HD200 - Playon - Netflix & Hulu import file issues - FIXED!

[Crunch]

EDIT 14th March 2009. MY Queue (and other files) now showing and working in Netflix and Hulu via Playon.

Seasons Greetings. Well after a crazy few 'PVR' weeks my wife decided I could try the new HD200. If you have read my other posts over the last few weeks you would wonder why. Christmas spirit I guess

So I hooked up my HD200 to Sage6.5.5 and installed latest beta on HD200.
Works fine as extender. No issues there at all.

In stand alone I have been trying Hulu and my Netflix Hulu accounts. Not good results.
SageTV replied to my helpdesk ticket saying they don't support Playon, so that is a downer as I thought it would be one area to make unit more atractive to all. I don't see much on the form about Playon and getting it working, other than some have luck and some have similar issues with all being displayed.
Edit

Reading my ticket again I may have been a bit harsh on SageTv helpdesk.. as the hopefull words in the email are "at this time". So maybe tomorrow

Playon says my logs show files were correctly called/requested and is a HD200 issue.
My problems via Playon.
- Not getting all the movies in my Queue from Netflix.
- Some of the movies I do get from Netflix are not a media file (size 0.5kb)
(movies in a folder from Netflix seem to have all the movie file OK)
- Hulu Same issue one file is playable the others are not.

Any ideas?
If no support for this via SatgeTV, is it going to be possible via community?

[Brent]

Are your issues mostly with Netflix via Playon?

From your screen-shots, your having more luck than me. Netflix for me only shows a single video and it isn't even one in my queue.

Hulu works great for me although I think the UI stinks. Is this something that can be handled with help from the user community? Probably, but I haven't seen any of the capable user devs working on it yet at least.

Playon is one of those features that we (the users) just found out worked due to the UPnP support, not something SageTV advertised or anything so that's where that "we don't support it" comment came from. I think it will get better in time though.

My hope is that we get some kind of more "official" support for Hulu, Netflix or Amazon Unbox eventually from SageTV. That would be so much better.

[Crunch]

Originally Posted by Brent

Are your issues mostly with Netflix via Playon?

Yes I am wanting to use HD200 via Playon to view mainly Netflix but found Hulu has some material we will watch as well. My thought is if there is a program 'Playon' that for $30 can do all it says then why would I try and get netflix via the MC route with the hoops neede to get Netflix on an extender.

Reading my ticket again I may have been a bit harsh on SageTv helpdesk.. as the hopefull words in the email are "at this time". So maybe tomorrow

The email from SageTV

Kevin,

Sorry for the delay in getting back to you. Unfortunately we don't support Netflix playback on the HD200 at this time. I believe some users have gotten it to work using playon, but we have not tested that here.

Thanks,

[Brent]

I paid the $30 to Playon just so I could "play" with it in the HD200 - knowing it isn't quite there yet. One other thing we (me included) need to do is submit our trouble report to the folks at Playon and see if we can get any traction from that end as well.

[simonen]

I have received the same response from Sage support. When I bought the HD200, I somehow had it in my head that Netflix was working, so I was frustrated to say the least.

MediaMall told me that they cannot help me, partly because they do not have an HD200 to test out, and I suspect that most of their development time now is try to bring support to the Wii for next year.

[Crunch]

Has anyone had more luck with PlayOn. They have gone to release stage and after this week its $10 more. They say they are working on Wii option. Would be a shame that I get to use my Wii for Netflix &Hulu via PlayOn before my HD200. I hope Sage is not putting all its eggs in one basket!

I like the option that PlayOn plays both Hulu and Netfix.

I saw this post from Brent on 24 Jan saying it works. But maybe I missed something I need to do.
http://forums.sagetv.com/forums/show...23&postcount=8

Originally Posted by Brent

What are you asking for here? PlayOn works in SageTV HD200 already (Netflix doesn't work but Hulu does). Matter of fact I watched the first episode of this seasons BSG last night on my HD200 and it looks pretty darn good.

PlayOn in general stinks though imo.

Can't wait for Hulu support in all of SageTV.

I have no problems going to my computer to set up my queue for Hulu or Netflix. I think it is faster and eaiser to spend 10 minutes at the computer to make my choices then in front of the TV. So I am not concerned about not having the browser choice via the HD200. Currently I can tell the wife to jump online when she has a moment and sort her netfix instant queue. She can even do it at work if she wants.

I still have the same issues as in the images posted above. It seems to be fine with a few files showing and others not playable.

I did get to play all 9 of the 'Legend of the Seeker' shows. Had no FF or Rew only play and pause. ( I see it looks like #10 is up)

Shame to have HD200 sitting here doing little. There doesn't seem to be a lot coming out about any time frame for any of the 'solo' options to be available.

[Crunch]

Could some one from SageTv tell me what gives with PlayOn or Hulu.

Once again I read yesterday in a post that PlayOn works with HD200.

Originally Posted by Brent

I'm not sure what features you're missing on the HD100 versus the HD200 at this point. Hulu isn't available on any of SageTV yet (except for PlayOn in Standalone-mode for HD200) so for now we're in the wait-and-see mode for now.

I'll bet Hulu will be available on the HD200, HD100 and all SageTV PCs and Clients. Don't know for sure yet, but that's my bet.

But for me it has issues as seen in the screen shots.

Is there settings inside my HD200 I need to be playing with?

Why can't I find a thread updating what is happening with PlayOn or the Hulu function, considering I read a post where it was displayed at some show?

Crunch

[Brent]

Originally Posted by Crunch

Could some one from SageTv tell me what gives with PlayOn or Hulu.

I'm not from SageTV, but I can tell you that SageTV does not officially support PlayOn and PlayOn doesn't officially support the HD200.

Once again I read yesterday in a post that PlayOn works with HD200.

It does happen to work for me except for Netflix streaming.

But for me it has issues as seen in the screen shots.

Is there settings inside my HD200 I need to be playing with?

I have occasional issues with Hulu playback - it is NOT ideal and PlayOn isn't the greatest. Still, I've watched several shows via PlayOn/Hulu on the HD200 with success.

Why can't I find a thread updating what is happening with PlayOn or the Hulu function, considering I read a post where it was displayed at some show?

Your best bet is to start with the PlayOn forums. I think any hope for it to work better has to start there. I could be wrong, but I doubt there's much SageTV can or will do to make PlayOn work better on the HD200.

I really think the SageTV support discussed at CES will be a lot better for SageTV users then PlayOn will be.

[paulbeers]

I can vouch for the fact that PlayOn / Hulu works just fine on the HD200 in stand alone mode. I just watched the first two episodes of Doogie Howser MD on it (I was just testing it out). I should state that the best way I found to use it, is to just put shows in your Hulu queue then find the "My Queue" option and there they are.....

[Crunch]

Originally Posted by paulbeers

I can vouch for the fact that PlayOn / Hulu works just fine on the HD200 in stand alone mode. I just watched the first two episodes of Doogie Howser MD on it (I was just testing it out). I should state that the best way I found to use it, is to just put shows in your Hulu queue then find the "My Queue" option and there they are.....

That is all I did, put the movies I want in my queue and then ran HD200 in standalone mode. So what is wrong with my HD200? because PlayOn say thier check of the log shows my files were called but it seems not dished up correctly by HD200. you can see from images above. For example 'Thunderbirds' is now in my queue but shows up not playable like in the images above. Also can you use ffwd and rew? I can only use pause and play. Does Thunderbirds play for you?
Thanks.

[gplasky]

Originally Posted by Crunch

That is all I did, put the movies I want in my queue and then ran HD200 in standalone mode. So what is wrong with my HD200? because PlayOn say thier check of the log shows my files were called but it seems not dished up correctly by HD200. you can see from images above. For example 'Thunderbirds' is now in my queue but shows up not playable like in the images above. Also can you use ffwd and rew? I can only use pause and play. Does Thunderbirds play for you?
Thanks.

What version of the firmware are you running on your HD200?

Gerry

[paulbeers]

Originally Posted by gplasky

What version of the firmware are you running on your HD200?

Gerry

And what version of PlayOn are you running? I am currently running the version from Friday (2/13/2009). My wife watched 16 episodes of Doogie Howser from our HD200 this weekend with no issues. I have watched about 2-3 episodes of Babylon 5. We had no queuing issues. Could it be your internet connection?

I suppsose I could add the ones you are having problems with below and see if causes me any problems. I do not have Netflix, but I could try to see if if there is some issue with those particular episodes on hulu....

Oh and to answer your question, no I can not use fast forward or rewind. Just Play and Pause. I assume this is by design.

[Crunch]

I have the latest Licenced PlayOn. Latest HD200 firmware. I have used several of the different PlayOn software releases and I think a couple of HD200 releases since I first posted this topic and had the same issues. However all 11 eposodes of Legend of the Seeker have gone to my Hulu queue and played on HD200.

My connection is good as my Roku box will play HD and is sitting on the same switch and only HD200 or Roku use that connection. My plan is to give Roku to motherinlaw and just have HD200 in TV room, I get too much flack for all the bits round the house.

[gplasky]

What PC do you have the Playon software installed on? OS? Service packs? WIndows Media Player? I believe the Playon software uses DLNA/uPnP for receiving the streams. DLNA/uPnP is usually port 49152 or above. I would open up a block of ten or so starting at 49152. And make sure your router is enabled Upnp traffic. Also take a look at whatever 3rd party security programs or security suites you may be running. By default they will affect your DNLA/Upnp settings. If you have anything installed (security suites, anti-virus packages, etc.) I would temporarily disable all of them and try accessing the Hulu videos through Playon again.

Gerry

[Crunch]

Windows XP Home SP3.
No firewall at this time.
No antivirus software.
2Gb ram. 9550 Quad core.
WMP 11.057221.5230
Router says UPNP is active. And I can play some Hulu movies Ok.

Why do I always get the date as sat 1/1/00 11.00am ? Even the images from a few months ago have the same date!

After a number of updates and reinstalling etc this is what I am greeted with. As you see, three of the files I can play the others I can't.



In Net flix I can't play any.

[gplasky]

Originally Posted by Crunch

Windows XP Home SP3.
No firewall at this time.
No antivirus software.
2Gb ram. 9550 Quad core.
WMP 11.057221.5230
Router says UPNP is active. And I can play some Hulu movies Ok.

Why do I always get the date as sat 1/1/00 11.00am ? Even the images from a few months ago have the same date!

After a number of updates and reinstalling etc this is what I am greeted with. As you see, three of the files I can play the others I can't.



In Net flix I can't play any.

Netflix doesn't work for anyone. Period. End of story.

Gerry

[himay]

Hey, I have a question for anyone who might know about the Sage TV / Hulu display at CES (so I guess, Brent, if you can answer, or anyone else who might know, that'd rock) --

Did SageTV give the impression that the HD200's ability to display Hulu.com content was the result of any kind of business partnership or affiliation with Hulu or the networks? Was the feeling at all of the HD200 being a "hulu-approved" device? (My guess is "no," but I'm quite curious and hopeful.)

I ask, of course, because of how earlier this week Hulu.com asked Boxee to remove all of their content from the Boxee platform. It seems logical that if Hulu took such action against Boxee, there would be nothing to prevent them from taking the exact same action towards the Sage HD200. (Also, as I understand it, PlayOn Media Server is owned by the networks/content owners indirectly, so that's a whole other story.) I know in some respects I'm asking the un-knowable right now, but I guess I'm asking folks to weigh in on the idea--is Hulu on the HD200 going to get a lot easier, or a lot harder/impossible in the near future? If there was any scent of the HD200 being 'approved' as Hulu-friendly at CES, that (imho) would be a significant thing (and a reason for me to upgrade my HD100 to the HD200 in a heartbeat)...

...so, those of you in the know or who got to badger the Sage staff at CES: was the message from sage "look at the partnership we established," or was it "look what we got working"?

thanks in advance for your opinions; I'm not asking anyone for official word (since I realize that will require patience), more just the hunches of people who were there.

[paulbeers]

There is already a thread about this in the General Discussion forum. I don't think anyone knows if Sage is going to be officially supported or not. Right now the only way to get this to work is thru playon. Truthfully I don't think even Playon is sure they are going to be able to keep hulu at this point...

[otaku]

Hulu and Netflix have been working fine for me. I notice though that often times in the uPNP device PlayOn lists most movies as *.m3u files, and SageTV doesn't recognize this. This means everything under the Feature Films directory in Hulu and most movies in Netflix never appear on the SageTV.

STP-HD200[Thrillers]# ls
Eye See You (Rated R, Star Rating: 3.1) - Traumatized after witnessing a brutal crime while on the job, FBI agent Jake Malloy (Sylvester Stallone) checks into a rehab clinic for law enforcement officers in the remote wilderness of Wyoming, run by an ex-cop named Doc (Kris Kristofferson). When he realizes that a serial killer is loose in the facility and his fellow patients are being murdered, Jake must set aside his fears and track down the killer before he becomes the next victim..m3u
STP-HD200[Thrillers]# pwd
/var/upnp/PlayOn (unixborg)/Netflix/Genre/Thrillers

Any idea if there's a way around this or is this SOP for PlayOn?

[otaku]

Continuing to play around on the SageTV, I've found the following odd behavior:

S

TP-HD200[24]# ls
s07e09: 4:00 PM - 5:00 PM - President Taylor struggles with the painful circumstances facing the First Family. (Rating: 4.8, Views: 163,452).mpg
STP-HD200[24]# cp s07e09* /test.mpg
cp: cannot create '/test.mpg': Read-only file system

that's a normal error, I'd imagine.

now when I try to copy one of these ghost .m3u files I get this error:

STP-HD200[21 Grams]# ls
21 Grams - What is the weight of life?  Guilt?  Revenge?  Critically acclaimed Mexican director Alejandro Iñárritu (Amores Perros) weaves a tangled web of three characters who are suddenly pulled together by a freak car accident. (Rating: 4.4, Views: 76,854).m3u
STP-HD200[21 Grams]# cp 21* /test.m3u
cp: cannot stat '21 Grams - What is the weight of life?  Guilt?  Revenge?  Critically acclaimed Mexican director Alejandro IC1C!rritu (Amores Perros) weaves a tangled web of three characters who are suddenly pulled together by a freak car accident. (Rating: 4.4, Views: 76': No such file or directory

it's almost as if cp can't even find the file, even though i can see it. i've tried to use the more command on the file to see its contents, but that fails with the same error. it's like the file is untouchable.

Has anyone else experimented with trying to get this to work?