Cable company going to encrypt all channels, running SageTV 6.6.2.218

[Rezolution]

Hello,

My local cable company is going to encrypt all channels at the end of this month. I am running SageTV 6.6.2.218. Changing providers is not an option. Upgrading my SageTV installation to a newer version is not an option.

- Will the HDHR3-CC (HD HomeRun PRIME) from SiliconDust work with SageTV version 6.6.2.218?
- Does it need 3 cable cards for the three tuners or does it only require one cable card to work?
- Does this basically work the same as the older HD HomeRun with the same file sizes for MPEG2 recordings?
- The server I have SageTV running on is a WindowsXP machine. Will SageTV has any DRM/DCA issues in XP?
- Is there anything else I need to check up on besides asking my provider if the normal channels that are currently unencrypted will be set to "copy freely" once they have encrypted all channels?

Thanks,
Jason

[nyplayer]

Prime only needs 1 Cable Card ... You need an external app SAGEDCT or Primenetencoder to use Prime in SageTV.

SageTV does not do DRM.

Others can Chime in.

[Rezolution]

Looks like I need to do some more research then... I thought SageDCT was just for compression from mp2 to mp4...

Thanks!

[Rezolution]

- Will the HDHR3-CC (HD HomeRun PRIME) from SiliconDust work with SageTV version 6.6.2.218?
. ."I have Sage v6 & SageDCT running fine on Windows Server 2008. I can record all the copy freely channels (which for my provider [Comcast] only prevents me from recording premiums like HBO, Showtime, Cinemax, etc). Since I don't subscribe to any of those, I can record all the shows I want to watch."

- Does it need 3 cable cards for the three tuners or does it only require one cable card to work?
. .One Cable Card

- Does this basically work the same as the older HD HomeRun with the same file sizes for MPEG2 recordings?
. .Doesn't matter at this point...

- The server I have SageTV running on is a WindowsXP machine. Will SageTV has any DRM/DCA issues in XP?
. ." I just asked Andrew over at Missing Remote and he said the SageDCT does not need Windows 7. So you should be able to install SageDCT on the Windows XP server he said he took out the check for windows 7 part since the prime is a true network device. You may need windows 7 for the first setup but I'm not sure about that since it has it's own interface.
Reply With Quote""


So at this point... it looks like I can do the initial setup of the HDHomeRun Prime with my Windows7 Laptop and that assuming all the quotes above are correct, I should be able to run SageDCT on my XP server... Assuming my cable company is going to set regular channels to "copy freely", now I just have to find the original SageDCT setup thread and see if I can get it working reliably in XP.

[Rezolution]

Trying to download SageDCT from: http://babgvant.com/files/folders/li...T/default.aspx

After signing up and trying to download:

Version 2.7.4 (32bit) -

Access Denied
You do not have permissions to perform the requested action.

[Rezolution]

"You need to register for the site and make a nominal donation--$5 as I remember. You can then email Andy with your username for the site and request he authorize you for access to the limited access area. "

[Rezolution]

Oh Dear... maybe this isn't the best route to take...

http://babgvant.com/forums/p/5505/23325.aspx#23325


" I've downloaded the latest HDHomerun Prime firmware update and since I've done that I cannot find any tuners in SageTV but media center continues to work just fine. I did run the regedit file you have here and its still not working. Do you know of anything I can do to get back up and running? I've sent messages to Silicondust but they have not been of any help. I would really appreciate if you could help me get this working again.

I have sagedct-26x64 not sure if that is the correct version. How do I get the 2.7.3 version? "

[reggie14]

I don't have any experience with SageDCT on Windows XP or Sage v6.6, but I've been using it on a Win7x64 box with Sage v7.1.9RC. Out of curiosity, is there any particular reason you don't want to upgrade to v7? You don't need a paid upgrade for it anymore.

I use SageDCT 2.6- not the newest donator version. I wouldn't worry about that unless you want to send babgvant a donation.

In theory SageDCT should work for you, but keep in mind it won't work with copy-protected channels. For Comcast, that's usually just premium channels. For TW, that's everything except locals. For Verizon FiOS, HBO, Cinemax and Fox network channels (e.g., Fox News, FX, National Geographic, Big 10, etc.) are copy-protected.

If the regedit file didn't work, the first thing I'd do is restart both the Sage server and the HDHR Prime.

[Rezolution]

Due to file permission settings when SageTV was originally installed, it cannot be upgraded without losing my wife's recorded folderized shows.

I haven't been able to find a working download link for SageDCT 2.6.0 that says I have permission to download it on the babgvant site.

If you have a link that would allow me to try 2.6.0 without donating, please point me in the right direction. I need the 32 bit version. Maybe I'm just trying to get the newest files (2.7.4) that require a donation??

My first attempt at finding out if they plan on using "copy freely" was "sorry, I never heard of that". I'll try to talk to someone in Engineering on Monday as they haven't actually started the encryption process yet. All I heard was "it's starting in August".

I'm trying to order the tuner, get the card from the cable provider, and get SageTV in order before the change.

My wife isn't going to be happy if she misses the daily recordings of Dr Oz., The Young and the Restless, and the other shows whose names I can't remember.

The kids have a steady regiment of daily recorded shows as well... Octonauts, Sesame Street, Wild Kratts, and a bunch of other stuff.

That's probably the reason we have almost 8TB of recordings...

At this point, I supposed one other possibility would be to get some type of HD antenna in the mean time and see if I could convert my current HD HomeRun over to OTA for the local station recordings before my provider starts locking my content.

[reggie14]

Again, just out of curiosity, are you using some sort of encrypted file system?

The SageDCT 2.6 (x86) should be available at this link. That page has installation directions, including the patch that needs to be applied for the most recent HDHR firmware update.

My guess is your provider won't start encrypting local channels. Some do, but most don't

[will]

Using a cable card could be tricky; assuming SageDCT works on your system you have to hope the channels you want aren't marked copy once.

I use TWC and they mark all the channels except OTA as copy once. If this is the case for you then you might need to invest in cable box rentals and HD-PVRs (1212 model is recommended).

For my system, I use two HD-PVRs and an internal tuner for recording the six ClearQAM channels. I'm very happy with the setup but I do have to rent two cable boxes.

Good luck with what ever route you decide.

[Fuzzy]

I wouldn't bother with SageDCT and the donation/access hassle. PrimeNetEncoder is much simpler, free, and works quite well. In most cases ends up making less error prone recordings as well. The only reason I can see to continue using SageDCT would be if you had a Ceton based tuner, as PrimeNetEncoder works specifically with the HDHR.

Not sure I understand the reason to stick to SageTV v6 though. Not that it matters, as the network encoders like PrimeNetEncoder work with any version of Sage.

[Rezolution]

I've tried multiple times over the years to update to SageTV version 7. All attempts to update have failed. They always end up with SageTV 7 not being able to view my recorded content because of file permission errors or SageTV not being able to see my HDHomeRun any more.

If PrimeNetEncoder is compatible with Windows XP as well as Sage 6, then that's the route I'll take.

Thanks for the advice guys.

[Rezolution]

Originally Posted by Rezolution

I've tried multiple times over the years to update to SageTV version 7. All attempts to update have failed. They always end up with SageTV 7 not being able to view my recorded content because of file permission errors or SageTV not being able to see my HDHomeRun any more.

If PrimeNetEncoder is compatible with Windows XP as well as Sage 6, then that's the route I'll take.

Thanks for the advice guys.

So my provider 'flipped the switch' this morning and encrypted all of my channels. I called them up and they stated everything that's not a pay channel is set to 'copy freely'.

I've ordered an HDHomeRun Prime and I'm picking up a cable card on the way home from work.

Assuming that much hasn't changed with PrimeNetEncoder, I should still be able to use PrimeNetEncoder with Sage 6.6.2.218 and Windows XP to get me up and running again with my new HDHomeRun Prime and cable card?

[Rezolution]

To use PrimeNetEncoder, you need a running version of HDHomeRun software installed on your server and a working version of FFMPEG.

The newest version of HDHomeRun software doesn't work in XP. The newest version of FFMPEG doesn't work in XP.

I installed the HDHomeRun software on my Windows 7 Laptop and got the tuner up and running. I put the latest version of firmware on the HDHomeRun Prime. The latest HDHomeRun software for Windows 7 is the only version that would successfully run a channel scan on my HDHomeRunPrime device.

I had to install an older version of HDHomeRun software (a build from 2013) on my SageTV server PC that's running XP. This was necessary for PrimeNetEncoder to run correctly in XP. Any time the channels change and I need to run a new channel scan in the HDHomeRun software, I have to run that from my Windows7 laptop and apply that directly to the HDHomeRunPrime.

I found an older build of FFMPEG that works in XP.

I made a shortcut to the PrimeNetEncoder .bat file and put that in my Startup folder.

It seems to work great... I'm able to record all three stations at once with no glitches, etc.

The only oddness I've noted is if I add the tuners in SageTV you cannot run a channel scan in SageTV. You have to pick, 'no - scan later' or whatever the option is. If you run a channel scan in SageTV after adding the tuner, it adds something like 400 channels that say "OK OK" instead of having channel data. No big deal, as long as everything works.

I'd sincerely like to thank the creator of PrimeNetEncoder. Fingers crossed that I'll get another 10 years out my SageTV DVR