just install CommercialDetector UI from the UI Mod section (not the General section) and you'll get everything you need (comskip.exe, comskip playback, CommercialDetector General, and the UI mods you need to make it all work.)

[gilded07]

I see that the version of comm detector on the general page has a more recent update than the one on the UI mods page (June 2011 vs Sept 2010, I believe).

Does this mean its commercial detection capability is better?

Also, the version on the general page has a comskip version of 80.042 which is pretty recent I believe. Is the version of comskip on the UI mods page as recent as this one?

From reading the posts on your main Commercial Detection thread (not finished yet), it appears as though the easiest route is - as you've suggested - via the UI mods page. However, since I'm updating, I would like the most recent version.

Also, if I do nothing with comskip monitor and comskip.exe that are currently installed on my server, will I be ok? Or do I need to uninstall them so as not to double up on the .txt files and processing requirements?

Thanks!

[Fuzzy]

Originally Posted by gilded07

I see that the version of comm detector on the general page has a more recent update than the one on the UI mods page (June 2011 vs Sept 2010, I believe).

Does this mean its commercial detection capability is better?

Also, the version on the general page has a comskip version of 80.042 which is pretty recent I believe. Is the version of comskip on the UI mods page as recent as this one?

From reading the posts on your main Commercial Detection thread (not finished yet), it appears as though the easiest route is - as you've suggested - via the UI mods page. However, since I'm updating, I would like the most recent version.

Also, if I do nothing with comskip monitor and comskip.exe that are currently installed on my server, will I be ok? Or do I need to uninstall them so as not to double up on the .txt files and processing requirements?

Thanks!

No, not really. Those dates are the plugin dates, not necessarily the comskip exe itself. When you install the UI Mod, it will install the other required plugins automatically (including the one from the General tab).

I would at least stop comskip monitor from running, and just CommercialDetector start the comskip processes.

If you want to use the most recent comskip.exe (especially the donator's version), you can download it from the developers site, extract it, and point the CommercialDetector to it. I would not overwrite the version that the plugin downloads, as it will conflict with future plugin updates (due to sage's versioning system for plugins).

[tmiranda]

Originally Posted by gilded07

I see that the version of comm detector on the general page has a more recent update than the one on the UI mods page (June 2011 vs Sept 2010, I believe).

Does this mean its commercial detection capability is better?

Also, the version on the general page has a comskip version of 80.042 which is pretty recent I believe. Is the version of comskip on the UI mods page as recent as this one?

From reading the posts on your main Commercial Detection thread (not finished yet), it appears as though the easiest route is - as you've suggested - via the UI mods page. However, since I'm updating, I would like the most recent version.

Also, if I do nothing with comskip monitor and comskip.exe that are currently installed on my server, will I be ok? Or do I need to uninstall them so as not to double up on the .txt files and processing requirements?

Thanks!

Just to add to Fuzzy's comments -

Both plugins (the one from the General section and the one from the UI Mod section) are necessary for the plugin to work. Installing the one from the UI Mod section installs everything automatically.

You should stop comskip monitor.

[GKusnick]

Originally Posted by gilded07

1. TV option only shows recorded shows - there doesn't seem to be a watch live TV option...odd. Something need configured?

Don't use Enter to navigate the Main Menu. Use left and right arrow instead. Otherwise you'll miss a lot of options.

This is probably the #1 UI stumbling block for new V7 users. Bad UI design in my opinion.

[gilded07]

Originally Posted by Fuzzy

No, not really. Those dates are the plugin dates, not necessarily the comskip exe itself. When you install the UI Mod, it will install the other required plugins automatically (including the one from the General tab).

I did the install just as you and tmiranda suggested and all seems to work fine. ComDet ran on shows tonite and I watched them with the comms marked and skipped (for the most part...no worse than the older version of comskip I was using w/ v6).

I would at least stop comskip monitor from running, and just CommercialDetector start the comskip processes.

I wasn't able to uninstall the old comskip monitor using the uninstall batch file. It was still there and still pointing to the directory where my recordings are saved. So, I just deleted it and it seems to have purged it. My older v6 comskip recordings have three comskip-generated file types: .edl, .log, and .txt. However, the v7 comdet recordings only have two comdet-generated file types: .edl and .incommercial. I believe this tells me that the old comskip monitor isn't initiating the old comskip.exe to process .mpg recordings, correct?

If you want to use the most recent comskip.exe (especially the donator's version), you can download it from the developers site, extract it, and point the CommercialDetector to it. I would not overwrite the version that the plugin downloads, as it will conflict with future plugin updates (due to sage's versioning system for plugins).

Back to my original question: if a more recent comskip.exe (e.g. donator's version) has noticeably better commercial skipping performance than the version bundled with Commercial Detector for v7 then yes, I'm interested in making the donation and getting and using the more recent donator's version. However, I don't use an HDPVR and have no .TS files so the only reason I'd pay for it is if it's performance is noticeably better. So do you believe it is?

I really like the cleaner and more polished look and feel of v7. I especially like the one-click install of commercial skipping!!

Fuzzy - your quote back in early July really prompted me to upgrade:

though there's not really a reason to NOT be running a v7.1.9 server at this point.

I will have some more questions but so far the upgrade is working well and thanx to you and tmiranda for taking the time to answer questions

[gilded07]

Originally Posted by GKusnick

Don't use Enter to navigate the Main Menu. Use left and right arrow instead. Otherwise you'll miss a lot of options.

This is probably the #1 UI stumbling block for new V7 users. Bad UI design in my opinion.

Thanx, I feel better now - I looked and looked after upgrading for the live TV and couldn't find it!! I stumbled onto it after accidentally hitting the right arrow instead of the large OK or enter button. Now, all of my navigation is first with arrows and then with the OK or enter button. This is a subtle but important change for us long term v6 users.

[graywolf]

Originally Posted by gilded07

Thanx, I feel better now - I looked and looked after upgrading for the live TV and couldn't find it!! I stumbled onto it after accidentally hitting the right arrow instead of the large OK or enter button. Now, all of my navigation is first with arrows and then with the OK or enter button. This is a subtle but important change for us long term v6 users.

There is a plugin (No Default Action) or something like that which will allow the old ENTER behavior.

Also, another great plugin is ADM http://forums.sagetv.com/forums/showthread.php?t=56395 which allows you to easily customize your menu, hide what you don't want to see, create menu items for things you can not see otherwise. Be sure to read the Wiki before first using/customizing it, will be very helpful. After the first time or two, becomes intuitive/easy

[tmiranda]

Originally Posted by gilded07

I did the install just as you and tmiranda suggested and all seems to work fine. ComDet ran on shows tonite and I watched them with the comms marked and skipped (for the most part...no worse than the older version of comskip I was using w/ v6).



I wasn't able to uninstall the old comskip monitor using the uninstall batch file. It was still there and still pointing to the directory where my recordings are saved. So, I just deleted it and it seems to have purged it. My older v6 comskip recordings have three comskip-generated file types: .edl, .log, and .txt. However, the v7 comdet recordings only have two comdet-generated file types: .edl and .incommercial. I believe this tells me that the old comskip monitor isn't initiating the old comskip.exe to process .mpg recordings, correct?



Back to my original question: if a more recent comskip.exe (e.g. donator's version) has noticeably better commercial skipping performance than the version bundled with Commercial Detector for v7 then yes, I'm interested in making the donation and getting and using the more recent donator's version. However, I don't use an HDPVR and have no .TS files so the only reason I'd pay for it is if it's performance is noticeably better. So do you believe it is?

I really like the cleaner and more polished look and feel of v7. I especially like the one-click install of commercial skipping!!

Fuzzy - your quote back in early July really prompted me to upgrade:



I will have some more questions but so far the upgrade is working well and thanx to you and tmiranda for taking the time to answer questions

IIRC comskip monitor installs a service so you'll must want to make sure that Windows isn't trying to run it. It may or may not be running because CommercialDetector will delete the excess files when it's done. (So if comskip monitor runs first and creates the .txt file and then CommercialDetector runs afterwards, the ,txt file will be deleted.)

80.042 is the latest free version of comskip.exe. If you don't need the donator's version there is no need to buy it because it will not be any more accurate.

[gilded07]

Originally Posted by tmiranda

IIRC comskip monitor installs a service so you'll must want to make sure that Windows isn't trying to run it. It may or may not be running because CommercialDetector will delete the excess files when it's done.

RealVNC isn't letting me see right now so can't check the svcs that are running but will look later. Disabling the service from computer mgmt should be sufficient?

(So if comskip monitor runs first and creates the .txt file and then CommercialDetector runs afterwards, the ,txt file will be deleted.)

But commdetector won't remove any files until AFTER the show has been deleted, correct? So if both the old monitor is working along with the new commdetector monitor I would see the files created by the old monitor (.txt, .log, .edl) AND the .incommerical and .edl created by commercial detector right until the show is deleted? This isn't happening - on the newly recorded shows I'm only seeing the .edl and .incommerical file types, which is what I want.

[Fuzzy]

Originally Posted by gilded07

Back to my original question: if a more recent comskip.exe (e.g. donator's version) has noticeably better commercial skipping performance than the version bundled with Commercial Detector for v7 then yes, I'm interested in making the donation and getting and using the more recent donator's version. However, I don't use an HDPVR and have no .TS files so the only reason I'd pay for it is if it's performance is noticeably better. So do you believe it is?

The newer versions of comskip don't really detect commercials any better, if anything, they just run a little faster. If you aren't having commercials detected properly, this is something that needs to be fixed in the comskip.ini file.

[tmiranda]

Originally Posted by gilded07

But commdetector won't remove any files until AFTER the show has been deleted, correct? So if both the old monitor is working along with the new commdetector monitor I would see the files created by the old monitor (.txt, .log, .edl) AND the .incommerical and .edl created by commercial detector right until the show is deleted? This isn't happening - on the newly recorded shows I'm only seeing the .edl and .incommerical file types, which is what I want.

You are correct, my bad.

[gilded07]

Originally Posted by gilded07

I will have some more questions but so far the upgrade is working well and thanx to you and tmiranda for taking the time to answer questions

Follow up questions:

1. I like the plug in manager with all the different customizations available. How often and in what manner does it get upgraded? With new STVi's? If so, who is releasing the STVi files now that SageTV isn't? I see that there have been several updates since the Google announcement.
2. I upgraded the place shifter software on one of my Win7 PCs and I've noticed that PS occasionally closes without warning. V6 PS worked fine for years without ever a single crash (that I can remember). Is the v7 PS software buggy? Would a log file help to diagnose?
3. And on a related note, do I need to update the PS software to v7? v6 PS seems to work fine with server v7, right?
4. The latest MAC PS version I see on here is v6. Is there not a v7 PS software for MAC? I use it on my MacBook Pro. Or should I just keep v6 on the MB P?
5. Is there a way to get the music player in SageTV to use ID tags for song name, track number, band name, etc. instead of file names? Like iTunes does? The ripping software I've used adds a bunch of stuff like band name and song number to the file name which pushes the song name way out to the right and I'm unable to see it on the SageTV music player screen. (was a problem in v6 too). I've since found out that the file format in the ripper is customizable but I really don't want to go back and re-rip a bunch of CDs if SageTV can just used the embedded ID tags.
6. The Comskip version in Commercial Detector detects commercial at least as good as the older versions I've used (no surprise) but I wonder if Show Analyzer (for a fee, I know) might detect comms even better. Curious to know from those who've used both in v7, which you prefer. Comskip does a *good* job but I usually end up hitting the skip button on the remote several times during an hour long show to either get to the commercial or out of it. Not a big deal but wonder if SA does a better job (and is available in plug in mgr in v7).
7. Unsupported extras has the hdd space available bar and I really like it and use it often to see how many GBs or hrs of upcoming shows are scheduled (have to do that when u only have 1TB available for recorded shows!). The problem is the hdd space available bar seems to be situated right on top of some other on-screen text and looks bad. I can see the text underneath - it says something like "connected to <server name>" but just looks really bad on an otherwise slick looking GUI. Is there a way to re-position the hdd space available bar further to the left on the screen? (I ask this knowing that they are *unsupported* extras)
8. The short term forecast isn't working in weather. I saw a short thread on here where someone else had this problem but he waited and it updated itself, I believe. I've been on v7 now for a week now and it has never updated. Do I need to do something to get it to update?

TIA

[Fuzzy]

Originally Posted by gilded07

Follow up questions:

1. I like the plug in manager with all the different customizations available. How often and in what manner does it get upgraded? With new STVi's? If so, who is releasing the STVi files now that SageTV isn't? I see that there have been several updates since the Google announcement.

Periodically, sage will download a manifest file (SageTVPlugins.xml) from the sagetv servers. That manifest contains all the information for the various plugins available. As for who, it's the same people that have always been pulishing the STVi's - the sagetv community. They manifest is just housed/managed by sagetv/google.

Originally Posted by gilded07

2. I upgraded the place shifter software on one of my Win7 PCs and I've noticed that PS occasionally closes without warning. V6 PS worked fine for years without ever a single crash (that I can remember). Is the v7 PS software buggy? Would a log file help to diagnose?

Never noticed a problem with placeshifter. Might be a java issue, if anything.

Originally Posted by gilded07

3. And on a related note, do I need to update the PS software to v7? v6 PS seems to work fine with server v7, right?

The older software MIGHT work. though some things might be iffy. I do know that you cannot user the v6 Client software with a v7 server, but placeshifter may still function well enough.

Originally Posted by gilded07

4. The latest MAC PS version I see on here is v6. Is there not a v7 PS software for MAC? I use it on my MacBook Pro. Or should I just keep v6 on the MB P?

No idea.. not a mac guy

Originally Posted by gilded07

5. Is there a way to get the music player in SageTV to use ID tags for song name, track number, band name, etc. instead of file names? Like iTunes does? The ripping software I've used adds a bunch of stuff like band name and song number to the file name which pushes the song name way out to the right and I'm unable to see it on the SageTV music player screen. (was a problem in v6 too). I've since found out that the file format in the ripper is customizable but I really don't want to go back and re-rip a bunch of CDs if SageTV can just used the embedded ID tags.

Sage already uses ID3 tagging for it's music library. Not sure why you are seeing filenames instead.

Originally Posted by gilded07

6. The Comskip version in Commercial Detector detects commercial at least as good as the older versions I've used (no surprise) but I wonder if Show Analyzer (for a fee, I know) might detect comms even better. Curious to know from those who've used both in v7, which you prefer. Comskip does a *good* job but I usually end up hitting the skip button on the remote several times during an hour long show to either get to the commercial or out of it. Not a big deal but wonder if SA does a better job (and is available in plug in mgr in v7).

Comskip/SA accuracy is all down to the settings, not the software itself. They both basically do the same thing. If you want better accuracy, you'll have to tweak the settings in the appropriate configuration file. (Comskip.ini for comskip, don't remember where SA's configuration is done)

Originally Posted by gilded07

7. Unsupported extras has the hdd space available bar and I really like it and use it often to see how many GBs or hrs of upcoming shows are scheduled (have to do that when u only have 1TB available for recorded shows!). The problem is the hdd space available bar seems to be situated right on top of some other on-screen text and looks bad. I can see the text underneath - it says something like "connected to <server name>" but just looks really bad on an otherwise slick looking GUI. Is there a way to re-position the hdd space available bar further to the left on the screen? (I ask this knowing that they are *unsupported* extras)

Never seen this behavior. Can you post a screenshot?

Originally Posted by gilded07

8. The short term forecast isn't working in weather. I saw a short thread on here where someone else had this problem but he waited and it updated itself, I believe. I've been on v7 now for a week now and it has never updated. Do I need to do something to get it to update?[/LIST]

the weather channel stopped it's free weather service. Sage has updated to use a different source (google i think). You have to update your STV (Detailed Setup -> Advanced -> Check for Updates) to get the new weather data source working.

Originally Posted by gilded07

TIA

[gilded07]

Originally Posted by gilded07
7. Unsupported extras has the hdd space available bar and I really like it and use it often to see how many GBs or hrs of upcoming shows are scheduled (have to do that when u only have 1TB available for recorded shows!). The problem is the hdd space available bar seems to be situated right on top of some other on-screen text and looks bad. I can see the text underneath - it says something like "connected to <server name>" but just looks really bad on an otherwise slick looking GUI. Is there a way to re-position the hdd space available bar further to the left on the screen? (I ask this knowing that they are *unsupported* extras)

Originally Posted by Fuzzy

Never seen this behavior. Can you post a screenshot?

Sorry about the screw up on the previous post - after >4 yrs on this forum, I still haven't figured out the multi-quote feature!

Here's a screen shot (attached). I see the size of the bar is configurable in terms of the % of screen width taken up by the bar. I have it at 50% to see it from across the room on the big TV in the living room. Any way to re-position this bar to the left?

[gilded07]

Originally Posted by gilded07
8. The short term forecast isn't working in weather. I saw a short thread on here where someone else had this problem but he waited and it updated itself, I believe. I've been on v7 now for a week now and it has never updated. Do I need to do something to get it to update?

Originally Posted by Fuzzy

the weather channel stopped it's free weather service. Sage has updated to use a different source (google i think). You have to update your STV (Detailed Setup -> Advanced -> Check for Updates) to get the new weather data source working.

I have the most recent STV, v2011110601 and my current weather and long term weather is accurate. Its the short term forecast that isn't updating.

Note in the attached photo that the short term option is grayed out.

[Fuzzy]

'Short Term Forecast' is a heading, not an option. the forecast is what displays below it. (wed, Thurs, Fri, Sat)