Cache or change dir on recorded files?

[jtbryant]

Ok, I really like Sage Tv, but I'm not sold on it yet. I've played with it in a couple of different scenarios, but no matter how I set up my network, there's things I want to tweak. For instance, I don't want to watch Live TV totally live - I could handle lagging by 5 minutes if it means no "hiccups" in the playback, can you configure a cache or increase the size?

Can you change the setup where it records to the computer you are actually on? I'd like to install on all computers in the house, but I'd rather the kids only get the option to record their shows to their computer - thus keeping the server free of thousands of episodes of America's Funniest Home Videos - is this possible?

Thanks,
jtbryant

[GKusnick]

SageTV doesn't use a special Live TV buffer. It always records each program to a separate file. So when watching live TV (delayed or not), there will be a slight hiccup between programs as it redirects the output to a new file. Currently there's no way around this (although that may change in a future release).

All recording is controlled by the server, not by the client where you happen to be watching. Recordings can be stored on any network share accessible to the server, but there's no built-in way of directing specific programs to specific folders. However there's a third-party plugin called Sage Job Queue that you can use to sort finished recordings into folders based on rules you set up. Search the Downloads area for details.

Of course you can always set up a completely separate server for the kids with its own tuners and file storage.

[jtbryant]

My hiccups tend to be wireless issues between different segments of my network. Server is in a separate building, and there's no good way to run Cat6 to it. I would love to see a way to cache what you are watching. Why couldn't SageTV grab five minutes of the show you are watching so that it always plays smoothly, even if you have a "hiccup" in your connection?

The other server is an idea, but I'm not sure I understand why you can't record the local pc - you're watching it there, it downloading as you watch it, why can't it write that file to the HDD of the local PC?

Thanks,
jtbryant

[jtbryant]

Let me add something to this just to make it clear.

I'm watching on the remote PC, I want it to cache HERE, not on the server. I would like to be able to increase the size of the cache HERE so that if communication between the server and remote pc has any kind of interruption, I don't notice it, the video continues to play perfectly.

Thanks,
jtbryant

[OneOfMany]

From reading of your post, it seems that you already agree that your network connectivity is the issue. Since your client is experiencing hiccups in the streaming of the media from the server to the client, I think your idea of writing the media file directly to your client PC would would further aggravate the problem. Any hiccups in the stream would cause corruption in the actual video file.

If you are unable to run a hardwired cable to your server, you really should be looking at a product to increase your signal strength on your wireless, or relocating your server to increase the bandwidth to your clients.

Grant