HdHomeRun - Our Answer to QAM?!

[Goodspike]

Originally Posted by autoboy

So I installed MagikDHCP, and now I can't reach the internet. I can do anything local, i'm remote desktoped into it now, but it seems like the DNS is missing or something because internet explorer just times out. I like the fact that the HDHR now does not load my network, but i'm gonna need some internet. Any ideas?

I had the same problem after about a day or two, and it was that the IP address for the wireless somehow got changed to a specific address, rather than find it automatically (in the TCP/IP properties settings).

[cerniw]

Has anyone been able to get the HDHR working with a Moto STB? I have the STB setup using the MultiDCTTuner Plugin to change channels via serial. It works great when its the only tuner. When I add the HDHR tuners, I can no longer change any channels. HDHR tuners on their own work great also. I basically want to have the STB used for all channels other than the handful of HD ones I receive via QAM.

[Goodspike]

I have a story about how not to diagnose problems with HDHR and a direct (non-router) connection.

My system stopped working last night, getting a no signal message, and no information being sent through the network connection. I assumed it was an issue with a setting having changed in Magik (my DHCP server software), so started messing with that. Not knowing much about networking, I thought it had something to do with the "hardware lease" having expired at six days, and not renewed (I'd set it up last weekend so I was at the 6 day period). Another guess was that we'd been having power outages, and right before the problem was notice our UPS started acting up, so I thought perhaps something got messed up in the glitches.

Played and played and nothing. After about an hour I realized that 15 minutes before the power went off the first time, I disconnected the power and cable connection. I hadn't reconnected the cable! :headshake:

Once I discovered that I was an idiot, I could get the signal showing as uploading data to the computer through the network connection, but I couldn't get a signal. It was 2:00 a.m. or so at that point, so I went to bed. My guess on that, however, was that it might have been a cable issue--the signal being out.

Anyway, all working this morning.

The only good thing about this is I did learn how to run Magik as a service, so I can see how that works.

[thomaszoo]

I'm glad that I am not the only one that does stuff like this!

Wayne

[Goodspike]

Okay, this is a question I don't need an answer for until a few days have passed, because of the issues mentioned two posts above, and because I just updated to RC2, so I want to keep things stable for a couple of days at least.

But, when updating the HDHR software, do you need to basically do everything that you did when you first installed it, or will Sage still remember the tuners, etc.?

Note that there was updates to the software on Wednesday and Friday, and they both I believe require a firmware update.

[AndyS]

Originally Posted by Goodspike

Okay, this is a question I don't need an answer for until a few days have passed, because of the issues mentioned two posts above, and because I just updated to RC2, so I want to keep things stable for a couple of days at least.

But, when updating the HDHR software, do you need to basically do everything that you did when you first installed it, or will Sage still remember the tuners, etc.?

Note that there was updates to the software on Wednesday and Friday, and they both I believe require a firmware update.

1. Stop SageTV and the SageTV_HDHomeRun.exe process.
2. Update the SageTV_HDHomeRun.exe and the two HDHOMERUN* executables in the SageTV directory.
3. Update the firmware.
4. Restart SageTV_HDHomeRun.exe
5. Restart SageTV

That's it! No re-config to do.

Andy.

[Goodspike]

Originally Posted by AndyS

1. Stop SageTV and the SageTV_HDHomeRun.exe process.
2. Update the SageTV_HDHomeRun.exe and the two HDHOMERUN* executables in the SageTV directory.
3. Update the firmware.
4. Restart SageTV_HDHomeRun.exe
5. Restart SageTV

That's it! No re-config to do.

Andy.

Thanks.

[GreggP]

I've posted this message over in the Silicondust forums, but nobody seems to know how to solve this, so I am posting it here...

I have the HDHomeRun connected to both cable and an antenna. The 1st tuner is connected to cable (QAM) and the second is connect to the antenna (OTA/8vsb).

I followed all the instructions in the stickys for setting up the HDHomeRun, including scanning for channels using the command line version of hdhomerun_config.exe. Then I ran into a few problems getting everything to work in SageTV. After downloading the EPG from my local cable provider (Charter Communications) here in Madison, WI. I was then able to remap the channels to the correct channel-subchannel numbers. The CLI scan came up with a few more channels than Charter's EPG. No big deal, I just added the channels manually.

The problem is... all QAM channels from the CLI scan numbered 100 and greater do not work in SageTV. When I play these channels using hdhomerun_config_gui.exe and the VLC media player, they work fine. Channel numbers 104-5, 106-1, 106-2 and 114-2 are the unencrypted HD channels.

When I try to watch one of them using SageTV, for example ABC HD on 106-1, I get the following message:

"No Signal"

When viewing the response in the SageTV HDHomeRun Manager, the signal strength %, signal quality % and symbol quality % all look pretty good for channel 106-1. It also plays fine using VLC.

Setting up SageTV to work with the OTA channels worked fine. All the SD and HD channels play without any problems.

A few things that were suggested over at Silicondust included making sure the NVIDIA decoder is the preferred decoder (which it is); I tried switching from VMR9 to Overlay and that did not make a difference.

Any ideas how to get SageTV to play QAM channels 100 and larger?

[foolio]

Originally Posted by GreggP

I've posted this message over in the Silicondust forums, but nobody seems to know how to solve this, so I am posting it here...

I have the HDHomeRun connected to both cable and an antenna. The 1st tuner is connected to cable (QAM) and the second is connect to the antenna (OTA/8vsb).

I followed all the instructions in the stickys for setting up the HDHomeRun, including scanning for channels using the command line version of hdhomerun_config.exe. Then I ran into a few problems getting everything to work in SageTV. After downloading the EPG from my local cable provider (Charter Communications) here in Madison, WI. I was then able to remap the channels to the correct channel-subchannel numbers. The CLI scan came up with a few more channels than Charter's EPG. No big deal, I just added the channels manually.

The problem is... all QAM channels from the CLI scan numbered 100 and greater do not work in SageTV. When I play these channels using hdhomerun_config_gui.exe and the VLC media player, they work fine. Channel numbers 104-5, 106-1, 106-2 and 114-2 are the unencrypted HD channels.

When I try to watch one of them using SageTV, for example ABC HD on 106-1, I get the following message:

"No Signal"

When viewing the response in the SageTV HDHomeRun Manager, the signal strength %, signal quality % and symbol quality % all look pretty good for channel 106-1. It also plays fine using VLC.

Setting up SageTV to work with the OTA channels worked fine. All the SD and HD channels play without any problems.

A few things that were suggested over at Silicondust included making sure the NVIDIA decoder is the preferred decoder (which it is); I tried switching from VMR9 to Overlay and that did not make a difference.

Any ideas how to get SageTV to play QAM channels 100 and larger?

the strangest thing is that it seems to work in other's configuration - if you check the EPG forum, most of the QAM unencrypted channels are > 100... Not sure what is particularly different about your setup.

[Keenan]

Isn't there a setting in Sage to allow 3 and 4, or more, number channel numbers? I'm just guessing, but I thought I'd read somewhere here that there was a setting for that.

[gplasky]

Originally Posted by GreggP

Quote:
Originally Posted by GreggP
I've posted this message over in the Silicondust forums, but nobody seems to know how to solve this, so I am posting it here...

I have the HDHomeRun connected to both cable and an antenna. The 1st tuner is connected to cable (QAM) and the second is connect to the antenna (OTA/8vsb).

I followed all the instructions in the stickys for setting up the HDHomeRun, including scanning for channels using the command line version of hdhomerun_config.exe. Then I ran into a few problems getting everything to work in SageTV. After downloading the EPG from my local cable provider (Charter Communications) here in Madison, WI. I was then able to remap the channels to the correct channel-subchannel numbers. The CLI scan came up with a few more channels than Charter's EPG. No big deal, I just added the channels manually.

The problem is... all QAM channels from the CLI scan numbered 100 and greater do not work in SageTV. When I play these channels using hdhomerun_config_gui.exe and the VLC media player, they work fine. Channel numbers 104-5, 106-1, 106-2 and 114-2 are the unencrypted HD channels.

When I try to watch one of them using SageTV, for example ABC HD on 106-1, I get the following message:

"No Signal"

When viewing the response in the SageTV HDHomeRun Manager, the signal strength %, signal quality % and symbol quality % all look pretty good for channel 106-1. It also plays fine using VLC.

Setting up SageTV to work with the OTA channels worked fine. All the SD and HD channels play without any problems.

A few things that were suggested over at Silicondust included making sure the NVIDIA decoder is the preferred decoder (which it is); I tried switching from VMR9 to Overlay and that did not make a difference.

Any ideas how to get SageTV to play QAM channels 100 and larger?

Originally Posted by foolio

the strangest thing is that it seems to work in other's configuration - if you check the EPG forum, most of the QAM unencrypted channels are > 100... Not sure what is particularly different about your setup.

GreggP: Make sure you're picking the digital version of your provider. Not the basic/analog or the first one in the list.
For instance I have Comcast. For my provider there is a Comcast basic/extended and a Comcast Digital. The Comast Digital lists all the stations way past 400 so I would use this for QAM and remap them accordingly. I am using Comcast basic for now and will configure Comcast digital for my HDHomerun when Santa brings it.


Gerry

[Muchacho]

I am using the latest beta of sageTV and the newest ver of HDHR firmware to tune QAM HD channels. I have had problems with long recordings (i.e. > 1-2 hr). It seems like the recording has faulty timing. It will not play back properly in sageTV- when I FF or RW it will play portions of the recording that do not match what is showing on the timebar.

While it is playable in VLC and sorta in WMP, it is impossible to determine the show length. For the Steelers game today it is only listed as being 15 minutes in WMP and VLC cannot determine the programs length.

Does this sound like an issue with the HDHR or SageTV? Any ideas about what may be going on? Are there any program that can analyze the program to determine what the problem is? Anyone else having similar issues?

Thanks, Mike

[ToxMox]

GreggP: Have you tried playing back one of the files that Sage has recorded in something other than Sage? Do they play back? If so then it is a problem with either Sage or your video decoder.

Muchacho. If I had to guess I'd say try a different video decoder.
What are your specs on the machine? Any antivirus running?

[ToxMox]

GreggP:
This is a longshot but try this:
Close Sage and stop the service. Then in the sage.properties file change this property to false:
mmc/encode_digital_tv_as_program_stream

[GreggP]

Originally Posted by ToxMox

GreggP: Have you tried playing back one of the files that Sage has recorded in something other than Sage? Do they play back? If so then it is a problem with either Sage or your video decoder.

Muchacho. If I had to guess I'd say try a different video decoder.
What are your specs on the machine? Any antivirus running?

I've been able to play every QAM and OTA channel except QAM>99 with SageTV and VLC. I don't think I've tried them with WMP or others. I haven't been able to record QAM>99, so I don't know if they will play.

[GreggP]

Originally Posted by ToxMox

GreggP:
This is a longshot but try this:
Close Sage and stop the service. Then in the sage.properties file change this property to false:
encode_digital_tv_as_program_stream

This was a good long shot. It worked.

Why do you think this made the difference?

Thanks!!!

[Muchacho]

Originally Posted by ToxMox

Muchacho. If I had to guess I'd say try a different video decoder.
What are your specs on the machine? Any antivirus running?

Thanks- I am using the latest purevideo decoder. Specs AMD64 3000, 1G ram, 6600GT. I am running norton, but I do not autoscan the drives that hold the recordings.

I think it has something to do with the timestamp of the recording- given that the other players are unable to determine the programs legnth.

Thanks, Mike

[ToxMox]

Mike:
Give that property a try from my post above that makes Sage record to .TS files instead of program streams.

[MTuckman]

Originally Posted by ToxMox

Mike:
Give that property a try from my post above that makes Sage record to .TS files instead of program streams.

Doing that made a difference in my setup also, along with changing the recoding drives to not use write cashing. It hurts watching the drives running a bit more than before, but I find that I can also now watch live TV shows from the HDHR, where before I had to record them and wait a few minutes before trying to watch them in Sage.

Mike

[Muchacho]

Originally Posted by ToxMox

Mike:
Give that property a try from my post above that makes Sage record to .TS files instead of program streams.

Will try tonight and see how it does for a few days

Thanks, Mike