Sometimes no picture, sometimes no audio

[upplepop]

I am having a load of problems with my Sage 2.1 installation. When I start up my computer, it loads Sage, and I try to watch TV, the picture is black and the audio does not work. Then, when I close Sage and run Hauppage's WinTV, I get both picture and sound. If I close WinTV and run Sage again, then sometimes I will the picture and sound for a few seconds until my computer crashes, sometimes I just get picture, and sometimes I get the black screen again.

I've tried switching around the Video Renderer and starting WinTV before Sage, but I can't get any consistent results. Any ideas?

Here's my hardware:
Via EPIA M10000
Hauppage PVR-250 (upgraded to latest drivers: 1.18.21.22266)
DVD drive with Cyberlink XP installed for DVD playback

These are my Sage advanced setup options:

Video Renderer
Default
Overlay
VMR9

MPEG2 Decoder
Default
CyberLink Video ISD
InterVideo NonCSS for Hauppauge

Audio Renderer
Vinyl AC'97
Default DirectSound
Default WaveOut
DirectSound: Vinyl AC'97

MPEG2 Audio Decoder
Default
Cyberlink
InterVideo NonCSS for Hauppauge
MPEG Audio Decoder

[kny3twalker]

whats

CyberLink Video ISD

?

where did you get that?

[upplepop]

Originally Posted by kny3twalker

whats ?

where did you get that?

I installed Cyberlink PowerDVD on the computer so I would have a DVD decoder.

[kny3twalker]

but it calls itself Cyberlink ISD
mine is cyberlink video decoder

[mls]

and mine is "Cyberlink Video/SP Decoder"

[upplepop]

Well, Sage messes up regardless of whether CyberLink is selected.

Any ideas?

[stanger89]

Have you tried:

Video Renderer
Overlay

MPEG2 Decoder
InterVideo NonCSS for Hauppauge

Audio Renderer
Vinyl AC'97

MPEG2 Audio Decoder
InterVideo NonCSS for Hauppauge

[upplepop]

I've tried the setup above, but here's what happens:
1. I entered the configuration above and restart my computer
2. Sage starts up automatically. I go to live TV and get no picture or audio
3. I close Sage, open WinTV, and WinTV works fine; I get picture & audio
4. Close WinTV, open Sage, go to Live TV, I get picture, but no audio
5. Close Sage, Open Sage right after, go to live TV, I get picture & audio.
6. Cool, Sage works. So I restart my computer, let Sage start up, go to LiveTV, and... I'm right back to step 2, no picture or audio.

As you can see, this is a very difficult problem to diagnose due to its inconsistencies.

I have gotten this error a few times while troubleshooting this issue:

There was a Playback Error in playback
Details: sage.PlaybackException: ERROR (-4, 0x80040217): There was a problem rendering the video portion of the content for playback

[kny3twalker]

sounds like directx errors or drivers for the pvr card or video card

you need to update all of them

[ROBinTO]

Sounds like Sage will not control the tuner properly.
Many others are having the same problem, Ive been without the use of 2 tuners in Sage for about a month now. GotAllMEdia works great though.

See this thread:
http://forums.freytechnologies.com/f...ead.php?t=8013

[naln]

I have tried to install the new version of sage with Nvidia decoders and get the same problems as described- no video and only audio- and then an error saying that the video cannot be played back because it is missing some component- I logged on to check if someone else has a better fix than the Inter-video Hauppauge codecs......from what I hear the NVdia codecs do a better job of the mpeg decoding- just curious. I have had these things running minus a Convertex 402 on the earlier version virtually trouble free for a long time. Now there are all kinds of problems like stuttering- frame freezing problems etc when recording in even half decent MPEG4. Looks like its mostly a codec - sage compatibilty issue of some kind. I have done clean installs over the last couple of days trying to fix the problem- with directX, new hauppauge drivers, sage- and the works- but problems never seem to stop- also....another new issue that I saw this time is an upside down video stream with using default decoders- which makes me almost positive that sage does have some compatibility issues on this version-

[davey_fl]

Well it's a show stopper for me. I have tried every possible configuration and the only thing Sage will play back is avi files. No Live tv, no previously recorded shows. I have the Hauppauge Decoders, Sonic decoders Theatertek installs, I've tried Default, VMR9 and Overlay, it just doesn't work. Same error every single time:

There was a Playback Error in playback
Details: sage.PlaybackException: ERROR (-4, 0x80040217): There was a problem rendering the video portion of the content for playback

This is on a 2.1 Server trying it with one tuner PVR250.

Very frustrating. It would be nice if the sage guys could address this.

Davey

[stanger89]

Can you play MPEGs outside Sage?

[korben_dallas]

This sounds similar to a problem I was having.

Are you using the Sage service along with the UI, or just having Sage.exe start automatically?

Try this:

1. Make sure if you are using the service to set it to manual.
2. Take any sage.exe out of the start menu startup folder and registry hklu/hklm > windows > run
3. Power off PC.
4. Start PC.
5. Wait until PC is fully booted with all disk activity stopped.
6. Start the Sage service (only if you are using the service). Wait again until all disk activity has stopped.
7. Start the UI.

Does it work now?

[davey_fl]

yup they play no problen in Nero Showtime and VLC.

Davey

[davey_fl]

Hi korben_dallas:

Not using sage as a service, I just start it manually. Tried powering off several times, making sure nothing was running. Still, does the same thing over and over. The only thing it will play is avi's.

[davey_fl]

anyone else have suggestions for this?

[Opus4]

Originally Posted by davey_fl

It would be nice if the sage guys could address this.

Have you contacted tech support? (see below)

- Andy

[thestewman]

I must say I am fustrated as heck with Ver 2.1. I know I am not alone with the problem of no tuning, black screen, video decoder error messages, and an inability to exackly synch the video to the audio. As the betas went from RC5 to RC10 there was a great improvement in functionality and video quality but the bugs are terrible. And the final release ver 2.1.10 is a definite showstopper for me.


What makes it more fustrating is not being able to return to a functioning copy of Sage. Something must change in the OS, Java or in some other software other than what Frey supplies because removing every bit of Sage does not cure the inoperability of Sage when you reinstall it. For some reason once you load ver. 2.1 your stuck with it. Old versions of Sage that functioned before will not run when reinstalled.

As I live a short distance from Frey Technologies, I messaged Jeff at Frey and offered to bring him my HTPC to use as a way to find a cure for the many bugs brought to us by Ver 2.1. I have not heard a response from Frey in regards to this problem other than the two DLL's that were provided on the forum. They did not work for me.