R5000-HD capture via USB2 & SageTV

[Keenan]

Just started using v.6 and it works with my Star Choice R5000-modded STB.

I do have a question though for anyone else who is using Star Choice with the R5000 mod w/Sage. There are two HD channels which show up in the guide but do not seem to be working within Sage, both 5 and 6. The channels are there as I can see then when using the SC STB direct, but I get no image and no sound through Sage. The channels are the recently added A&E-HD and Discovery-HD. SC just added NatGeo-HD and Showcase-HD a few days ago and the guide info that Sage gets doesn't reflect those channels yet, although that just may be a case of the guide info supplier not having the info yet. I'm not sure what's going on with the former 2 channels though, never been able to get them to work in Sage.

[Kirby]

Originally Posted by Keenan

Just started using v.6 and it works with my Star Choice R5000-modded STB.

I do have a question though for anyone else who is using Star Choice with the R5000 mod w/Sage. There are two HD channels which show up in the guide but do not seem to be working within Sage, both 5 and 6. The channels are there as I can see then when using the SC STB direct, but I get no image and no sound through Sage. The channels are the recently added A&E-HD and Discovery-HD. SC just added NatGeo-HD and Showcase-HD a few days ago and the guide info that Sage gets doesn't reflect those channels yet, although that just may be a case of the guide info supplier not having the info yet. I'm not sure what's going on with the former 2 channels though, never been able to get them to work in Sage.

have you tried just capturing a show from either channel with the R5000 DVR app, and playing it as an import file? or in VLC or something else?

[Keenan]

Originally Posted by Kirby

have you tried just capturing a show from either channel with the R5000 DVR app, and playing it as an import file? or in VLC or something else?

No I haven't, been too lazy to try it, but that was my next move though. It's not as if I really needed/wanted those channels as I have Dish as well, but the Showcase-HD channel looks interesting so I guess I'll have to do some sleuthing.

You know, I haven't done it that way in so long I've forgotten how to do it. I thought clicking on the REC button in the Titan EPG would initiate the recording, but nothing happens.

[mikesm]

Originally Posted by Keenan

No I haven't, been too lazy to try it, but that was my next move though. It's not as if I really needed/wanted those channels as I have Dish as well, but the Showcase-HD channel looks interesting so I guess I'll have to do some sleuthing.

You know, I haven't done it that way in so long I've forgotten how to do it. I thought clicking on the REC button in the Titan EPG would initiate the recording, but nothing happens.

Have you tried adding the channel as was explained to me for another purpose in this thread? http://forums.sagetv.com/forums/showthread.php?t=22224

If the issue is the guide doesn't show the channel as available, but the STB tunes it fine then maybe this will help.

thanks also for confirming the R5000-HD works well with V6.

Thanks,
mike

[roxy99]

Okay I've read all 20 pages of this very interesting topic (I think Lord of the Rings was a shorter read)

I am almost ready to take the plunge, save for a couple of concerns/questions:

I am going to use a Bell 6000 HD satelite tuner- supposedly compatible:
Anyone here have any success to report?

My Sage server is acting as the HTPC at the same time- ie I only have 1 PC running Sage and playing back to my HDTV( + wired MVP to another TV) .Is an Athlon XP 3200 w/512mb sufficient?

At present, I have 2 SD tuners hooked up to a Haupaugge PVR 500 capture card. This is controlled by USB-UIART. Can I continue using this for SD channels and also have the RD5000 as a network encoder? Will they play nice together in Sage or am I asking for trouble. Its just a shame if I have to ditch my SD tuners that are nicely set up.

I am prepared to add a couple of SATA drives and new 500W powersupply and new case to the PC. I want to continue using my 2 IDE drives as reording drives for the 2 SD tuners (280gb on the secondary IDE channel). I want to also add 750GB with a SATA card on PCI for the extra HD. How does a PC and Sage manage with IDE and SATA drives in the same system?

[NEOSG]

Originally Posted by roxy99

...

At present, I have 2 SD tuners hooked up to a Haupaugge PVR 500 capture card. This is controlled by USB-UIART. Can I continue using this for SD channels and also have the RD5000 as a network encoder? Will they play nice together in Sage or am I asking for trouble. Its just a shame if I have to ditch my SD tuners that are nicely set up.
...

You should have no problems. i run multiple SD, multiple R5000, and multiple OTA HD tuners with no issues. I know there are others doing the same, and I have not heard of any deal breaking issues

[Keenan]

Originally Posted by mikesm

Have you tried adding the channel as was explained to me for another purpose in this thread? http://forums.sagetv.com/forums/showthread.php?t=22224

If the issue is the guide doesn't show the channel as available, but the STB tunes it fine then maybe this will help.

thanks also for confirming the R5000-HD works well with V6.

Thanks,
mike

The guide started to reflect the channels late last week. My problem is that all I get is the No Signal banner when I tune to those channels through Sage. It's been so long since I've used the R5000 apps standalone to record anything I've forgotten how to do it. I tried a few days ago to make sure R5000 was getting the signals and kept getting an "error 255", or something very similar to that.

[roxy99]

Originally Posted by Keenan

The guide started to reflect the channels late last week. My problem is that all I get is the No Signal banner when I tune to those channels through Sage. It's been so long since I've used the R5000 apps standalone to record anything I've forgotten how to do it. I tried a few days ago to make sure R5000 was getting the signals and kept getting an "error 255", or something very similar to that.

I'm glad I'm finding out about these problems now before I plunk $500 US on the R5000. Maybe I'll wait awhile.

[Keenan]

Originally Posted by roxy99

I'm glad I'm finding out about these problems now before I plunk $500 US on the R5000. Maybe I'll wait awhile.

The problem I'm having is specific to only 4 channels, the last 4 HD channels SC has added. At this point I can't say if R5000 is the problem, or even part of the problem. Sage and R5000 have worked perfect up until this point.

[roxy99]

Originally Posted by Keenan

The problem I'm having is specific to only 4 channels, the last 4 HD channels SC has added. At this point I can't say if R5000 is the problem, or even part of the problem. Sage and R5000 have worked perfect up until this point.

How does the SC tuner behave when connected directly to the TV for those 4 channels?

[Keenan]

Originally Posted by roxy99

How does the SC tuner behave when connected directly to the TV for those 4 channels?

Works fine. The problem is somewhere with either Sage, R5000, or both.

[Kirby]

What kind of receiver is SC using? is it able to do MPEG-4? If so, that could be the issue.

On the R5000 DVR app, just press the record button and let it record on the proper channel giving you an issue. Do you get recording stats, like the rate, file size, etc? If it records a file, try playing that file inside sage. If that fails, try VLC. I have no idea what SC is sending out, MPEG-2, or a mix. But H.264 from Dish isnt playable in Sage yet either.

[Keenan]

Originally Posted by Kirby

What kind of receiver is SC using? is it able to do MPEG-4? If so, that could be the issue.

On the R5000 DVR app, just press the record button and let it record on the proper channel giving you an issue. Do you get recording stats, like the rate, file size, etc? If it records a file, try playing that file inside sage. If that fails, try VLC. I have no idea what SC is sending out, MPEG-2, or a mix. But H.264 from Dish isnt playable in Sage yet either.

It's a Motorola DSR505, apparently it's very similar, or even the same, as the Moto boxes Voom was using, and I'm 99.9% sure that they are not MPEG4 compatible. As far as I know, SC is not sending anything out MPEG4 yet.

I tried the REC button and it starts to record, I see the quality, rate and file size, but after about 20 secs or so it kicks out with an error code, something with a 255 in it. I'll have to try it again to get the exact error code.

[Kirby]

I would gather as much info as you can and get ahold of David at Nextcom. Could be you need an updated DVR app for some reason.

[roxy99]

Originally Posted by Kirby

I would gather as much info as you can and get ahold of David at Nextcom. Could be you need an updated DVR app for some reason.

Have you tried those channels with Nextcom's software for the R5000? According to the R5000 website, Mpeg-4 is supported as is H264. I would suspect Sage is giving you the problem. Or else something with your setup does'nt have an mpeg4 decoder.

[Kirby]

Originally Posted by roxy99

Have you tried those channels with Nextcom's software for the R5000? According to the R5000 website, Mpeg-4 is supported as is H264. I would suspect Sage is giving you the problem. Or else something with your setup does'nt have an mpeg4 decoder.

What are you referring? I dont have any issues other than Sage doesnt support H264 yet. If you are referring the keenan, his issue needs to be brought up to David at Nextcom, because the DVR app is clearly not recognizing the new SC channels as is evident by his latest test.

[Keenan]

Originally Posted by Kirby

I would gather as much info as you can and get ahold of David at Nextcom. Could be you need an updated DVR app for some reason.

That's what I'll do, I just wanted to exhaust all the other possibilities first. It's hard to imagine I'm the only one with Sage/R5000/StarChoice-w/new channels though, but I guess it's possible.

Just to be sure, there's nothing I need to do to enable the R5000 SW to see any additional new channels correct? It should normally just see them when they're added by the provider right?

I just PM and emailed two different people who I know use SC/R5000 and SC/Sage/R5000, hopefully they have the channels so I can see if they are having any trouble.

[Kirby]

Originally Posted by Keenan

That's what I'll do, I just wanted to exhaust all the other possibilities first. It's hard to imagine I'm the only one with Sage/R5000/StarChoice-w/new channels though, but I guess it's possible.

Just to be sure, there's nothing I need to do to enable the R5000 SW to see any additional new channels correct? It should normally just see them when they're added by the provider right?

The only other test would be to verify you can still capture older channels without errors. The software wouldnt have a need to know about new channels, other than you tuning it to the right channel. from that point, its just grabbing the data off the mainboard of the receiver. My guess is that those new channels have something unique in their data stream. David will more than likely have you capture in AV mode and send him some samples, but he may already be aware of the issue too, because I think he has a SC setup there at his place.

[Keenan]

Originally Posted by Kirby

The only other test would be to verify you can still capture older channels without errors. The software wouldnt have a need to know about new channels, other than you tuning it to the right channel. from that point, its just grabbing the data off the mainboard of the receiver. My guess is that those new channels have something unique in their data stream. David will more than likely have you capture in AV mode and send him some samples, but he may already be aware of the issue too, because I think he has a SC setup there at his place.

That's what I've been thinking, there's something a little different about the new channels.

I've just sent an email to Nextcom, and the 2 other folks, so I'll see what happens.

BTW, I'm not sure what you mean by "AV mode". Since I've had the setup I've never had a need to do anything other than just use it, other than this channel problem of course, so if he asked me to capture something as you note, I'm not sure how to do that.

I profess that I've only been into this HTPC/HDTV realm for about 6 months or so, so a lot of the terminology and apps used are somewhat a mystery to me. I know PCs, but using them as PVRs is new territory.

[Kirby]

Its a check box option on the r5000 dvr app, down at the bottom. Its for testing only, but lets Nextcom diagnose the streams better.