why upgrade to v5?

[Nate]

I read through the SageTV site and the FAQ on the forum without finding the answer to my question. Why would I want to upgrade from the latest previous version to v5.0? I don't need Placeshifter. Is there a breakdown of new features? Does v5.0 have the feature from SnapStream where it detects and visually shows where the commercials are?

[Goodspike]

Here's what I've discovered in a few days of use:

Menus are transparent even if not using FSE.

Unsupported extras (e.g. Program guide showing HD and First Run) are now supported by menu choices rather than inputing numbers you have to find elsewhere.

Files that were recorded previoulsy that did not FF/REW properly now do so.

Main menu a little cleaner (border gone).

A problem I had with some DVDs, where it didn't display the time bar correctly is now gone, and starting play and FF/REW seems a bit less problematic.

The recordings that you've watched already get dropped to the bottom of the list if you didn't delete it.

FSE still doesn't work on my machine, but now it simply crashes Sage when I switch to full screen. Before it would give an error message when I started a video

[blade]

Originally Posted by Nate

Does v5.0 have the feature from SnapStream where it detects and visually shows where the commercials are?

Sage has been able to do this for quite some time. I know it was possible with v2.xx. It's not included in the product (my guess would be due to possible lawsuits), but there are customizations that allow it. Sage can be set to automatically skip over the breaks or you can manually skip over them by assigning the custom 4 and custom 5 buttons on your remote.

You need a program to process the recordings to find the commercials. A .txt file will be created that contains where the breaks are and an import for Sage allows it to read the .txt file. It's really much simplier than it sounds.

The best way IMO is using Dirmon2 to control the processing of the shows. It will scan your recording directory and process new recordings and delete the leftover .txt files after you delete the shows. To set it up all you need to do is make sure your settings look like the ones in the pics located in the thread.

I would use comskip to actually process the files. Just point Dirmon2 to use the comskip.exe instead of showanalyzer.

Finally you'll need the import so that Sage can read the .txt files that contain the commercials.

All of this is free.

[Nate]

That, my friend, would be awesome! I will try it out ASAP! Thank you!

[blade]

Also I'd like to point out that the upgrade is free. A lot of people don't realize that. I upgraded from v4.1 and there are a few changes in the UI that make it look a little better IMO.

[krutaw]

Originally Posted by blade

Also I'd like to point out that the upgrade is free. A lot of people don't realize that. I upgraded from v4.1 and there are a few changes in the UI that make it look a little better IMO.

Okay, so here's my $0.02 on the upgrade being "free". Yes, technically the software is free to previous licensed users, however, you really need to keep in mind that if you're happy (or at least satisfied) with your current implementation and the new features that have been added with v5, then you really shouldn't make the investment in v5. Yes, I said investment.

Why you ask? Because time is money. Like it or lump it, that's the end all be all. And I for one have no intentions of upgrading anytime soon.

[blade]

Originally Posted by krutaw

Okay, so here's my $0.02 on the upgrade being "free". Yes, technically the software is free to previous licensed users, however, you really need to keep in mind that if you're happy (or at least satisfied) with your current implementation and the new features that have been added with v5, then you really shouldn't make the investment in v5. Yes, I said investment.

Why you ask? Because time is money. Like it or lump it, that's the end all be all. And I for one have no intentions of upgrading anytime soon.

I typically don't update unless there's something in the new release that I think will benefit me. I do think it's important to point out that Sage isn't charging for the updates because I've seen several people post that they've "purchased" the upgrade. Personally I didn't invest much time in the update. The entire thing took me less than 10 minutes, so I don't feel that I lost a large chunk of my life over it and I like the changes to the UI, so for me it was worth it.

Nate didn't mention what version he was running. If the version is an older one and it doesn't use xml for the stv then he might run into problems when he tries to import newer customizations, which to me would be a good reason to upgrade. If he's already running 4.xx then I agree there is less of a reason to update.

[GKusnick]

Originally Posted by krutaw

Why you ask? Because time is money.

We're talking leisure time here. If you have time to veg out in front of the tube, you have time to "invest" in upgrading your tube-watching software.

As for why you might want to upgrade, the Beta Progress Report thread has links to all the Beta announcements with extensive lists of bug fixes and feature additions. Also check out the several other threads with similar "why upgrade?" titles in this forum and in the General Discussion forum.

[Nate]

I had to look up my version. It is 4.1.3.67. The only thing I really have custom is I have setup everything I need to record HDTV through firewire from my cable box. Does anyone know if I'm going to lose this with the upgrade to 5.0?

I think it is very cool of Sage to offer the upgrade for free. The could have easily chosen to charge. If I were them I would have probably charged a lesser fee for the upgrade, just to keep the profits rolling in.

[Fernsehen]

Originally Posted by Nate

I had to look up my version. It is 4.1.3.67. The only thing I really have custom is I have setup everything I need to record HDTV through firewire from my cable box. Does anyone know if I'm going to lose this with the upgrade to 5.0?

I think it is very cool of Sage to offer the upgrade for free. The could have easily chosen to charge. If I were them I would have probably charged a lesser fee for the upgrade, just to keep the profits rolling in.

Yep I agree completely. I perused the forums here before I chose Sage over Beyond, basically I was buying into the company as much as I was buying the product.

That and the fact that I have a soft spot for tech companies in the Chicago suburbs

I'm actually still on version 3.x because I left for Germany just as 4.0 came out, and I didn't have the time to update. Now that I'm back I'll have to see if I can go directly from 3.x to 5, or make a pit stop in 4.x land first.

[krutaw]

Originally Posted by GKusnick

We're talking leisure time here. If you have time to veg out in front of the tube, you have time to "invest" in upgrading your tube-watching software.

Wow, I wish I had time to "veg out in front of the tube"... I find that between the fam, work, and a part time business I have no time to just "veg out".

The majority of the time that I spend with sagetv is spent listening to recorded shows while I write code for my job. Funnily enough, I find it helps to have the distraction of the tv in the background. For those few blessed moments (about 1 hour a week) that I actually sit down and watch tv, I prefer to spend it with a stable system (something that can't always be said for new releases.)

Perhaps on my next vacation I'll think about redoing the entire system. My perspective is one of someone with a complete lack of time (as indicated by the ammount of time it took me to respond to you.) A perspective that needs the sagetv to be stable at all times (when the last 3 point upgrades that I have done have been less than stable.)

[Nate]

Well, I ended up installing comskip and dirmon2 without upgrading to v5.0. It worked out GREAT! Automatic commercial skipping is amazing! I may still upgrade to v5.0, though I would feel a lot safer about it if I could know if it will affect the work I've done to set up HDTV recording through FW from my STB.

[steingra]

I am thinking about upgrading to 5.0 because there are some new plugins that say they need 5.0. I also dont mind having the Placeshifting built in. I do plan on using that occasionally. And of course any bug fixes are nice.

As long as I backup the current installation of 4.1.x on the main server, the upgrade should be no problem.

I have several MediaMVP Clients that connect to the server, so I am wondering how they will work with the new 5.0 version.

[stevech]

Originally Posted by Nate

Well, I ended up installing comskip and dirmon2 without upgrading to v5.0. It worked out GREAT! Automatic commercial skipping is amazing! I may still upgrade to v5.0, though I would feel a lot safer about it if I could know if it will affect the work I've done to set up HDTV recording through FW from my STB.

Do these run in the background on the PC and possibly load the CPU so that playback of a show on the server is impacted?

[blade]

Originally Posted by stevech

Do these run in the background on the PC and possibly load the CPU so that playback of a show on the server is impacted?

They do run in the background but shouldn't affect playback. Dirmon2 doesn't consume many resources. It simply scans your recording directories every so often to look for new files to process. Comskip is designed to use spare CPU cycles to process the shows. If the computer needs the power for anything else it will give up whatever cpu power the other programs need.

I run Dirmon2 and comskip on my server (capture only, no playback, which is a celeron 366 and have no problems with my other clients.

I also run it on my bedroom client (XP 1400). I don't have any problems when processing 1-2 shows at a time. If I do 3-4 at once while watching a show I get some lag in response time and stuttering. I haven't looked into why so I don't know certain what the bottleneck is.

[jhkoenig]

Do be warned that a perfectly acceptable V2.x or V4.x system may be frustratingly slow with V5. My V2.x system wowed everyone with its ability to record 4 simultaneous shows while showing a prerecorded show. After the upgrade my system shows a lot of the spinning Sage icon, even when only recording two shows.

I would recommend waiting a bit, assuming the Frey will improve performance over time. I upgraded to use an MVP. If I could go back to V2 and keep the MVP I probably would.

Good luck with your decision!
--John

[BobPhoenix]

Originally Posted by jhkoenig

Do be warned that a perfectly acceptable V2.x or V4.x system may be frustratingly slow with V5. My V2.x system wowed everyone with its ability to record 4 simultaneous shows while showing a prerecorded show. After the upgrade my system shows a lot of the spinning Sage icon, even when only recording two shows.

I would recommend waiting a bit, assuming the Frey will improve performance over time. I upgraded to use an MVP. If I could go back to V2 and keep the MVP I probably would.

Good luck with your decision!
--John

I would actually say the opposite. 5.0 performance has been much better than 2.0. No more 100% CPU choking my recordings or the menus.

BobP.