Video Problem

[JmpnJimBob]

I'm having some problems configuring my video playback. I've tested the video on every detail setting and it always fails. I've gone into the Video/Audio settings of my Detailed setup and tried changing my Video Renderer, MPEG2 Decoder and nothing seems to work.

I have reformatted this system multiple times and after the system is up and loaded, I've loaded the default applications that came with the card and everything works. When I start loading Sage everything seems good until I get to the point where I am testing the video playback. I can see the channels on the screen during the tuner setup as well as when the system is scanning for available channels. But it always fails when setting up the video playback.

The funny thing is that the system used to work just fine. I've been using Sage for over 9 months so far without a hitch. So I am completely baffled. I have even pieced together another system and have had no luck with it either. I have no common parts between the two systems (even two TV cards) and have swapped parts between them without any luck.

So I'm now asking for help.

My original system's specs:

AMD Athlon XP 2000+
1024 MB ram
Nvidia 6200 video card
MSI K7N2 Delta2 motherboard
WinTV-PVR 150 TV card
Maxtor 120GB drive
Toshiba DVD-RW drive

AMD Athlon XP 1400+
512 MB ram
Nvidia 5500 video card
ECS KT600-A motherboard
WinTV-PVR 150 TV card
Maxtor 80GB drive
Acer CD-Rom drive

[mike1961]

Originally Posted by JmpnJimBob

But it always fails when setting up the video playback.

Do you mean when watching Live TV? What about when watching old Sage Recordings before this problem started? What happens? Is there an error or how does it "fail?"

Mike

[JmpnJimBob]

Sorry, it will fail trying to view Live TV as well as it fails when trying to configure the video playback. If I pull up an old archived recording it will play the video back just fine.

I failed to mention that I am using Windows XP Pro with Service Pack 2. I actually tried during one of my reload attempts and installed Windows XP Pro with Sp1A. That didn't seem to matter either, I had the same problem.

[mike1961]

So Sage plays the recordings just fine but not live TV. How does it fail? What does it do? Is there an error or just a black screen? If there's a black screen does the time look as if it is playing nothing but the seconds are counting.

Mike

[JmpnJimBob]

You just get a black screen when trying to watch Live TV. No playback timeline or anything else. I was also looking around through Sage TV and noticed that my program guide has not updated. This system has been up and running for a few days now and the guide should have updated by this time I would have thought.

[mike1961]

If you are not even getting EPG updates then start by making sure you have internet access and also try to watch shows on both your server and workstation. If neither work then you may have to reinstall your sage.properties file, wiz.bin or both or even a complete reinstall if that fails (but you don't need to lose any recorded shows). Make sure your firewalls are not blocking anything (ie: make sure windows firewall is not enabled).

Mike

[JmpnJimBob]

I do have internet access with this computer. I've been able to go on-line to download the system drivers and other hardware drivers that I've needed to get both computers up and running. I've completely re-formatted and rebuilt the original Sage computer and the pieced together test computer that I've been using to try and get Sage working on at least 4 times a piece.

The windows firewall is off and I've checked it at various times throughout my builds to verify this. The firewall that I am using is in my router and I have not logged into my router since long before I started dealing with this Sage problem, so I haven't changed anything with it. The other systems on my network are still able to get onto the internet and nothing seems to have changed. But this does bring up a point, as I said I have not logged into my router for a while so I wonder if something has changed with it that is now blocking Sage. Are there specific ports that I need to have opened for Sage to work properly? I haven't done anything with the router prior to this to enable Sage to get out, but that doesn't mean that something has changed now. Hum, interesting. Unfortunately I'm not going to be home until late Sunday this weekend, so I'll have to wait a couple of days to check this out.

[JmpnJimBob]

OK, I've fixed the problem. It all came down to the selection that I was using for my cable provider. What I had been using as my selection is no longer working correctly it would seem. After choosing another cable provider everythins is working correctly. The fact that Sage wasn't downloading updates to the EPG made me rethink what was going on. Since Sage wasn't getting updates to the EPG, when you'd be testing the video playback it didn't have anything to use to show you during the test.