Xcard plugin (alpha 0.0.8 - Jan 16)

[Opus4]

Out of curiosity, what drivers are included on the install CD? (What is version .07?) v2.1 is available from the Sigma Designs driver download site. The latest drivers are from Dec 2003, so you would think they are on the install CD, but it might be worth checking.

- Andy

[Freegoo]

Originally Posted by Opus4

Out of curiosity, what drivers are included on the install CD? (What is version .07?) v2.1 is available from the Sigma Designs driver download site. The latest drivers are from Dec 2003, so you would think they are on the install CD, but it might be worth checking.

- Andy

Thanks for the help!

Sorry, version .07 I was trying to refer to the XCard plugin version Alpha 0.0.7.

I uninstalled my drivers and then installed the drivers from the website and that got me going. Now everything plays, but if I try to skip forward or backwards the image freezes, but the audio tracks correctly. going to check my properties settings.

[ErsatzTom]

Originally Posted by Stuntman

the OSD fits the TV screen perfectly, but all my video is now compressed into the middle 4/5 of the screen.. it's squished with large black bars on the left and right of the video... but the OSD is right!

Hrm... what xcard/* and osd_* settings do you have in your properties file? What is the resolution of your display? Anything unusual about the mpeg or is it just regular ntsc/pal, SD recorded off a Hauppauge or similar? I haven't seen this but I made some changes rather last minute that could affect things. Also, would it be possible for you to run Sage as briefly as possible while reproducing the problem and post the xcard log? If you want you could just zip up your properties file with it. Thanks,

t

[ErsatzTom]

Originally Posted by Freegoo

I attached the 3 log files that were created and the Client Properties file.

Now that you have it at least partially working, could you stop sage, run it, start a clip, close the file (ctrl-g if you have access to a keyboard) and exit sage and then post the xcard_log, sagetvclient_0.txt, and your properties file again? Thanks,

t

ps. Let me reiterate that while it is harmless, I really wouldn't recommend setting your decoder in sage to the sigma designs xcard decoder. If nothing else, it is confusing since it has nothing to do with the plugin your filter selection.

[Stuntman]

Originally Posted by ErsatzTom

Hrm... what xcard/* and osd_* settings do you have in your properties file? What is the resolution of your display? Anything unusual about the mpeg or is it just regular ntsc/pal, SD recorded off a Hauppauge or similar? I haven't seen this but I made some changes rather last minute that could affect things. Also, would it be possible for you to run Sage as briefly as possible while reproducing the problem and post the xcard log? If you want you could just zip up your properties file with it. Thanks,

t

I tried to open that file again after another reboot.. and guess what.. it's just fine now.. so I'm not sure if it is intermittent or what... another clue, perhaps, is since I rebooted this last time I ran a dvd through Sigma's X-card player... don't know if maybe that reset something or what.. I'll keep you posted as to whether I see it again, or can reproduce it.

How can I get you the file, if you still want it?

Thanks!
-Robert

[ErsatzTom]

Originally Posted by Stuntman

How can I get you the file, if you still want it?

It will only be meaningful if you can reproduce it.

t

[jughead]

Originally Posted by Stuntman

How can I get you the file, if you still want it?

when you reply to a post, click "advanced" mode, not the "quick reply" and there's a section that says "Attach Files". can't help as to whether he wants the file or not, but it can't hurt to up it just in case.

*edit* oops, my bad... i think you're talking about the mpeg, not attachments.

[jughead]

Originally Posted by Freegoo

if I try to skip forward or backwards the image freezes, but the audio tracks correctly. going to check my properties settings.

i've posted about the same thing. i have no advice for you other than to post your error files etc. since there are two of us now, i'm sure tom will be working on a fix. for me, it happens so frequently that i can't use the plugin

[ErsatzTom]

I wonder if there is any common denominator between the two of you? Maybe you could compare notes in PM and post the results. STV, hardware, drivers, output type, etc. I do A LOT of skipping when I'm testing and I've never had a freeze that seemed related to that.

t

[Opus4]

Here's another strange one... does anyone have a problem with SageTV locking if you let a recording play to completion & then either use the Close File command, try to start playing another recording, or put SageTV to sleep? (They all essentially try to close the file that was just played.) It doesn't happen to me every time a show finishes, but it is certaily fairly often & I haven't been able to get it to happen when not using the plugin.

- Andy

[ErsatzTom]

Oh, joy of joys, the file close bug turns out to be one of those problems that doesn't occur when you are in the debugger.



t

[ErsatzTom]

Alpha 0.0.8

• Fixed end of file bug (worked around anyway).
• Fixed cc settings synchronization bug (showed up when skipping around and other times).
• Fixed problem with deleting most recently watched show.
• Added always_stream_mpegs property. This uses an alternate stragegy for building your playback graph. For non-live shows, instead of using the SageTV file source filter which allows timeshifting and streaming from the server, this uses the default file source and demux for mpegs. In order to use this, you must either be using UNC file paths for your recordings or have the drive mounted the same on your clients as on your server (the same deal as comskip files, etc).
• Added verbose_log property. Now, by default, the xcard_log files should be much smaller unless this property is set to true. Frequently called log statements with less dignostic merit now depend on the value of this field.

Let me know if I actually fixed the bugs I've claimed to fix above. Hey, I'm feeling optimistic! If you continue to have problems, please try out the always_stream_mpegs setting and let me know if it made a difference or not. Also, if you are purposefully creating a log file to send me, please turn on verbose_log first. However, if you already have a log file handy that illustrates a problem, just send it in and I'll let you know if I need another with it turned on. Thanks!

t

[Opus4]

Oh, sure... you would do this to me right when I was planning to go to call it quits for the night. You know I can't resist checking things out...

• Fixed end of file bug (worked around anyway).
• Fixed problem with deleting most recently watched show.

I tried completing & closing several recordings and then I tried watching & deleting a few shows -- so far both fixes worked for me.

• Added always_stream_mpegs property. This uses an alternate stragegy for building your playback graph. For non-live shows, instead of using the SageTV file source filter which allows timeshifting and streaming from the server, this uses the default file source and demux for mpegs.

Would there be any reason we should be aware of regarding why one method might be better to use than the other?

I hardly ever watch anything live, but it sounds like it defaults back to the 'normal' SageTV method for live playback... ?

Originally Posted by ErsatzTom

If you continue to have problems, please try out the always_stream_mpegs setting and let me know if it made a difference or not.

Just curious: was this supposed to default to true, like it does?

Thanks.

- Andy

[ErsatzTom]

Originally Posted by Opus4

Oh, sure... you would do this to me right when I was planning to go to call it quits for the night. You know I can't resist checking things out...

If I can't sleep, nobody can!!! <insert evil cackling>

Would there be any reason we should be aware of regarding why one method might be better to use than the other?

I hardly ever watch anything live, but it sounds like it defaults back to the 'normal' SageTV method for live playback... ?

I've experienced differences in the behavior between the two, and there is a problem (probably with my code) when using the streaming solution that I am sort of working around rather than having really fixed. I'm continuing to investigate but in the mean time, I thought I'd just expose both and get some feedback from people as to which works for them.

Just curious: was this supposed to default to true, like it does?

The default (always_stream_mpegs=true) always uses the normal SageTV file source filter for playback. That was my intent. At this time, the only real trade-off that I'm sure of between the two is that with that property set to false, you have to have the old direct client read access setup. I just thought that if some people were still having problems they could try it the other way.

t

[Stuntman]

Originally Posted by ErsatzTom

Hrm... what xcard/* and osd_* settings do you have in your properties file? What is the resolution of your display? Anything unusual about the mpeg or is it just regular ntsc/pal, SD recorded off a Hauppauge or similar? I haven't seen this but I made some changes rather last minute that could affect things. Also, would it be possible for you to run Sage as briefly as possible while reproducing the problem and post the xcard log? If you want you could just zip up your properties file with it. Thanks,

t

Well, I reproduced it.. I added your latest version 0.0.8 and it didn't fix the 'squished' display.. but I have discovered that it affects only those recordings I have that are NOT default quality (Great)... all recorded at "Good" or "Fair" exhibit this squished behavior at this time... Although, I believe that earlier today I had trouble with "Great". I'll keep testing, but I only have "Great", "Good" and "Fair" recordings right now!

I'm running SageTVClient 2.2.3 beta with an X-card via Svideo into a JVC VCR and then out to my old 19" tv.. If I had the old 0.0.2 I'd put it back in there and see if the problem went away... but I can tell you it is dependent upon what quality the recording was made at..

Actually I just found 0.0.2 and I can verify the problem does NOT exist in that version! Thought I was going nuts, but I do see all shows correctly with that older version!

I hope that helps!

[ErsatzTom]

I'm not sure if you just sent me the wrong log file or what but that log file was created with version 0.0.7.

t

[Opus4]

Originally Posted by ErsatzTom

The default (always_stream_mpegs=true) always uses the normal SageTV file source filter for playback. That was my intent.

OK -- thanks for the extra info. That means I misunderstood the setting, since I thought that a setting of 'true' would mean it uses the new method.

- Andy

[ErsatzTom]

Originally Posted by Opus4

OK -- thanks for the extra info. That means I misunderstood the setting, since I thought that a setting of 'true' would mean it uses the new method.

Not really your fault. An object observer, I think, looking at my external configurations would have no choice but deduce that I make such choices using dice or some other randomizing agent.



t

[Stuntman]

Originally Posted by ErsatzTom

I'm not sure if you just sent me the wrong log file or what but that log file was created with version 0.0.7.

t

I can do it again in 0.0.8 if you like.. it didn't change the way it failed when I upgraded to 0.0.8 from 0.0.7.. but it did go away when I downgraded to 0.0.2

I'll supply a new log if you would like to see that.

[ErsatzTom]

Please, and set your xcard/verbose_log=true. I've added some more debug code since 0.0.7. Thanks!

t