How hard to switch to Mac for server?

[coppit]

Hey everyone,

I've been using Sage since version 4. Originally I had a custom HTPC built, then I switched to a Shuttle X200. I'm tired of futzing with it. For example, I have a problem where overlay will go blank and I have to restart SageTV to fix it. (Googling suggests it's a problem with the Intel integrated graphics.)

I currently have 2 VBox Cat's Eye 3560 USB tuners recording OTA HD. I was thinking about moving them to a Mac Mini. In the Mac Mini I would upgrade the hard drive to something bigger and use transcoding to save space. (We don't watch a whole lot of TV. Plus I can get an external drive if I have to...) The mini DVI would go to the HDMI input on my projector, and the S/PDIF audio out would go to my receiver. (Not sure how to adapt that to my RCA input...) I use a Harmony remote that is picked up by the built-in IR on the computer.

Does anyone see a problem with my plan? How can I see if my HD tuners are compatible? Should I just install SageTV Server on my Mac laptop, and plug in one of the tuners? How much do you have to fiddle with things to get it to work well? (I'm hoping everything "just works" on the Mac side, unlike the Windows side.) Will Sage for the Mac convert MPEG2 to h264? XVID? Will the Mini's IR receiver work with my Harmony? Any other gotchas?

Oh yeah, how is integration with iTunes/FrontRow? One feature I hope to get is podcasts on my HTPC, since SageTV doesn't support them (yet).

[sandor]

http://forums.sagetv.com/forums/showthread.php?t=33790


this was my story six months ago....

[sandor]

oh, and for the digital out, you would need this:

http://www.optimization-world.com/de...rodid/226.html


as well as this:

http://www.amazon.com/Toslink-Female.../dp/B000FMM8TO

in addition to a normal TOSLINK optical cable (the TOSLINK cable i use actually came with a TOSLINK to mini plug adapter)

[sandor]

Originally Posted by coppit

Hey everyone,

I use a Harmony remote that is picked up by the built-in IR on the computer.

okay, and to keep going...

I use a harmony 659, and the built in IR port on my mac, remote buddy (software solution) to instigate keystrokes to control SageTV. It works well, but it was a pain to setup (took about an hour)

http://funwithcomputers.wordpress.co...lt-in-ir-port/

Does anyone see a problem with my plan? How can I see if my HD tuners are compatible? Should I just install SageTV Server on my Mac laptop, and plug in one of the tuners? How much do you have to fiddle with things to get it to work well? (I'm hoping everything "just works" on the Mac side, unlike the Windows side.) Will Sage for the Mac convert MPEG2 to h264? XVID? Will the Mini's IR receiver work with my Harmony? Any other gotchas?

Oh yeah, how is integration with iTunes/FrontRow? One feature I hope to get is podcasts on my HTPC, since SageTV doesn't support them (yet).

I'm not sure about your tuners, i use HDHRs with no problem. I didn't *have* to fiddle at all, but i do anyway, and typically screw things up. One thing i did do is install the auto compress plugin, so i could auto compress
favorites (it becomes a setting in the favorites settings)

http://forums.sagetv.com/forums/show...=auto+compress

It comes default to work with the newest versions of Java, so you need to get two slightly older bits to work with the version of Java in OS X.

I compress to the "AppleTV" preset. works well in everything.


In terms of FrontRow, i have the Harmony programmed to launch FrontRow, and then be able to quit out of FrontRow back into SageTV (the service continues to run even if the SageTV gui is quit). Everything works well.


What are the specs on your mini? is it one of the new ones with the (much) better video specs?

[coppit]

Okay, good to hear that I can get the remote to work, even if it's like rolling back the clock to the days of capturing raw IR signals.

I checked, and it looks like my tuners aren't supported. I may try them out just for kicks anyway before committing to ditching my whole setup. Ug. It's times like this that the wife's suggestion to just pay for DirectTV sounds disturbingly attractive. (Yeah, I know I'd hate that even more. )

Question: most of my pain is related to codecs, picture quality, etc. My overlay goes out, VMR9 is too much for my crappy integrated graphics, etc. Is everything rock solid picture wise for you?

[Clift]

Hey you may or may not have though of this, but why not continue to use your Shuttle X200 as a sageTV server and instead of shelling out the bucks for a Mac Mini, pick up an HD200. If playback is really the problem, you can't beat an HD200 + SageTV combo. Just food for thought.

[sandor]

Originally Posted by coppit

Question: most of my pain is related to codecs, picture quality, etc. My overlay goes out, VMR9 is too much for my crappy integrated graphics, etc. Is everything rock solid picture wise for you?

Being able to leave Windows was fun for me. CODEC issues were secondary. Picture-wise i have no issues at all. But i have realized the intel 950 graphics in my current machine are as low as i would want to try with HD - i think the graphics in the new mac minis will be excellent.


Apart from that, I am hoping to get a HD200 for a second location sometime in the near future - i think that will be the ultimate in plug-n-play. If it works well, i may just buy a second for my living room, and allow my mac to do nothing but serve (then the intel 950 graphics wont matter at all)

[reggie14]

Originally Posted by sandor

Being able to leave Windows was fun for me. CODEC issues were secondary. Picture-wise i have no issues at all. But i have realized the intel 950 graphics in my current machine are as low as i would want to try with HD - i think the graphics in the new mac minis will be excellent.

I'm a little surprised you don't have playback issues. I just got a MacBook Pro with a 2.5Ghz Core2 Duo for work, and I've been playing with it a little at home when I get a chance. My only option for playback of mpeg2 seems to be VLC, and my processor doesn't seem quite fast enough to play and deinterlace 1080i. Of course, VLC isn't using hardware acceleration, but my understanding is that no mpeg2 decoders on Macs use hardware acceleration. So, I wouldn't think the new graphics card in the mini would help.

[sandor]

Originally Posted by reggie14

I'm a little surprised you don't have playback issues. I just got a MacBook Pro with a 2.5Ghz Core2 Duo for work, and I've been playing with it a little at home when I get a chance. My only option for playback of mpeg2 seems to be VLC, and my processor doesn't seem quite fast enough to play and deinterlace 1080i. Of course, VLC isn't using hardware acceleration, but my understanding is that no mpeg2 decoders on Macs use hardware acceleration. So, I wouldn't think the new graphics card in the mini would help.

I still need to check CPU usage at home, but watching a 1080i mpeg2 clip here at work (year old iMac 2.4 ghz core2) through Quicktime, i am using 38-41%, and that is a 19 mbps stream.

Same clip in VLC is 52-57% w/ deinterlace = bob

I do have the MPEG2 component in QT on both machines, not sure how much of a difference that makes though...

[coppit]

Hey Clift, thanks for smacking me with the clue stick. If I have to upgrade, that's probably the easiest way.

[reggie14]

Originally Posted by sandor

Same clip in VLC is 52-57% w/ deinterlace = bob

Hmmm... What version of VLC are you using? 0.9.8a (and the nightlies) consistently puts me at 90% CPU usage with QAM recorded 1080i material. I also can't get AC3 sound to play back.

[sandor]

0.9.8 here too. passthrough works fine both in VLC and QT, i'm not sure about AC3 decoding on the Mac though (i pass it through to my receiver)

make sure to follow this for passthrough:

http://www.cod3r.com/2008/02/the-cor...ith-quicktime/

[reggie14]

I have extenders for viewing on my TVs. I'm looking for some (free) way of playing recordings copied over to my Mac in case I go on trips with it. Free is sort of important because, while I'm allowed to install software on my work computer, I'm not suppose to buy software for it.

I posted something on the VLC forums about this, and one of the developers confirmed the playback problem. But, based on VLC's bug list, I don't actually think its going to be resolved.

I can play things back in Plex Media Center with audio, but even there I'm seeing 90% CPU usage when I turn on deinterlacing. I wouldn't think AC3 decoding would be that computationally expensive, but maybe it is on a Mac for some reason.

The Mac is my work computer anyway, so I probably shouldn't be playing on it too much. I have a Lenovo X200 on the way as my personal laptop. I'm pretty glad I didn't order myself a Mac though, as I considered getting my own MacBook for a while. I didn't realize the media player options were so limited. There's Quicktime and VLC, and some programs geared toward watching things on a TV.

Edit:
I sort of wonder if my recordings are all a little error-prone. WMP player can't play everything back either. I think I did find a work-around for VLC though: remux the file to an mkv.

[sandor]

Oh, and Reggie, i am all OTA, not sure if that would make any difference vs. QAM (god knows what cable companies do...)

[sandor]

Reggie - 1080i file (Presidential Inauguration)

QT - 109-115% CPU usage, no stutter

VLC - 65% usage with no deinterlacing
89-107% with bob on


this is a macbook core2duo 1.83

[sandor]

New info now - stuttering seems to occur with some HD content when i use SagePlayer (mplayer) rather than QT....

I have had QT set as the default SageTV player since they enabled it a few versions ago, so i had forgotten to *disable* QT to see if mplayer was working...

[mach5]

Originally Posted by sandor

New info now - stuttering seems to occur with some HD content when i use SagePlayer (mplayer) rather than QT....

I have had QT set as the default SageTV player since they enabled it a few versions ago, so i had forgotten to *disable* QT to see if mplayer was working...

How do you set QT as default sagetv player?? Thanks.

[sandor]

Originally Posted by mach5

How do you set QT as default sagetv player?? Thanks.

http://forums.sagetv.com/forums/showthread.php?t=38455

[GregT]

That's not for Live TV, right? The live TV stream won't play through QT?

[sandor]

good question, i can try it today and see what happens. live tv is just a mpeg TS/PS file, so there is no theoretical reason it wouldn't work, but i know QT can have issues with incomplete timelines in mpeg files...