My HD PVR: Lockup with sage.playback.exception

[Chriscic]

I'm extremely skeptical covering the IR port on the HD-PVR will do anything, but it's so easy heck I'll try it.

My STB is already fixed to 1080i output. I'll also try 720p for the heck of it... that seems more likely, although not extremely likely, to help.

Thanks for the ideas.

[Rico66]

Originally Posted by Chriscic

I'm extremely skeptical covering the IR port on the HD-PVR will do anything, but it's so easy heck I'll try it.

My STB is already fixed to 1080i output. I'll also try 720p for the heck of it... that seems more likely, although not extremely likely, to help.

Thanks for the ideas.

This has already been mentioned elsewhere, but I post it here again. The scenario where covering of the IR receiver helps is, if you notice lock-ups while sending IR commands (via remote control/keyboard), and if the IR part of the hdpvr is not used (=no remote/blaster). It pretty much looks like that the hd pvr has a bug that it cannot handle (=ignore) these input signals and tries to process them in a wrong way.
This obviously does not help if your hdpvr lock-ups heat related during recording with no other processing happening in parallel, or if you have your unit in a closet connected to a server.

What I don't know is what happens for people who actually use the IR side of the HD PVR (remote control and/or blaster). Do you get lock-ups while using your remote (e.g. while browsing the guide or through the UI)?

BTW, I'm using 480p for SD and 720p for HD without problems. It was even able to handle switching the resolution within one recording. My STB missed switching once, which I happen to notice, so I manually switched channels on the STB, and as a result the hdpvr stopped for about a second and then continued...

[Fluffdaddy]

Originally Posted by Rico66

This has already been mentioned elsewhere, but I post it here again. The scenario where covering of the IR receiver helps is, if you notice lock-ups while sending IR commands (via remote control/keyboard), and if the IR part of the hdpvr is not used (=no remote/blaster). It pretty much looks like that the hd pvr has a bug that it cannot handle (=ignore) these input signals and tries to process them in a wrong way..

95% of the time my units was locking-up when sending IR commands via remote and/or usb-uirt. I do not use the IR part of the hdpvr.

All I know is I have not had a lock-up in 3 days since covering.

[TallMomof2]

Before I moved my C2 to a new server I was using the remote to change channels on the HD-PVR and since the latest stable drivers I never had the HD-PVR lock-up. I have an occasional problem with the crappy IR transmitter not always setting the channel correctly. Happens about once a week. If I get another HD-PVR I'll probably go with the USB-UIRT solution.

[toricred]

I know this is a dumb question, but I'm just now getting ready to jump on the HD-PVR bandwagon. What type of container are the recordings in avi, ts, mpg?

[HelenWeathers]

Originally Posted by toricred

I know this is a dumb question, but I'm just now getting ready to jump on the HD-PVR bandwagon. What type of container are the recordings in avi, ts, mpg?

They are in .ts containers.

[Qusix]

My wife would always get this error when using SAGE. We would just have to unplug the hdpvr and plug it back in and it would work fine. She would use the channel up/down buttons instead of the miniguide and I think she was pressing it too fast which caused the error. I told her to just use the miniguide to change channels and not to change them too fast and we never get this error anymore.

[Chriscic]

Originally Posted by Rico66

The scenario where covering of the IR receiver helps is, if you notice lock-ups while sending IR commands (via remote control/keyboard), and if the IR part of the hdpvr is not used (=no remote/blaster). It pretty much looks like that the hd pvr has a bug that it cannot handle (=ignore) these input signals and tries to process them in a wrong way.
This obviously does not help if your hdpvr lock-ups heat related during recording with no other processing happening in parallel, or if you have your unit in a closet connected to a server.

Thank you for the clarification. As you say, not my issue.

I haven't noticed my HD-PVR locking during channel changing, but then again channel changing is so slow and often has trouble "re-locking" the video (even with a four-second tuning delay) I stay away from channel surfing.

I'm pretty sure it's the heat problem vs. channel-changing problem, although since I'm not sitting there when it happens I can't 100% confirm.

[sleonard]

I just built a new server and moved everything Sage to it. I had gone 3 days without a lockup and thought maybe I had solved it. Then I read this post about the blocking the IR ports on the HD-PVR's and thought "What can it hurt?" and covered each of them with some black electrical tape. Within seconds I got a "No signal" error in Sage and HD-PVR #2 was no longer responding.

Coincidence?

S

[71_Cuda]

Originally Posted by sleonard

I just built a new server and moved everything Sage to it. I had gone 3 days without a lockup and thought maybe I had solved it. Then I read this post about the blocking the IR ports on the HD-PVR's and thought "What can it hurt?" and covered each of them with some black electrical tape. Within seconds I got a "No signal" error in Sage and HD-PVR #2 was no longer responding.

Coincidence?

S

By "IR ports" I assume the mean the IR sensor?

If so, it sounds like a coincidence to me. I can't imagine how covering the IR sensor would have any negative effect (assuming you're not actually using it).

[Rico66]

Originally Posted by sleonard

I just built a new server and moved everything Sage to it. I had gone 3 days without a lockup and thought maybe I had solved it. Then I read this post about the blocking the IR ports on the HD-PVR's and thought "What can it hurt?" and covered each of them with some black electrical tape. Within seconds I got a "No signal" error in Sage and HD-PVR #2 was no longer responding.

Coincidence?

S

I saw a "No Signal" yesterday once as well on one channel, and I was assuming that that was related to my setop box. The hdpvr did not lock-up as a result, I was able to switch to another channel, and then back to the problematic channel, which worked fine again.

Question to the Sage experts here, when exactly does Sage display a "No Signal" on the screen, since this is different to the capture device errors that are reported, if the device has locked up? Or does this actually stem from the hdpvr?

[71_Cuda]

Originally Posted by Rico66

I saw a "No Signal" yesterday once as well on one channel, and I was assuming that that was related to my setop box. The hdpvr did not lock-up as a result, I was able to switch to another channel, and then back to the problematic channel, which worked fine again.

Question to the Sage experts here, when exactly does Sage display a "No Signal" on the screen, since this is different to the capture device errors that are reported, if the device has locked up? Or does this actually stem from the hdpvr?

Good question. When I was getting frequent lock-ups, it was usually just a "no signal" situation. Changing channels and back, however, would not work for me. Power cycling the HD-PVR would. I would occasionally get the capture device errors as well as the occasional plain black screen. So my symptom was not always the same, but the fix (power cycling HD-PVR) was.

[sleonard]

Originally Posted by 71_Cuda

By "IR ports" I assume the mean the IR sensor?

If so, it sounds like a coincidence to me. I can't imagine how covering the IR sensor would have any negative effect (assuming you're not actually using it).

Yes, I meant to type IR sensor.

For me the Sage.playback.exception would pop up on every active client/extender at some point into a recording if the HD-PVR had stopped responding even if all those clients/extenders were not playing any video at all.

The "No Signal" error would only show up on the client/extender if that client/extender was attempting to play the failed video. Instead of video there would be a black screen with the "No Signal" message in the middle.

I also have a 2250 connected to an antenna for ATSC. About the same time as the HD-PVR error I also got a "No Signal" from the 2nd ATSC tuner on the 2250. For that I simply stopped the recording. Started one on a different channel. Stopped that recording and finally went back to the original channel with no problem.

The HD-PVR errors always require power cycling the HD-PVR. simple channel change never work.

S

[Chriscic]

Originally Posted by Rico66

Question to the Sage experts here, when exactly does Sage display a "No Signal" on the screen, since this is different to the capture device errors that are reported, if the device has locked up? Or does this actually stem from the hdpvr?

On my HD200 (the only client I'm using at the moment) I get an error saying the capture device is not working - check the drivers, or something close to that. It definitely says there's a problem with the capture device, not just no signal.