Can I watch .M4V files (iPod video) on SageTV?

[dshields]

Hi - I have found several posts here about creating iPod video from SageTV recordings. My situation is the opposite. I have some .M4V files I have downloaded and I want to watch them in SageTV. Can I do that? If so, how? Thanks.

[dshields]

Still looking for an answer... I know its a dumb question. Do I need to convert .M4V files to .MPG to watch them in SageTV? (Or will SageTV 6 play M4V files directly?) Thanks.

[bcjenkins]

Make sure m4v is in the properties file as a playable extension. SageTV. What client are you trying to view on? It will need an appropriate decoder. Also, it won't play protected video.

B

[dshields]

Thanks for your reply.
The .m4v files are not protected. They are downloaded from here: http://www.oprah.com/obc_classic/web...e_download.jsp

The client is the Hauppauge MediaMVP (wired version). The server is currently SageTV 5 running on WIndows 2k3.

My MediaMVP boxes are a couple years old. I see on the current product page that it says "with the Media Extender you get playback support for MPEG1/2/4." If that applies to the MediaMVPs of my vintage, then it looks like I'm in good shape. (I assume .m4v files are just mpeg 4, right?)

What do I need to do with the properties file? (Do I just add ",.m4v" to the line "seeker/video_library_import_filename_extensions"? Any other changes needed?)

So far I can't get it to work after making the above change to the properties file.

[dshields]

Searching for "m4v" here I only find threads without solutions:

http://forums.sagetv.com/forums/showthread.php?t=12984
http://forums.sagetv.com/forums/showthread.php?t=19296
http://forums.sagetv.com/forums/arch...p/t-18399.html

However... after a bit more reading, it seems everyone is pointing to this reply as the answer:
http://forums.sagetv.com/forums/show...53&postcount=6
But that is from 2005 -- and that looks like it requires a ton of time and effort. I am hoping that's not the answer I'm seeking. Anyone want to clarify this for me? Thanks.

[dshields]

I haven't found an answer yet. Is it possible to easily play .M4V files on SageTV using MediaMVP client? Thanks.

[bcjenkins]

I don't know if it is. I would send your question to support but my guess is that it might be a version 6 feature. IIRC, you wanted to flip to linux on the server might be a good reason to do so? I can test playback tonight on a linux 6.3.10 box.

B

[dshields]

Thanks. Yes, I would like to switch to Linux on the server (and also upgrade from v5 to v6 of SageTV at the same time). Unfortunately, I have to purchase a new SageTV license to do that, so I won't do the switch immediately.

I don't want to upgrade my MediaMVP clients any time soon.

I have tried all the solutions discussed so far except the one from 2005 (http://forums.sagetv.com/forums/show...53&postcount=6) and I haven't had any luck.

UPDATE: I just emailed SageTV support too.

[bcjenkins]

I think for it to play in SageTV, the ffmpeg in SageTV or sagetranscoder.exe (ffmpeg in disguise) needs to do the transcoding. If you won't be doing it any time soon I would send an email in.

B

[jpappas]

Hey Guys,

I am also looking for the solution. I am running Sage 6.1.9.1 (Linux - openSUSE 10.2) on Sun Java 1.5.0_10. I have installed libquicktime and any other software that may have to do with quicktime or m4v. I have verified that the m4v extension is listed in the Sage.properties.

Has sage support provided an answer or is there something else specifically that I need to look for?

Update: These are unprotected m4v files, probably even the same files as dshields is trying to play.

Thanks!
John