HD Homerun Recording High CPU Usage

[smarty]

Problem:
Max'ed out CPU useage by SageTV while recording (not viewing) 720/1080 channels from the HD Homerun.

Background:
In anticipation of an HD Extender, I bought a HD Homerun. I was under the impression that recording (just recording, no com skipping, no transcoding) HD streams was not as hardware intensive (like video play back is).

I am running the latest SageTV (V 6.2) and have just installed and updated my new HD Homerun. Using VLC, I can view all my HD channels (some 480, some 720 and a few 1080). My 720/1080 channels are choppy during VLC playback because my hardware is UNDERPOWERED. Additionally, I have successfully remaped my HD Home run channels into Sage (I know this because some of the 480 channels record and play fine within Sage).

I have confirmed that SageTV is recording the 1080/720 HD channel I told it to. I can stop Sage, and go to the MPG2 file and play it with Media Player (again, the playback is choppy but the file is INTACT).

So, my question is, should 720/1080 HD recording (only recording) be CPU instensive to the point of almost bring Sage to a COMPLETE standstill? What settings can I change to record HD. I would like to use this lower powered computer as a headless server for when we finally have HD extenders.

Help appreciated.

[waynedunham]

The only thing I can think of offhand is are you using video on menus? I've got an HDHR (2 hd tuners) and 2 PVR-500's (4 analog tuners) and routinely record from all 6 simultaneously PLUS play back a recording at the same time. I can even play back an HD transcoded to my MVP in the bedroom as long as ShowAnalyzer isn't trying to mark commercials.

I just took a look and all my HDHR recordings are showing as 1080i in the program details except for anything on ABC which are showing as 720p.

This on a lowly P4 1.8ghz server. You say your machine is underpowered. What are it's specs?

It seems really strange to me since there is no real processing that goes on with the HDHR, it's simply bringing in the Mpeg stream and Sage is dumping it directly to the hard drive.

What's your hookup to the HDHR, i.e. is it a direct connect to a NIC on the sage machine or somewhere on your network. Mines in the basement where my cable tv and network equipment is, but I have a gigabit switch in the basement that the HDHR is hooked to and my NIC in my Sage machine is also gigabit.

Also are you using the BDA drivers for the HDHR? I'm still using the old network encoder method so I don't know if that would make any difference or not.

[smarty]

Originally Posted by waynedunham

The only thing I can think of offhand is are you using video on menus?

Yes, I am. I will disable this option (good idea).

Originally Posted by waynedunham

This on a lowly P4 1.8ghz server. You say your machine is underpowered. What are it's specs?

I think that is in my signature line. It is a lowly 2.3 gHz Celeron, 1 gig memory, w/ onboard (yuk) video only.

Originally Posted by waynedunham

What's your hookup to the HDHR, i.e. is it a direct connect to a NIC on the sage machine or somewhere on your network.

Mine is HD Homerun is connected to a 100 mgbit switch; I would think lan through put should not be the issue (VLC works fine - w/stutter for live viewing)

Originally Posted by waynedunham

Also are you using the BDA drivers for the HDHR? I'm still using the old network encoder method so I don't know if that would make any difference or not.

I am unfamiliar with these BDA drivers. I just set up the HD Homerun per the instruction card that came with it. I downloaded the sofware from the HDHR website and was up an going. I don't believe I downloaded anything that was beta.

[evilpenguin]

If you go into your tuner setup and see (127.0.0.1) after your HDhomerun tuners than you are running them as a network tuner instead of a BDA tuner. Don't be concerned if you are, though, as they are both very stable.

Now, if you are running them as a BDA tuner, then while you are recording them Sage is also converting the video from Transport Streams to Program Steams on the fly which, on an under powered system can some issues.

Also somethings to check in the task manager: is your high CPU usage coming from SageTV or some other process? Are you maxing out your memory?

[smarty]

Originally Posted by evilpenguin

Now, if you are running them as a BDA tuner, then while you are recording them Sage is also converting the video from Transport Streams to Program Steams on the fly which, on an under powered system can some issues.

Great info, I will check this tonight.

Originally Posted by evilpenguin

Also somethings to check in the task manager: is your high CPU usage coming from SageTV or some other process? Are you maxing out your memory?

The CPU useage is indeed coming from Sage. Memory is NOT maxed out....running around 500-600K with 1 gig installed.

Thanks for your help....I will post what I find later tonight.

[smarty]

From "Set Up Video Sources", it looks like "Network Encoder:false" for my HDHR tuners.

If there is some sort of stream conversion going on, it is max-ing put my CPU on 720/1080 channels (not on 480 channels). I have submitted a help ticket to the HDHR support site.

I will post what I find (I didn't see how to use/setup the tuner any other way than the instructions I followed). If there is a way to make the tuners "Network Encoders" again (so there would be no stream conversion), please tell me how to do this.

[waynedunham]

Originally Posted by smarty

Yes, I am. I will disable this option (good idea).

I have never had video on menus turned on, but I'd have to guess that it may need to transcode to put the HD video oncscreen? What happened when you turned it off?

Originally Posted by smarty

I think that is in my signature line. It is a lowly 2.3 gHz Celeron, 1 gig memory, w/ onboard (yuk) video only.

D'ohh! Sorry, I missed the obvious. Ahhh, onboard video. That would probably indicate it's needing to convert the HD video down to something your onboard video card can handle. That "video on menus" option may be dragging your system down big time. If it's not transcoding it may just be your onboard video hogging all the memory/cpu trying to display the video on menus.
In another message you mentioned that it was SageTv that was using up all the CPU, was that sagetv.exe, or some other Sage process (like the transcoder)?

Originally Posted by smarty

Mine is HD Homerun is connected to a 100 mgbit switch; I would think lan through put should not be the issue (VLC works fine - w/stutter for live viewing)

That should be fine, you'd have to have quite a lot else going on in your network to max that out with a single HDHR recording 2 channels.

Originally Posted by smarty

I am unfamiliar with these BDA drivers. I just set up the HD Homerun per the instruction card that came with it. I downloaded the sofware from the HDHR website and was up an going. I don't believe I downloaded anything that was beta.

The reason I asked that is I installed my HDHR long before the BDA driver support came out so I have never used them.