Major Issues need help please

[nerys]

OK I bit the bullet and installed sage tv demo to see if it would play nice with my system

its not being very nice :-) first the interface is extremely SLOW I mean sometimes I have to wait 60+ seconds for it to respond (rarely)

also I can NOT change channels ?

to get to live tv I have to click live guide then the back arrown and NOW mainmenu has a back arrow that I can click to get to live tv

its right now on the discovery channel and will not let me CHANGE the channel when I do it freezes the image and at the bottom it shows a PAUSED icon but there appears to be no REASON for it topause at all and no APPARENT way to "unpause" is and I clicked EVERYTHING on that screen ??

I have to close it and reopen it to get a live image again and it still on discovery channel and repeats when I click the little arrows to change channels

I think someone said I could not view live tv in VCD mode so I have it in svcd mode for now until I get it working.

and how in the H### do I change recording resolution I am TEARING this manual and menus apart and I CAN NOT locate it anywhere ??????

why is this interface so DIFFICULT to nagivate ? it appears to be some kind of dummy interface like what you would use on a tivo or something like that

is there a REAL windows interface anywhere ?

and it REALLY REALLY REALLY annoys me that is defaulted to screwing with my system time. it took me WEEKS to get that danged clock set so it would capture my shows properly (NNTP time is the WRONG time for properly capture the beginning and end of my programs grrrrr got to start that all over again now :-(

ahhh FINALLY found quality control setip :-)

well picking a different quality seems to have fixed the freezing and pausing thing but I still can not change channels it shows the channel changing but remains in the discovery channel.

what gives ?

I can not figure out how to change channel ie it says its changing but won;t actually changr (PVR250)

also how in the world do you record ? ie a record button I want to record what it is I am seeing right now ? I can not find a record button anywhere

where do I find other interfaces to this program ? something higher res more windows like ???)

is there a way to make LIVE viewing in one recording mode and recording in another example live in dvd long play and recording in vcd ?

also the hauppauge software i what requires a better video card. will sage work with a lesser video card IE the motherboard built in ?

I ask cause then I could put in 2 mce 500's and use those with sage and use the pvr250 with wintv2k so I get my multituner recording and my live tv.

is this workable ?

also I still can not change channels

if I open wintv2k and change channels it works if I then reopen sage thinks its on whatever channel it was one and shows whatever channel was on when I exited wintv2k

so how do I fix this channel changing issue ?

thanks
Chris Really Hoping this works Taylor :-)
http://www.nerys.com/

[stanger89]

First, take a deep breath

Originally Posted by nerys

OK I bit the bullet and installed sage tv demo to see if it would play nice with my system

its not being very nice :-) first the interface is extremely SLOW I mean sometimes I have to wait 60+ seconds for it to respond (rarely)

What are your system specs?

also I can NOT change channels ?

IIRC there are either up/down arrows on the OSD, otherwise Page Up/Page Down are the default mapped to channel up/down, also you should be able to just punch in a channel and hit enter.

to get to live tv I have to click live guide then the back arrown and NOW mainmenu has a back arrow that I can click to get to live tv

I think (when using the mouse) you have to select the show twice, the first starts the peview window, the second takes you fullscreen.

its right now on the discovery channel and will not let me CHANGE the channel when I do it freezes the image and at the bottom it shows a PAUSED icon but there appears to be no REASON for it topause at all and no APPARENT way to "unpause" is and I clicked EVERYTHING on that screen ??

Play is Ctrl+D, pause is Ctrl+S, or Ctrl+Shift+S looks like it will toggle play/pause. Also IIRC you can click the play/pause icon in the time bar.

I have to close it and reopen it to get a live image again and it still on discovery channel and repeats when I click the little arrows to change channels

I think someone said I could not view live tv in VCD mode so I have it in svcd mode for now until I get it working.

and how in the H### do I change recording resolution I am TEARING this manual and menus apart and I CAN NOT locate it anywhere ??????

What resolution are you trying to change? You can adjust recording qualities in the properties file. See Appendix H for a link on how to do it.

why is this interface so DIFFICULT to nagivate ? it appears to be some kind of dummy interface like what you would use on a tivo or something like that

is there a REAL windows interface anywhere ?

As we/I told you in the other thread, Sage ONLY has a 10-ft interface. It is meant to be navigated by a remote (up/down/left/right/enter, and special buttons).

and it REALLY REALLY REALLY annoys me that is defaulted to screwing with my system time. it took me WEEKS to get that danged clock set so it would capture my shows properly (NNTP time is the WRONG time for properly capture the beginning and end of my programs grrrrr got to start that all over again now :-(

ahhh FINALLY found quality control setip :-)

well picking a different quality seems to have fixed the freezing and pausing thing but I still can not change channels it shows the channel changing but remains in the discovery channel.

what gives ?[/QUOTE]

There was a DLL posted (don't have the link handy) to address channel changing issues for some people.

I can not figure out how to change channel ie it says its changing but won;t actually changr (PVR250)

also how in the world do you record ? ie a record button I want to record what it is I am seeing right now ? I can not find a record button anywhere

Chapter 3 has a list of the default keyboard commands.

where do I find other interfaces to this program ? something higher res more windows like ???)

Other interfaces can be found in the customizations forum:
http://forums.sage.tv/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=27
However I don't think you will find anything helpful, AFAIK all the custom interfaces are 10-foot type.

is there a way to make LIVE viewing in one recording mode and recording in another example live in dvd long play and recording in vcd ?

LiveTV uses the Default recording quality. As for the rest of your recordings, you can configure them individually in the options for that recording (or favorite).

also the hauppauge software i what requires a better video card. will sage work with a lesser video card IE the motherboard built in ?

Sage will run (AFIAK) on any video card Windows supports, however playback may suffer depending on your video card. But yes, it should work (it works on an EPIA FWIW).

[nerys]

although it worked fine (display wise) I reinstalled the PVR250 driver update they suggest still nothing I can not change channels

in live guide clicking once appears to do nothing clicking view twice changes the screen momentarily to black and the CHANNEL idicatpr changes but the feed is still the same channel

same thing happens in live tv mode. it goes black and indicates it has changed the channel but the feed is still showing the same channel ???

Suggestions ?

as for 10 foot interface I assumed the PLAYBACK was a 10 foot interface I though the programming interface IE setting everything up etc.. would be a normal windows interface :-(

this is something I will never get used too. I hate it with a passion :-( hopefully once I get my favorites situated I will never have to interface with the program much at all. just let it do its thing if I can make it work :-) hehehe

if I can just get it to change channels :-)

Chris Taylor
http://www.nerys.com/

[nerys]

I have to admit from a PLAYBACK perspective ie watching it full screen as if from a tv the interface is quite nice - quite a bit slow a lot of the time but very nice pretty and clean

alas not so friendly if you just want to record a lot. ie when using a remote this would be great but with a keyboard and mouse and you just want to schedule a bunch of stuff to record its a hinderance :-(

what would be nice i for someone to make a nice program to access the EPG data and "add" record request information ie let me pick stuff to be recorded etc.. no tv viewing. just let me go through theepg data and pick what I want recorded in nice 1024x768 or higher resolution goodness :-)

ehh if I can make it work (change channels and don't crash) and use multiple tuners etc.. and get me my mpeg1's I can live with the annoying interface :-)

Chris Taylor
http://www.nerys.com/

[Opus4]

Originally Posted by nerys

although it worked fine (display wise) I reinstalled the PVR250 driver update they suggest still nothing I can not change channels

Did you try a new 250 driver or, if you are using v2.1, did you try this update: Updated DLL for tuner related issues in SageTV v2.1

as for 10 foot interface I assumed the PLAYBACK was a 10 foot interface I though the programming interface IE setting everything up etc.. would be a normal windows interface :-(

I'm not really sure how you could have been surprised by the appearance of the interface: you were pointed to the manual numerous times to answer some of your questions & that thing has a picture of almost every possible screen in SageTV...

- Andy

[nerys]

I was just hopeful I guess :-) I saw the screens and thought nice tivo interface now wheres the window interface :-) well there is none I soon found out :-)

Also I CAN view live tv while it recording in mpeg1 (at least I think it recording mpeg1 I picked the VCD option

the encoder its using is not the greatest but its more than watchable :-)

ALSO horaay !!! just not installed the DLL and I can change channels !!! Cool !!! thanks guys

gonna set up some programming to record and see how it goes. one way I think I got to secure against file deletion. I gave sage tv its OWN directory called Sage Recordings and every now and then I will just MOVE the mpgs from that folder to my normal recordings folder since this other folder is not listed in sage I am hoping that will mean sage can not touch it and therfore will not be able to delete my files for any reason :-)

Chris Taylor
http://www.nerys.com/

[nerys]

ok maybe I cant view in mpeg1 first it gets nasty if I try to change channels and whatever it is its not mpeg1 (twice the file size of mpeg1) gonna go mess with the configuration files listed in the manual for doing mpeg1 :-)

Chris Taylor
http://www.zodiacreview.com/

[nerys]

Ok how in the world do I add mpeg1

I think I have to add THIS

mmc/python2_encoding/VCD=videobitrate=1520000|width=352|height=240|audiobitrate=224|outputstreamtype=11|audiosampling=44100

somewhere but I have NO clue precisely where !! the "detailed" instructions contain nothing "clear" on precisely what I have to edit. whst file ? (guessing sage.properties ??) it does not make it clear

also I opened that file in notepad. it looks like I should not be messing with whats in there unless I know EXACTLY what it is that I need to do.

where do I add that line ? I assume I need to REPLACE a line (IE I have a "vcd" option under qualities but it does not record in vcd (files are way to big)

so how do I paste this into place so thst VCD option that is already there will really be VCD also can I REMOVE other options ? (so its less cluttered)

example I do not need the SVCD options nor do I need all of the DVD option. ideally I only need 4. the 3 DVD options (2hr 4hr 6hr) and VCD

any help would be greatly appreciated or at least to clearer instrctions on precisely what I need to do.

Chris Taylor
http://www.nerys.com/

[Opus4]

To edit the properties file, you must first completely exit SageTV,or else any change you make will be overwritten.

To add a new recording quality, you can either add a new property line or edit an existing one. If you change a default setting, it may get reset back to its default. If you delete one, it will probbaly get replaced. It shouldn't really matter _where_ in the file you place the new line, but ou can easily add it near the existing lines & they will be re-ordered by SageTV.

BTW: HPquality.txt says that outputstreamtype = 2 is for MPEG1, if it doesn't have to be VCD (value: 11).

- Andy

[nerys]

Ok but here


BTW: HPquality.txt says that outputstreamtype = 2 is for MPEG1, if it doesn't have to be VCD (value: 11).

you lost me can you clarify ? vcd is mpeg1

352x240 224kbit 44khz 29.97fps

thanks !!!

FYI first time I saw mpeg2 on my monitor got to say it is a LOT better but I put both on a DVD and its nearly impossible to see a difference on the 10" lcd of thr dvd player and there is NO difference on the 4" screen :-)

its also partly that sage is user a poorer encoder or something than even hauppauge uses (looks more pixely but that might just be the live renderer)

ehh as long as its watchable I am happy :-) plus my HD PVP will only ready mpeg1 same for my portable VCD player. mpeg1 only :-) and thats what I use most often to watch this stuff.

Chris Taylor
http://www.nerys.com/

[nerys]

also curious

THIS

mmc/python2_encoding/VCD=videobitrate=1520000|width=352|height=240|audiobitrate=224|outputstreamtype=11|audiosampling=44100

was already there ? its what I selevts but the resultant file was twice mpeg1 proper size ???

so I added the new line anyway and changed it to vcd2

will see what happens

Chris Taylor
http://www.nerys.com/

[Opus4]

Originally Posted by nerys

Ok but here

BTW: HPquality.txt says that outputstreamtype = 2 is for MPEG1, if it doesn't have to be VCD (value: 11).

you lost me can you clarify ? vcd is mpeg1

Nope... I can't clarify. I just noticed that MPEG1 was listed as setting 1 & VCD is 11. I don't know the difference, so maybe someone else can let us all know...

- Andy

[nerys]

Ok something is simply not working. I added a bunch of favorites but they are according to this thing NOT going to be recorded ? ie they are highlighted white (not red) and when i goto upcoming recording they are NOT listed ?? whst gives ?

example I told it to record the following according to favorites
Friday starting at 7pm
Andromeda
Enterprise
Numbers
Jonny Zero
Stargate SG1
Stargate Atlantis
Battlestar Galactica

there are NO conflicts these shows occur one after the other just in that order yet its tell me its not going to record any of them ??? Except Johnny Zero and that one I set as a manual record ?????

I checked under conflicts and it shows none ?

what is it using to determine if it will record them or not and how do I fix it ?

I thought maybe it did not see them as first run so I set it to get all and still it is NOT scheduling these shows for this friday ?

its also scheduled to record something 0130 next saturday that is not in my favorites and I can not figure out how to tell it NOT to record it (I certaintly never asked it to) (figured out how to cancel it but no idea why it wanted to to begin with :-)

I have to have favorites working. I can live with the less than stellar interface with favorites but never without favorites. manually recording everything on a grid like that would just be too much work :-( Grrrrr :-)

also how to I get a list of DEFINATELY no questions these shows will be recorded ? I went to recording schedule most of my wanted shows are NOT here ??

also some are red some are white ? when i click on a white one I have a "record" option which implies to me it is NOT to be recorded ? yet its in the recording schedule page ?

I hate to ask this but are there any NON tivo like software packages that do multi tuner ? this is starting to get annoying and appears to so far be "unreliable" ie as of now I would be afraid to set some favorites and let this thing be on its own since it appears its ignoring my favorites and is NOT scheduling them to be recorded.

but I want multi tuner support so badly :-( gonna take another whack at it tommorrow its late here.

any suggestions on the not in recording schedule problem above ?

Chris Taylor
http://www.nerys.com/

[nielm]

Colors outlines: see manual (red= manual record, white = favourite show, black=dont like, yellow=currently recording)

How long did you wait before checking the recording schedule -- Sage only recalculates the recording schedule a few minutes after you make changes, and only for the next 3 days. so if they all show on friday, they will not appear in the recording schedule until Tuesday (this can be altered, but it is for performance reasons)


As for stream type, the recording qualities config text file explains it clearly: 2=MPEG-1; 11=VCD compliant (I guess there is some internal differences in the stream)

The full list can be found with a quick google.. I found this:

 Specify the stream_type value
      Valid Values are:
        0 - PS
        1 - TS
        2 - MPEG1
        3 - PES_AV
        5 - PES_V
        7 - PES_A
       10 - DVD
       11 - VCD
       12 - SVCD
       13 - DVD-Special 1
       14 - DVD-Special 2

Note also that for adding a custom quality to SageTV, you need 2 properties lines:

seeker/recording_qualities/XXXX
mmc/python2_encoding/XXXX

[nerys]

ahh that explains why johnny zero shows up but not the favorites based programs and I figured the colors were like that (have not seen yellow but I assumed white was favorites)

ok how do I change this (or where is it explained in the manual) I want the recording schedule to reflect the full 14 days.l this is important since I need to be sure its going to do what I asked it to do

the eventualy goal is that I only want to log into it once a week to double check its going to record what its supposed to record.

also is there anyway to get it to ADD the date and time to the file name of the mpeg file it generates ?

so instead of show-XXX.mpg I would like show-date-time.mpg

thanks very much for the replies :-) !!! going to print out the massive manual to today and work my way through it bit by bit. it is NOT an overly user friendly manual (they again what manuals are :-)

searching through it is overlall proving not useful (upgraded by Acrobat now i hae search !! man did I have sn old version or what !!) so I am just going to have to find the time to sit down and read the entire thing start to finish.


Chris Taylor
http://www.nerys.com/

[Crazedz]

Yes their are other programs out their now that support multi tuner recording but their not as developed as sage is.

Sagetv pioniered multi tuner recordings in windows and had it working in at least 3 different versions of the software when even Hauppauge and Microsoft said multi tuner recording on a single pc was impossible.

Snapstream has Beyond tv which while it does support multiple tuners is not as stable as sage and lacks the features and ablities of sagetv. For many it's like a downgrade plus beyond/Snapstream trys to charge you through the tooth for features that you get at no extra cost with sage. Like more than 2 tuner support snapstream charges $20 for each additional tuner over the first 2 sage doesn't. Plus it's not as stable as sage i know i said it before but it bears repeating.

Their are comparisons of sagetv and beyondtv on the forums here if you want to see them you can do a search for info on beyond on these forums but here's a link to the most recent thread.

Sagetv VS Byond TV

Beyond is still doesn't compare to sagetv but next to sage it's the most developed and useable on the windows platform.

Their are others like MCE2k5 (Microsoft Media Center Edition 2005) if you are willing to buy a new copy of your OS just to get it as their is no legal way to obtain the mce addon outside of the special os version which is XP with the MCE program. Again though it's still not as developed as sagetv. They just recently started getting multiple tuners to work in MCE and their are still bugs. But it does have limited HDTV support for some not many but some HDtuners which sage doesn't have yet. This is one area that others have gotten ahead of sage on as beyond supports some limited hd tuners as well but beyond still has the flaws previously mentioned and MCE has the DRM(Digital Rights Management) problem with it's software. Some like me just don't like DRM and the problems and bagage it brings with it. Plus they still have problems with more than 2 tuners in a system and sage doesn't.

Beyond thoughs mentioned above their are others but they for the most part are even less stable some less so than others and some with some promise beyond the fact that they happen to be free not all but some.

To name a few

GBPVR
Gotall media
CTPVR

Their are more than this but i can't recall them at this time though i have tried several and of thoughs i tried these are the ones that stick out in my mind. Plus as i recall the above ones are free but then they are also much buggier than sage and take a bit of time to setup. You could get lucky though and have one of em work great with your hardware.

But sage once setup even if it takes some work the first time to set it up is well worth it in terms of features and stability the only other pvr that can compare is on linux MYTHPC and requires much more work to get it setup think rpms and dependancies as well as special drivers you may have to look for and get setup as well Myth looks great but all the mess to you have to go through to set it up makes sage look like a walk in the park before sunset of course.

But don't take our oppinions of course you can try any of the other software packages out and see for yourself what their like.

Their is also a web interface for sagetv that's pretty easy to setup if you've already dived into the properties file you can set it up. It will give you the ability to see what sage is going to record what it is recording allow you to change recordings as well as set shows as watched plus it has a program guide to look through to see what you want to have recorded as well as other features.
It does require the web plugin program avalible for download and a line added to the properties file to get it working however getting it to work through a firewall requires extra work to open a hole and setup ssl but it's still pretty doable.

Sagetv Webserver

I think this is what you were wanting somewhat in terms of a windows interface to access the program guide and recordings.

I know you probably still want more but sage moved away from the windows type setup of features with 2.0 and rolled all the setup features into the main program as did Beyondtv to make it easy on thoughs useing sage in set top box setups which most do or are trying to do for a whole house media system that doesn't resemble or look like a pc. Beyond tv's web interface though is better i have to say than sagetv's is but then sagetv's web interface was made by a user Nielm to be exact not by freys so ofcourse theirs is better.

Not meaning to knock your web plugin Nielm it's great i love it and praise you for doing it but beyond did do a better one with more features.

[heffe2001]

Originally Posted by nerys

ok how do I change this (or where is it explained in the manual) I want the recording schedule to reflect the full 14 days.l this is important since I need to be sure its going to do what I asked it to do

This can be done on some of the custom STV's I believe (not 100% sure on that)

Originally Posted by nerys

also is there anyway to get it to ADD the date and time to the file name of the mpeg file it generates ?

so instead of show-XXX.mpg I would like show-date-time.mpg

I don't think we have control of the filenames that Sage outputs.

Originally Posted by nerys

thanks very much for the replies :-) !!! going to print out the massive manual to today and work my way through it bit by bit. it is NOT an overly user friendly manual (they again what manuals are :-)

Eeek, not a good thing to say on a thread where Opus is helping :P.

[Opus4]

Originally Posted by nielm

Note also that for adding a custom quality to SageTV, you need 2 properties lines:

seeker/recording_qualities/XXXX
mmc/python2_encoding/XXXX

Actually, from v2.1 & on, seeker/recording_qualities/XXXX should not be needed. They've been removed from my properties files.

Originally Posted by nerys

ok how do I change this (or where is it explained in the manual) I want the recording schedule to reflect the full 14 days.l this is important since I need to be sure its going to do what I asked it to do

Manaul: page 49; forum: this FAQ entry

also is there anyway to get it to ADD the date and time to the file name of the mpeg file it generates ?

so instead of show-XXX.mpg I would like show-date-time.mpg

The last time you asked this, it was answered in this post

- Andy

[Opus4]

Originally Posted by heffe2001

Eeek, not a good thing to say on a thread where Opus is helping :P.

While I certainly won't claim that the manual is anywhere near perfect, I was thinking that the LAST thing you would want to do is print out the manual... viewing it in Adobe Reader is so much better, since you can search for text, use the left hand bookmark panel, follow all the cross reference links, and use the Back/Forward buttons to go back & forth in the series of jumps you make in the document. After printing it out, you lose those links & the search capability. Personally, I think the search function + bookmarks work extremely well... you don't think I've memorized the page numbers where everything is mentioned, do you?

- Andy

[Crazedz]

To setup sage to look ahead further than 3 days i belive can be setup in the properties file but i haven't looked.

Their is also at least 1 user made interface (called STV's) that does give the option to look ahead more than 3 days.

MCEXCON

It's under setup/plugins&userinterface/advanced pvr/ scheduling look ahead days the default is 3. Im not sure about other user made STV's and i can't recall about sagetv's default stv if this is in their but it's in MCEXCON's.

Here's a list of avalible STV's, Plugins and customizations for sagetv.

Opus4's List of available customizations

Im sure others know how to do this with the main STV as well as in the properties file so im sure somebody will post them.