Set a max tv pause time

[brbjr]

Is it possible to set the max pause time? I only want sage to record for 4 hours max after a show has been paused.

[xjim1]

Are you pausing live tv and concerned that Sage continues to record subsequent programming on the same channel?

[brbjr]

I added IPTV sources via opendct and my spouse loves to pause live tv and go to bed. Now we just used 17 gigs of internet data overnight. This is the reason I am asking. I know the answer is to stop the spouse's behavior, but that is not easy to do. We have been using sage since 2004 and really like it. No other commercial DVR comes even close to the sage experience.

[JustFred]

Obviously not a universal solution, but I use a programmable remote that sends a sequence of commands when the TV Off button is pressed: Sage Stop, TV Power Off.

[deanm]

Is the TV in question that the client is connected to a Smart TV, as in does it have an IP address?

What I do is run a script that pings the TV’s IP address. When the tv is turned off the TV will stop pinging. Once it stops pinging I then send a stop command to the client.

For TVs that are not smart i have built some hardware. An ESP8266 that is powered by the TVs USB port. The ESP8266 connects to my Wi-Fi when powered on. When the TV is On the USB powers the ESP and reply’s to a ping. When the tv is in standby, I have found on most TVs the USB port it turned off and stop replying. Then I sends a stop command.

Bit over kill but works perfect.

Dean

[KryptoNyte]

What client device(s) might this occur with at your house?

[graywolf]

Do you use Intelligent Recording?
If not, try:
Setup => Detailed Setup => Customize
Then find:
Delete Live TV files when not using Intelligent Recording = YES

See if that fixes your issue

[wnjj]

Originally Posted by graywolf

Do you use Intelligent Recording?
If not, try:
Setup => Detailed Setup => Customize
Then find:
Delete Live TV files when not using Intelligent Recording = YES

See if that fixes your issue

That will save disk space but not stop using bandwidth for the recording stream. I don’t know of any setting that stops recording live TV after long pausing or inactivity. In theory it could be added but I’m not really sure what the most straightforward way is.

[Tiki]

Originally Posted by wnjj

That will save disk space but not stop using bandwidth for the recording stream. I don’t know of any setting that stops recording live TV after long pausing or inactivity. In theory it could be added but I’m not really sure what the most straightforward way is.

Right. The best fix would also depend on his specific use case. He mentioned his spouse often leaves Sage paused while watching live tv and goes to sleep, but didn’t mention if they leave the tv turned on or not.

A simple solution like using a universal remote to issue the Stop command when turning the TV off would work well if they always turn the tv off, but wouldn’t help if they fall asleep with the tv still on. Same goes for the idea of pinging the tv’s up address to see if it is on or off.

If those ideas don’t work, you could probably use Studio to create a plugin that runs on the client side. Whenever the pause button is pressed the code could check to see whether live tv is being played and if so start a timer. A periodic process could then be run to check the status of the timer and if the timeout period had elapsed, issue a stop command. Any other transport command that was issued (play stop etc) would deactivate the timer.

Of course this hypothetical plugin I just described would only work if someone left Sage on pause for a long period. It would not help if you just fell asleep watching live tv without pausing - in that case Sage would still chew up your bandwidth if recording iptv.

An alternate idea for this scenario would be to create a plugin that starts a timer whenever you tune a channel on live tv (regardless of whether you have it paused). Then after a pre-set time (4 hours?) you could pop up a message (Are you still watching?). If no response to this dialog within a time out period (2 minutes?), the Stop command could be issued. If you wanted to get fancy you could configure the plugin to only run this timer when watching certain channels.

[KeithAbbott]

Coming at this from a different angle, maybe setting up a rule in your router, something to the effect of turning off internet access to the SageTV server at a specified time each night (maybe midnight?). I do something similar for my son’s gaming equipment, and it seems to work well.

[jpwegas]

Originally Posted by deanm

For TVs that are not smart i have built some hardware. An ESP8266 that is powered by the TVs USB port. The ESP8266 connects to my Wi-Fi when powered on. When the TV is On the USB powers the ESP and reply’s to a ping. When the tv is in standby, I have found on most TVs the USB port it turned off and stop replying. Then I sends a stop command.

Bit over kill but works perfect.

That's a neat solution!

--John

[wayner]

Originally Posted by jpwegas

That's a neat solution!

--John

If the TV is a smart TV you might be able to try pinging the TV's IP address - same methodology except without needing the extra device. But that assumes that the TV stops responding to Pings when off. Alternatively, a smart TV may have an API that allows you to determine its current state.

[brbjr]

Answer to a few questions. Sage client is an HD200 the show is paused and the tv is turned off but some times the tv is left on. I don't want the tv to loose the paused show. I want sage to continue recording for configured x hours or the end of the current show if it is after x hours.