STB Firewire (IEEE-1394) Support

[turak]

Originally Posted by spaceghost

turak,
I'm using default & Intervideo Audio Decoder (not the nonCSS one) and it seems to work well. Sage is very picky and it seems it doesn't follow the normal directshow filters to playback media. I say this because if I use graphedit to render a media file, it plays it fine...but Sage chokes on the audio (audio render error)..no matter what combination of filters I set up inside Sage. I have several files that play fine with any software I try but Sage chokes on it. Sage is very finicky about audio...and very dumb sometimes. Most of the problems I've had with audio & sage has been over DD2.0.

Has anyone else noticed the horrible response of the system when recording HD thru the FW? button presses on the remote take almost 10 seconds to take effect. And if I try to watch anything besides what's recording, it makes the recording drop frames.

hmm...I'm also using default and the (7.1 capable) Intervideo Audio Decoder that came with my sound card. I've also tried the platinum NVDVD audio decoder, sonic audio decoder, cyberlink audio decoder and elecard audio decoder. I get the same "audio exception error" no matter what decoder I use. I've tried playing back from my SageTV server and 2 clients. It's frustrating. The recordings look and sound great when I play them with other apps.

[DFA]

For what it is worth, I have not noticed this kind of latency in the UI. I am using UNE local and also have not suffered the misfortune of encountering the machine gun "GET_FILE_SIZE" queeries from Sage.

The only usability weakness I am experiencing is in HD playback where there is a lot of motion and/or panning. I think it was dvsing that posted that increasing the priority of the SGR app. may help this, which I will try when finally getting from Texas to Home (CA), or I may just need more horsepower and bandwidth, possibly in the video card dept. I plan to up my CPU and FSB anyway so will go from there. Also have been comtemplating a 6600GT as well. I do not have a problem investing in my HTPC to properly handle HD MPEG media since I perceive this to be a fundamental requirement.

I noticed that Jeff made some changes and improvements in the Sage filters for directly handling TS streams as cited in the change log for 2.2.6RC. When getting home, I also planned on trying a graph that simply dumps the TS stream and see if Sage does better with TS steams than before. Eliminating the demux and mux steps might help things on the overhead side and response times / latencies.

DFA

[turak]

What would you need to dump the TS stream? Just the capture device and a mpeg dump filter? As for investing in HTPC equipment for HD, I just spent over $1000 building a new client to replace my MVP so I could capture/playback HD.

[DFA]

turak:

Just build another graph and use the capture device to the TS Info Parser and then to the Dump filter. I think I tried this before and still needed the Info Parser although it seems to me it should not be necessary. Try it both ways (w and w/o Info Parser) and save the graphs with a different name and change the name to the new test graph in "SGraphRecorder.ini".

Did you read the release notes on what Jeff claimed to have fixed regarding the playback of MPEG-TS? He seemed to acknowledge there was a problem or two in prior versions.

PS: I can now better appreciate your frustration at not getting better results yet.

Here are pertinent line items from Jeff's 2.2.6RC change log:

4. Disabled fast loading for TS files since the SageTV splitter can't handle it.
13. Use SageTV splitter instead of SageTV demux for TS files.

DFA

[turak]

I just noticed that in graphedit, my STB is listed in "video capture sources" and "WDM streaming capture devices". Does it matter which one I use? I've been using the one from "video capture sources".

[spaceghost]

Originally Posted by turak

I just noticed that in graphedit, my STB is listed in "video capture sources" and "WDM streaming capture devices". Does it matter which one I use? I've been using the one from "video capture sources".

This is what my graph looks like:
graphedit capture
Think I'm using the video capture sources one.

Do you have AC3filter installed? That sometimes helps with some 2.0 stuff.

[DFA]

I have tried both but makes no difference. I am using from "video capture sources". Try the other though just to be sure. When it comes to PC's, we do not always obtain universal responses for the same action.

DFA

[turak]

Originally Posted by DFA

I have tried both but makes no difference. I am using from "video capture sources". Try the other though just to be sure. When it comes to PC's, we do not always obtain universal responses for the same action.

DFA

As soon as I noticed the second entry for my STB I made a graph with it. Still no luck. So far I've beeen using my HD STB that's in the livingroom and hooked up to the HDTV. I'm thinking about upgrading one of my STB's that is in the closet hooked up to the server to HD. Maybe I'll have better luck if I keep SGR local to the server.

[scutrmatt]

Where can I find a step-by-step guide, updated with your latest findings, for setting up my htpc to record via the firewire port on my cable box?

[Naylia]

There's no real step by step guide yet. That was my job and I'm still waiting on my usb-uirt to do this with sage. I have however posted this, the first part of the guide, over at htpcnews.

Mini-Guide

So far it only covers installing drivers, using vlc as a viewer, and capdvhs as a recorder and should be enough info to make it possible for you to see what channels are available to you. End of march I'll have my usb-uirt and sage and I'll complete the guide with steps on building the graph, setting up the sgraphrecorder and configuring it in Sage.


And even though I'm getting a usb-uirt I'm still working on the channel changer code....slowly....

[ChuckvB]

Can the Microsoft MCE usb uirt blaster be used as well?

[Wheemer]

I don't believe there is a girder plugin for the MCE blaster.

[travisbell]

Originally Posted by Wheemer

I don't believe there is a girder plugin for the MCE blaster.

Half true. There isn't one for Girder yet but some guys on TheGreenButton.com have been working on making it universal with a program called HIP. Check out their progress here,

http://www.thegreenbutton.com/commun...essageID=93348

Looks like they have a test version coming out this week. Can't wait!

[Wheemer]

Ya but UNE is only setup for girder.

[travisbell]

Originally Posted by Wheemer

Ya but UNE is only setup for girder.

True but if there are guys making this kind of progress with "opening up" the Microsoft blaster I bet a Girder plugin will show up real soon. That's what I meant to point out... sorry!

Cheers,

[spaceghost]

Naylia,
Check your PM's.

[cohnhead]

Hi All,

Here is what I found in using the UNE with my STB.

My graph appears to be identical to spaceghost's.

I also get the audio render error, but I have found that if I first have sage playback a previously recorded HD captured file then I don't get the error when it switches to the UNE source. This is when watching "live" tv. I need to confirm if switching from the PVR 250 to the UNE gives an error when recording, or just playback.

Also, there has been occasion when after viewing "live" tv from the UNE that when i switch back to my PVR 250 source I get no sound and jumpy video. Restarting sage at that point is the only way to get my analog source running correctly again.

Lastly, "live" HD video over fireware is jumpy, while playback after recording has been completed appears perfect. Even though CPU usage is below 60% in both cases.

What all this leads me to believe is that we don't quite have all the answers when it comes to viewing a file that is still be written to. Maybe a different dump filter, or eliminating the MUX/DMUX step is the answer, but I haven't had anything else work even close to what we have so far.

Marc

[spaceghost]

Cohnhead-
Just to make sure, but you have the delay set correctly? Having Sage tune into the FW port too soon will give you audio errors as well what decoder you are using.

Here's a couple tips for others that are still trying to get it to work..

Make sure this is set in the sgraphrecorder.ini:
UnloadGraphOnStop=1

Also make sure an adequate delay is set in sgraphrecorder.ini:
TuningDelay=3500
My FW changes channels in a little over 2 seconds..so I've allowed for an additional 1.5 seconds for the FW to stabilize before sgraphrecorder.exe "tunes" it in.

I also have the following set in sage.properties:
videoframe/network_encoding_to_playback_delay=5500
This gives an additional 2 seconds of buffer after sgraphrecorder.exe kicks in before the "live" feed plays.

[DFA]

Spaceghost has got it right for correct setup of the UNE! I have found I can use lower numbers than what Spaceghost is using but a lot depends on the various STB's and channel change latency. I found a parameter in Sage that seemed to speed up the channel change slightly which probably helped me achieve the lower numbers (2500 / 3500 vs. 3500 / 5500). I think a few may have missed or not grasped the importance of this part of the UNE setup. Everyone needs to work these out on an individual basis but need to start high and work down until the trouble point is found.

cohnhead:
The problems you are having are not universal. UNE setup and available horsepower, HDD subsystem and video card will all have something to do with how successful the UNE is on an individual basis. For example, I run 30% CPU.

Live HD TV will push things hardest, especially HDD subsystem. I have dedicated SATA Raid0 drives for Sage video and experience no problems. I have noted that STB HD files are about 7 to 10 times larger than my PVR-250 files with recording quality set at "DVD Standard Play". This would mean that data transfer rate is also as much as 10 times higher and as much as 20 times higher for Live TV since simultaneous reads / writes take place under that circumstance. This is a substantial increase in HDD demand. Not saying this is anyones problem but something to also consider if having difficulty.

DFA

[DFA]

"GET_FILE_SIZE" revisted.

I gather there has been no response from Frey on this issue yet. I will try to ding them myself since this is tripping some installs up badly.

The frequency of "GET_FILE_SIZE" queeries from Sage for my system is exactly at 5 minute intervals.

DFA