HDHomeRun (HDHR) Prime + SageDCT

[gplasky]

So to add to the story:
I ran it all last night and everything stayed around 60-70% memory used. Really not much above 84%. I have 2 x HD200s and when these attached everything still stayed fine. Not until the single HD300 attached. I shut down the 2 x HD200 and fired up the HD300. Almost immediately memory use climbed and stopped around 97-98% with the HD300 doing nothing.

This morning I moved the SageDCT to another server on the network (Windows 7 x64) and reconfigured Sage for the new tuners. Now the server running SageDCT runs around 40% with SageDCT using between 12MB. On the WHS 2011 SageTV runs with 73% memory used with SageTVservice using around 285 MB. All seems to run well now. And this is without write async being enabled. SageDCT writes the recordings to UNC paths on the WHS 2011 server. I'll keep an eye on this but just wanted to update where I was at.

Gerry

[tmiranda]

My trusty HDHomeRun rev1 is starting to get flaky (I already replaced the power supply so I'm guessing the tuners themselves are dying) so I just pulled the trigger on a new HDHR Prime. I'll be joining the fun in this thread soon

[jbuszkie]

Originally Posted by tmiranda

My trusty HDHomeRun rev1 is starting to get flaky (I already replaced the power supply so I'm guessing the tuners themselves are dying) so I just pulled the trigger on a new HDHR Prime. I'll be joining the fun in this thread soon

Tom, If you go through Silicondust for support for the HDHR and they diagnose that it's going bad, even though it's out of warranty, they might offer you a replacement at a discount. They did for me. One of my tuners went bad and I'm getting a new HDHR at a discount. It was just enough of a discount that it was worth it for me. I haven't gotten my replacement yet.. but when I do I'll then have the 3 prime tuners and 2 clear QAM tuners! When that's done I can say good bye to my two firewire recording cable boxes and save ~$9/mo (minus the $6/mo for the CC)

Jim

[evilpenguin]

Just got my HDHR Prime + SageDCT up and running over the weekend and I couldn't be happier. Setup was fairly straight forward (minus a few RTFM moments) and all 3 tuners are recording away. Thanks Andy!

[sflamm]

2011/12/31 18:28:46.19 : ProcessMessage 6970: GET_FILE_SIZE \\Plasmania\Recorded TV\NCIS-S08E20-TwoFaced-485363-3.ts
2011/12/31 18:28:46.19 : SageDCTTuner 6970 Send: ERROR The path is not of a legal form.
2011/12/31 18:28:46.19 : Before Accept: 6970

I believe that is cause by the space in "Recorded TV".
Try renaming the directory to "RecordedTV".

[jbuszkie]

Originally Posted by mistergq

Two things: 1) you need update your script to .ts file. Comskip has supported .ts for years.

2) I recommend you get the donator version. It is much faster and can process these and other files better.

I just created another task. so both run on every file. One will always skip and one will succeed. Seemed to be the easiest path!

and after using comskip all these years, I finally donated! Makes me feel guilty I
didn't do it sooner!

[tmiranda]

Originally Posted by jbuszkie

Tom, If you go through Silicondust for support for the HDHR and they diagnose that it's going bad, even though it's out of warranty, they might offer you a replacement at a discount. They did for me. One of my tuners went bad and I'm getting a new HDHR at a discount. It was just enough of a discount that it was worth it for me. I haven't gotten my replacement yet.. but when I do I'll then have the 3 prime tuners and 2 clear QAM tuners! When that's done I can say good bye to my two firewire recording cable boxes and save ~$9/mo (minus the $6/mo for the CC)

Jim

Thanks for the tip. I was looking for an excuse to buy a HDHR Prime and I'm afraid if they give me a discount on a replacement I'll loose the excuse I now have

I've already ordered the Prime (should arrive in a week) and am having some discussions with one of the engineers at my cable company about getting it setup.

If the Prime doesn't work out, or I decide I need more clear QAM tuners I'll go through SD support.

Tom

[jbuszkie]

Originally Posted by tmiranda

Thanks for the tip. I was looking for an excuse to buy a HDHR Prime and I'm afraid if they give me a discount on a replacement I'll loose the excuse I now have

I've already ordered the Prime (should arrive in a week)

That's kinda what happened to me! One of my tuners went and so I ordered a prime. Then the SD support team got back to me and offered the discount to replace... So I sent the old HDHR back! The new discounted HDHR will probably be on the next CC cycle so it won't hurt too bad...

Come on! You know you want the HDHR too!! I'd also did it because I wasn't sure how stable the prime with SageDCT would be. I needed a way to get back to where I was before!

[babgvant]

Originally Posted by gplasky

So to add to the story:
I ran it all last night and everything stayed around 60-70% memory used. Really not much above 84%. I have 2 x HD200s and when these attached everything still stayed fine. Not until the single HD300 attached. I shut down the 2 x HD200 and fired up the HD300. Almost immediately memory use climbed and stopped around 97-98% with the HD300 doing nothing.

This morning I moved the SageDCT to another server on the network (Windows 7 x64) and reconfigured Sage for the new tuners. Now the server running SageDCT runs around 40% with SageDCT using between 12MB. On the WHS 2011 SageTV runs with 73% memory used with SageTVservice using around 285 MB. All seems to run well now. And this is without write async being enabled. SageDCT writes the recordings to UNC paths on the WHS 2011 server. I'll keep an eye on this but just wanted to update where I was at.

Gerry

Does memory use go up while a recording is happening or is it more of an over time thing?

[gplasky]

Originally Posted by babgvant

Does memory use go up while a recording is happening or is it more of an over time thing?

When I had SageDCT running on the same server as SageTV (WHS 2011) it seemed the memory would climb the minute the HD300 connected whether recordings were going or not. Now that I have SageDCT running on a separate server I'm not seeing the issue. SageDCT uses about 12-15 MB and the server runs at 34-40% memory used. (Also running PLEX media server on this box.) The WHS2011 runs Sage as a service. Sage is using 330 MB of memory but I see total memory used varies from a low of about 69% up to 94-95%. At least this time it was going into the 90's when 5 shows were recording (3 on the Prime) and I accidentally kicked off comskip which ran on 2 recordings. Needless to say, with so much drive activity it was painful trying to watch anything. Once I stopped comskip all was well and I could watch recordings. Memory used on the box remained between 84%-92%.

Memory would go up faster if it was recording. I had SageDCT on the same server with SageTV configured to run SageDCT as a network user and all the paths were configured as UNC. The recording directories were local to the SageTV server (WHS 2011). The memory for SageDCT went as high as 1.4 GB before making SageTV totally unusable. At that point couldn't even get an extender to connect.

Gerry

[phelme]

Ah-ha!!

Finally solved my high SageDCT high CPU issues and got it down to ~8%.

On XP there is a network service called "Internet Gateway Device Discovery and Control Client". It allows for gateway-ing connections through your PC. If it's installed, it will show up as "Internet Gateway" in your Network Connections (always wondered what the hell that was). Simply disabling the gateway doesn't solve the problem, you have to uninstall the feature in Windows Components->Networking Services under Details. So far, I see no downside to having done this.

If anyone else still stuck on XP is seeing this CPU hit, might want to check to see if this feature is enabled too.

[aedgington]

I really need some advice on the race condition issue. I'm starting to get bad recordings left and right and WAF is plummeting.

It's always on back-to-back recordings on the same tuner, and the errors are:

===========

Tue Jan 03 21:02:57 GMT-600 2012 - Recording Missed Due to Capture Device Failure

The device input "SageDCT-HDHomeRun Prime Tuner 1310DF6E-1 on 127.0.0.1:6985 Digital TV Tuner" failed to record "NFL Live" on ESPN2HD on physical channel 634 at Tue 1/3 21:00. The TV source for this input may have become disconnected, powered off, has lost its signal, the channel is no longer available, or the device is failing.

Tue Jan 03 21:02:54 GMT-600 2012 - Halt Detected in Recording

The device input "SageDCT-HDHomeRun Prime Tuner 1310DF6E-1 on 127.0.0.1:6985 Digital TV Tuner" stopped producing data while recording "NFL Live" on ESPN2HD on physical channel 634. SageTV will try to reset the device. This may be caused by a channel that is no longer available.

=========

Will moving from XP to Win7 fix this?

[phelme]

Which version of SageDCT are you running? I've noticed that the latest, 2.2.0, does take longer for the connection to the Prime to sever than before. Maybe this is due to "Explict RTP session cleanup" that is mentioned in the release notes.

I'm getting some failures too, even on non back-to-back recordings.

Originally Posted by aedgington

I really need some advice on the race condition issue. I'm starting to get bad recordings left and right and WAF is plummeting.

It's always on back-to-back recordings on the same tuner, and the errors are:

===========

Tue Jan 03 21:02:57 GMT-600 2012 - Recording Missed Due to Capture Device Failure

The device input "SageDCT-HDHomeRun Prime Tuner 1310DF6E-1 on 127.0.0.1:6985 Digital TV Tuner" failed to record "NFL Live" on ESPN2HD on physical channel 634 at Tue 1/3 21:00. The TV source for this input may have become disconnected, powered off, has lost its signal, the channel is no longer available, or the device is failing.

Tue Jan 03 21:02:54 GMT-600 2012 - Halt Detected in Recording

The device input "SageDCT-HDHomeRun Prime Tuner 1310DF6E-1 on 127.0.0.1:6985 Digital TV Tuner" stopped producing data while recording "NFL Live" on ESPN2HD on physical channel 634. SageTV will try to reset the device. This may be caused by a channel that is no longer available.

=========

Will moving from XP to Win7 fix this?

[NetworkGuy]

I just installed a Prime unit with my original HDHomeRun units and I can not get SageTV to tune to any channel on the Prime unit.

I am using:
- Windows 7 (64 bit)
- the latest versions of SageTV
- SageDCT V2.2.0 (x64)
- HDHomeRun Firmeware HDHR3-CC 20111025

I also want to ensure that I installed correctly. I installed SageDCT, ran the configuration, Scan for tuners, Generate assignments and copy these assignments into the sage.properties file.

I have tried reinstalling a number of time, removed all tuners, etc. Looking for suggestions.

Verbose Log files attached.

Thanks,
John

[flavius]

I can't say anything about your issue specifically, but definitely get the 11/28 HDHomeRun beta from here:

http://www.silicondust.com/forum/vie...3da6538784bea6

HTH.-

Edit: after taking a look at your log - are you using PBA capture? I think, that only works with the Ceton.

[NetworkGuy]

Originally Posted by flavius

Edit: after taking a look at your log - are you using PBA capture? I think, that only works with the Ceton.

It was the PBA Capture. I unchecked that and it worked.

Thanks,
John

[freewheeling]

I have an HDPVR and a Hauppauge 2250, but am currently in a situation where I don't have direct access to the cable system in the household. (This is temporary, fortunately, but could last a couple of months.) However, I can plug directly into the cable in other parts of the house and was wondering if there's any way to put the gadget into wireless. Is there a USB dongle that's compatible with it, or am I limited either to direct ethernet or a bridge?

Oh yeah, what the heck is SageDCT? I hear a lot of references to it, but can't find a post that says exactly what it is. It's obviously not a plugin. (I'm running the latest SageTV 7 Beta on a Windows 7 Pro 64-bit box.)

[tmiranda]

Originally Posted by jlmdxtv

Here's my successful result of installing the HDHomerun Prime on a Windows XP machine. This is from memory, so it might be sketchy.


I started off with a Cable Card (that's a process in itself) and Comcast Digital Preferred service. Cable the Prime box into your network and attach the coaxial cable.


Setup the HDHomerun install:
1 - Turn off the SageTV Service
2 - Install the HDHomerun Prime software and let it download and install the latest firmware
3 - Let the Prime installer find the tuners
4 - There are tuner status screens in the HDHomerun install program - go to them for card ID data for activation. There is also a Cable Card activation number to call in its setup.
5 - Call that activation number and have them authorize (pair) the card based on the serial numbers and such that they will ask for. Make certain you give them the correct numbers.
6 - Wait an hour or so (for them to authorize the card) and for the guide/channel list to be seen in the HDHomerun install program.
7 - You *should* be able to see video on all the local and extended channels that you're provisioned for in the HDHomerun install "QuickTV" viewer. If not, don't bother with Media Center or installing SageDCT yet. I was getting messages like "You're not authorized to view this channel" and "the station is flagged copy-once" type errors. No first-tier support person could make it work even after hours on the phone with them over 3 days. They insisted I used Media Center to view them. The third Level2 person I contacted had a friend in a local office who reset a "DAK" and then everything started working. My locals were working with the Prime regardless of the bad DAK setting.

Setup SageDCT:
1 - If "UPNP Framework" under Windows Firewall "exceptions" isn't checked, as was my case, then check that box or the SageDCT Tuner discovery won't work
2 - Install SageDCT - I'm using 2.1.8 x.86 - you can find it here:
http://babgvant.com/files/folders/sa...s/default.aspx (Get the latest 32 or 64 bit version of SageDCT, Thanks Razrsharpe!)
3 - Unzip and run the SageDCT installer - and use Discovery Tab and press "Scan" and then "Generate Channel Assignments" to a file name like "Assignments.txt"
4 - Go back to the Windows firewall and add "SageDCT.exe" to the list of "Programs and Services" - you'll have to browse for its location -- by default mine was in "\Program Files\babgvant.com\SageDCT".
5 - Back in the SageDCT installer there is a Tuners tabs that will show you the port numbers the 3 tuners are using. Add these three port numbers under "Add port" on the "Exceptions" tab of the Windows Firewall - you can name it anything (but I used something like "SageDCT-6972", SageDCT-6974" and "SageDCT-6975" to match the assigned port numbers) - click the radio buttons that reads: UDP for each port added.
6 - I kept the default checks under the "Settings" tab. Static Tuners checked, but nothing else checked.
7 - Find and open Sage's Properties file (after you backup the old one) and are certain the SageTV service is actually still off. Take the contents of the "Assignments.txt" file from earlier and paste it into the bottom of the SageTV Properties file (mine was: \Program Files\SageTV\SageTV\Sage.Properties) on your SageTV server and save it.


Setup SageTV:
1 - Reboot after the steps above and let the SageTV service start up.
2 - Start the SageTV UI. Under Setup, setup the video source for each of the 3 Prime tuners - they will all have SageDCT in their names.
3 - Pick the channel list and select all the station numbers that were accessible in the Prime's "QuickTV" program. There is no need to scan for channels or preview them.
4 - I rebooted again after saving all of these tuner/channel assignments.

Things have been working fine since!

Observations:
1 - SageDCT uses little-to-no processor cycles even when handling 3 HD streams for me. I use an Intel I3. I've tested with 3 Prime tuners and 2 standard HDHomerun tuners all recording and the overall CPU was about 5%.
2 - The video is fantastic.
3 - The Prime was easier for me to setup than the original HDHomerun (and its method for channel assignments).
4 - I run Comskip (post recording) and haven't seen any problems yet.
5 - Files are stored in .TS format - easily moved to DVDs, VideoRedo, etc.
6 - Hopefully, Google won't be buying out SiliconDust anytime soon.

john

I just picked up my M Card from the cable company today and found this post to be really good. Thanks.

One question at this point: Step 4 in the "HDHomerun install" portion says I can get the various data I need to provide to the cable company from the HDHR install program - where? I looked in the HDHR Setup and the HDHR Config programs, where are they hiding these magic numbers?

I know the card is physically installed and recognized because I can watch the local channels with no problem.

Thanks.

[jbuszkie]

Open up a browser. find the ip address of the prime. From there you should be able to find all the numbers you need

[tmiranda]

Originally Posted by jbuszkie

Open up a browser. find the ip address of the prime. From there you should be able to find all the numbers you need

That gives me the Model, Device ID and Firmware rev. I don't think that's what I need?

Edit: Scratch that. I was looking at the HRHD, not the new prime.