Troubleshooting SageTV client playback stutter

[panteragstk]

Originally Posted by Audacity

I'm using a Netgear WNDR3700 for my router, but that device doesn't sit between the client and server machines. I have a gigabit switch at a "home point" in my basement where all the Ethernet jacks in my house connect to, and the one of those ports are connected to the router. In other words, if I was streaming video from my SageTV server to a SageTV client and reboot the router, that stream wouldn't be interrupted.

Your router better not be the problem. I'm about to get one of those. Maybe the switch is to blame? Try connecting directly to the router and bypass the switch and let us know.

[Audacity]

The switch is fine, otherwise I would see all sorts of other artifacts when using my network for plenty of other tasks.

When copying files between computers I get ~80 megabytes/sec most of the time.

[panteragstk]

Originally Posted by Audacity

The switch is fine, otherwise I would see all sorts of other artifacts when using my network for plenty of other tasks.

When copying files between computers I get ~80 megabytes/sec most of the time.

There is something odd going on. If your throughput is that high then videos shouldn't stutter unless there is something with the client. Since multiple clients have the issue with video and there config is not the same then it would have to be network related. To make sure try opening the video in an alternate player like MPC-HC and if that player has the issue then sage is not to blame. That is the easiest way to test.

[Audacity]

On that same HTPC I have plenty of video files that I occasionally watch on other computers using VLC or Windows Media Player without any trouble.

I haven't actually done that with MPEG2 files recorded by SageTV, but I suspect that if I did it would work. I'll test that tonight though.

I submitted a ticket to SageTV support. The next three things I'll try are:

1. Switch the SageTV server to another machine (not too difficult since I'm tuning with a HDHR, it would just be software configuration).
2. Reinstalling the OS
3. Buy a HD300 as a test client

I'm not sure if I'll try #1 or #2 first. I hate the "reinstall the OS" type "fix" because it never helps you get down to the root cause of your problem.

[Audacity]

So, I decided to reinstall Windows + SageTV + HDHR drivers for the cleanest possible SageTV/HTPC configuration last night.

I haven't proceeded with subsequent testing on the SageTV clients because it was really late by the time I was done, so I went to bed. I'll be doing that testing tonight.

I've noticed something and I'd like to get clarification on how it works. SageTV doesn't seem to actually read a list of files in the recorded TV directories. After reinstalling SageTV it doesn't show anything in those directories. I initially figured it was waiting to do a scan the same way as it does for the video directories, but apparently not. Obviously Sage must have a database that it populates when files are added or deleted through the SageTV software. Is there a way to get it to repopulate that database based on what is on the file system? Also, if a file in the file system gets deleted in those Recorded TV directories, how do I tell SageTV to rescan that directory and delete the corresponding records in it's database?

[gplasky]

The wiz.bin is the file you want to backup and use on your reinstalls. See the FAQ. By default SageTV will scan every 2 hours and as of SageTV 7 some of the metadata actually gets put into the recording file. Once the recordings are deleted and upon refresh, Sage will update the records in the database.

Gerry

[SteveD]

Have you checked the signal strength of the HDHR. I was having video playback issues with hauppauge cards, after days of troubleshooting and replacing hardware, found that signal strength on the tuners was to low and had to amplify. Probably not your issue, but something to check before spending more money.

I built all my clients to blueray playback specifications. This ensured pretty much no hd playback issues. Can stream Blue Ray rips from unraid server to Total medial theatre on clients without any problems. HD playback from OTA and HDPVR is problem free for the most part(OTA requires a change of codecs on certain shows on my oldest client.)

I would take a real close look at those integrated video cards. I run a minimum of a nvidia 8400GS, I prefer the 9400GT or 9500GT. Just my opinion.

I use the Arcsoft decoders for the most part.

[Audacity]

I don't want to jinx it, but I think I've solved the problem.

The last thing I changed was updating the network driver. Both systems (the Dell, and the 785G-based AMD system) used the same Realtek NIC (on the motherboard). I got the latest driver and installed it, and after that change everything has been stutter-free! I'm surprised that those two very different computers did have something in common, and that something appears to have been the root cause of my issues.

I've put the systems to sleep (S3) and woke them up a few times to make sure the problem doesn't come back later on and I haven't been able to cause the problem to happen again.

Thanks for all the input guys, it's good to have other people making suggestions; it helps you think through the problem.