HD Extender won't show video

[Skiier__Dude]

Hi All,

Having a recent problem with the HD Extender. Server is running 6.3.10 but I started experiencing the same issue with 6.3.9 as well.

When I start the Extender, I can play a single recording - everything works fine. If I stop the recording (e.g. when show is done, or I hit stop) and go back to the recordings menu and attempt to start another show, the video will no longer show up in full screen mode. The audio will start to stream, but Extender continues to display the recordings menu -- Extender will not display the sub-menu (ie watch-now, set watched etc...). Only way I can get it to play videos back is to soft power off/on -- it will play one video again, rinse and repeat.

Any thoughts as to why this might be happening and how to fix?

[gplasky]

Are you using the default STV? Make sure you're using SageTV3.xml as the STV and see if you still have those issues. (No custom STVs like SageMC and no plugins loaded.)

Gerry

[Skiier__Dude]

Should have mentioned that last night when I posted. Yes, I went back to the stock UI on the HD Extender as suggested and still have this grief.

The ONLY thing that has changed on my system in the past week is that I've started running Sage Recorder Service on the server. Can't figure that it would cause a problem with the HD Extender but I will turn that off to see if it clears the issue.

[Skiier__Dude]

Ok, it seems to be an issue with the SageTV Service. If I disable the service and just run the MC on the Server, the HD Extender works fine.

Any thoughts? Is this a no-no?

[gplasky]

When you run the Sage service run it with a user that has a password and is in the administrator group. The user you choose must have a password.

Gerry

[Skiier__Dude]

Yep, did that.

Like I say, it will play the first video no problem. The second show I try to watch, the Extender gets stuck on the Recordings menu -- audio will begin to stream so I know something is playing.

[Opus4]

You don't see the video playing in the preview window or as the menu's background when this happens? What happens if you use the "TV" command?

In addition to returning to the default STV, did you make sure all customizations were disabled/removed?

If it isn't some strange options setting, then contact SageTV for help -- file a bug report, since you are using a beta.

- Andy

[Skiier__Dude]

My usual sequence for starting a video recording is to select it, hit the Enter key and then choose Watch Now. However, to answer your question -- yes, if I hit the Play key on the remote, the video will appear in the preview window and start playing. At that point, the UI will not react to any further commands -- a couple of times the HD Extender has actually crashed and needed a restart.

I had removed all customizations.

Now that I have switched Sage Service off, this problem has gone away. I will submit a bug report and see if they can assist in diagnosing the problem.

[Skiier__Dude]

So a further update on this issue.

I thought I had the problem resolved by turning SageTV Service off but I was wrong. It just took longer to reproduce (this time 6 or so videos).

Here is what I have tried.

HD Extender: Is using the stock STV. I have reset it and completely reloaded the firmware on it <twice>. I have no customizations running at all.

Sage Server: is running 6.3.10. I have tried downgrading it to 6.3.7 and have upgraded again to 6.3.10. No customizations running on it either.

Java: Only one instance is running. 1.6.0_5b13

Synopsis of the problem: When the HD Extender is started, it will play the first video I want to watch without any problem. When I go to play a successive video (it's not always the next video, it might be the 3rd, 4th etc, but usually the next one) the UI freezes at the recordings menu and will not move to the "Watch It Now" menu. However, two successive presses of the Enter button on the remote will start streaming the audio. If I press Stop, the audio stops, I can move around to all the other menus anywhere in Sage and the application responds properly but will not allow me to play a video. Sometimes after I hit stop, the HD Extender will crash as soon as I hit any remote button. Sometimes the server will crash.

Whether the HD Extender crashes or not, if I do a full restart of the HD Extender (by either turning off then hitting the Home key, or switching it off/on) when it starts, it is unable to see a Server on the network (even though my Sage server will be running). Only way to resolve is to restart the Sage Server.

I have submitted a bug report and log file, but thought I would share my experience thus far. As it sits right now, the HD Extender is unusable.

[Tiki]

I do not have an HD extender yet, so I may be wrong, but I thought I saw in some other posts that there were different firmware versions available for the extender itself. Maybe you should post your firmware version and whether you have tried more than one?