SageTV process locked up and consuming CPU

[reliant_turbo]

Hello,

I recently installed SageTV as my old standby, BeyondTV was getting all unstable on Windows 10 so i figured id try something else.

Im running the latest 64 bit version with 2 Hauppauge WinTV 1250 cards in my system. I got it all setup and running and I thought all was well.

Im using schedules direct and I scheduled a recording and when checked it a day or so later, SageTV wouldnt open. I tried double clicking on the Icon in the system tray and it wont respond. I tried the desktop shortcut and nothing... it just adds another SageTV task to task manager.

the original task just sits there with the CPU sitting at 6.5% or so.

nothing works till i end all the sage tv tasks and restart it.

I have it set to start in the tray when windows starts and to go to sleep when the program is closed so i dont miss recordings.... which im missing cause it locks up.

any insight?

any logs that i can look to see if there is an event that kills something?

im running a Ryzen 7 2700X build, 16gb ram and a GTX1080. Sage is set to record to a 500GB samsung 860EVO ssd right now if that helps.

Brian

[reliant_turbo]

update.

so it appears that it totally locks up (spinning circle in the middle of the screen and no response and i have to end the sage tv task) when it tries to record.

the file appears in the drive and the buffer file but they say 0 bytes and if you try to start sagetv its all locked up immediately.

any ideas?

Brian

[reliant_turbo]

also, just plain watching tv works just fine.

Brian

[reliant_turbo]

well strangely enough if i open it up and manually select a show and hit record, its recording properly. since i have 2 tuners installed, im recording 2 shows right now at the same time.

im going to set a show in the near future to record and see if it works.

i wonder if there is an issue with crashing when the computer comes in and out of standby.....

Brian

[egeller]

The log is C:\Program Files\SageTV\SageTV\sage_0.txt for the 64 bit Windows build. It may provide some ideas. If Sage is not recording, it should not be consuming many resources. I just check my test machine (also 64 bit version on Windows). The SageTV service is using 0.02% CPU.

I would recommend running SageTV in service mode. You will get better support here, I think. The service consumes minimal resources when nothing is recording. When you want to watch something, you can then open "SageTV(x64) 9". If you have other computers on your network, they can run the SageTV Client software and connect to the server (although that probably works in your current setup).

It has been a really long time since I used the system tray option and I forget how it is supposed to work.

To run SageTV in service mode, shut down all instances of SageTV. Open "SageTV 9 Service Control."

Decide that you want to run it as the User you log into Windows, NOT LocalSystem(Default). That will make it easier if, down the road, you want to use network attached storage. The System account cannot get to shared storage. It's a Windows thing.

Enable the Service, and start the service and you should be up and running. You can then Open "SageTV(x64) 9" (the GUI) to confirm it is running and all is OK. Shutting down the GUI will not shut down the service. The Service Control app does that. You can shut down the Service Control GUI and the service will continue to run in the background.

By the way, in service mode there will be two SageTV tasks in Task Manager. That's a feature introduced with V6 or V7. I forget which.

Erv

[reliant_turbo]

Originally Posted by egeller

The log is C:\Program Files\SageTV\SageTV\sage_0.txt for the 64 bit Windows build. It may provide some ideas. If Sage is not recording, it should not be consuming many resources. I just check my test machine (also 64 bit version on Windows). The SageTV service is using 0.02% CPU.

I would recommend running SageTV in service mode. You will get better support here, I think. The service consumes minimal resources when nothing is recording. When you want to watch something, you can then open "SageTV(x64) 9". If you have other computers on your network, they can run the SageTV Client software and connect to the server (although that probably works in your current setup).

It has been a really long time since I used the system tray option and I forget how it is supposed to work.

To run SageTV in service mode, shut down all instances of SageTV. Open "SageTV 9 Service Control."

Decide that you want to run it as the User you log into Windows, NOT LocalSystem(Default). That will make it easier if, down the road, you want to use network attached storage. The System account cannot get to shared storage. It's a Windows thing.

Enable the Service, and start the service and you should be up and running. You can then Open "SageTV(x64) 9" (the GUI) to confirm it is running and all is OK. Shutting down the GUI will not shut down the service. The Service Control app does that. You can shut down the Service Control GUI and the service will continue to run in the background.

By the way, in service mode there will be two SageTV tasks in Task Manager. That's a feature introduced with V6 or V7. I forget which.

Erv

i tried all this after i read this. and it seemed to work better. i can get in there and watch tv just fine. but if i try to watch something and record something else (i have 2 tuners) it locks up with the swirling circle in the middle of the screen.

and once the system locks up it never recovers. if i was previously recording something and end the client and service tasks, when i restart it, its instantly locked up and i cant do anything. if i want to watch tv again, i have to wait till the time is past where it would try to record and then restart everything.

i have gotten it to successfully record a show but you have to have it start up clean, and record a show and not touch it. you sometimes cant even try to watch it once its started recording.

here is whats in the log after i kill the tasks and restart them when it is scheduled to record. see attached.....

i have to be quick to start the service and then copy the log... because the errors quickly overwrite all the logs so ive missed the valid startup stuff if i didnt already have the folder open.

Thanks

Brian

[egeller]

Sorry for the delay. I got distracted while rebuilding a server.

"Hauppauge WinTV 885 ATSC Tuner/Demod" is a tuner that your system does not like and I am not sure why. SageTV is throwing a fit trying to do something with the tuner.

For some time I have only used network tuners, not ones plugged directly into the machine. Therefore, I do not know how to interpret the messages in a way that leads to a fix. Hopefully someone more knowledgeable can review your log and advise.

I would guess that a tuner issue would have a root cause of a driver / OS problem. Would there be a way to check the tuner outside of SageTV, I wonder. Doing a little searching on this forum, I find references to WinTV Software. Can you access the tuner with WinTV?

This forum link from 2016 may be describing your issue. This link talks about driver issues.

Regarding log capture, Sage keeps the current log and the last three. Increment the 0, from 1 to 3, in the file name, and you will get the last three logs.

Are you watching a show, currently recording on one tuner, while you are also recording a second show on the second tuner? If yes, then that would explain the symptoms.

If you are watching a previously recorded show, while one is recording then I am confused at the symptoms. It's possible that the bad tuner keeps getting selected while you're watching the recording. That may be dependent on the channel you are recording - maybe it exists only on the one tuner.

[JustFred]

Looking at the log file, it appears that Sage **sometimes** has difficulty accessing the tuner(s).

Questions:
Any possibility that another program is using the tuner at the time of the Sage failures? Is BeyondTv also installed? Are both the 32-bit and 64-bit versions of Sage installed (the two can't be run at the same time).

Troubleshooting:
1. When Sage locks up, open up Task Manager. Looking at the Processes tab, see what programs are running that might access the tuner. Then adjust the headings so that the Image Name, PID, User Name, CPU, CPU Time, Memory and Description are displayed; sort by Image Name, scroll down so that SageTv is showing and do a screen capture of Task Manager. Post the results. You may need to zip the file if it's too large to meet the forum-posting limitations.

2. When Sage is locked up, again using Task Manager, click on the Services tab. Adjust the headings so that the Name, PID, Description and Status are displayed. Sort by Name, and scroll down so that SageTv is showing. Do a screen capture and post this, too.

3. When Sage is locked up, see if any other software is able to access the tuners. Hauppauge's WinTV is a good choice. The results might help to determine whether the problem is with Sage vs. the capture card's drivers.

[reliant_turbo]

Originally Posted by egeller

Sorry for the delay. I got distracted while rebuilding a server.

"Hauppauge WinTV 885 ATSC Tuner/Demod" is a tuner that your system does not like and I am not sure why. SageTV is throwing a fit trying to do something with the tuner.

For some time I have only used network tuners, not ones plugged directly into the machine. Therefore, I do not know how to interpret the messages in a way that leads to a fix. Hopefully someone more knowledgeable can review your log and advise.

I would guess that a tuner issue would have a root cause of a driver / OS problem. Would there be a way to check the tuner outside of SageTV, I wonder. Doing a little searching on this forum, I find references to WinTV Software. Can you access the tuner with WinTV?

This forum link from 2016 may be describing your issue. This link talks about driver issues.

Regarding log capture, Sage keeps the current log and the last three. Increment the 0, from 1 to 3, in the file name, and you will get the last three logs.

Are you watching a show, currently recording on one tuner, while you are also recording a second show on the second tuner? If yes, then that would explain the symptoms.

If you are watching a previously recorded show, while one is recording then I am confused at the symptoms. It's possible that the bad tuner keeps getting selected while you're watching the recording. That may be dependent on the channel you are recording - maybe it exists only on the one tuner.

Originally Posted by JustFred

Looking at the log file, it appears that Sage **sometimes** has difficulty accessing the tuner(s).

Questions:
Any possibility that another program is using the tuner at the time of the Sage failures? Is BeyondTv also installed? Are both the 32-bit and 64-bit versions of Sage installed (the two can't be run at the same time).

Troubleshooting:
1. When Sage locks up, open up Task Manager. Looking at the Processes tab, see what programs are running that might access the tuner. Then adjust the headings so that the Image Name, PID, User Name, CPU, CPU Time, Memory and Description are displayed; sort by Image Name, scroll down so that SageTv is showing and do a screen capture of Task Manager. Post the results. You may need to zip the file if it's too large to meet the forum-posting limitations.

2. When Sage is locked up, again using Task Manager, click on the Services tab. Adjust the headings so that the Name, PID, Description and Status are displayed. Sort by Name, and scroll down so that SageTv is showing. Do a screen capture and post this, too.

3. When Sage is locked up, see if any other software is able to access the tuners. Hauppauge's WinTV is a good choice. The results might help to determine whether the problem is with Sage vs. the capture card's drivers.

sorry for my month delay. i have 3 kids and started a new job so ive let the TV setup just sit....

ill get back to it soon. thanks for the help.

Brian

[reliant_turbo]

Finally fixed it. I had a bad tuner.

I have one tuner in there now and it works mint.

Thanks for the help.

Brian

[KryptoNyte]

I gotta ask - do you really have a Reliant Turbo?