Are two inputs doable ?

[wally007]

Hi ,
I've been trying all weekend to get my SageTV work with my setup. It either is that SageTV is buggy or i'm missing here something.

I'm trying to connect to retail 250PVR via Svideo and coaxial.

S-video is 301 Dish STB and coaxial is comming from the wall.

it's cable that apt. complex supplies to all apartments , it has all local channels and HBO.

I can set up coaxial with local channels with no problem but once i add second feed (Svideo/ Dish ) all local channels become not accessible and i see my Dish channel there. WTF ?

Then if i remove both sources and add again coaxial connection , local channels are accesible again. It's weird that i can access channels while i'm in channel setup menu and i can see them in TV Live guide menu , but once i click to watch it , i see satellite channel.

Can anybody help ?

Thanks

[carlgar]

It is possible but you must specify different EPG sources for each input. Since I am most familar with Comcast, I will use it as an example. When you setup your coaxial you would use something like Comcast basic for the input. For S-video you wouls use something like Comcast Digital. If you use the same EPG source for both then only the last one is set up properly.

[wally007]

Thanks for info , but in reality it doesnt work like that at all. I set up coaxial as a local over the air antena ( or cable , it doesnt really matter in this case ) Then i set up S video as a Dish network - USA. What happens next inside SageTV , i have no idea , but those local channels , even though they're still listed in TV guide with proper info , it starts playing the feed that's comming from sVideo , not TV tuner (coaxial). I dont know why , but it seems to be pretty big bug in Sage. Once i remove Dish-USA (Svideo) source, it'll go back to displaying coaxial channels.

[carlgar]

I have two of cards setup to use two inputs each, so it can be done. However, I have seen what you describe occur to me. I was recording from my VCR using the composite input and for no apparent reason it started recording from the tuner.

I would got back to square one and remove all inputs and then re-add them.

[stanger89]

It sounds like you have the same channels/networks enabled in both lineups. What you need to do after adding (or durring) your sources is make sure you have each channel only enabled on the source you want it recorded on.

Example:

You get CBS on both Cable and Sat, if you only want it recorded on Cable, disable CBS on the Sat lineup.

[kny3twalker]

actually you can have the same channels in both lineups
I have only one DSS box for Sage currrently but two pvr connected to cable

I have no one which feed it would use though

but set up the Dish network one first and remove all the channels that you plan to get from cable
then add the cable one thats how I always had to do it

When I got my second card though I did not have a box for it so I added a few more channels from the cable and still had the duplicates in the DirecTV service

but this gave the second card more choices to record from and hopefully the first card records from DirecTV still

[wally007]

Thanks for input , but i have only one card available at the moment.,

" but set up the Dish network one first and remove all the channels that you plan to get from cable
then add the cable one thats how I always had to do it "

When i do excactly as you wrote , it works when i change channels on coaxial and/or satellite , but once i got from channel that's on coaxial to one that's on satellite , SAge TV freezes and i have to shut it down. It seems as if Sage isnt as stable as i thought.

I'd try some other program , but Beyond tv 3 , seems to lack in features and I dont have any experience in linux to run Myth. Oh well .....

[stanger89]

Originally posted by wally007
When i do excactly as you wrote , it works when i change channels on coaxial and/or satellite , but once i got from channel that's on coaxial to one that's on satellite , SAge TV freezes and i have to shut it down. It seems as if Sage isnt as stable as i thought.

Well that's definitely not normal behavior, I don't recall ever hearing of a similar problem, so on to the standard questions.

Are your PVR 250 drivers up to date? (I'd check this first since it seems like the card may not like changing inputs)

What decoders are you using?

What renderers?

[wally007]

yes , latest drivers are fully installed.

" What decoders are you using?

What renderers? "

Everything is at default settings. Decoders = the ones that came with hauppauge retail 250 card. I dont know what you mean by renderers , but if its something like elecard/ffdshow , then no , i'm not using anything YET. I was hoping 1st to get it going and then tweak it.

hehe if "to get it going" is taking me this long , i dont wanna imagine how long its going to take me to tweak it with ffdshow and sonic codecs. ouch

thanks for help

Edit , my system info , if it might help

Athlon XP 1600+
1GB DDR Ram
120 WD
250WD ( formated using 64k clusters )
Radeon 8500
PVR250 Retail , newest drivers
SB Live 5.1


Note , this computer is stable as they get. Been running Prime95 for past 2 months , with Web server , FTP server , Firewall , Antivirus running 24/7. Havent had single crash since i built it, ( well , untill i installed SageTv , that is )

[kny3twalker]

When i do excactly as you wrote , it works when i change channels on coaxial and/or satellite , but once i got from channel that's on coaxial to one that's on satellite , SAge TV freezes and i have to shut it down. It seems as if Sage isnt as stable as i thought.

are you sure it is freezing
I did have to use the DSS/TV button on my remote for my DirecTV box to get the switching from one source to the other to work
otherwise I got black screen when switching from DireCTV to cable but after the inital hit DSS/TV it works without a hitch

on the BeyondTV setup I got it to the same place but for some reason
I was forced to hit DSS/TV on the remote everytime (or get black screen on the cable input)
which was completely unusabe
that was 3.5 beta

[wally007]

Well yes , i know it was freezing because 1st it didnt just go blank / black screen , tv picture just froze. ( not to mention it took at least 20 seconds to shut it down using task manager / end process )

I've progressed since then though , i removed Sage . deleted all codecs , deleted fry directory and reinstalled everything from scratch , including 250PVR drivers.

after that i could change channels at will but every 10th - 15th change, SateTV froze again. ( it didnt matter what channel )

Since then i've even changed my SB live 5.1 drivers and selected DirectSound under audio , and so far it didnt freeze YET. I'm sure i've changed channels at least 100 times now , will see if it can hold up.

I have another question though ? I'm not yet using remote ( my GF stepped on hauppauge remote and i'm going to order FireFly tonight ) that works with SageTv. I'm going to buy FireFly ( or what ever its name is , by makers of Beyond TV ).

But right now , i was wondering why is it taking SOOO long when i change channel on my Dish Set up box (no remote , manually reach box and press up or down btn ) ???? Long , i mean like good 3-4 SECONDS. I can change my local channels in SageTv just fine with minimal lag but when changing on my Dish STB it really takes forever. I just dont think this is normal since it makes scrolling up and down pretty much impossible.

[stanger89]

Originally posted by wally007
Everything is at default settings. Decoders = the ones that came with hauppauge retail 250 card. I dont know what you mean by renderers , but if its something like elecard/ffdshow , then no , i'm not using anything YET. I was hoping 1st to get it going and then tweak it.

By "default settings" I assume you mean you have Default selected for your video decoder? If so, that's bad, leaving anything set as "Default" is bad since you don't know what "Default" is for sure.

You list the hauppauge decoders, for them you should have "Intervideo NonCSS Video Decoder" and "Intervideo NonCSS Audio Decoder" selected for your decoders.

And for Renderers you should try Overlay or VMR9 for your video renderer and one of the other (not "Default") audio renders. It's less of a big deal on the audio renderer, but in my HTPC I use the "M-Audio Revolution" renderer, which is my soundcard specific one, in your case it would probably be something like "Soundblaster Live"

- I see you've already done some of this but I'll leave it here in case it's of interest to others.

[wally007]

THanks very much.

It improved quality of picture and a sound by a mile .

Thanks again , changing from default to those hauppauge decoders really made picture much better.

Any idea on this ?

" But right now , i was wondering why is it taking SOOO long when i change channel on my Dish Set up box (no remote , manually reach box and press up or down btn ) ???? Long , i mean like good 3-4 SECONDS. I can change my local channels in SageTv just fine with minimal lag but when changing on my Dish STB it really takes forever. I just dont think this is normal since it makes scrolling up and down pretty much impossible. "

[kny3twalker]

yeah you need to use the sage guide for that and get a USB UIRT or actisys 200L to control the Dish box when you are not there (to chnage channels so it will record the right channel)
and for when you watch TV so you do not have to use two remote and change channels on both remotes

use Sage without an IR blaster like these listed above will make it near useless with a cable/Dish box

and the delay on using the guide from the Dish box is because there is a delay while everything i recorded and then outputed on to your screen

the USB UIRT is the more popular one and more supported

[wally007]

" and the delay on using the guide from the Dish box is because there is a delay while everything i recorded and then outputed on to your screen "

So you're saying if i use USBUIRT to change channels it will be faster because it's going to go directly via SageTvs TV guide , and not thru Dish guide ?

And would you recommend FireFly as a remote ? IT looks pretty good and it's relatively cheap. And seems to be very easy to use , from reviews.

[stanger89]

Originally posted by wally007
" and the delay on using the guide from the Dish box is because there is a delay while everything i recorded and then outputed on to your screen "

So you're saying if i use USBUIRT to change channels it will be faster because it's going to go directly via SageTvs TV guide , and not thru Dish guide ?

Some delay is unavoidable since it takes some time for the video to pass through the encoder on the 250. However as kny said, if Sage can't change the channel itself, it's nearly useless since it can only record the channel the box is set to.

And would you recommend FireFly as a remote ? IT looks pretty good and it's relatively cheap. And seems to be very easy to use , from reviews.

What I would do is just get a USB-UIRT since it can both send and recieve IR, and then just pick your favorite remote and use it for Sage.

[wally007]

" Some delay is unavoidable since it takes some time for the video to pass through the encoder on the 250. However as kny said, if Sage can't change the channel itself, it's nearly useless since it can only record the channel the box is set to. "

I dont really care for scheduled recordings and such , i'm not that much into TV stuff. I just want to be able to record with push of a button and manual recording.

And if by "somedelay " you mean 3.95 seconds to change a channel then PVR is pretty much SOL for me , since i find it unnaceptable for it to take that long. Weird is when i change local channel it takes about half a second to second at the most , but when i press button on my Dish set up box , it takes almost 4 seconds to respond. This makes channel browsing pretty much impossible. Since i'm not using any remote on PC nor Dish , but directly touch button on reciever , this must be some kind of bug.

Just for example , how long does your Sage TV take when you press channel up/or/down button on your set up box ? ( cable or satellite )

[stanger89]

Originally posted by wally007
" Some delay is unavoidable since it takes some time for the video to pass through the encoder on the 250. However as kny said, if Sage can't change the channel itself, it's nearly useless since it can only record the channel the box is set to. "

I dont really care for scheduled recordings and such , i'm not that much into TV stuff. I just want to be able to record with push of a button and manual recording.

And if by "somedelay " you mean 3.95 seconds to change a channel then PVR is pretty much SOL for me , since i find it unnaceptable for it to take that long. Weird is when i change local channel it takes about half a second to second at the most , but when i press button on my Dish set up box , it takes almost 4 seconds to respond. This makes channel browsing pretty much impossible. Since i'm not using any remote on PC nor Dish , but directly touch button on reciever , this must be some kind of bug.

You say it takes about a half second to change channels on the tuner, that sounds about right since when you issue the channel change Sage starts a new recording on the next channel and it takes some time to pass through the encoder.

As you watch a show with Sage, a small delay builds up since it seems Sage plays the video slightly slower than it records it. When you change a channel on the STB (manually not through Sage), Sage doesn't start a new recording, it keeps on with the same one so and offset between live and playback will exhibit the delay. I'm guessing the change delay gets longer the longer you watch the STB.

Just for example , how long does your Sage TV take when you press channel up/or/down button on your set up box ? ( cable or satellite )

I don't have a STB, and I also don't watch Live TV, there's no reason to, I've got a bunch of Favorites set up, and combine that with IR Sage always has something recorded for me to watch.

Serously, if you don't have an IR blaster to let Sage control your STB, you've really crippled Sage, there's just no way around it. Sage wasn't designed to work like that, no PVR I'm aware of is.

[kny3twalker]

I dont really care for scheduled recordings and such , i'm not that much into TV stuff. I just want to be able to record with push of a button and manual recording.

Well forget about doing that unless you change the channel in Sage and on the cable box/Dish Box
everytime

my channel changes are about the same for cable and Satellite

less than a second usually

also forget about the firefly until you get a USB UIRT
get that first then if you need another remote buy the firefly