Random Freezing with v6

[ChubbyTiger]

I've been running Sage for >1 yr without problems, but as soon as I updated to v6 I started to get random hangs. It only happens when I either start liveTV or when I try to FF or Rev or pause. The screen will just freeze.

In task manager, Sage will still list as running OK (not that that means much) and XP won't be crashed. If I kill Sage and restart it, it'll be fine for another day or week or something. My CPU usage isn't high, vid card has the newest drivers as of the update to v6, the time is correct (this also started before DST). Virtual memory use looks pretty high (~200, I think), but I don't remember what it used to be, so that might be nothing.

Does anyone have any ideas what's going wrong? My wife is making noise about getting the cable company's PVR, so I really need to get it fixed ASAP. Thanks for the help.

CT

[mike1961]

I've had nothing but random problems with Sage especially since V6. I only keep it because of all the great features it has but the bugs/stability is really a problem. I constantly have to quit out of SageClient and go back in again (which I can do with the remote control).

I read another thread (that I can't seem to find) about upgrading to Java 6 but last time I looked they were on 5.11 or something like that so I don't know what is the best version to get. But, Sage also often displays that moving sage icon and I read that the latest java 6 has better responsiveness. I think Sage would be so much better if it did not depend on Java.

Mike

[ChubbyTiger]

mike1961 - how did you setup your remote to kill/restart Sage? Are you using Girder? Sounds like a pretty good idea, though I'm not sure it will make my wife much happier.

I tried upgrading to Java6. I suppose that it had a slight positive effect on responsiveness. Sage 6 is still much less responsive than 5 was - I'm fairly sure that I'm neither CPU nor GPU limited, either. Do we have an ETA on bug fixes for Sage 6?

[mike1961]

How did you upgrade to Java 6? Is there a link? When I went to the site I only saw a 5.11 version for windows.

I still love Sage because of all the features. I especially like the ability to have SageServer and Sage clients so that if I record something on one computer I can watch it anywhere. I also love the mpeg4 support which allows me to get all my dvds on Sage at about 250-300mb hour which allows around 1500 videos on one hard drive. I also like the plugins for online support and custom menu support.

Regarding your question - I use HIP which is shareware/free along with the USB/UIRT in the family room and upstairs. I have it setup so that the Blue button allows me to go to different programs. HIPs menu allows you to open many different applications and close them as well. So, it's easy to close and reopen Sage. But I also have it set up to open Internet Explorer and I have programmed the remote to move the mouse and browse IE (a little hard to read from far back - but easy if you are up close). I also have it set up to open MAME (video games).

EDITED: I tried Girder and it seemed like a REAL pain to setup. HIP was free and easy and works just great. I really like the flexibility of it being able to switch programs and also being able to control the mouse. I even have it set up so that I have 4 fast forward and 4 rewind buttons in Sage. I have it set up to FF or Rew: 10 seconds, 1 minute, 5 minutes and 15 minutes. Really slick - I could never do this without HIP (human interface program).

Very strange because ever since V6 I get playback/exception errors often when I switch between viewing mpeg2 on Sage Recordings and mpeg4's in my import library. But, lately there are fewer exception errors but now it's just a black screen with sound and I have to close out sage and reopen and then all is fine. Because I have sage server, I never lose any recordings but it's just an inconvenience. I think a lot of V6 problems have to do with that JAVA interface and I just wish they did not go through that.

Mike

[ke6guj]

Originally Posted by mike1961

How did you upgrade to Java 6? Is there a link? When I went to the site I only saw a 5.11 version for windows.

Mike

You have to navigate through the Manual Download option and then go to Other/Newer versions to get there.

http://java.sun.com/javase/downloads/index.jsp