Ceton, SageDCT and Halt Detected issues

[willieb]

Thanks guys. I have my card in my server, so I am not using it as a true network tuner (although I understand that it still looks like a network tuner to my machine and is tuning over localhost). If I am using localhost, I assume these NIC settings don't matter for me, but am I wrong abotu that? DOes it still route to itelf through the NIC? I wouldn't think so, but stranger things have happened.

My issue is interesting in that is it consistent and reproducable. I get halt detected errors only when watching live tv and only when the card is switching from one show in the guide to another. It is the exact same place where "the pause" used to occur in Sage v6 as Sage closed out on file and started another.

In most cases, Sage drops itself out of live tv back into the guide. I have experimented with decreasing the "delay to wait after tuning" property in the properties file. babgvant's generated settings for Ceton had set that at 10000 (10 seconds). I also experimented with setting "fast_network_encoder_switch" to true for the tuners. When I did these, I stopped dropping out to guide, but I got "no signal" on screen and the screen would freeze for almost exactly 1 minute and 15 seconds and would then resume playing (after having missed recording that 1:15). I think the 1 minute of that time was the setting "duration_for_halt_detection" which is set to 60000 (60 seconds).

It was 1:00 in the morning last night when I made it that far. On the agenda for today is

1. change the fast_netwrok_encoder_switch setting independently of the "delay_to_wat_after_tuning" setting.
2. experment with the "duration_for_halt_detection" setting. I think if I shorted this to 3 or 4 seconds, it might help, but some other people have suggested lengthening it.
3. experiment with the "fully_reload_digital_tuners_on_halt_detection" setting. I suspect this will reset the whole card, which I don't want, but can't hurt to experiment.
4. Change NIC settings as sflamm suggests (if you think my NIC even comes into play here).

Since my problem only happens between shows, I get one window to test every 30 minutes so it is frustrating!

Finally, I have seen reports from people saying that a channel change on the Ceton is less than 2 seconds. For me it has never been that fast (maybe because of the "delay_to_wait_" setting). I was hoping to get some answers about this:

1. Is yours that fast?
2. If so, did you change the "delay_to_wait_after_tuning" setting in your properties file to get them that low?
3. Did you change the "Auto Reset Wait" in the SageDCT Config app?
4. DId you check the "Auto Reset" Checkbox in the SageDCT config? (Do these settings deal with channel changes or only resetting the card after you make changes to the settings?)
4. Do you get the halt detected errors at the beginning of shows?
5. If you have (almost) eliminated your issues, can you share your proprties setting for your mmc/encoder lines for the Ceton?

I know that it a lot of questions. Feel free to answer a couple only if you want. Thanks guys. I appreciate you taking the time to help me troubleshoot.

[thomaszoo]

I was getting a lot of "Halt Detected" messages, many with missed recordings. I finally found time to do some trouble shooting and found that the problem would occur sometimes when the PC woke from sleep; it never happened if it was awake and had previously recorded without problems.

Long story short, I changed my power settings in control panel under Advanced Settings >> Mulitmedia Settings >> When Sharing Media >> Allow the Computer to Enter Away Mode. I haven't had a single "Halt Detected" message in more than two days now. I haven't tested to see just how much power the PC uses in this mode, but I am pretty happy with the stability of the setup now.

Wayne

[thomaszoo]

I started getting more "Halt Detected" messages again so I just left the PC on unless I knew I would be there to get things going again. Then I contacted Ceton support when I had time. I sent them a few diagnostic logs and they recommended two things:

1. Reseat the cablecard and hope it starts functioning properly.

2. Get a new CableCARD <-- most likely going to be required.

I had already reseated the cablecard many times without success. So yesterday I replaced the cablecard. So far I've only had one "Halt Detected" warning message, but the recording was fine. I have rebooted and slept the PC quite a few times and it always has come back fine (so far).

The only thing I see that I don't understand is under the tabs for each tuner on the InfiniTV webpage, the WMDRM Pairing is sometimes Red and sometimes green. It usually changes to green after awhile. Even when it is red I have no trouble watching anything. I assume it only affects the premium channels (copy once) that I record on my HD PVR.

I changed the powersave option back to normal "sleep" I never did measure the difference.

Wayne