qam no signal - everything will work but sagetv

[skavinger]

i am very getting very fustrated with this whole thing and i need some help.
i have charter cable in louisiana and can get 80+ digital channels over qam.
i can get them on my tv directly.
i can get them on my mac using eyetv 3.3 and a hvr-950q.
i cannot get sagetv 6.6.2 (downloaded tonight) to get the qam channels with either the hvr-1250 or the hvr-950q both having newest drivers (hvr-1250 09/2009 and hvr-950q 01/2010).
please help and ask for any info i didn't provide.
many thanks


system specs:
winxp sp3
MSSE
sagetv 6.6.2
logmein free


core2duo 2.5Ghz
4GB DRRII 800Mhz
geforce 8400GS 256MB PCI-E
320Gb C&D drive
2x 750GB HDDs for recordings
sony BD-ROM
2x pvr-500's (all 4 tuners on analoge charter cable)
hvr-1250 or hvr-950q (i don't use both at once as the signal will drop too much to split again)

[sic0048]

Although you have downloaded the latest SageTV version, it likely does not have the latest STV version. There is a way to "Update to the latest STV" under setup - advanced (I think that is the correct location - going off memory). When you find it and update it, continue checking for updates after each time. They are progessive updates which means you must load each update in order. So if there are 10 updates, you need to check 10 times before you'll get a "No Updates Available" screen. You can stop checking at that point.

I know many times with the HDHR it doesn't work until you get the latest STV. I don't have your tuners, but it might be a similar situation.

[jescala]

I'm having the same issue. I tried downloading the latest STV per your instructions but it keeps saying:

"Unable to download the STV file set update version information."

My Specs:

• Mac Mini Core 2 Duo 2 Ghz
• 4 GBs RAM
• MAC OS X 10.6.2
• SageTV 6.6.2
• HDHomeRun FW: 20100121
• STV Version 2009092201

I noticed a new firmware version 20100213 is available and I'm going to try that now but from what it says in the change log, I don't think it will do much.

[jescala]

I updated the firmware to 20100213 and I manually updated the STV xml file to 2009120901 since the automated menu option was not working. I found that file here. I am not sure if that is the correct way to do this because the SageTV software still thinks it is 6.6.2.1 and not 6.6.2.24 like it says in that post. Anyhow, none of that worked. I still can't watch live TV. Only recordings will play back.

Help please!

[skavinger]

thanks, i will try that now and see if it works for me. thank you for the reply

[sic0048]

Originally Posted by jescala

I updated the firmware to 20100213 and I manually updated the STV xml file to 2009120901 since the automated menu option was not working. I found that file here. I am not sure if that is the correct way to do this because the SageTV software still thinks it is 6.6.2.1 and not 6.6.2.24 like it says in that post. Anyhow, none of that worked. I still can't watch live TV. Only recordings will play back.

Help please!

Sorry, I am out of ideas. I don't have that tuner, so I'm just not familar enough to know if there is some odd quirk or something like that.

If you haven't logged a formal "Support Ticket" with SageTV, then I suggest you do that. As good as these forums are, they are not part of the SageTV support chain. Rather it is made up of SageTV enthusiests. Sometimes you have to go right to the horses mouth to get help. The support ticket can be found on the main SageTV site.

[SDeGonge]

Not exactly sure what the specific problem is but I'll give you a suggestion anyway. If qam works on the TV but not in Sage then it may be a weak signal. Were you able to scan and find channels? If not then eliminate any splitters to increase signal strength and try again.

[Spectrum]

Just an FYI, I couldn't get a scan to run on QAM for my AverTVHD A188 Duet until I went into sage.properties and forced the tuner to QAM. See http://forums.sagetv.com/forums/showthread.php?t=46411 for details of what I did to get my tuner working. Perhaps it is something similar?

[jescala]

Originally Posted by SDeGonge

Not exactly sure what the specific problem is but I'll give you a suggestion anyway. If qam works on the TV but not in Sage then it may be a weak signal. Were you able to scan and find channels? If not then eliminate any splitters to increase signal strength and try again.

Thanks for the suggestion! I've spent some time on this and I think I actually am dealing with three different issues.

The first issue was a bad coax cable that was causing me to lose half of what was watched live or recorded because one of the two tuners on the HDHR was not getting data. This issue has been corrected.

The second issue is that I am unable to install STV updates with the "Unable to download the STV file set update version information" error. This is not resolved and unless someone has a suggestion, I will be opening a case with support.

The third issue has to do with the channel scan for the HDHR. I am having a lot of trouble with local channels provided via Comcast ClearQAM. They appear in the guide but when I watch live TV they seem to tune in the wrong channels. But recording works fine. It is as if the process of tuning-in channels is handled differently by the recorder than the live tv. Has anyone encountered this issue? It is driving me nuts! Should I open a case with support?

Thanks!

[jescala]

BTW Skavinger, sorry if I hijacked your thread. Do any of my 3 issues match yours?

[jasonl]

The wrong channels being tuned some times but not others usually means you didn't run a channel scan on every tuner. Remove the tuners, then readd them following the instructions at http://forums.sagetv.com/forums/showthread.php?t=34196 .

[jescala]

Originally Posted by jasonl

The wrong channels being tuned some times but not others usually means you didn't run a channel scan on every tuner. Remove the tuners, then readd them following the instructions at http://forums.sagetv.com/forums/showthread.php?t=34196 .

Thanks for the suggestion! I did scan both tuners but I did not do it with the HDHR software as suggested on that link because I am on a Mac and that post says that all I need to do is "connect the HDHR to your network, then add the tuner in SageTV and perform a channel scan." and then manually remap the channels as needed. I did this but apparently it is not so simple because, the warning in step 2 about using decimal channel numbers versus whole channel numbers sounds exactly like the problem I am having. But I have no way of figuring out what the real whole number should be. I'm poking around to see if I can figure this out somehow, if not I see myself setting up a Windows VM just so I can run that software.

-- Jorge

[skavinger]

BTW Skavinger, sorry if I hijacked your thread. Do any of my 3 issues match yours?

no, sorry. they don't match. but i think you inspired me to test my coax cables as i did make my own from a roll of RG6Q and compression fittings (love them compared to those old crimp on style).

the cables passed without any issue.

[skavinger]

Originally Posted by Spectrum

Just an FYI, I couldn't get a scan to run on QAM for my AverTVHD A188 Duet until I went into sage.properties and forced the tuner to QAM. See http://forums.sagetv.com/forums/showthread.php?t=46411 for details of what I did to get my tuner working. Perhaps it is something similar?

i tried this but without any change. i did, however, try a channel preview on the channel lineup for the tuner and got 100% signal and it did drop to 85% for a brief moment but never showed the channel preview......

[skavinger]

Originally Posted by SDeGonge

Not exactly sure what the specific problem is but I'll give you a suggestion anyway. If qam works on the TV but not in Sage then it may be a weak signal. Were you able to scan and find channels? If not then eliminate any splitters to increase signal strength and try again.

i have a 4-way balanced digital cable splitter and to test again, just in case, i hooked strait from the input to each of the 2 tuners (one at a time) and still nothing. i think i will have to submit an official support thread on this.

also, it worked on my mac with EyeTV using the 4-way splitter