SageMC Hangs frequently

[Ted@TNT]

Not sure if this is SageMC specific, but I figured I begin by posting here.

Very frequently, between 2x and 5x per day[EDIT - between 4x and 10x per day!], while FF or Stopping an HD recording, Sage TV becomes unresponsive and I'm left with the spinning icon on top of the frozen image.

Waiting, even 20 minutes, changes nothing. Windows XP Pro is still responsive. Going to the Task Manager to kill the SageTV.exe process is futile - it cannot be stopped! I have to reboot the system, and then all is well - for a little while

I have two HD-PVR capture tuners, as well as two Silicon Dust HDHR's (four more tuners). Everything worked great together in combination with Netflix and MovieTimes [EDIT - and MovieTimes] imports. Was working well for three months, and then about ten weeks ago this started (yes, I've put up with this for far too long!).

The only changes that were made that I could find were some Windows updates. I restored to an earlier time, turned off automatic update, and things seemed to work fine for nearly two days, but the problem returned.

Is anyone familiar with a Windows Update causing problems?

What steps would you recommend for troubleshooting?

Thanks,

Ted

[robogeek]

I would update to the latest Java version if you haven't already done so. If you haven't increased the SageTV Java Heap Size registry setting, it might be worth a shot to try that too. Make sure you're running the latest SageMC with the latest phoenix.jar if you use the fanart stuff. If SageTV still hangs, try switching to the Default STV and see if it still hangs. If it still hangs with the Default STV, enable debug logging and then submit an official bug report to SageTV Support and they should be able to tell where it's getting hung up by looking at the log files. If it hangs with SageMC UI but not with the Default STV, then post the logs here and hopefully someone can see what's going on and offer a solution.

[Ted@TNT]

SageTV Properties listed that I was using 256, although the registry had no value assigned. I changed the value to 512 and am testing...

[Ted@TNT]

I'm running SageMC STV Version 6.3.9a
System info says that my sagemc.jar Version is 6.3.8 and the phoenix.jar Version is 1.36

It seems like maybe the versions aren't matching?

I'm thinking I should reinstall SageMC and reload my STVi's. Does this sound valid?

[robogeek]

The versions seem alright to me, but I stopped using SageMC UI and went back to the Default STV once my NetFlix stuff finally broke, so I'm not 100% certain. But double check the the SageMC pre-release sticky post at the top of the SageMC Custom Interface forum to be sure you are running the latest pre-release of SageMC...I think it comes bundled with the required phoenix.jar version needed.

If you are running any extenders, you may need to take the Java Heap Size even higher on the server. I've got 3GB RAM in the server and I have mine set to 1024 (decimal), and I still get the occasional temporary hang on my MVP extenders...usually a couple of seconds or a few seconds, but never requiring a reboot of the extender or server. If you're running a PC client that is not the SageTV server, you should also change the Java Heap Size registry setting on that machine as well.

If you can't find anything else wrong, I'd suggest enabling debug logging in Detaild Setup->Advanced. If it's a PC client, enable debug logging for both server and client. If it's a Placeshifter/Extender, enable debug logging for the server. Once enabled, I think you'll have to restart SageTV on the server and restart SageTV Client if using PC client.

[craig33761]

Hello, I had a nearly identical problem:
After fast forwarding through a program, I would get a continuously spinning busy signal which occurred only while in SageMC. I believe Sage would log it as "EventThread-SAGETV_PROCESS_LOCAL_UI Hang Detected"

I tried updating Java, increasing heap size, reinstalling MC, etc.

Finally in a last ditch effort to keep using SageMC (and the Netflix plugin), I backed-up the SageTV folder, uninstalled SageTV, deleted the SageTV program folder, and started reinstalling everything (checking stability along the way).

When it came to installing Comskip, I realized I had followed a guide written for the default STV and had installed the "ComSkip Playback Import", which wasn't needed in SageMC.

Although I haven't reinstalled "ComSkip Playback Import" to verify this, it seems that installing this plugin was the reason for SageMC hanging. There may have been other unnecessary files left over from previous tinkerings, but as far as I can tell that was the only one connected to TV playback.

Since doing a clean install my system has been rock solid ever since. I know the "ComSkip Playback Import" isn't one of the plugins you mentioned having, but your issue sounds so similar maybe the fix would be the same (drastic as it is).

-Craig

[Ted@TNT]

Thanks so much, Jason and Craig.

This morning was the first morning that SageTV was still running - every day for the last couple months I've turned it on to find a windows desktop that required me to "attempt" to kill the sageTV process and then reboot the computer. Not Today!

This is too early to tell, but so far I've gone back to the default STV, changed the heap size, and then because I'm impatient, gone back to the SageMC STV. I've not added any of the imports back in, but so far, so good.

I've not been using Comskip, but had been TRYING to use ShowAnalyzer. Of course, with all my recordings being HD now, nothing has worked for some time. I'll look into resolving that AFTER I'm convinced that everything else is in order.

So, in the coming days, one at a time, I'll try adding back my imports (MovieTimes and Netflix).

I'll repost here to provide results. So far, though, so good on increasing the heap size in the registry to 512.

Ted

[src666]

You may want to do a _thorough_ scan of your recording drives. What you describe could be a symptom of a drive heading south. CHKDSK with surface analysis would be a free way to start.

I use SpinRite to test my drives, but it's a more expensive tool than many want to pay for ($89). Worth it's weight in gold the first time it recovers your data from a "dead" drive, though.

[Ted@TNT]

Just here to report back.

I've upped the heap size to 750 (although I have had no problems at 512). I figured some headroom couldn't hurt. All has been better than ever - ever since rebuilding this box about a 9 months ago.

I've added MovieTimes and Commercial Skip (via showanalyzer and dirmon) - both seem to be doing very well.

I'll add Netflix back in after the weekend.

Thanks again for your help!

[Ted@TNT]

Originally Posted by src666

You may want to do a _thorough_ scan of your recording drives. What you describe could be a symptom of a drive heading south. CHKDSK with surface analysis would be a free way to start.

I use SpinRite to test my drives, but it's a more expensive tool than many want to pay for ($89). Worth it's weight in gold the first time it recovers your data from a "dead" drive, though.

If I have any more problems, I'll check the drives - thanks for the suggestion. I use SpinRite also - it's great, I agree, but it is Soooooooo Slow! I guess that's the price for it's awesome effectiveness.

[Ted@TNT]

This has taken a month and a half to get this far. Every time I thought I figured out what was wrong, I was wrong! For a couple days it would be fine. Then it would hang a five times a day! Not wanting to start from scratch, I kept at it.

Finally, I became very ill, thankfully, and had the wonderful opportunity to watch TV most of the day, every day for a week. I finally discovered what was happenng.

My HD-PVR (one of them) was causing the hang in Sage and preventing me from killing the service. I was having to restart the PC every time. Once I realized it, I found that I could simply press the power button on the front of the HD-PVR and turn it off. Sage would instantly recover. Then I could turn the HD-PVR back on and Sage TV continued working normally.

Actually, although I'm not sure what cased the HD-PVR problem, I've not had it hang for nearly a week. I think that it may either be a hardware issue with the PVR or a USB bus problem.