SageTV for MacOS X?

[Taddeusz]

Just wondering if there are any plans to make at least a MacOS X version of the client. I have both PC's and Mac's. I own a client and server copy for Windows. It would be nice to be able to watch it on my Mac.

Just curious.

[ruel]

i am intrigued by this possibility because of the new Mac Mini and the possible market for those Macs. i have an eMac that i use for email and that i watch video files on using Quicktime and WMP (Mac OS X version). as well as using it on my eMac, i can imagine using the Mac Mini with its small footprint around the house in the living room and elsewhere with some sort of SageTV client software on it. i would be interested to see if the market for the Mac Mini explodes and to see if sagetv can take advantage of that. if i ever have a need to get a new standalone DVD player, i would probably instead want to get a Mac Mini (with its small footprint) to hook up and play DVDs on that as well as use that for the other things you can use the Mac for. so porting any possible consumer linux version of SageTV for use under X11 for Mac OS X that i would guess may be doable would be a good project to work on.

ruel

[Taddeusz]

The only problem with that is that the Mac mini doesn't have a TV out. You'd have to buy a VGA to TV converter to do that. I don't think good ones are very cheap.

One of the 20" Apple Cinema Displays would be pretty sweet though. That kind of defeats the $499 price tag of the computer itself though.

Right now I'm just running an old clamshell iBook SE firewire that I bought from someone off eBay. It's a 466Mhz G3e. It runs OS X Pretty well, but the display is only a 12.1" 800x600 display. Kind of small, but it works. Just ordered a new battery for it. The one that I got with it won't hold a charge. It at least plays DVD's. Once I get the battery it will make a pretty good portable DVD player as the rated battery life is a whopping 6 hours.

This is my first experience with a Macintosh computer. So far I'm pretty impressed with OS X. In many ways it rivals XP in functionality. Too bad Windows has more apps and games.

[ErsatzTom]

Originally Posted by Taddeusz

The only problem with that is that the Mac mini doesn't have a TV out. You'd have to buy a VGA to TV converter to do that. I don't think good ones are very cheap.

From the specs:

S-video and composite video output to connect directly to a TV or projector (requires Apple DVI to Video Adapter, sold separately)

[ruel]

yes, i would want to also get the Apple DVI to Video Adapter to use with the Mac Mini. i would think that capability would already be built into the Mac Mini (maybe in future models?), but, fortunately, the adapter is only $19.00.

ruel

[travisbell]

Here's my thoughts and opinions about this, and trust me -- I have spent months trying to setup up both a Mac HTPC and Windows HTPC.

The Mac's biggest problem is the lack of front end software. There is no good media manager, no TV importer... list goes on... so I ended up building a Windows based box with Meedio, and Sage as the recorder. This system has worked very well for me so far. My only problem is...

All of the desktop machines in my house are Mac, and it would be super sweet to have a client to connect to my Sage recordings and watch them. I know that "technically" I could just load up a network share BUT point is, with a sweet little client app you can keep with the consistent look and feel of Sage, and maintain that brand throughout the entire house. I am not interested in having a Sage port, well OK maybe EVENTUALLY I am, but not right now. All I am talking is a client to browse the media library's and recorded content. Besides, isn't Sage written in Java? I can't see it being THAT hard.

Anywho, just my thoughts...

[feamster]

I agree. I think Sage is such a nice product that we should bring it to the entire world (or is that democracy?). Well anyway I think that sage would make for a great client on a mac. I can't see spending that much money for a mac server to store TV but cheap PC boxes are everywhere. I think it would make GREAT business sense.

[themeerkat]

Seems to me like a client might be as "easy" as writing a front end that might make a call to VLC or Quicktime Player (with the Mpeg 2 plugin).

Maybe something similar to what's being used with the MVP?

[iain]

While vaugly on the subject, has anyone had any success opening Sage recordings with quicktime for Mac? I can open them fine with Mac OS X VLC but even with the MPEG2 plugin, quicktime says it is not a file it can understand.

[feamster]

I changed my mpeg file association from qtime to vlc. Works great.

[iain]

That's a great idea.
So quicktime doesn't work for you either huh?

[themeerkat]

I can open them with QuickTime Player with no problems. Oh, one thing to note is that I do have them saving in a DVD compatible format. DVD Extended play is the format, I believe. I'm using the Mpeg 2 plugin and the Pro version of the player.

[feamster]

I didn't have to purchase anything my way. I'm sure that qtime pro is a good investment but VLC does really well with so many things. I was surprised there was a way to play WMV files on the Mac.

[iain]

I can't believe they called it "Windows Media Player" though.

Anyone know if you can use VLC to open a live stream from Sage? It must use some kind of MPEG2 streaming to send live video to sage clients.
Maybe it is Sage proprietory.

[themeerkat]

Seems like a plugin could be written to take advantage of the files that Sage had written, that could be controlled from the client side to stream the file that you wanted.

Or, if you mounted the server's drives via file sharing, could direct the VLC on which file to open. You wouldn't be able to watch live probably, but could watch anything that had been recorded. Okay, after trying it, you could watch something is currently being recorded.

Like I said before, something similar to the MVP client written in Java would probably work for the Mac OS X client, along with VLC. I don't have the expertise to write it, though.

[davephan]

I wrote to Hauppage to find out if they have any video cards equivalent to the PVR-350 quality level. The reported that a Mac PVR model is in development. Here is their response:

From: gfey@hauppauge.com
Subject: RE: Hauppauge for the Mac
Date: Fri, 13 May 2005 10:50:19 -0400

Currently we have no Mac model which is comparable to the PVR-350. A
PVR model is in development for release shortly. No release date has been announced however.

Sales Dept.

[SHS]

Need to say very few of MAC system don't have PCI slot that one reason why there not much for MAC when come to add-on product.
Yes there a MAC PVR model in development which base on USB2 model

[davephan]

I don’t own a Mac, but I have thought about maybe buying one someday. I’ve been misinformed by a guy at my work that is a Mac evangelist who told me that PCI cards would work on Macs. To me, the USB PVR seems like it is a poor alternative to using a PCI PVR card.

[fidget]

Originally Posted by SHS

Need to say very few of MAC system don't have PCI slot that one reason why there not much for MAC when come to add-on product.
Yes there a MAC PVR model in development which base on USB2 model

Being a Mac owner, I can say this isn't necessarily the case. Every Mac that I have owned (since my PPC604e) has had PCI slots. Unfortunately, no PC vendor wants to develop drivers for their PCI based cards so they will work on the Mac. Even companies like Hauppauge, which do make Mac tuners (although PoS USB-1 ones) don't want to move their PCI cards over.

On my SageTV system, I run 4 USB-2 tuners, but I have never found a USB-2 based (or even Firewire based) hardware decoder. The closest thing is the Hauppauge VIP, but that requires a PC for it to run.

[SHS]

I said very few of MAC system don't have PCI slot like Mac mini, iMac and eMac and dosen't count the iBooK and PowerBook