Upgrade to HD-PVR Problems - Help!
 

Ok, I'm in hot water with my wife and two daughters. Last night I swapped out my Comcast SD STB for a HD model and installed a HD-PVR (HDPVR for people searching). It was also the season premier of House and Castle. I was unable to get it all to work so I switched SageTV back to my PVR-350. Little did I know that the HD STB remapped my non-HD channels to HD channels so while I recorded the video fine, I had no audio. Thank goodness for Hulu (I hope).

So after the recordings, I stayed up till 2 am trying to get the HD-PVR working (thus the hot water with the wife). I was unsuccessful so I'm taking the day off to get it to work. So far, no luck. Here are my issues that I hope someone can help. I have spent several hours going through the forums and trying everything before this post. From my signature, my Server is Win2008R2 and Client is Win7. SageTV version is 6.6.2.218.

1. Video recording is working but I'm recording no Audio. When I record and playback using TME everything is fine.

2. On my Win2008R2 server, I can't see any H264 or AC3 decoders using DirectShow Filter Manager. Consequently when I try to watch a recording, SageTV crashes.

3. On my Win7 Client, I have the Windows DTV-DVD decoders but when I try to watch a H264 video, SageTV errors with the message PlaybackException: ERROR(-4,0 0x80040217) Problem rendering the video portion of the content.

I'm thinking about buying the CoreAVC decoders. Anybody know if they will work with Win2008R2?

Any help with this will be most appreciated since if I don't get this working before they all get home today, I'm really going to be in deep doo-doo.

Thanks,

Mark.

When you defined the video source in Sage did you make sure to select the appropriate audio input? If you are using Component and SPDif you have to make sure Component + SPDif is selected, not just Component.

Try selecting "AC3filter" as audio codec and verify that you selected the proper inputs in Sage during setup. Stereo is simpler to get working on the HDPVR, 5.1 still gives some troubles.

Installing PowerDVD 8 is the easiest fix (Demo works fine for the codec).

Sage 6.6.2 requires a patch (or patches) to use Microsoft DTV-DVD decoders. It is better to install SageTV 7.0.16

For me, "the shorter the amount of time I have to get something working, the great the number of problems..."

Did you install the ArcSoft TME software that came with the HD-PVR?
If so, does it play back the videos OK?
If it does, you can tell Sage to use the Arcsoft decoder. Read this post for instructions on how to make the Arcsoft decoder usable with Sage.


I just went through some similar issues when I bought an HD-PVR about 2 months ago. I found the Arcsoft decoder worked a little better than the Microsoft decoder for me (using Windows 7 64-bit with ATI 4650 video card).

That, sir, is dedication! :goodjob:
Tiki's suggestion is a good one. Try playing back one of the files recorded with sage and see if you get video + audio. If you get video but no audio just like watching it in sage, definitely check up on what madpoet recommended with making sure you have the tuner added to Sage with the correct audio input. Also triple check that your STB is outputting the audio like you expect. On mine if I have it set to 5.1 it ONLY outputs audio on the TOSLINK/SPDIF links and refuses to put anything out over the RCA lines.

Windows server OS's have problems with BDA and I'm assuming you have installed the hacks to get your tuners to work. This is why using a server OS is not really recommended or supported. Others have trail blazed and made it work though ;)
Don't buy CoreAVC, switching video decoders is not going to fix your problem!

Nice to see my post about enabling the Arcsoft decoder is still helping people :p

It's getting down to the wire. I'm almost there but not quite. Got a meeting I have to go to tonight then back at it. Hope it will not be another late nighter otherwise wife will not be happy.

Here is where I'm at:

1. No Audio being recorded - Really DUMB!!! Did not have the new HD STB set for Stereo Out. It defaults to TV Speakers. Works fine now, video and audio sync'd.

2. Server not showing HD video. Fixed once the sound was being recorded. I guess SageTV doesn't like video without sound. It is very skippy but I think that's my cheap video card in my server. VLC doesn't play it back well at all either. That's ok, I don't watch anything on it anyway.

3. Win7 Client getting the playback error - Kinda fixed by adding the ArcSoft video decoder using DirectShow Filter Manager (thanks for the tip). However it is also very skippy, out of sync, and un-watchable. But when you playback the video with Windows Media Center, VLC, or ArcSoft, it plays back just fine. Must still be something wrong with my SageTV settings. Suggestions? Maybe MS decoders and SageTV Ver 7? This is what I'll have to work on later tonight.

4. Also, I have to try to remember how I got my ActiSys IR200L transmitter working with my old PVR-350. I believe I had to tweak the settings file. Do I still need to use this or can I use the HD-PVR IR Blaster to change channels on the STB?

Ok, gotta go. Be back later tonight. Any other suggestions will definitely make my wife very happy if I can go to bed with her :D

Thanks,

Mark.

Check your video render. EVR > VMR9 > Overlay.

On Windows 7 it's like a dream for HD-PVR recordings.

I second that. There's no need for additional video decoders to playback hdpvr files on Windows 7.

Well, here it is, 1:08 am, but I think I got it licked. Here's what I did:

1. Win7 Client - changed the Video Render to Default (from VMR9) and the HD recordings are much better.

2. Got my ActiSys IR200L working by removing the HD-PVR and re-adding it using the Motorola DCT2000 selection for the IR200L. My new STB is a Comcast RNG110 but the DCT2000 IR codes work.

3. Lost playback sound on my Win2008R2 server but I'm not worried about that. I'll figure it out later. Maybe I'll try installing ffdshow and see what happens.

4. However I still have one more issue. My home HD videos (1080i) taken with my new camera do not playback the video, just the audio. The video is black. No rush on this one but need to get it working sometime.

I think over the weekend, I'm going to upgrade to Version 7 and try to fine tune everything.

Thanks for all the help,

Mark.

Woo glad you got it up and running. :clap:

What kind of videos are the home movies: mpeg2, h264, something else? Also what kind of containers are they in: ts, m2ts, avi, mkv? Odds are it's something to do with the splitter that's being used, but without knowing more that's just a swag.

Glutton for punishment eh? Get to do all of this over again, but you are now experienced ;)

They're H264 .ts files, originally .mts from my little Panasonic FX700 camera.

Yeah, only if it's raining though :).

At my office, we like to have a "lesson's learned" after a major implementation of a new client / hardware / software / etc.... Major Lesson Learned:

Don't wait until the new fall shows start, to make a major upgrade to your Sage setup. :D

Strange that you can watch the HDPVR recordings but it's choking on the home movies that are basically the same. Maybe there is something the decoder doesn't like about the format of the camera's h264... You got me stumped, which in and of itself is not all that impressive :p Hopefully someone else will stop by with a brilliant idea :D

Do the videos from your camera play outside of Sage (e.g. in WMP or MPC)? If yes, what filters are used for playback?

Yes, they play fine with WMP and VLC. I'm assuming that WMP uses the Microsoft DTV-DVD decoders which I'm using in SageTV. I don't know what decoders VLC uses.

Then I'd suggest that you file a bug about this, if you haven't done that yet...

Ha Ha, yes you're absolutely correct but I was like a child at Christmas with new toys. Just couldn't wait to play with them :).

It's Sunday night and I spent the entire weekend re-wiring my server, clients, and stereo system for HD. And I upgraded SageTV to version 7. Here are "lessons learned":

1. The Version 7 installation resets your server's SageTV Service to logon as Local System. If you use network recording directories, you have to change the service to logon using an account with access rights.

2. The UI is great. My version 6 was entirely customized but my girls and I really like the new UI.

3. It fixed my inability to watch my home videos (see quote above) but they're not pleasant to watch (see #5).

4. The HD-PVR's HD recordings are low in volume and I have to max my TV volume to hear them. I understand why but need to figure out how to fix it with AC3Filter. The volume is much lower than my non-HD videos. I understand that AC3Filter can level these out (raise the volume for AC3 audio videos and lower the volume for MPEG-2 audio videos) but I tried to set it correctly in AC3Filter but got totally confused. I may start a new thread on this if I can't sort it out in the next couple of days.

5. And last but worst, SageTV's playback of H264 video is horrible compared to WMP or VLC. All my recordings (TV and Home Video) play back with considerable stuttering. Non-HD plays just fine. With SageTV HD playback, my CPU goes crazy (80-100%). But with WMP or VLC, it's very happy (30-50%) and plays nicely. I'm thinking of starting a new thread on this one because it is SERIOUS. If I can't get it working, I may have to ditch the entire HD thing and that would be bad.

Any help on #4 or #5 would be most appreciated.

Thanks,

Mark.

Might want to grab the latest version of AC3 filter while your at it. It may help things considerably. I did see your post in the other thread too but I won't post there and here ;)

I don't have a way to test it right now so I can't help with the specifics, but in the past I've just gone in and fiddled with (technical term) the sliders until things sound right. IIRC it doesn't make real time changes so you have to close the video player and reopen it for changes made in AC3filter config to take effect. Makes nailing the levels difficult, but it's doable.
Which system are you having these video issues on? What OS and Video card? Assuming it's not the 2k8 server box check you decoder settings for h.264 and make sure you are using the Microsoft codec or the Arcsoft codec. Either one of those should enable DXVA and allow the GPU to help things along.

The issue with the home movies may be a strike out, but the HDPVR files should playback fine.