Sage minimises when power cycling a DVI-connected TV

[EpaL]

Hi,

I have a problem with SageTV and my current HTPC hardware that is really anoying and i'm hoping very much that it can be fixed.

To reproduce, you simply need a DVI (or HDMI) connected to your HTPC running Sage (latest version 6.2.10 as of this post) on Windows XP SP2.

The problem is after turning off the TV (leaving SageTV running) and then turning the TV back on, SageTV is sent to the background and the Windows desktop is displayed. I need to use the mouse/keyboard to get SageTV to the foreground again.

I believe the issue is caused by the way Windows sees my Plasma TV when its connected via DVI. When you turn the TV off, everything is running fine (i have verified this by connecting via VNC and watching on another computer as I do this). When you turn the TV on, you can hear Windows plug-and-play 'recognising' the 'new' DVI-connected monitor and the display 'flashes' as the display hardware is reinitialised. Unfortunately this appears to cause SageTV to 'minimise' its main display and go to the background.

This is an extremely anoying bug. Interesting, it also affected MediaPortal (which I recently ditched because after months of trying it still wasn't stable enough for my needs). In MediaPortal, it actually crashes and no longer displays anything on the screen. You need to force it to quit and restart to get things back. According to the MP developers, its a DirectX problem where the drawing surface 'goes' away (which MP does not detect) and this causes an internal crash. I'm not sure why Sage does it but I suspect it is something similiar.

Any help resolving this issue would be HUGELY appreciated (and result in an immediate license purchase!). I'm happy to provide any additional information you might need - here is a start:

HTPC is a Mac Mini, Windows XP SP2 (bootcamp 1.3 beta), SageTV 6.2.10 release, 1.66ghz core duo, 1GB RAM, 80GB internal, 160GB USB-connected drive, Intel 945 video, SigmaTel HD audio, AverMedia USB tuner, Pioneer 436HD Plasma TV.

Thanks!

[nielm]

try setting property: disable_fse_on_focus_lost=false

Sage may be seeing a loss of focus at which point it auto-disables FSE and minimises itself.

Setting this property will prevent the auto-minimise, but may trigger the same crash as MP (for the same reasons)...

[CollinR]

I'm petty sure EventGhost can do this for you, I know you can have it change display settings but what I think you are seeing is a total lack of display then almost like a USB device it's there again lets initalize it. The system doesn't seem to track that it was there before and what was displayed on that device last.

I am guessing although I don't have a DVI/HDMI connection that EventGhost will see the display detected and can fire an event to "restore" or maximize the SageTV window every time that happens.

I checked and EventGhost doesn't see some USB devices as being connected/disconnected.

However you can still map a button on your remote to do it. Assuming you have a supported device in the chain.

What is your remote?

[mikesm]

Originally Posted by CollinR

I'm petty sure EventGhost can do this for you, I know you can have it change display settings but what I think you are seeing is a total lack of display then almost like a USB device it's there again lets initalize it. The system doesn't seem to track that it was there before and what was displayed on that device last.

I am guessing although I don't have a DVI/HDMI connection that EventGhost will see the display detected and can fire an event to "restore" or maximize the SageTV window every time that happens.

I checked and EventGhost doesn't see some USB devices as being connected/disconnected.

However you can still map a button on your remote to do it. Assuming you have a supported device in the chain.

What is your remote?

I have had problems with the minimized sage window not responding to commands from various tools to maximize. Have you done that in eventghost and had it work?

Thanks,
mike

[CollinR]

I have resized it and adjusted it in just about every way now. However I don't use that function so I'll have to try it. Is there a sendmessage command to do this? I assume the maximize command directly to SageTV would pull it up from the taskbar. I can see the Windows "Restore" and "Maximize" not working from the taskbar.

Edit:

EventGhost can send:

Fullscreen
Power
Power On
Power Off

Directly to SageTV so I'll check and make sure that one will pull it back up.

[CollinR]

The Power On command will do it.

Fullscreen can only do it from a windowed state. Otherwise I don't know what it's doing, it's not full screen but it's out of the taskbar too.

[EpaL]

Originally Posted by nielm

try setting property: disable_fse_on_focus_lost=false

Sage may be seeing a loss of focus at which point it auto-disables FSE and minimises itself.

Setting this property will prevent the auto-minimise, but may trigger the same crash as MP (for the same reasons)...

Thanks for the tip. I tried changing this and now it still drops back to the desktop but Sage is no longer in the taskbar. I have to go into task manager, kill Sage and restart it...

[CollinR]

Look at how Opus used sendmessage to control Sage, you want the "power on" command somewhere on your remote.