Workaround for the HDTV as secondary monitor bug

[timg11]

I started this thread in the Beta section asking for a fix for the dual-monitor bug in SageTV.

It's still not fixed as of 6.5.14 Beta, so while we are waiting, I have developed a workaround.

I already have a daily scheduled task to reboot the computer and restart SageTV (for stability reasons). I have extended the re-start process to include some scripted commands to fix the bug.

First, add to the Start Menu's Startup folder something like this:

StartSageTV.cmd

:checkp
CheckProcesses sage /q
if errorlevel==1 goto FixBug
start "" "C:\Program Files\SageTV\SageTV\SageTV.exe" -startup
sleep 5
goto checkp
:FixBug
sleep 30
call Sage2ScreenBug.cmd

This checks to see if SageTV is running, and if not, starts it. I also put this on my desktop, since SageTV crashes a lot and I need a quick way to restart after a crash. The sleep 30 is a ugly hard-coded solution to the problem of determining when SageTV is ready to receive commands. The Task becomes visible to CheckProcesses long before SageTV is able to respond to commands, so this delay has to be somewhat hand-tuned. If anyone knows of a better way to determine SageTV "readiness", please let me know.

Next is the actual script using SendMessage (which should be installed with SageTV)

Sage2Screenbug.cmd

"C:\Program Files\SageTV\SageTV\SendMessage.exe" -C SageApp -N SageWin -m 1258 0 43 98
rem                                                           (Power On)(Full Screen Off) 
sleep 1
rem
Ultramon_SageTo2ndScreen.vbs
rem Send SageTV to other screen
sleep 1
"C:\Program Files\SageTV\SageTV\SendMessage.exe" -C SageApp -N SageWin -m 1258 0 97
rem                                                            (Full Screen On)
sleep 1
"C:\Program Files\SageTV\SageTV\SendMessage.exe" -C SageApp -N SageWin -m 1258 0 44
rem                                                            (Power Off)

This script does automatically what I have been doing manually every time I restart SageTV. It does rely the VBS scripting feature from Ultramon (a commercial product) to implement the "move window to other screen" function. There may be other ways to do this.

Finally, the Ultramon script:
Ultramon_SageTo2ndScreen.vbs

        Const FINDWND_TITLE = 1
	Set wnd = CreateObject("UltraMon.Window")
	If wnd.Find("SageTV", "", 1, 0, 5000) = True Then
		wnd.Monitor = 2
		wnd.ApplyChanges 0
	End If

[Taddeusz]

Did you ever submit an official bug report to SageTV about the problem you're experiencing? If you want the developers to see your problem you need to submit a bug report. These forums are usually strictly user-to-user. If you want some kind of action taken submit a bug report.

[timg11]

Yes, this bug was submitted to betatest@sagetv.com on Jan 1, 2009. They acknowledged it, but they thought it would be hard to fix for all display configurations.

[nyplayer]

timg11,

Where can I get the "CheckProcesses" program?

[timg11]

Good point! That is a utility I wrote myself. It is available here.

For those who don't know about SLEEP.EXE, it is a Microsoft program distributed with Windows Resource kits. The utilities are a free download: available here, and at many other places.