Long time user very frustrated.

[MadClown]

I have a PVR 350 and Sage 4x. I moved to a new home and all of a sudden when Sage starts recording, it gets to a couple seconds and than it locks up.
I'm thinking of either building a new system or just scraping the whole thing and buying a Tivo system. I'm just getting very tired of constantly fixing and working around little bugs.

What do you think is the best setup for standard cable tv recording.
No hassle setup. Something I can setup and not worry about it.
I wanted to use HP Windows Home server but I read that it doesn't have a PCI slot. :-(

[Brent]

You might want to consider upgrading that SageTV from 4.x to 6.x for starters.

I'd buy/build a decently powered HTPC server, install SageTV 6.x on it and add a HD extender and call it good.

[paulbeers]

Originally Posted by MadClown

I have a PVR 350 and Sage 4x. I moved to a new home and all of a sudden when Sage starts recording, it gets to a couple seconds and than it locks up.
I'm thinking of either building a new system or just scraping the whole thing and buying a Tivo system. I'm just getting very tired of constantly fixing and working around little bugs.

What do you think is the best setup for standard cable tv recording.
No hassle setup. Something I can setup and not worry about it.
I wanted to use HP Windows Home server but I read that it doesn't have a PCI slot. :-(

Any card other than the 350. The 350 was never a good choice for Sage. Especialy now with HDMI out from pc's, the 350 makes no sense with its limited svideo out. With that said, Hauppauge 1600 can be had pretty cheaply and has both an analog and HD tuner.

[Chriscic]

You could buy WHS and put on any old system. I'm running on a 1.2ghz Celeron with no issues so far related to the server itself.

[MadClown]

Well I'm done trying to get hardware to work and SageTV to do my bidding.
I'v had Tivo for a couple months and I'm happy as hell!!.
No more having to worry about drivers or updates or bugs. It just sits there and hums along recording shows.

I really wish SageTV would of offered an all hardware and software package because I would have gladly bought one.

Oh well I guess this is my last post. Good luck everyone!

[Polypro]

See ya.

P

[wvpolekat]

I realize I am not going to change your mind, and I don't think that anyone could have. Your mind was made up when you posted your thread.

But, you did not give Sage a fair shake at all.

1) You were running a version that was at least 3 years old and 2 full revisions behind. 4.x to 6.x. It would be akin to someone ditching Windows because of how much trouble they were having with Windows ME.

2) You were using a capture card that is known to be problematic. This is like saying all diesels are junk because you had an 80's Cadillac with the 350 diesel in it.

Fact of the matter is that yes, Sage is not a purely "plug and go" solution. But unless you are trying to hold it together with duct tape and bubble gum (running old software on bad hardware) it's really pretty trouble free as long as you don't tinker.

My Sage box gets updated MAYBE twice a year. It runs and records 24x7 with an automatic reboot every morning at 4 AM because of a memory leak problem a couple of years ago. May well be fixed by now, but the reboot keeps it happy so I don't mess with it.

From a hardware perspective, the 2 MVPs I have are FAR more temperamental than Sage itself. But, when I bought them, they were the only option and frankly, they were the main selling point for Sage over other options.

Sure, Tivo may be somewhat less problematic. But, try to store your movie collection on it, or your photo and music. Last I knew, you were limited to the TV it is connected to. I can watch anything from any TV in the house. I can also burn archives to DVD if I wish. Not to mention that tivo pulled the rug out from under people who bought "lifetime" subscriptions by making them non transferrable if you updated your hardware.

With a little bit of attention and thought upfront, Sage can run VERY trouble free.

[cychou]

Originally Posted by wvpolekat

I realize I am not going to change your mind, and I don't think that anyone could have. Your mind was made up when you posted your thread.

But, you did not give Sage a fair shake at all.

1) You were running a version that was at least 3 years old and 2 full revisions behind. 4.x to 6.x. It would be akin to someone ditching Windows because of how much trouble they were having with Windows ME.

2) You were using a capture card that is known to be problematic. This is like saying all diesels are junk because you had an 80's Cadillac with the 350 diesel in it.

Fact of the matter is that yes, Sage is not a purely "plug and go" solution. But unless you are trying to hold it together with duct tape and bubble gum (running old software on bad hardware) it's really pretty trouble free as long as you don't tinker.

My Sage box gets updated MAYBE twice a year. It runs and records 24x7 with an automatic reboot every morning at 4 AM because of a memory leak problem a couple of years ago. May well be fixed by now, but the reboot keeps it happy so I don't mess with it.

From a hardware perspective, the 2 MVPs I have are FAR more temperamental than Sage itself. But, when I bought them, they were the only option and frankly, they were the main selling point for Sage over other options.

Sure, Tivo may be somewhat less problematic. But, try to store your movie collection on it, or your photo and music. Last I knew, you were limited to the TV it is connected to. I can watch anything from any TV in the house. I can also burn archives to DVD if I wish. Not to mention that tivo pulled the rug out from under people who bought "lifetime" subscriptions by making them non transferrable if you updated your hardware.

With a little bit of attention and thought upfront, Sage can run VERY trouble free.

Everyone's definition of "Trouble Free" is not exactly the same!

I notice a few "troubles" in your post:
1. Schedule reboot everyday. This is not strictly caused by Sage, and I have seen many Production Windows Servers does this as well. Scheduled and/or unscheduled reboot is simply part of Windows operation.
2. Temperamental MVPs are part of your overall Sage experience.

There is nothing wrong running an older version of Sage, as long as that version has all the features you need. I ran Sage 2 for two years before upgrading to v.6 for DVB-T support.

I can fully understand why Sage choose not to market a full hardware and software solution with Windows as the OS. Windows is simply too high maintainence for 24x7 operation. "Problematic Hardware" is another issue for every SageTV users. I don't believe such a list (black list) exist in the Sage community, so you can avoid them. Sage does sell certain hardware over the web for US users, which can be considered recommended hardware. For users outside of US, no such recommendation exists.

At the end of day, if you are tech. savvy enough to deal with Computer hardware, Sage and Windows, you will be rewarded with extra and new functionality as time goes on. On the other hand, if all you want is a 24x7 trouble free PVR, then TIVO is probably your best choice.

[Taddeusz]

Originally Posted by cychou

I can fully understand why Sage choose not to market a full hardware and software solution with Windows as the OS. Windows is simply too high maintainence for 24x7 operation. "Problematic Hardware" is another issue for every SageTV users. I don't believe such a list (black list) exist in the Sage community, so you can avoid them. Sage does sell certain hardware over the web for US users, which can be considered recommended hardware. For users outside of US, no such recommendation exists.

I would have to respectfully disagree with you here. As long as you don't Windows with a bunch of garbage it can be quite stable and run for months at a time without needing a reboot. With the exception of the occasional problem with my HD-PVR my headless SageTV server running XP Pro can run without issue for months at a time. This runs contrary to you saying that Windows is too high maintenance to run 24x7. If you have a good hardware foundation Windows can be rock solid and will give you no problems. Throw cheap hardware at Windows (or any OS for that matter) and you're playing with fire.

[doc]

Just incase anyone does read this thread, the pvr350 is a very good capture card. I had 2 working for 2 years and didn't have any problems.

The problems come when you try to use the video out on the card itself, rather than using the pc's graphics card or an extender.

The only reason I don't use mine anymore is because I use digital tuners.

If someone wants an old video converting though, the 350 goes straight back in.

[cychou]

Originally Posted by Taddeusz

I would have to respectfully disagree with you here. As long as you don't Windows with a bunch of garbage it can be quite stable and run for months at a time without needing a reboot. With the exception of the occasional problem with my HD-PVR my headless SageTV server running XP Pro can run without issue for months at a time. This runs contrary to you saying that Windows is too high maintenance to run 24x7. If you have a good hardware foundation Windows can be rock solid and will give you no problems. Throw cheap hardware at Windows (or any OS for that matter) and you're playing with fire.

Once again, a fellow with an almost perfect Sage PC except ........!
In your case, a headless SageTV is hardly doing anything at all, most of your viewing activities happen somewhere else. I seriously suspect you can get the same time between reboots on your client 2, if you use it for regular viewing purpose. I believe this is also big selling points of Sage extenders (among other things).

I was not saying it is not possible to run Windows reliably under certain situations, in your case a headless Sage server.

I work in IT professionally for many years, and I have seen many computers (not just Windows PC) including some high-end Windows servers. My opinions is a general statement based on long time experience, not just a few PCs. I think most people would agree that a Sage extender is more reliable than a Sage client PC.

[Taddeusz]

Originally Posted by cychou

I work in IT professionally for many years, and I have seen many computers (not just Windows PC) including some high-end Windows servers. My opinions is a general statement based on long time experience, not just a few PCs.

Mine is as well. Don't be so quick to judge someone's experience.

[cychou]

Originally Posted by Taddeusz

Mine is as well. Don't be so quick to judge someone's experience.

Sorry if I offend you in my previous post. I did not meant to judge your experience in any way.
This is a friendly and supporting forum here!

[Taddeusz]

Originally Posted by cychou

Sorry if I offend you in my previous post. I did not meant to judge your experience in any way.
This is a friendly and supporting forum here!

Sorry for the quick reaction. No offense taken.

[MadClown]

Originally Posted by wvpolekat

I realize I am not going to change your mind, and I don't think that anyone could have. Your mind was made up when you posted your thread.

But, you did not give Sage a fair shake at all.

1) You were running a version that was at least 3 years old and 2 full revisions behind. 4.x to 6.x. It would be akin to someone ditching Windows because of how much trouble they were having with Windows ME.

2) You were using a capture card that is known to be problematic. This is like saying all diesels are junk because you had an 80's Cadillac with the 350 diesel in it.

Fact of the matter is that yes, Sage is not a purely "plug and go" solution. But unless you are trying to hold it together with duct tape and bubble gum (running old software on bad hardware) it's really pretty trouble free as long as you don't tinker.

My Sage box gets updated MAYBE twice a year. It runs and records 24x7 with an automatic reboot every morning at 4 AM because of a memory leak problem a couple of years ago. May well be fixed by now, but the reboot keeps it happy so I don't mess with it.

From a hardware perspective, the 2 MVPs I have are FAR more temperamental than Sage itself. But, when I bought them, they were the only option and frankly, they were the main selling point for Sage over other options.

Sure, Tivo may be somewhat less problematic. But, try to store your movie collection on it, or your photo and music. Last I knew, you were limited to the TV it is connected to. I can watch anything from any TV in the house. I can also burn archives to DVD if I wish. Not to mention that tivo pulled the rug out from under people who bought "lifetime" subscriptions by making them non transferrable if you updated your hardware.

With a little bit of attention and thought upfront, Sage can run VERY trouble free.

Sorry it took so long to respond. Just happen to come across this link when cleaning my Google boomarks.

I think I gave Sage a fair chance. I had it for a number of years and there are some options that I wish I had with Tivo. But you just can't beat the low hassle of Tivo. Didn't know about that lifetime subscription. By the way I have a PS3 so I just use that as my media server. It pretty much plays and shows anything and has an internet browser. Plus I watch Hulu.com movies with it too. That is also a rock solid device.