Windows Vista and SageTV Experiences

[Polypro]

Subscribed. I really think I'm gonna run Vista on the main box. (I'll image XP...just in case though )

P

[carlgar]

Originally Posted by Polypro

Subscribed. I really think I'm gonna run Vista on the main box. (I'll image XP...just in case though )

P

Vista seems to work OK with everything except the extender. If you use the extender then you should avoid Vista until the TCP issue is resolved. I cannot use the extender for more than a hour or two before it restarts itself because of the timeout.

[Polypro]

Cool, no Extender usage going on.

Thanks,

P

[Ryokurin]

I have one issue with the placeshifter crashing after I try to load up the song menu, but since I haven't really had the time to see if it does the same at home on a XP box or to see if anything else is causing it I don't consider it a sage or a Vista problem. My music folder is unusually big anyhow (around 20,000 files, or 130 gigs)

[bialio]

I've got the Gigabyte 8500GT also - although I'm having a terrible time finding any drivers other than the "official" version on the nvidia website - any pointers to a place where I can get the betas? I've got my SageTV server running on Vista Business.

[bcjenkins]

http://www.nzone.com/object/nzone_do...etadriver.html

[Polypro]

Ok. What version of Vista? I'm thinking Business, but what exactly will I be missing from Ultimate? (Other than MCE)

P

[bcjenkins]

I used ultimate. If you have any interest in the MS decoder you might check to see if that is in the business edition. If I could do it again, I would do bus. I would think it would be lighter. OOC - any differences on directx too?

B

[Polypro]

Well, I was planning on using the nVIDIA decoder...just ordered an Asus 8600 GT. I'll Google for the differences...see what I can find.

P

[bcjenkins]

From engadget

Vista Starter -- Streamlined version meant for low-powered PCs in developing nations.

Vista Home Basic -- For those content to browse the web, use email, and create and edit basic documents from their PC. Includes destop search and security tools.

Vista Home Premium -- Includes everything in Basic but also includes the Aero graphical interface, Media Center functionality, and ability to connect to Xbox 360. The version most of us will own at home.

Vista Business -- The basic version for companies of all sizes with tools to help organizations manage their PCs.

Vista Enterprise -- Includes everything in the basic business version with improved encryption and BitLocker system to keep data from being read on a stolen computer.

Vista Ultimate -- All the features of Home and Business in one.

Sounds like starter would be the best :-)

[opy01]

WooHoo I've got Vista! I installed Home Premium last night and it was a breaze. I started the install, told it what drive to install to, walked off, came back an hour or so later and set up my user info and logged in. This thing runs WAY better than XP on the same system.

I never could get to group policy object editor from MMC. I opened MMC and looked all over and found alot of other things except that. I did however disable all media center services. Is that all that needs to be done? I am also not getting any pop-up messages when I start Sage even though I did not run the application compatibility tool so I guess I got lucky there.

I did have problems importing the iTV import for SMC so I copied the entire SageTV directory over from my XP drive. The worst problem I had was there is no overscan adjustments for older Nvidia cards so I couldnt see the outer 2inches of my desktop for a couple of hours. The entire time I was looking for a registry hack for the CP orsomething to help me out after trying several different resolutions that didnt work. I finally decided to just try every single resolution to see if there are any that would even look decent and the first one I tried that time fixed it.

[MrD]

Originally Posted by opy01

WooHoo I've got Vista! I installed Home Premium last night and it was a breaze. I started the install, told it what drive to install to, walked off, came back an hour or so later and set up my user info and logged in. This thing runs WAY better than XP on the same system.

I never could get to group policy object editor from MMC. I opened MMC and looked all over and found alot of other things except that. I did however disable all media center services. Is that all that needs to be done? I am also not getting any pop-up messages when I start Sage even though I did not run the application compatibility tool so I guess I got lucky there.

I did have problems importing the iTV import for SMC so I copied the entire SageTV directory over from my XP drive. The worst problem I had was there is no overscan adjustments for older Nvidia cards so I couldnt see the outer 2inches of my desktop for a couple of hours. The entire time I was looking for a registry hack for the CP orsomething to help me out after trying several different resolutions that didnt work. I finally decided to just try every single resolution to see if there are any that would even look decent and the first one I tried that time fixed it.

Home Premium does not have the group policy editor

Which begs the question, how to disable MCE without the GPE?

-Mrd

[bcjenkins]

I can't get to it for a couple of days (travel) but I will do a diff on the registry after toggling the bit.

B

[bcjenkins]

I am sorry, I lost sight of this one. Can you disable ehstart or set it to manual? I think I found that the services would get re-enabled until I did the GPO.

B

[opy01]

I cannot access the ehstart service in services but I can see it in the task manager as a service and it is stopped but the ehtray still comes back. I was remoted in to the system today and went through the registry and exported the services keys before deleting ehstart, ehRecvr and ehSched. I am not sure if I can reboot and log back in through www.logmein.com and I have a show scheduled to record in a bit so I will reboot right before I go home and I will see tonight if that helps. If it does I will post the things I exported then removed from the registry.


Edit: no luck on deleting registry entrys. The only way I can figure is install the alternate MCE IR drivers that you use with HIP and the remote no longer launches WMC. The main problem with that is my Microsoft IR keyboard no longer works. Thats not so much of a big deal since I can reprogram it in HIP (big pain in the...) but it has a small joystick mouse on it that no longer works.

Edit: for those of you with the MS MCE IR keyboard (that was a mouthfull) since the guy that wrote the replacement drivers does not have one he could not write the drivers to be compatable so I am sending mine to him. Hopefully he will be able to develope something soon after it arives.

[Polypro]

Finally installed Vista Business, random stuff:

Very easy install, I was surprised...had to only add 1 or 2 drivers.

Idle CPU usage way down...from ~14% with XP to ~ 5% with Vista.

Business takes up about 5 Gigs. No MCE stuff to worry about, but you also can't try out the Vista decoders...they won't register either! (?) Are they any good?

Nvidia decoder .223 works fine in Sage (Hardware Accel), but uses Software YUY2 in WMP

In Vista with an 8600GT, there is a new mode called VMR Deinterlace 0x00...don't know what that is, I just stuck with VMR Pixel Adaptive.

PICTURE QUALITY IS AWESOME! Analog cable is night and day between a 7950GT on XP and an 8600GT on Vista...this alone makes it worth it to me. I have the latest release drivers and IVTC is checked. Smart/VMR Pixel Adaptive...no weird problems like with XP (jerkiness, frame order, etc...)

PVR500's work fine. HauppaugeTweaker and ChrisTweak will run, but you can no longer get to the Static/Motion Blur settings...you're at 8 & 0...still looks good though. Might be able to tweak the registry.

TFTPD32 works fine for direct connect to the HDHR...I stuck with the 5/12/07 software...no need for BDA as Network Encoding hasn't failed yet.

6.2.4 Beta seems fine (It does seem to whack the heck out of the CPU on startup for a while, then settles down. Also had to use the replacement Service.exe, the original wouldn't start) I still need to use FSE though...got tearing on the HD channels on a 1366x768 42" LCD

UAC is disabled.

Can't get Cyberlink decoders to give me a picture...only get audio with a black screen.

The HP HD-DVD/Cyberlink combo works fine, CPU use way down with Vista.

'bout it, pleased overall.

P

[chrisc16]

Originally Posted by Polypro

Can't get Cyberlink decoders to give me a picture...only get audio with a black screen.
P

Polypro,

I have the same problem with the Cyberlink decoders on Vista Home Premium. Have you found a solution to this? The Cyberlink decoders looked great on XP before I upgraded, so I'd like to try them on Vista too.

EDIT: The latest Cyberlink patch seems to have resolved this problem. I think the previous version broke VMR9 support in Vista.

-Chris

[bhyman1]

Originally Posted by GTwannabe

Vista (Business) works great for my dedicated STV Client.

I turned that stupid UAC crap off. I'm running the Aero desktop. No MCE junk to worry about in Business edition.

I can now watch silky-smooth 1080i HD content without using buggy FSE mode. I can also resume my HTPC from Standby mode without STV Client spazzing out about a lost network connection and forgetting to pull up the menu from the server until I press the menu button on my remote.

Do DVD menus work with the Sage built in DVD player?

This is the one thing I couldn't get to work with several different codecs and ended up just sticking with XP because of it.

[opy01]

I have been using Vista for a little bit now and almost no complaints. The only way I can use Cyberlink is to run it externaly and it works perfect. I linked the power button on the remote to the close button in Cyberlink so when I am done it goes directly back to Sage. Besides, when I was using Sage to watch DVDs I had no menu selector or subtitles.

Now I am having a major issue. I was using a software called IR Server Suite from Aaron over at the media portal forums. It was working 90% perfect but once a day the IR device would lock up and I have to unplug it then replug it in. We think it is the device itself so I went back to HIP to test it. This is where the real trouble began. If I am running in service mode Sage will not send to HIP. If I am not running in service mode I can change channels but I cannot veiw the video over a remote connection.

Why would it not send to HIP when in servcie mode. I created a bat file and can change channels that way but exetuner is not sending to the registry or the registry is not responding to the command.

Also will the media extender work if Sage is not in servcie mode? I bought one and it occasionaly locks up then starts back up again. I also cannot watch one satellite in one room and another in the other room on the extender, or vise versa. Only one at a time will play even if I have 2 STBs.

[Jesse]

Hi,

Vista (Business) works great for my dedicated STV Client.

I turned that stupid UAC crap off. I'm running the Aero desktop. No MCE junk to worry about in Business edition.

I can now watch silky-smooth 1080i HD content without using buggy FSE mode. I can also resume my HTPC from Standby mode without STV Client spazzing out about a lost network connection and forgetting to pull up the menu from the server until I press the menu button on my remote.

Sorry if this is a dumb question, but why is FSE not needed with vista? I need it on both my clients (with XP) and have been fairly lucky that it has not caused me too many problems.

Curious.

Jesse