OpenDCT: An open source digital cable tuner.

[civerson4]

Update. Apparently this was a Cox (cable provider) issue. Everything returned to normal a few days later.

Really, really love SageTv. Streaming options and other DVR options just don't work as well.

Thank you for keeping this forum and software going.

[waylo]

Originally Posted by civerson4

Update. Apparently this was a Cox (cable provider) issue. Everything returned to normal a few days later.

Really, really love SageTv. Streaming options and other DVR options just don't work as well.

Thank you for keeping this forum and software going.

Thanks goodness. If every single channel went the DRM route, that'd be awful.

[TGsell]

Hi -- tryingi to use my Prime w Cable Card on Sage - just installed OpenDCT for the first time and everything seemed to go according to plan including a channel scan which went fast. The problem is when I try to preview a channel (non DRM, broadcast ) it shows 100% signal strength but no video/audio and when tuning from the guide it shows 'no signal' - I must be doing something dumb. can anyone help? HD HomeRun app works fine on the server. ... thanks

[sic0048]

Originally Posted by TGsell

Hi -- tryingi to use my Prime w Cable Card on Sage - just installed OpenDCT for the first time and everything seemed to go according to plan including a channel scan which went fast. The problem is when I try to preview a channel (non DRM, broadcast ) it shows 100% signal strength but no video/audio and when tuning from the guide it shows 'no signal' - I must be doing something dumb. can anyone help? HD HomeRun app works fine on the server. ... thanks

First, make sure the Prime card is working correctly. Is there a diagnostic software(that came with the card) that you can use to view the channels from the card ? I use a Ceton cable card tuner and there is some Ceton diagnostic software for that tuner, but I am not familiar enough with the Prime card to know what is available for that tuner.

If that is working correctly, then there is a problem with the "connection" between OpenDTC and SageTV.

First, try shutting down both the SageTV service and OpenDTC service on the SageTV server. Then start the OpenDTC service and wait 1-2 minutes to allow that service to spin up and find the tuners. Only then should you restart the SageTV service. If the SageTV service is started too quickly, it will not find any tuners because OpenDTC hasn't had time to discover them yet itself and you will get that "No Signal" back screen. This is the most common issue you will have (it's possible it will happen anytime the computer is powered cycled or the services stopped for some reason) and it's easy to fix.

If you go through this troubleshooting process and still have issues, then it is likely that the setup procedure of the OpenDCT wasn't completed correctly (because you have never had it working yet). It's not as simple as installing it and expecting the default settings to work. Be sure to read the first post in this thread and pay close attention to this part:

For the first run on any platform run OpenDCT on the console first. This is because it needs to detect your devices and populate the opendct.properties file. It will also immediately show if you have problems. On Linux there is a script called ./console-only and the configuration files can be found under /etc/opendct/conf. On versions 0.4.17-Beta and earlier configuration files are located under /opt/opendct/conf. On Windows, there is a shortcut called OpenDCT Run as Console and the configuration can be accessed by the shortcut OpenDCT Properties. Press Ctrl-C to stop the console after you see that it found your devices or just wait 30 seconds, then press Ctrl-C. It will shutdown cleanly. The next major release will replace manually editing the properties file with a web interface. After you have done this, take a look at the Configuration section on GitHub for details on how you can limit the devices that OpenDCT will initialize and how to configure SageTV to discover OpenDCT.

Also read the troubleshooting section in the first post as well as the documentation on the Github site.

Once it works, then anytime you have a similar issue, you can generally fix it by closing both services, restarting the OpenDTC service first, waiting a minute or two, and then restarting the SageTV service.

[TGsell]

Thanks for the suggestions! The card diagnostics all look good and I am able to view live TV off the HomeRUN app etc. I did follow the instructions carefully eg starting with the consoled to detect tuners which it did, they showed in Sage and the scans seemed to work smoothly. I will try toggling the services exactly as you suggest and look at other posts on this awesome thread! If I still can not get 'signal' through Sage in a day or two I will repost. thanks again

[Tiki]

Originally Posted by TGsell

Thanks for the suggestions! The card diagnostics all look good and I am able to view live TV off the HomeRUN app etc. I did follow the instructions carefully eg starting with the consoled to detect tuners which it did, they showed in Sage and the scans seemed to work smoothly. I will try toggling the services exactly as you suggest and look at other posts on this awesome thread! If I still can not get 'signal' through Sage in a day or two I will repost. thanks again

Did you do a channel scan from th web interface for the Prime first? I think this is required and it takes a while.

[TGsell]

I did it a while ago but will do it ASAP. thanks!

[TGsell]

I rescanned via the web interface. I also scanned via the HD Homerun set and could view video from the latter. Thus the tuner is working.

I then toggled the DCT and Sage services as suggested.

I then did a full channel scan and it found 87 channels (vs 82 prior... so it's picking up something...)

Tried to preview a non DRM HD broadcast channel - CBS - and although 100% signal, no video in preview. (nor from the guide). This PRIME tuner is being used via a laptop as an HTPC - I will shut that one down and see if it helps.
Strange...!

[waylo]

Originally Posted by TGsell

I rescanned via the web interface. I also scanned via the HD Homerun set and could view video from the latter. Thus the tuner is working.

I then toggled the DCT and Sage services as suggested.

I then did a full channel scan and it found 87 channels (vs 82 prior... so it's picking up something...)

Tried to preview a non DRM HD broadcast channel - CBS - and although 100% signal, no video in preview. (nor from the guide). This PRIME tuner is being used via a laptop as an HTPC - I will shut that one down and see if it helps.
Strange...!

Just for 'fun', as another step of troubleshooting, try turning off all firewalls and then try again.

[AlphaCrew]

Originally Posted by TGsell

Thanks for the suggestions! The card diagnostics all look good and I am able to view live TV off the HomeRUN app etc. I did follow the instructions carefully eg starting with the consoled to detect tuners which it did, they showed in Sage and the scans seemed to work smoothly. I will try toggling the services exactly as you suggest and look at other posts on this awesome thread! If I still can not get 'signal' through Sage in a day or two I will repost. thanks again

I have to say, this sounds very similar (if not the same) problem I had. I can't do anything with my SageTV setup or all heck breaks loose with my CC Tuner (No Signal).

I can pull a folder backup of both SageTV and OpenDCT folders and still "No Signal".

Both times, my only recourse was to recover the entire drive to get the system working again.

So at this point I dare not mess with SageTV.

[TGsell]

This is getting challenging but I am motivated to find the issue. I did try opening up the firewalls and that didnt help. Also - I cleaned up my sage.properties file and removed any rogue tuner entries. Since I can get a perfect video when opening a non-DRM channel on the HD Homerun setup as well as HD Homerun app, the problem is connection between Sage and the tuner (obviously) , however since it seems to scan properly under 'add videos source' it seems like the connection is OK... however not producing a picture.

Appreciate any advice on the following
1) Could it be one of my settings for video rendering and encoding?
2) I am running 32bit Sage on a 64bit Windows 10 machine - are there any quirks with that setup related to this problem?
3) I could try reinstalling OpenDCT however it does seem to be working ( I tired the toggling services idea a few times to no avail).
thanks everyone...

[waylo]

Try pulling the logs for both SageTV and OpenDCT and posting them here.

[KeithAbbott]

The OpenDCT web interface may provide some clues as well. You can get to it from a web browser, example url would be http://192.168.1.40:9091 (replace the ip address with your OpenDCT server). This is also a good way to determine which version of OpenDCT you are currently running, which might be handy in the future when you are trying to determine whether you need to upgrade OpenDCT or not.

[TGsell]

The DCT log looks pretty clean - this before trying to tune 131BC3FF-0

OpenDCT 0.5.32
Loaded Capture Devices:

DCT-HDHomeRun Prime Tuner 131BC3FF-0: Idle
DCT-HDHomeRun Prime Tuner 131BC3FF-1: Idle
DCT-HDHomeRun Prime Tuner 131BC3FF-2: Idle
HDHomeRun HDHR5-4US Tuner 1077DC5A-0: Idle
HDHomeRun HDHR5-4US Tuner 1077DC5A-1: Idle
HDHomeRun HDHR5-4US Tuner 1077DC5A-2: Idle
HDHomeRun HDHR5-4US Tuner 1077DC5A-3: Idle

The Sage log (just the lines which show the loop waiting for the 'preview' (No Data is because I did not assign a program guide to it yet) which never showed a video - I think it's tuning... but....) . A file is started in the recording directory but it has no content (I guess obvious)


Thu 2/4 12:01:59.461 [VideoFrame-SAGETV_PROCESS_LOCAL_UI@a681ac] VF thread is now waiting for 0:00:00.200
Thu 2/4 12:01:59.661 [VideoFrame-SAGETV_PROCESS_LOCAL_UI@a681ac] VF processing job VFJob[LoadMF r=0.0 t=0 file=MediaFile[id=24137465 FA[A[24137465,0,"No Data",0@0204.12:00,5256000,]] mask=V host=DESKTOP-BUDKKQI encodedBy=DCT-HDHomeRun Prime Tuner 131BC3FF-0 on 127.0.0.1:9000 Digital TV Tuner format=MPEG2-TS 0:00:00 0 kbps [] E:\SAGE TV STORE\DCTHDHomeRunPrimeTuner131BC3FF0on1270019000DigitalTVTuner-0.mpgbuf, Seg0[Thu 2/4 12:01:26.290-Wed 12/31 19:00:00.000]] ifn=null] nPlayin=false
Thu 2/4 12:01:59.661 [VideoFrame-SAGETV_PROCESS_LOCAL_UI@a681ac] VF network encoder playback detected: true
Thu 2/4 12:01:59.663 [VideoFrame-SAGETV_PROCESS_LOCAL_UI@a681ac] VF waiting for data to appear in new file...liveWait=-31871
Thu 2/4 12:01:59.663 [VideoFrame-SAGETV_PROCESS_LOCAL_UI@a681ac] VF thread is now waiting for 0:00:00.200
Thu 2/4 12:01:59.863 [VideoFrame-SAGETV_PROCESS_LOCAL_UI@a681ac] VF processing job VFJob[LoadMF r=0.0 t=0 file=MediaFile[id=24137465 FA[A[24137465,0,"No Data",0@0204.12:00,5256000,]] mask=V host=DESKTOP-BUDKKQI encodedBy=DCT-HDHomeRun Prime Tuner 131BC3FF-0 on 127.0.0.1:9000 Digital TV Tuner format=MPEG2-TS 0:00:00 0 kbps [] E:\SAGE TV STORE\DCTHDHomeRunPrimeTuner131BC3FF0on1270019000DigitalTVTuner-0.mpgbuf, Seg0[Thu 2/4 12:01:26.290-Wed 12/31 19:00:00.000]] ifn=null] nPlayin=false
Thu 2/4 12:01:59.863 [VideoFrame-SAGETV_PROCESS_LOCAL_UI@a681ac] VF network encoder playback detected: true
Thu 2/4 12:01:59.865 [VideoFrame-SAGETV_PROCESS_LOCAL_UI@a681ac] VF waiting for data to appear in new file...liveWait=-32073
Thu 2/4 12:01:59.865 [VideoFrame-SAGETV_PROCESS_LOCAL_UI@a681ac] VF thread is now waiting for 0:00:00.200
Thu 2/4 12:02:00.065 [VideoFrame-SAGETV_PROCESS_LOCAL_UI@a681ac] VF processing job VFJob[LoadMF r=0.0 t=0 file=MediaFile[id=24137465 FA[A[24137465,0,"No Data",0@0204.12:00,5256000,]] mask=V host=DESKTOP-BUDKKQI encodedBy=DCT-HDHomeRun Prime Tuner 131BC3FF-0 on 127.0.0.1:9000 Digital TV Tuner format=MPEG2-TS 0:00:00 0 kbps [] E:\SAGE TV STORE\DCTHDHomeRunPrimeTuner131BC3FF0on1270019000DigitalTVTuner-0.mpgbuf, Seg0[Thu 2/4 12:01:26.290-Wed 12/31 19:00:00.000]] ifn=null] nPlayin=false
Thu 2/4 12:02:00.065 [VideoFrame-SAGETV_PROCESS_LOCAL_UI@a681ac] VF network encoder playback detected: true
Thu 2/4 12:02:00.066 [VideoFrame-SAGETV_PROCESS_LOCAL_UI@a681ac] VF waiting for data to appear in new file...liveWait=-32275
Thu 2/4 12:02:00.067 [VideoFrame-SAGETV_PROCESS_LOCAL_UI@a681ac] VF thread is now waiting for 0:00:00.200
Thu 2/4 12:02:00.266 [VideoFrame-SAGETV_PROCESS_LOCAL_UI@a681ac] VF processing job VFJob[LoadMF r=0.0 t=0 file=MediaFile[id=24137465 FA[A[24137465,0,"No Data",0@0204.12:00,5256000,]] mask=V host=DESKTOP-BUDKKQI encodedBy=DCT-HDHomeRun Prime Tuner 131BC3FF-0 on 127.0.0.1:9000 Digital TV Tuner format=MPEG2-TS 0:00:00 0 kbps [] E:\SAGE TV STORE\DCTHDHomeRunPrimeTuner131BC3FF0on1270019000DigitalTVTuner-0.mpgbuf, Seg0[Thu 2/4 12:01:26.290-Wed 12/31 19:00:00.000]] ifn=null] nPlayin=false
Thu 2/4 12:02:00.266 [VideoFrame-SAGETV_PROCESS_LOCAL_UI@a681ac] VF network encoder playback detected: true
Thu 2/4 12:02:00.268 [VideoFrame-SAGETV_PROCESS_LOCAL_UI@a681ac] VF waiting for data to appear in new file...liveWait=-32476
Thu 2/4 12:02:00.268 [VideoFrame-SAGETV_PROCESS_LOCAL_UI@a681ac] VF thread is now waiting for 0:00:00.200
Thu 2/4 12:02:00.467 [VideoFrame-SAGETV_PROCESS_LOCAL_UI@a681ac] VF processing job VFJob[LoadMF r=0.0 t=0 file=MediaFile[id=24137465 FA[A[24137465,0,"No Data",0@0204.12:00,5256000,]] mask=V host=DESKTOP-BUDKKQI encodedBy=DCT-HDHomeRun Prime Tuner 131BC3FF-0 on 127.0.0.1:9000 Digital TV Tuner format=MPEG2-TS 0:00:00 0 kbps [] E:\SAGE TV STORE\DCTHDHomeRunPrimeTuner131BC3FF0on1270019000DigitalTVTuner-0.mpgbuf, Seg0[Thu 2/4 12:01:26.290-Wed 12/31 19:00:00.000]] ifn=null] nPlayin=false
Thu 2/4 12:02:00.467 [VideoFrame-SAGETV_PROCESS_LOCAL_UI@a681ac] VF network encoder playback detected: true
Thu 2/4 12:02:00.469 [VideoFrame-SAGETV_PROCESS_LOCAL_UI@a681ac] VF waiting for data to appear in new file...liveWait=-32677
Thu 2/4 12:02:00.469 [VideoFrame-SAGETV_PROCESS_LOCAL_UI@a681ac] VF thread is now waiting for 0:00:00.200
Thu 2/4 12:02:00.668 [VideoFrame-SAGETV_PROCESS_LOCAL_UI@a681ac] VF processing job VFJob[LoadMF r=0.0 t=0 file=MediaFile[id=24137465 FA[A[24137465,0,"No Data",0@0204.12:00,5256000,]] mask=V host=DESKTOP-BUDKKQI encodedBy=DCT-HDHomeRun Prime Tuner 131BC3FF-0 on 127.0.0.1:9000 Digital TV Tuner format=MPEG2-TS 0:00:00 0 kbps [] E:\SAGE TV STORE\DCTHDHomeRunPrimeTuner131BC3FF0on1270019000DigitalTVTuner-0.mpgbuf, Seg0[Thu 2/4 12:01:26.290-Wed 12/31 19:00:00.000]] ifn=null] nPlayin=false
Thu 2/4 12:02:00.669 [VideoFrame-SAGETV_PROCESS_LOCAL_UI@a681ac] VF network encoder playback detected: true
Thu 2/4 12:02:00.670 [VideoFrame-SAGETV_PROCESS_LOCAL_UI@a681ac] VF waiting for data to appear in new file...liveWait=-32879
Thu 2/4 12:02:00.670 [VideoFrame-SAGETV_PROCESS_LOCAL_UI@a681ac] VF thread is now waiting for 0:00:00.200
Thu 2/4 12:02:00.869 [VideoFrame-SAGETV_PROCESS_LOCAL_UI@a681ac] VF processing job VFJob[LoadMF r=0.0 t=0 file=MediaFile[id=24137465 FA[A[24137465,0,"No Data",0@0204.12:00,5256000,]] mask=V host=DESKTOP-BUDKKQI encodedBy=DCT-HDHomeRun Prime Tuner 131BC3FF-0 on 127.0.0.1:9000 Digital TV Tuner format=MPEG2-TS 0:00:00 0 kbps [] E:\SAGE TV STORE\DCTHDHomeRunPrimeTuner131BC3FF0on1270019000DigitalTVTuner-0.mpgbuf, Seg0[Thu 2/4 12:01:26.290-Wed 12/31 19:00:00.000]] ifn=null] nPlayin=false[/SIZE]


After shutting down the OPEN DCT log then shows: (the one tuner shows recording to null..??)

OpenDCT 0.5.32
Loaded Capture Devices:

DCT-HDHomeRun Prime Tuner 131BC3FF-0: Recording to null
DCT-HDHomeRun Prime Tuner 131BC3FF-1: Idle
DCT-HDHomeRun Prime Tuner 131BC3FF-2: Idle
HDHomeRun HDHR5-4US Tuner 1077DC5A-0: Idle
HDHomeRun HDHR5-4US Tuner 1077DC5A-1: Idle
HDHomeRun HDHR5-4US Tuner 1077DC5A-2: Idle
HDHomeRun HDHR5-4US Tuner 1077DC5A-3: Idle

[KeithAbbott]

For comparison purposes, here's what mine shows:

OpenDCT 0.5.32

Loaded Capture Devices:

DCT-HDHomeRun Prime Tuner 13231929-0: Recording to /var/media/tv/BloombergBalanceofPower-32057199-0.ts
DCT-HDHomeRun Prime Tuner 13231929-1: Recording to /var/media/tv/PaulMcCartneyWingsRockshow-32056852-0.ts
DCT-HDHomeRun Prime Tuner 13231929-2: Idle
DCT-HDHomeRun Prime Tuner 13256C0B-0: Idle
DCT-HDHomeRun Prime Tuner 13256C0B-1: Idle
DCT-HDHomeRun Prime Tuner 13256C0B-2: Idle
HDHomeRun HDHR5-4K Tuner 1080E1F3-0: Idle
HDHomeRun HDHR5-4K Tuner 1080E1F3-1: Idle
HDHomeRun HDHR5-4K Tuner 1080E1F3-2: Idle
HDHomeRun HDHR5-4K Tuner 1080E1F3-3: Idle

[TGsell]

Apologies - that was the web interface for DCT - this is part of the DCT log -

HDHomeRunStatus{CHANNEL='qam:549000000', LOCK_STR='qam256', SIGNAL_PRESENT=true, LOCK_SUPPORTED=false, SIGNAL_STRENGTH=100, SIGNAL_TO_NOISE_QUALITY=100, SYMBOL_ERROR_QUALITY=100, RAW_BITS_PER_SECOND=13808224, PACKETS_PER_SECOND=1311}
12:01:04.919 [SageTVRequestHandler-180CT-HDHomeRun Prime Tuner 131BC3FF-0] INFO HDHRNativeCaptureDevice - Re-tune came back too fast. Skipping.
12:01:04.919 [SageTVRequestHandler-180CT-HDHomeRun Prime Tuner 131BC3FF-0] DEBUG SageTVRequestHandler - Replied: 'OK'
12:01:04.920 [SageTVRequestHandler-180CT-HDHomeRun Prime Tuner 131BC3FF-0] DEBUG SageTVRequestHandler - SageTV sent: 'AUTOINFOSCAN DCT-HDHomeRun Prime Tuner 131BC3FF-0 Digital TV Tuner|0'
12:01:04.920 [SageTVRequestHandler-180CT-HDHomeRun Prime Tuner 131BC3FF-0 Digital TV Tuner > DCT-HDHomeRun Prime Tuner 131BC3FF-0] INFO HDHRNativeCaptureDevice - Capture device was already locked.
12:01:04.920 [SageTVRequestHandler-180CT-HDHomeRun Prime Tuner 131BC3FF-0 Digital TV Tuner > DCT-HDHomeRun Prime Tuner 131BC3FF-0] INFO ChannelManager - Updating the HDHomeRun channel lineup HDHomeRun DRI Tuner 131BC3FF (dct_hdhomerun).
12:01:04.920 [SageTVRequestHandler-180CT-HDHomeRun Prime Tuner 131BC3FF-0 Digital TV Tuner > DCT-HDHomeRun Prime Tuner 131BC3FF-0] INFO HDHomeRunChannels - Connecting to HDHomeRun using the URL 'http://192.168.1.42:80/lineup.xml'
12:01:04.939 [SageTVRequestHandler-180CT-HDHomeRun Prime Tuner 131BC3FF-0 Digital TV Tuner > DCT-HDHomeRun Prime Tuner 131BC3FF-0] DEBUG SageTVRequestHandler - Replied: ''
12:01:04.956 [SageTVRequestHandler-180CT-HDHomeRun Prime Tuner 131BC3FF-0 Digital TV Tuner > DCT-HDHomeRun Prime Tuner 131BC3FF-0] DEBUG SageTVRequestHandler - SageTV sent: 'AUTOINFOSCAN DCT-HDHomeRun Prime Tuner 131BC3FF-0 Digital TV Tuner|0'
12:01:04.956 [SageTVRequestHandler-180CT-HDHomeRun Prime Tuner 131BC3FF-0 Digital TV Tuner > DCT-HDHomeRun Prime Tuner 131BC3FF-0] INFO HDHRNativeCaptureDevice - Capture device was already locked.
12:01:04.956 [SageTVRequestHandler-180CT-HDHomeRun Prime Tuner 131BC3FF-0 Digital TV Tuner > DCT-HDHomeRun Prime Tuner 131BC3FF-0] INFO ChannelManager - Updating the HDHomeRun channel lineup HDHomeRun DRI Tuner 131BC3FF (dct_hdhomerun).
12:01:04.956 [SageTVRequestHandler-180CT-HDHomeRun Prime Tuner 131BC3FF-0 Digital TV Tuner > DCT-HDHomeRun Prime Tuner 131BC3FF-0] INFO HDHomeRunChannels - Connecting to HDHomeRun using the URL 'http://192.168.1.42:80/lineup.xml'
12:01:04.971 [SageTVRequestHandler-180CT-HDHomeRun Prime Tuner 131BC3FF-0 Digital TV Tuner > DCT-HDHomeRun Prime Tuner 131BC3FF-0] DEBUG SageTVRequestHandler - Replied: ''
12:01:05.080 [SageTVRequestHandler-180CT-HDHomeRun Prime Tuner 131BC3FF-0 Digital TV Tuner > DCT-HDHomeRun Prime Tuner 131BC3FF-0] DEBUG SageTVRequestHandler - SageTV sent: 'AUTOINFOSCAN DCT-HDHomeRun Prime Tuner 131BC3FF-0 Digital TV Tuner|1'
12:01:05.080 [SageTVRequestHandler-180CT-HDHomeRun Prime Tuner 131BC3FF-0 Digital TV Tuner > DCT-HDHomeRun Prime Tuner 131BC3FF-0] INFO HDHRNativeCaptureDevice - Capture device was already locked.
12:01:05.080 [SageTVRequestHandler-180CT-HDHomeRun Prime Tuner 131BC3FF-0 Digital TV Tuner > DCT-HDHomeRun Prime Tuner 131BC3FF-0] DEBUG SageTVRequestHandler - Replied: '8(HSN)DCT;18(GOVT)DCT'
12:01:05.187 [SageTVRequestHandler-180CT-HDHomeRun Prime Tuner 131BC3FF-0 Digital TV Tuner > DCT-HDHomeRun Prime Tuner 131BC3FF-0] DEBUG SageTVRequestHandler - SageTV sent: 'AUTOINFOSCAN DCT-HDHomeRun Prime Tuner

[TGsell]

Thanks Keith -- thats what mine should look like! Ill get it sooner or later.

[sic0048]

I'm sorry to have to resort to "guessing" in an effort to try to troubleshoot. (As noted, I use the Ceton cards and not the Prime cards, so setup is different).

Another consideration is that the channels must have their Copy Control Information (CCI) flag set as "Copy Freely" by the cable company for this to work. If they are coded as "Copy Once" or anything more restrictive, then those channels cannot be recorded with SageTV using a cable card tuner.

Historically premium channels generally have had a more restrictive flag, but "regular" channels shouldn't. However cable companies have a horrible track record when it comes to the copy flag and they are all over the place - even to the point where flags are set differently city to city within the same cable company.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Copy_Control_Information

[TGsell]

Thanks -- 'guessing' is where I am at now so all is appreciated - I have gone through just about every option now and I get as far as finding 'tunable' channels in the scan which runs very smoothly. When I try to tune a channel I get the below - but nothing loads into the file. My HDPrime web interface shows the channel as only HD no DRM but as you say they may have flagged it. (I use Optimum ... reluctantly)... I am going to leave it at this point since if I mess up the system my wife will be really upset but will investigate the potential issue you raised. Many thanks!
Tom

OpenDCT 0.5.32
Loaded Capture Devices:

DCT-HDHomeRun Prime Tuner 131BC3FF-0: Recording to E:\SAGE TV STORE\DCTHDHomeRunPrimeTuner131BC3FF0on1270019000DigitalTVTuner-0.mpgbuf
DCT-HDHomeRun Prime Tuner 131BC3FF-1: Idle
DCT-HDHomeRun Prime Tuner 131BC3FF-2: Idle
HDHomeRun HDHR5-4US Tuner 1077DC5A-0: Idle
HDHomeRun HDHR5-4US Tuner 1077DC5A-1: Idle
HDHomeRun HDHR5-4US Tuner 1077DC5A-2: Idle
HDHomeRun HDHR5-4US Tuner 1077DC5A-3: Idle

[UgaData]

Originally Posted by TGsell

Appreciate any advice on the following
1) Could it be one of my settings for video rendering and encoding?
2) I am running 32bit Sage on a 64bit Windows 10 machine - are there any quirks with that setup related to this problem?
3) I could try reinstalling OpenDCT however it does seem to be working ( I tired the toggling services idea a few times to no avail).
thanks everyone...

What bit version of OpenDCT did you install? I am presuming it is all the 32 Bit for SageTV, Java, and OpenDCT. And I believe it is recommended to use Java 8 -something-.