SageTV won't start.

[rbivins]

Hello,

My evaluation version of the software stopped opening. I got an error about it being disconnected from the SageTV service, or something similar. I figured the evaluation period had expired, so I went ahead and purchased the software from the website. I uninstalled the evaluation version and downloaded and installed 6-6-2 from my e-mail and input the license key from my e-mail. I got a message that the key was accepted and stored, but that I had 0 valid licenses. The SageTV program still fails to start. How do I fix this?

Thanks in advance,
--Robert D. Bivins III

[tchapin]

Have you tried rebooting?

Can you provide any further details?

Have you tried contacting SageTV tech support?

[rbivins]

Hmmm...

I have a Shuttle K48 computer with an Intel Dual Core 2 processor at 2 x 2.93 GHz. It has 2 GB of DDR Ram. I have a 1.5 Terabyte SATA drive. I have the 6.6.2 version of the software and a no-name USB tuner that I bought from China.

Everything was working fine until the last day of the trial period. Which is why I just assumed it was an expired license key thing. Purchasing should have fixed that, I would think. I would hate to think that I would have to reinstall the whole OS just because of one software package.

I did put in an official request with tech support, but they have not replied just yet.

Like I said, I uninstalled the trial version and downloaded and installed the version from my e-mail. Then I put my info into the registration thing when it asked. It said, "The license key is valid and has been stored. You have 0 valid license keys...", which, of course, is a contradictory statement to say the lease.

I was just wondering if anyone else had similar difficulties with the software.

Any suggestions?

--Robert

[GKusnick]

Originally Posted by rbivins

Like I said, I uninstalled the trial version and downloaded and installed the version from my e-mail. Then I put my info into the registration thing when it asked. It said, "The license key is valid and has been stored. You have 0 valid license keys...", which, of course, is a contradictory statement to say the lease.

I think it was probably saying that you have no valid client licenses, which are separate from the server license you just entered.

Also you didn't actually need to uninstall anything. The trial software is the same as the product software. All you really needed to do was register the license.

Did you by any chance have SageTV configured to run as a service during the trial period? If so, have you restarted the service (or rebooted your computer) since registering? It's possible you still have an expired service running in the background.

Also check to make sure that Java is installed and up-to-date, and didn't get removed or broken during your uninstall.

Beyond that, your best bet is to check the FAQ, enable debug logging, and try again, making note of the exact symptoms and error messages you get.

[rbivins]

Originally Posted by GKusnick

Also check to make sure that Java is installed and up-to-date, and didn't get removed or broken during your uninstall.

You hit the nail right on the head with that one. Java had become corrupt. I uninstalled it and re-installed it and now SageTV works like nothing was ever wrong.

Thanks!

--Robert

[davephan]

Welcome to the SageTV forum. SageTV is very expandable, and can become pretty complex when many accessory programs are used. A lot of time can be spent getting the system setup perfectly. There's more of a learning curve than a simple set top box, but SageTV offers you so much more.

The recent problem you had might be a good reminder to think about your computer system recovery plan. When you and others become more dependent on SageTV working, and stay working, with very little downtime, then you'll want to be able to recover the system quickly. Since computer problems can happen anytime, usually with no warning, you might think about how you can quickly recover.

I use disk imaging of my C drive. If I have a problem, I can easily recover back to a point in time in the past before the problems started. I use both Ghost and Acronis. There are many imaging products you could use, some are even free. I have had computer problems in the past, and I have been able to minimize the downtime by being prepared to recover.

The video files are more difficult to protect. Some people use RAID, others use file copying or WHS. The majority don't have any protection and just loose the files when a hard drive fails.


Dave