Helius MVP Not working

[maxpower]

Originally Posted by superporky

This may sound stupid but have you let it sit at the orange helius screen for a while? I was impatient as it seemed to take an eternity for the unit to load and the Sage screen to come up. After playing around with the sage.properties for a couple of hours waiting 2 mins seemed like 20.

It's been sitting at the Helius screen for hours now. I have turned on debug logging and every 10 seconds I get this:

Fri 1/18 22:18:12.850 Received bootp request
Fri 1/18 22:18:12.851 Op:1 hwtype:1 hwaddrlen:6hopcount:0
transaction:1250386225 nSeconds:100 flags:0
MAC: 00:0f:22:00:02:4b
Fri 1/18 22:18:12.851 Matched request to client 0
Fri 1/18 22:18:12.851 servername 10.10.15.101
Fri 1/18 22:18:12.852 Sending bootp reply
Fri 1/18 22:18:21.864 Received bootp request
Fri 1/18 22:18:21.865 Op:1 hwtype:1 hwaddrlen:6hopcount:0
transaction:1736818592 nSeconds:100 flags:0
MAC: 00:0f:22:00:02:4b
Fri 1/18 22:18:21.865 Matched request to client 0
Fri 1/18 22:18:21.865 servername 10.10.15.101
Fri 1/18 22:18:21.866 Sending bootp reply
Fri 1/18 22:18:22.394 Ministry is waiting for 180 sec
Fri 1/18 22:18:29.857 Received bootp request
Fri 1/18 22:18:29.858 Op:1 hwtype:1 hwaddrlen:6hopcount:0
transaction:1736818592 nSeconds:100 flags:0
MAC: 00:0f:22:00:02:4b
Fri 1/18 22:18:29.858 Matched request to client 0
Fri 1/18 22:18:29.858 servername 10.10.15.101
Fri 1/18 22:18:29.859 Sending bootp reply

Ideas?

[maxpower]

OK, I've found the solution. Turns out the subnet mask of the server has to be 255.255.255.0.

Solution found here

[ke6guj]

Cool. I figured it was something that. Most people are using 192.168.x.x/255.255.255.0 networks, so your 10.x.x.x jumped out at me.

[maxpower]

Originally Posted by ke6guj

Cool. I figured it was something that. Most people are using 192.168.x.x/255.255.255.0 networks, so your 10.x.x.x jumped out at me.

By the way...thanks for steering me toward the network setup.

[maxpower]

On a related note. Any idea why these units ship with crossover cables?

[ke6guj]

Originally Posted by maxpower

On a related note. Any idea why these units ship with crossover cables?

Not sure about the Helius, and its "designed" configuration. Maybe it was set up to plug directly into the PC directly, so they included a crossover cable. THe MediaMVP from Hauppuage states that you need a crossover cable (not included) to do a direct connection.

[gilded07]

I didn't use the cables that came w/ them. I just went and looked in the box they came in and you're right - there are two cross overs in the box. I wonder if they needed them to connect to Helius' set top IPTV box...

[TheSuper]

Thanks for the info on how to configure the setting "miniserver/clinets". It worked perfectly. Here is the line I used for my Helius MVP and Hauppauge MVP.
miniserver/clients=MVP/00\:0d\:fe\:00\:2a\:4e/192.168.15.101;MVP/00\:0f\:22\:00\:02\:c2/192.168.15.102

This suggestion also works without having to edit the sage properties file.
http://forums.sagetv.com/forums/showthread.php?p=301390

[dinki]

Bringing this post back from the dead. I need help. I'm about to lose my mind fighting with my Helius MVP. The device works great once it connects to the SageTV server but getting it to connect is very cumbersome and I have no idea why. From time to time we have power outrages (usually lasting all of a few seconds). When this happens, the MVP does a hard boot and then has a hard time connecting to my SageTV server. I usually plug/unplug the power to it a bunch of times and eventually it will boot. Last night I fought with it for about 30 minutes before I just couldn't take anymore and went to bed. The odd thing is that it will usually connect but I did not have any luck with it last night. It is extremely annoying and I'd really like to get to the bottom of it.

Here's some information:
MVP 192.168.0.107 00-0f-22-00-04-65
Office 192.168.0.112 00-21-97-63-c7-86

Office is my SageTV server while MVP is of course the Helius MVP

Here are the lines in my SageTV.properties file:

miniserver/clients=MVP/00\:0f\:22\:00\:04\:65/192.168.0.107
miniserver/forced_server_ip=
miniserver/gateway=192.168.0.1

Should I have forced_server_ip set to 192.168.0.112? Will this help any?

Here's a snippet from my log file from one of the connection attempts. Tons of TFTP timeouts. Any idea on what this is and/or why it would be happening?

Tue 4/26 22:24:30.312 [MiniBootp@6db2c7] Received bootp request
Tue 4/26 22:24:30.313 [MiniBootp@6db2c7] Op:1 hwtype:1 hwaddrlen:6hopcount:0
transaction:80853641 nSeconds:100 flags:0
MAC: 00:0f:22:00:04:65
Tue 4/26 22:24:30.314 [MiniBootp@6db2c7] Matched request to client 0
Tue 4/26 22:24:30.314 [MiniBootp@6db2c7] servername 192.168.0.112
Tue 4/26 22:24:30.315 [MiniBootp@6db2c7] Sending bootp reply
Tue 4/26 22:24:30.434 [MiniTftp@71f06c] Received tftp packet

Tue 4/26 22:24:30.441 [Thread-34@5c5ce3] Reading mvp.bin in mode octet
Tue 4/26 22:24:30.443 [Thread-34@5c5ce3] Opening file
Tue 4/26 22:24:34.116 [Thread-34@5c5ce3] TFTP timeout

Tue 4/26 22:24:35.321 [Thread-34@5c5ce3] TFTP timeout

Tue 4/26 22:24:35.372 [Thread-34@5c5ce3] TFTP timeout

Tue 4/26 22:24:35.423 [Thread-34@5c5ce3] TFTP timeout

Tue 4/26 22:24:35.474 [Thread-34@5c5ce3] TFTP timeout

Tue 4/26 22:24:35.525 [Thread-34@5c5ce3] TFTP timeout

Tue 4/26 22:24:35.576 [Thread-34@5c5ce3] TFTP timeout

Tue 4/26 22:24:35.627 [Thread-34@5c5ce3] TFTP timeout

Tue 4/26 22:24:35.678 [Thread-34@5c5ce3] TFTP timeout

Tue 4/26 22:24:35.729 [Thread-34@5c5ce3] TFTP timeout

Tue 4/26 22:24:35.780 [Thread-34@5c5ce3] TFTP timeout

Tue 4/26 22:24:35.831 [Thread-34@5c5ce3] TFTP timeout

Tue 4/26 22:24:35.882 [Thread-34@5c5ce3] TFTP timeout

Tue 4/26 22:24:35.933 [Thread-34@5c5ce3] TFTP timeout

Tue 4/26 22:24:35.984 [Thread-34@5c5ce3] TFTP timeout

Tue 4/26 22:24:36.035 [Thread-34@5c5ce3] TFTP timeout

Tue 4/26 22:24:36.086 [Thread-34@5c5ce3] TFTP timeout

Tue 4/26 22:24:36.137 [Thread-34@5c5ce3] TFTP timeout

Tue 4/26 22:24:36.188 [Thread-34@5c5ce3] TFTP timeout

Tue 4/26 22:24:36.239 [Thread-34@5c5ce3] TFTP timeout

Tue 4/26 22:24:36.290 [Thread-34@5c5ce3] TFTP timeout

Tue 4/26 22:24:36.341 [Thread-34@5c5ce3] TFTP timeout

Tue 4/26 22:24:36.392 [Thread-34@5c5ce3] TFTP timeout

Tue 4/26 22:24:36.443 [Thread-34@5c5ce3] TFTP timeout

Tue 4/26 22:24:36.494 [Thread-34@5c5ce3] TFTP timeout

Tue 4/26 22:24:36.545 [Thread-34@5c5ce3] TFTP timeout

Tue 4/26 22:24:36.596 [Thread-34@5c5ce3] TFTP timeout

Tue 4/26 22:24:36.647 [Thread-34@5c5ce3] TFTP timeout

Tue 4/26 22:24:36.698 [Thread-34@5c5ce3] TFTP timeout

Tue 4/26 22:24:36.749 [Thread-34@5c5ce3] TFTP timeout

Tue 4/26 22:24:36.799 [Thread-34@5c5ce3] TFTP timeout

Tue 4/26 22:24:36.849 [Thread-34@5c5ce3] TFTP timeout

Tue 4/26 22:24:36.899 [Thread-34@5c5ce3] TFTP timeout

Tue 4/26 22:24:36.949 [Thread-34@5c5ce3] TFTP timeout

Tue 4/26 22:24:36.999 [Thread-34@5c5ce3] TFTP timeout

Tue 4/26 22:24:37.049 [Thread-34@5c5ce3] TFTP timeout

Tue 4/26 22:24:37.100 [Thread-34@5c5ce3] TFTP timeout

Tue 4/26 22:24:37.151 [Thread-34@5c5ce3] TFTP timeout

Tue 4/26 22:24:37.202 [Thread-34@5c5ce3] TFTP timeout

Tue 4/26 22:24:37.253 [Thread-34@5c5ce3] TFTP timeout

Tue 4/26 22:24:37.304 [Thread-34@5c5ce3] TFTP timeout

Tue 4/26 22:24:37.355 [Thread-34@5c5ce3] TFTP timeout

Tue 4/26 22:24:37.406 [Thread-34@5c5ce3] TFTP timeout

Tue 4/26 22:24:37.457 [Thread-34@5c5ce3] TFTP timeout

Tue 4/26 22:24:37.508 [Thread-34@5c5ce3] TFTP timeout

Tue 4/26 22:24:37.559 [Thread-34@5c5ce3] TFTP timeout

Tue 4/26 22:24:37.610 [Thread-34@5c5ce3] TFTP timeout

Tue 4/26 22:24:37.661 [Thread-34@5c5ce3] TFTP timeout

Tue 4/26 22:24:37.712 [Thread-34@5c5ce3] TFTP timeout

Tue 4/26 22:24:37.763 [Thread-34@5c5ce3] TFTP timeout

Tue 4/26 22:24:37.814 [Thread-34@5c5ce3] TFTP timeout

Tue 4/26 22:24:37.865 [Thread-34@5c5ce3] TFTP timeout

Tue 4/26 22:24:37.916 [Thread-34@5c5ce3] TFTP timeout

Tue 4/26 22:24:37.967 [Thread-34@5c5ce3] TFTP timeout

Tue 4/26 22:24:38.022 [Thread-34@5c5ce3] TFTP timeout

Tue 4/26 22:24:38.072 [Thread-34@5c5ce3] TFTP timeout

Tue 4/26 22:24:38.122 [Thread-34@5c5ce3] TFTP timeout

Tue 4/26 22:24:38.172 [Thread-34@5c5ce3] TFTP timeout

Tue 4/26 22:24:38.222 [Thread-34@5c5ce3] TFTP timeout

Tue 4/26 22:24:38.272 [Thread-34@5c5ce3] TFTP timeout

Tue 4/26 22:24:38.322 [Thread-34@5c5ce3] TFTP timeout

Tue 4/26 22:24:38.372 [Thread-34@5c5ce3] TFTP timeout

Tue 4/26 22:24:38.422 [Thread-34@5c5ce3] TFTP timeout

Tue 4/26 22:24:38.473 [Thread-34@5c5ce3] TFTP timeout

Tue 4/26 22:24:38.524 [Thread-34@5c5ce3] TFTP timeout

Tue 4/26 22:24:38.575 [Thread-34@5c5ce3] TFTP timeout

Tue 4/26 22:24:38.626 [Thread-34@5c5ce3] TFTP timeout

Tue 4/26 22:24:38.677 [Thread-34@5c5ce3] TFTP timeout

Tue 4/26 22:24:38.728 [Thread-34@5c5ce3] TFTP timeout

Tue 4/26 22:24:38.779 [Thread-34@5c5ce3] TFTP timeout

Tue 4/26 22:24:38.830 [Thread-34@5c5ce3] TFTP timeout

Tue 4/26 22:24:38.881 [Thread-34@5c5ce3] TFTP timeout

Tue 4/26 22:24:38.932 [Thread-34@5c5ce3] TFTP timeout

Tue 4/26 22:24:38.983 [Thread-34@5c5ce3] TFTP timeout

Tue 4/26 22:24:39.034 [Thread-34@5c5ce3] TFTP timeout

Tue 4/26 22:24:39.085 [Thread-34@5c5ce3] TFTP timeout

Tue 4/26 22:24:39.136 [Thread-34@5c5ce3] TFTP timeout

Tue 4/26 22:24:39.187 [Thread-34@5c5ce3] TFTP timeout

Tue 4/26 22:24:39.238 [Thread-34@5c5ce3] TFTP timeout

Tue 4/26 22:24:39.289 [Thread-34@5c5ce3] TFTP timeout

Tue 4/26 22:24:39.340 [Thread-34@5c5ce3] TFTP timeout

Tue 4/26 22:24:39.391 [Thread-34@5c5ce3] TFTP timeout

Tue 4/26 22:24:39.442 [Thread-34@5c5ce3] TFTP timeout

Tue 4/26 22:24:39.493 [Thread-34@5c5ce3] TFTP timeout

Tue 4/26 22:24:39.544 [Thread-34@5c5ce3] TFTP timeout

Tue 4/26 22:24:39.595 [Thread-34@5c5ce3] TFTP timeout

Tue 4/26 22:24:39.646 [Thread-34@5c5ce3] TFTP timeout

Tue 4/26 22:24:39.697 [Thread-34@5c5ce3] TFTP timeout

Tue 4/26 22:24:39.748 [Thread-34@5c5ce3] TFTP timeout

Tue 4/26 22:24:39.799 [Thread-34@5c5ce3] TFTP timeout

Tue 4/26 22:24:39.850 [Thread-34@5c5ce3] TFTP timeout

Tue 4/26 22:24:39.901 [Thread-34@5c5ce3] TFTP timeout

Tue 4/26 22:24:39.952 [Thread-34@5c5ce3] TFTP timeout

Tue 4/26 22:24:40.003 [Thread-34@5c5ce3] TFTP timeout

Tue 4/26 22:24:40.054 [Thread-34@5c5ce3] TFTP timeout

Tue 4/26 22:24:40.105 [Thread-34@5c5ce3] TFTP timeout

Tue 4/26 22:24:40.156 [Thread-34@5c5ce3] TFTP timeout

Tue 4/26 22:24:40.207 [Thread-34@5c5ce3] TFTP timeout

Tue 4/26 22:24:40.258 [Thread-34@5c5ce3] TFTP timeout

Tue 4/26 22:24:40.309 [Thread-34@5c5ce3] TFTP timeout

Tue 4/26 22:24:40.360 [Thread-34@5c5ce3] TFTP timeout

Tue 4/26 22:24:40.411 [Thread-34@5c5ce3] TFTP timeout

Tue 4/26 22:24:40.412 [Thread-34@5c5ce3] Retry count exceeded

The above occurred right after a SageTV server reboot that I hoped would solve the problem. I had also tried starting and stopping the service before that as well. My HD200 works fine. Any help is greatly appreciated. I'm losing my mind

[electronics4lif]

My Helius has been working great for a few years now. My 'miniserver/forced_server_ip=' line is also blank. Do you have the Helius setup in your router with a static IP address? I have heard that some MVPs can be finicky about a dhcp assigned IP. With the TFTP timeouts, I would suspect a network issue. Do you have another network switch you can try? It took me almost a year to figure out my 16port dell gigabit switch was the culprit behind audio drop outs on my HD extenders. The switch worked perfectly with all normal computers. I replaced the switch with a 24port Dlink switch and the drop outs disappeared.

[dinki]

Yes. It has a static IP address. The entries listed are copied from my DHCP page on my router.

Unfortunately I can't easily change out my switch.

[TheSuper]

dinki

Here are some ideas for you. All your settings look correct to me.
I had similar problems with my Helius MVP after a chain of events caused problems (including power outages).

** After upgrading to SageTV ver7 it seems to take longer to boot (sometimes 5 minutes or more) but eventually it would boot. The navigation with the new Interface was painfully slow. THE FIX - helped a little with the boot time, but it mainly speed up the menu navigation once booting had completed. The fix was to use the SagetV3.xml (instead of SageTV7.xml) file which uses the old interface and allows faster menu navigation. SageTV ver7 still runs in the background it just uses the ver6 interface. Before this fix, the Helius would randomly lock-up for a few minutes then reboot for no reason.

** After a power outages one of my Network Switches broke, I replaced it was a new Network Switch. To my surprise it also fixed problems I was having with my Helius MVP. It now boots faster and video starts playing faster (video never lagged). I think 90% of my Helius MVP problems were caused by the flaky Network Switch that thankfully broke because of a power outage; otherwise I would have been clueless that the switch was flaking-out on me. It would route a simple pings just fine but when streaming data it would start up slowly.

miniserver/clients=
I am still using the same miniserver/clients= setting (same as yours) but I have noticed that the IP address(es) are not static event though it is specified in the setting. The IP address is still dynamically assigned by DHCP. The different IP addresses assigned to the MVP units has never been a problem.

miniserver/forced_server_ip=
I do not have this setting configured; it is still blank in the properties file.

Please verify that the file mentioned in your log "Reading mvp.bin" is accessible by the MVP unit. The log file seems to indicate the FTP process that loads the mvp.bin file is not working or blocked. For example is a firewall on your network blocking the tFTP access from the MVP unit? Or is your router/switch flaking-out on your and not routing the file properly?

An alternate option to booting the Helius MVP
Try using the Hauppauge MVP software to boot the MVP instead of using the SageTV setting "miniserver/client". If the unit boots successfully with the Hauppauge MVP software then it should also boot with the SageTV setting. If not then you have other problems with the Helius unit or your home network. See this URL for the MVP software setup.
http://forums.sagetv.com/forums/showthread.php?p=301390

Good Luck

[dinki]

Thanks for the tips. See below

Originally Posted by TheSuper

** After upgrading to SageTV ver7 it seems to take longer to boot (sometimes 5 minutes or more) but eventually it would boot. The navigation with the new Interface was painfully slow. THE FIX - helped a little with the boot time, but it mainly speed up the menu navigation once booting had completed. The fix was to use the SagetV3.xml (instead of SageTV7.xml) file which uses the old interface and allows faster menu navigation. SageTV ver7 still runs in the background it just uses the ver6 interface. Before this fix, the Helius would randomly lock-up for a few minutes then reboot for no reason.

I'm running SageMC on it after upgrading to v7. Never have any issues with the MVP once I get it up and running.

** After a power outages one of my Network Switches broke, I replaced it was a new Network Switch. To my surprise it also fixed problems I was having with my Helius MVP. It now boots faster and video starts playing faster (video never lagged). I think 90% of my Helius MVP problems were caused by the flaky Network Switch that thankfully broke because of a power outage; otherwise I would have been clueless that the switch was flaking-out on me. It would route a simple pings just fine but when streaming data it would start up slowly.

My HD200, xbox360, and other devices are plugged into this switch and I don't have any problems with those devices. Not saying that it might not be wonky but everything seems to work fine it's just having a problem when booting the MVP. Now that I'm thinking about it, I had the same problem when I was using my router in place of the switch I currently use.

miniserver/clients=
I am still using the same miniserver/clients= setting (same as yours) but I have noticed that the IP address(es) are not static event though it is specified in the setting. The IP address is still dynamically assigned by DHCP. The different IP addresses assigned to the MVP units has never been a problem.

So perhaps it would work better without the MAC/IP being defined in this line? Seems like Sage is recognizing where the request is coming from in the log file, but I can give it a try.

Please verify that the file mentioned in your log "Reading mvp.bin" is accessible by the MVP unit. The log file seems to indicate the FTP process that loads the mvp.bin file is not working or blocked. For example is a firewall on your network blocking the tFTP access from the MVP unit? Or is your router/switch flaking-out on your and not routing the file properly?

It's readable and I'm not running any type of firewall blocking on the Sage server.

An alternate option to booting the Helius MVP
Try using the Hauppauge MVP software to boot the MVP instead of using the SageTV setting "miniserver/client". If the unit boots successfully with the Hauppauge MVP software then it should also boot with the SageTV setting. If not then you have other problems with the Helius unit or your home network. See this URL for the MVP software setup.
http://forums.sagetv.com/forums/showthread.php?p=301390

Yeah, I used to use the Hauppauge software back with v6 and with a different server. That server died and I put Sage on a new machine and was able to get it working with the Hauppauge software. I'd hate to have to do that again though. I guess I'll have to give it a try if I can't figure out what's going on. Thanks again.

[gilded07]

My sage.props file still shows static IP assignments (192.168.x.x) but I set that up when I was using v6.3. When I upgraded to v6.6 in 2009 (I believe it was Oct 2009), I never changed that line but I added a new router with new internal IPs using 172.xx.x.x and the MVPs connect fine on their own. If I unplug them they take a min or two to reconnect when I plug them back in but if I just turn them off with the remote, I can get them back on in seconds with the remote.

Apparently, something about v6.6 allows the Helius MVPs to connect dynamically with no edits to the sage.props file.

I have no experience with v7 yet. You know the saying...if it ain't broke!!

[dinki]

Well I tried again last night and still couldn't get it to connect. I remembered that I had a wireless access point that I had tried before but it just couldn't keep up (video skips/pauses/etc due to lack of bandwidth). I hooked it up and it immediately connected to the server and booted to the Sage UI. I turned off the mvp, plugged the wired connection back in and everything is in working order again. A bit of pain but definitely a workaround. I'm going to get a new battery for an old UPS I have and solve this problem once and for all. Thanks for the input guys.

[gilded07]

Well I tried again last night and still couldn't get it to connect. I remembered that I had a wireless access point that I had tried before but it just couldn't keep up (video skips/pauses/etc due to lack of bandwidth). I hooked it up and it immediately connected to the server and booted to the Sage UI. I turned off the mvp, plugged the wired connection back in and everything is in working order again. A bit of pain but definitely a workaround. I'm going to get a new battery for an old UPS I have and solve this problem once and for all. Thanks for the input guys.

@dinki - I'm confused. What is the fix? The WAP? Honestly, I never understood why my Helius MVPs connected w/out edits to the Sage.props files (after the upgrade to v6.6) so I'm curious to know if you're able to connect w/out the edits as well.

[dinki]

What I did was this:

* Hooked MVP up to wireless and allowed it to boot to usable Sage UI
* Turn off MVP
* Unplug wireless from MVP and connect wired LAN
* Power on MVP (note that this is not a hard boot); wait for it to load UI
* Enjoy

It's something to do with the initial hard boot that it is having problems with. Once the bin file is loaded it works just fine on the wired LAN.

[gilded07]

It's something to do with the initial hard boot that it is having problems with. Once the bin file is loaded it works just fine on the wired LAN.

Works just fine with or without sage.props file edits?

And I get what you mean now by workaround. A hard boot still causes a problem.

[dinki]

Originally Posted by gilded07

Works just fine with or without sage.props file edits?

Didn't try changing the entries.

[gilded07]

Didn't try changing the entries.

Ok, thanks.

I'm still perplexed as to why these Helius extenders connect without edits to the sage.props files.

Here are miniserver lines from my current sage.props files:

miniserver/clients=MVP/00\:0f\:22\:00\:03\:71/192.168.1.47;MVP/00\:0f\:22\:00\:04\:5e/192.168.1.48
miniserver/forced_server_ip=
miniserver/gateway=192.168.0.1

Note that although the MAC addresses are still valid, I haven't used 192.xxx.xxx.xxx since 2009. Yet, these Helius extenders connect and work flawlessly to my dedicated SageTV server every time. As I mentioned previously, since they worked without updating the sage.props file after I upgraded to v6.6 I never worried about them. However, I am curious if anyone knows, why they'd work fine now but I had to edit the sage.props file in the past.