SageTV FAQ

[Narflex]

Below is a new FAQ index, Opinions* are always welcome. Thanks to Opus4 for his hard work on it. Also thanks goes out to Narflex for letting me use his post for this index. This index will be updated to reflect new posts to the FAQ. Don't forget ANYONE is welcome to contribute to the FAQ. If you have questions/suggestions reqarding a particuliar FAQ post, please contact the poster.

*Please PM Opus4 with suggestions or ideas you'd like to see.

/justme (forum moderator)


Additional open source (v9 and later) FAQs can be found here


SageTV License Issues

• I ordered SageTV, but I haven't received my license key yet. When will it be sent?
• I lost my license key, how can I get a copy of it again?
• I forgot which license was used on which computer. Is there a way to get find out what license was entered on each computer?
• Is there a way to re-enter a license on a computer?

SageTV Products: Server, Client, Placeshifter, Extender, etc.

• What is the difference between SageTV Client and Placeshifter?

Operating System considerations

• Where does SageTV store its data files?
• Where does SageTV store its data files in Windows Vista?

Upgrading and troubleshooting your SageTV system

• Why does my file show a duration of 0 length? This causes FF/RW to skip to the end of the file
• What is the best way to install new drivers for Hauppauge PVR cards, Hauppauge always seems to have new ones
• What should I do if I plan to upgrade to a newer version of SageTV?
• I am changing computers and will no longer use SageTV on its current computer. Can my current recordings be moved to the new computer?
• My SageTV installation isn't working correctly and it has been suggested that I reinstall SageTV. How can I reset SageTV's configuration settings without losing my recordings, favorites, etc.?
• Does SageTV have an "official" troubleshooting FAQ? Yes, just follow this link.
• What ports do I need to open in my firewall for SageTV?
• What ports do I need to open in my firewall for using a Media Extender?
• What port do I need to open in my firewall for using the SageTV Placeshifter?
• SageTV Client won't connect to the SageTV server. What should I check?
• I have a problem using SageTV and was asked to enable debug logging. How do I do that?
• What version of Java do I need for SageTV?
• How do I update Java on my Windows PC?

Recording Live TV and putting SageTV to Sleep

• How do I stop Sage from recording everything I watch during Live TV?
• How can I change the size of the Live TV recording buffer?
• I see above that SageTV always records LiveTV... once LiveTV has started, how do I stop it?
• What if I don't want to put sage to Sleep? I don't want to see the Windows desktop on my dedicated HTPC.

Playback settings, methods, and issues

• How can I get CC(closed caption) data to show up in my SageTV recordings?
• My media playback and/or Windows animations stutter when I use VMR9 rendering. How can I fix this?
• What's the difference between a Decoder and a Renderer?
• What's a "filter"?
• What is the "Default" audio/video decoder?
• How do I tell what the "Preferred" decoder is on my system?
• What is the difference between Renderers, which one is best?
• Why do some of the DVDs I have ripped to my computer freeze part way through when I play them back through SageTV on a Windows PC?
• During playback, the timeline advances several seconds for each second of actual playback. How can I fix this?
• How can I play my Hauppauge HD-PVR recordings on a PC?
• After installing the Hauppauge HD-PVR and Arcsoft's Total Media Extreme, my PC cannot play MP3 files. How can I fix that?

Recorded TV shows and Scheduling Recordings

• Does SageTV know enough to record a show only once? I see that one of my favorites is scheduled to air 3 times this week -- How many of those will be recorded?
• If I delete a show, will it be recorded again?
• How many days in advance does SageTV schedule its recordings?
• Why isn't my Favorite set to record? It falls within the next 3 days, so it should be in my recording schedule.
• I see some recordings and LiveTV listings that have colored outlines or are shown with a different font. What does this mean?
• My recordings are missing the first 5 minutes. How do I fix that?

The Program Guide

• How do I get EPG data (Program Guide listings) for the open source version of SageTV?
• How often is the Program Guide (EPG) updated?
• Can I force the Guide to be updated?
• Is there a way to specify an exact time for the update to occur? (I want to have the update occur at 3:00 AM, but I don't want to stay up that late!)
• What ports do I need to open in my firewall for SageTV?
• My Program Guide is no longer updating and is missing data for some or all of my channels. How can I get it to start updating again?
• Some of my channels have no Program Guide data, but other channels do and their data is getting updated. Why do some channels have no data?
• My Program Guide is listing incorrect info for some channels and/or shows. I am using the built-in data which comes from Zap2It. Is there some way to see about getting this fixed?
• Why are some of my channels missing from the Program Guide?

Saving, Deleting, and Moving Recordings

• Where does SageTV store my recordings?
• Which directory will be used for the next recording?
• What happens if SageTV runs out of disk space?
• So... SageTV is only supposed to delete files when I tell it to or when it runs out of space?
• Can I change an existing Video Directory using a "drive:\path" style name to one using the UNC "\\computer\path" style w/o losing my recordings?
• Can I move a SageTV Recording file and still have it listed with all its data on the SageTV Recordings screen?
• Can the actual Video Directory location be moved or renamed?
• I am changing computers and will no longer use SageTV on its current computer. Can my current recordings be moved to the new computer?
• My hard drive crashed, but SageTV still lists the recordings that were on that drive. How can I tell SageTV that the recordings that used to be on that drive no longer exist?
• I moved a SageTV recording to the library. Is there a way to move it back out of the library and into the SageTV Recordings list again?

Recording Quality Settings

• SageTV only has a few recording qualities available, and I want to add more, is that even possible?
• How do I adjust the brightness and contrast of the recordings?

Controling SageTV

• Where can a find the official list of all the sendmessage, keystroke, and -event commands used by SageTV?
• Are there any command line paramteters for use with SageTV?
• How do I use Girder to control SageTV?
• Is there a collection of Information/links for Remotes, Recievers, IR blaster, etc. for use with Sage? Yes, just follow this link.

The Hauppauge remote

• How do I use the Hauppauge remote to control SageTV? When I press a button, nothing happens.
• How can I use the Hauppauge remote to wake SageTV after using it to put SageTV to sleep?
• Can I replace the Hauppauge remote with one that has more buttons?
• Can I use the Hauppauge remote to control SageTV when it doesn't have Windows focus?
• I have the new 45-button Hauppauge remote. How can I get it to work with SageTV?

SageTV settings

• Where can I find a list of settings and their effects/meanings for the Sage.Properties file? ie adjusting the FF or RW times used by SageTV.
• How do I get sage to startup in Full Screen mode / System Tray Mode?
• SageTV is taking a long time to start. Is there a way to make its startup process go faster?
• How do I edit the properties file? The settings don't change when I change them.
• Is there a list of registry settings that SageTV uses on Windows?

Using SageTV with Windows MCE

• Where can I find information about using SageTV with Windows MCE, or with the MCE remote?

Misc Information

• How do I disable the Video Preview in Windows Explorer?
• Is there some sort of reference for the various acronyms and terms used around here?

[justme]

What should I do if I plan to upgrade to a newer version of SageTV?

Note: There are some extra details for beta installations here: How to install a new version of SageTV


There 3 ways to answer this question:
*Before following any of the directions below make sure SageTV is shutdown. SageTV must be closed, "Sleep" mode will not work for doing a new install. If you can still see the SageTV icon in the lower righthand corner by the system clock SageTV is just in sleep mode. To close SageTV in this case, right click the icon and select exit.

1) The easy/lazy answer is nothing, just install the new version to the same directory as the previous version and you are ready to go. This works over 99% of the time.

2) Some people suggest uninstalling the old version before installing the newer version. I personally do this. You can uninstall the older version from the Windows "Control Panel" under Add/Remove programs. Just select SageTV from the list and select Remove. Windows should then remove the old copy of SageTV. You can now install the newer version of SageTV. If you wish to be a little extra carefull you can reboot windows before you install the new version of SageTV.

3) This is the safest method, especially if you are planning to install a beta version of SageTV. This is the method I always use since I try a lot of betas.

1. Go to your SageTV directory, usually "C:\Program Files\SageTV\SageTV".
2. Once there make a copy of each the following 3 files and place it in a backup directory(any directory you can easily find).
   "Wiz.bin" "Wiz.bak" "Sage.properties".
   (Or just make a complete backup of your entire SageTV installation directory.)
3. Now that you have backed up these files you will be able to restore your "Favorites" and all your personal SageTV settings if something should go wrong.
4. Now you just do the same as suggested in method #2.

If you used method #3 and something did go wrong with your upgrade you can now restore your previous version of SageTV. You can do this by...

1. Uninstalling the failed upgrade. (You should know how to do this from above)
2. Reinstall your older version of SageTV. Note: I suggest you always keep the previous SageTV setup file until you are sure you are happy with the newer version.
3. Then delete the "Wiz.bin" "Wiz.bak" and "Sage.properties" files from your SageTV folder. Make sure you don't delete you backups by mistake.
4. Copy your backups of the "Wiz.bin" "Wiz.bak" and "Sage.properties" files to your SageTV directory.
5. Reboot and restart SageTV and you should be back to your old version.

[stanger89]

Q: How do I stop Sage from recording everything I watch during Live TV?

A: There is no way; as a true PVR, Sage records everything you watch, whether you watch it "Live" or three days later.

Tip: Put Sage to sleep when not watching.
New users often get caught by not putting Sage to "Sleep" when they are done watching. Without putting Sage to sleep it doesn't know if you are watching or not and keeps recording everything.


Q: How can I change the size of the Live TV recording buffer?

A: SageTV does not use a Live TV buffer. Each show is recorded to its own file.

The pause that occurs between each show while watching Live TV is caused by SageTV closing the old show's recording and starting a new recording for the next show.

[stanger89]

Q: What if I don't want to put sage to Sleep? I don't want to see the Windows desktop on my dedicated HTPC.

A: Use the "Screensaver on Sleep" function.
In Detailed Setup -> Multimedia there is a box "Screensaver on Sleep" which causes Sage to kick in its screensaver instead of returning to the Windows desktop when you "Sleep" Sage while SageTV is running in full screen mode. That way you can put Sage to sleep and never have to see the Windows Desktop. Also any key will bring Sage out of the Screensaver mode.

[Opus4]

Q: How do I use the Hauppauge remote to control SageTV? When I press a button, nothing happens.

A: In your Windows directory, The file named irremote.ini must be configured to control SageTV.
When you install SageTV, there is an option that, when checked, will configure the Hauppauge remote to control SageTV. If you have not already installed SageTV, make sure you check this option during installation. If you have already installed SageTV, you can either reinstall it or use the basic irremote.ini file found in this post. (Same post referenced in the next question.) If you copy irremote.ini or change the file, be sure to restart the Hauppauge IR.exe control progam. Also, once it is configured, be sure to save a backup copy.

Once irremote.ini is configured, do not check the install option to configure the Hauppauge remote if you install a SageTV update; that will reset irremote.ini to the default configuration, causing you to lose any custom settings. Like I said: be sure to have a backup copy of irremote.ini.

If you have the default Hauppauge remote support from the SageTV installation, you may be interested in the next question...


Q: How can I use the Hauppauge remote to wake SageTV after using it to put SageTV to sleep?

A: See: How to sleep/wake SageTV with the Hauppauge remote
Note that you will have to use the remote to put SageTV to sleep for this to work. If you use the Sleep command on the main menu, it will throw the remote out of sync. In addition, the first post to that thread has a file with Instructions for extending irremote.ini in order to add new commands to the ini file or to add commands to control additional applications.


Note: See this FAQ post to control SageTV when it doesn't have focus.


Q: Can I replace the Hauppauge remote with one that has more buttons?

A: Yes, but you will need to be able to program it. See: How to use another remote with the Hauppauge IR receiver.
So far, that thread contains instructions for using an MX-700 or any JP1-capable remote to control SageTV with just about every possible command available for use on the remote. The 34 button/command limit of the silver Hauppauge remote is gone.

Alternatively, you could use another remote along with a new IR receiver such as the usb-uirt and/or a program like Girder to also add additional control.


Q: I have the new 45-button Hauppauge remote. How can I get it to work with SageTV?

A: Download an irremote.ini file for this remote from one of the following links:

• Send keystrokes to control SageTV when it has focus
• Send event messages to control SageTV regardless of focus

- Andy

[Opus4]

Q: Does SageTV know enough to record a show only once? I see that one of my favorites is scheduled to air 3 times this week -- How many of those will be recorded?

A: Only one, provided the show data contains the information needed by SageTV to distinguish between each episode of a series.
SageTV uses the ShowID to determine whether a show has been recorded before. If each episode of a series has a unique ShowID value, SageTV will be able to distinguish between episodes and will record the show only once over the course of those 3 airings. However, if the guide data only provides a single ShowID for the entire series, SageTV will have no way to differentiate between episodes and will have to record every airing just in case they are not the same. The Show ID can be seen on the detailed information screen for a recording or airing.

So far, there seem to be four types of ShowID prefixes:

1. MV - Movie ID. Each movie has its own ID.
2. EP - Episode ID. Most series have a unique ID assigned to each episode of that series. When this is the case, SageTV will be able to know that an episode has already ben recorded.
3. SH - Series ID. A series will have its own base ID, usually with the last four digits set to 0000. Some series have no unique ID for each episode. When this is the case, every episode of the series will be assigned the same ID, forcing SageTV to record every airing due to its inability to tell them apart. (Try using Detailed Setup -> Customize -> Detect repeat airings with non-unique IDs.)
4. SP - Sports ID. I think each Sports show has its own ID.

Q: If I delete a show, will it be recorded again?

A: No. I mean: Yes. Um... that depends...
No: If you have watched the show, made sure it was marked as 'watched', and it has a unique ShowID, then the show will not be recorded again. Not ever. OK, so you can look at the LiveTV Guide and clear the show's watched flag or manually mark it for recording if you want to record it again. Currently, the 'watched' flag for a show never expires.

Yes: If the show was not marked as 'watched', or if it does not have a unique ShowID, then SageTV can record it again. Remember: If a series does not have a unique ShowID assigned to each episode, then SageTV cannot remember the 'watched' status for episodes in that series. Therefore, an episode can be recorded again, even if you already have the same episode recorded and set to 'watched'.

- Andy

[Opus4]

Q: How many days in advance does SageTV schedule its recordings?

A: Three. Or the next 2 weeks.
While the downloaded LiveTV guide data covers approximately the next 2 weeks, SageTV will schedule favorites and Intelligent Recordings for the next 3 days, updating the schedule daily when the guide data is updated, or when you modify the schedule manually. (It may 'rethink' the schedule at other times, but those are the two cases I am sure of.) You may schedule a manual recording for any time covered by the guide, however.

Note: As of SageTV v7.0, the default schedule lookahead time is 14 days. This can be checked or changed at Detailed Setup -> Customize -> Number of Days to Schedule Recordings.

Note that SageTV attempts to create a schedule that minimizes conflicts. So, if a show conflicts with another, SageTV will look further ahead to see if one of those shows is repeated. If one will be aired again and there is no conflict during one of those future airings, it will schedule that future airing in order to resolve the conflict. Conflict resolution can look further ahead than the lookahead time, provided the lookahead time does not cover all the EPG data.


Q: Why isn't my Favorite set to record? It falls within the next 3 days, so it should be in my recording schedule.

A: There could be a variety of reasons:

• Is the airing outlined in white (v6) or bolded (v7)? If not, then it doesn't fit any of your Favorite's settings and will not be recorded as a Favorite.
  
  
• If it is already recorded & sitting in the list of SageTV Recordings, it won't be recorded again.
  
  
• If the episode is marked as 'Watched' or 'Don't Like', SageTV won't record it again. (Watched shows are displayed in italics.)
  
  
• Is it a ReRun & your favorite is set for First Runs only, or vice-versa?
  
  
• Is the Favorite set for a specific channel, but the show is aired on a different channel?
  
  
• Was a specific timeslot set for the Favorite, but the airing is outside that timeslot?
  
  
• Is a value set for the Favorite's Keep At Most option and that limit has been reached? (New recordings will cease if this is the case and AutoDelete is set to No.)
  
  
• It may be scheduled to record during another airing. Check future airings. (See above.)
  
  
• There is a conflict and that favorite was deemed to be a lower priority than another favorite or manual recording, so it was skipped. (Check for recording conflicts.)
  
  
• The schedule may take a while to update after adding a new Favorite.

- Andy

[Opus4]

Q: Can I use the Hauppauge remote to control SageTV when it doesn't have Windows focus?

A: Yes, by using SageTV's ability to be controlled via Windows messages.
See: How to control SageTV w/o focus (Hauppauge or other remotes).
The remote's irremote.ini file normally contains commands to send keystrokes to the active window that has focus. Thus, whatever window happens to have focus receives the commands sent by the remote. However, by sending messages directly to the SageTV window, this problem is bypassed. Girder has always had this capability when controlling SageTV; now the Hauppauge remote does too.

Note that the program used to send messages (found in the above linked thread) can be used by other programs; it is not limited to being used with the Hauppauge remote.

Update: SendMessage v2 now allow multiple messages to be sent to SageTV, instead of just 1 each time the program is run.

Update 6-23-04: The thread in the link above now contains details on a new command in the irremote.ini file that can send messages to windows w/o the need for my SendMessage utility. You can find that info in this post.

Update 1-27-05: The same post mentioned above also has a sample ini & button layout jpg image for the newer 45 button Hauppauge remote.

- Andy

[justme]

Q:Where can a find the official list of all the sendmessage, keystroke, and -event commands used by SageTV?

A: This link lists most commands that can be called to control Sage by an external application. This method is used by the plugin in the post above. These commands can even be directly executed by calling the SageTV.exe file with the -event switch followed by the command's #. See the linked document for more detailed examples.

These same commands can also be used from inside of SageTV by Keyboard or remote control. You just need to link them to the desired button/keystroke first. To do this go to Setup>Detailed Setup>Commands and select the "Link Infrared/Keystroke to SageTV Command" option. This same menu can be used to find all the keystroke shortcuts and their current mappings, as used by SageTV. ie You can find which keys to press to FF, RW, go directly to the Guide, TV, Main Menu, etc.

Note: The updated complete list of commands can be found at the end of chapter 5 in the PDF manual found in the SageTV directory. This list is more complete than the textfile linked above. In addition, as of v6, the list of commands at Setup -> Detailed Setup -> Commands -> "Link Infrared/Keystroke to SageTV Command" displays the command number for each command.

[Opus4]

Q: Where does SageTV store my recordings?

A: In the location(s) where you tell SageTV to store them.
From the main menu, go to Setup -> Detailed Setup -> General -> Video Recording Directories -> Modify. You will see a list of all the current directories where your recordings may be saved, along with an option to add a new directory. You can also choose to remove an existing directory by selecting it, or you can modify its settings. For each directory, you can specify how much available space SageTV is allowed to use by setting it to:

1. Use Only X GB
2. Leave X GB Free
3. Use All available space

If you specify option 1 or 2, please be sure the drive is currently capable of meeting the criteria you specify.


Q: Which directory will be used for the next recording?

A: The one with the most space currently available for SageTV to use.


Q: What happens if SageTV runs out of disk space?

A: It will search your system for credit card information and proceed to order a new drive from the online seller offering the lowest cost per GB, within the largest 3 sizes of hard drives currently available on the market. If this attempt fails (hint: auto-order doesn't work yet), it will delete a recording that has a lower priority than the recording about to be made.
So, that leaves the question of recording priority... From highest to lowest priority:

• Manual Recordings
• Favorites
• Intelligent Recordings
• Watched Shows
• Live TV
• Don't Like

This ranking means that recordings marked as Don't Like are deleted first; then Live TV; then shows marked as watched; then Intelligent Recordings; then deletable Favorites. If two shows have the same priority, the older of the two will be deleted first.

Manual Recordings and Favorites set to "Manual Delete" can never be automatically deleted.

More details about this can be found in Appendix C of the SageTV PDF manual.


Q: So... SageTV is only supposed to delete files when I tell it to or when it runs out of space?

A: No. Version 2 is now set by default to delete everything that is not a Favorite or Manual Recording. This automatic deletion occurs fairly soon after the show is done recording.

More details: For a new installation, SageTV initially has Intelligent Recording turned off and seeker/clear_partials_and_unwanted_when_ir_off is set to true in Sage.properties. This leads to the automatic deletion of all but Favorites and Manual Recordings.

If you set seeker/clear_partials_and_unwanted_when_ir_off to false, SageTV will not automatically delete the 'unwanted' recordings soon after they are made.

Instead of editing the above property, see the option at: Setup -> Detailed Setup -> Customize -> Delete Live TV files when not using Intelligent Recording.

Turning Intelligent Recording on will cancel auto-deletion.

- Andy

[Opus4]

Q: Are there any command line paramteters for use with SageTV?

A: There are a few parameters available:

• -event # Sends the # command message to an already running copy of the same exe. See Controlling SageTV Using Windows Messages for a list of the commnd values. But, if you wish to send command messages to SageTV, I suggest downloading the SendMessage.exe program I wrote that is much smaller (and thus faster loading). It is available as an attachment to this thread: How to control SageTV w/o focus (Hauppauge or other remotes). Update: SendMessage v2 now allow multiple messages to be sent to SageTV, instead of just 1 each time the program is run.
  
  
• -dvd This sends the same command to SageTV as using the -event parameter with the DVD command (#74). This could be used to tell SageTV to go to DVD mode as part of DVD autoplay when a DVD is inserted into the drive, I've been told.
  
  
• -awake Used to awaken an already running copy of the program that is currently sleeping. I'm not sure how much use this one is, since if you simply run the exe, it will automatically awaken a sleeping program.
  
  
• -connect hostname For SageTVClient: causes it to connect to the specified server when it starts.
  
  
• -startup When the property "ui/startup_type=2" is also set, this disables the splash screen and loads SageTV in the system tray.
  
  
• REGISTER This causes the license key dialog to come up so you can change the key SageTV is using.

For further information & and updated list, see Appendix D in the PDF manual, found in your SageTV directory.

- Andy

[justme]

Q: Where can I find a list of settings and their effects/meanings for the Sage.Properties file?

A: (Updated) The content of the properties file is not fully documented. Supported configuration settings are configurable via the SageTV UI, mostly in Detailed Setup. Some menus can be customized by using the Options command while on those menus to configure their settings.

Most, if not all, of the remaining properties are unsupported items that you change at your own risk or at the directions of SageTV's technical support.

If you do need to edit the properties file, you can find the "sage.properties" file in the directory where your SageTV program was installed. For Windows XP the default location would be "C:\Program Files\SageTV\SageTV". For the properties file location in Vista, see this FAQ.

Note: As always make sure SageTV is not running when you edit the properties file. Just putting SageTV to sleep (the icon shows up in the systray) is not enough. SageTV must be stopped completely or else the changes you make will not take effect.

[Opus4]

Q: I see above that SageTV always records LiveTV... once LiveTV has started, how do I stop it?

A: There are three ways to stop LiveTV recordings:

1. As mentioned above, put SageTV to sleep. It will still record scheduled shows while sleeping, including Manual recordings, Favorites, and Intelligent Recordings (if IR is enabled).
   
2. Watch a prerecorded show that is no longer recording.
   
3. In version 2 and later: during playback of Live TV, use the Options command to show the options menu and choose: "Close File". Or, simply use the new Stop command.

- Andy

[Opus4]

Q: I see some recordings and LiveTV listings that have colored outlines or are shown with a different font. What does this mean?

A: If a show's title is Italicized, that means it has been watched. The various colored outlines around shows have the following meanings:

• Yellow - Currently recording show.
• Red - Manual recording.
• White - Favorite.
• None - LiveTV guide: No meaning. Sage Recordings list: Intelligent Recording
• Black - Don't Like.

More information about the various outline colors and icons used by SageTV can be found in the PDF manual. See Chapter 3's Global Menu Features section. Or, in SageTV, go to Setup -> Help -> Interface Guide.

- Andy

[kny3twalker]

Q: SageTV only has a few recording qualities available, and I want to add more, is that even possible?


A: Yes, this is very possible and very configurable




I have added a few myself
If you would like to use them
You will have to close SageTV, not sleep
Then you will need to open the Sage properties file
with notepad

Then add the following lines to both the Sage properties and the Client
properties for 2.1:

• mmc/python2_encoding/Best\ -\ Variable\ Rate=videobitrate\=5000000|width\=720|height\=480| audiobitrate\=384|vbr\=1|peakvideobitrate\=7500000
• mmc/python2_encoding/Fair\ -\ Variable\ Rate=videobitrate\=2000000|width\=720|height\=480| audiobitrate\=384|vbr\=1|peakvideobitrate\=3000000
• mmc/python2_encoding/Good\ -\ Variable\ Rate=videobitrate\=3000000|width\=720|height\=480| audiobitrate\=384|vbr\=1|peakvideobitrate\=4500000
• mmc/python2_encoding/Great\ -\ Variable\ Rate=videobitrate\=4000000|width\=720|height\=480| audiobitrate\=384|vbr\=1|peakvideobitrate\=6000000
• mmc/python2_encoding/Highest\ Quality=videobitrate\=9500000|width\=720|height\=480| audiobitrate\=384
  
• mmc/python2_encoding/Highest\ Quality\ -\ Variable\ Rate=videobitrate\=6000000|width\=720|height\=480| audiobitrate\=384|vbr\=1|peakvideobitrate\=9000000
• mmc/python2_encoding/MPEG2\ Max\ Quality\ -\ Variable\ Rate=videobitrate\=9000000|width\=720|height\=480| audiobitrate\=384|vbr\=1|peakvideobitrate\=12575000

Add them in alphabetical order, same as Sage has them setup
in the properities file
Also SageTV has setup a guide on How To do this including
explainations of the features and properties

http://www.sagetv.com/2_papers/HPquality.txt

Enjoy

-Robert

I have added a file that can be downloaded with all of these properties


This has been updated for SageTV 2.1!

[stanger89]

Q: How do I adjust the brightness and contrast of the recordings?

A: Brightness and contrast are adjusted in the source setup, under Color Calibration.

The best way to adjust the settings is with the aid of the DScaler Histogram filter. For more information on how to do this see my guide on Adjusting Capture Brightness and Contrast

[stanger89]

Q: How do I use Girder to control SageTV?

A: The easiest way is to find a GML for SageTV and take advantage of that.

See my guide on Setting up Girder to control SageTV for my GML and more info on setting up Girder to use it.

[kny3twalker]

Q: What is the best way to install new drivers for Hauppauge PVR cards, Hauppauge always seems to have new ones

A: There are two ways depending on which drivers you want to use

Number 1

• Go to Hauppauge Computer Works Website www.hauppauge.com
• Under support choose your card and there is a list of Drivers/ Software available
• You need the inf file for the computers system drivers which will be listed in the device manager and you need the winTV pvr update (at least for the remote port to work)
• Download both of these files and the IR remote executable if needed and then you will need to download HCWCLEAR
• Then unzip the PVR inf and close SageTV
• Run HCWCLEAR and put an additional check in the serach for conflicting infs then hit OK
• Next you will need to restart your computer and make sure that SageTV to not set to start with your computer
• After restarting your computer you will see the New Hardware Wizard appear
• You will need to choose advanced and hit the next button
• On the next screen you will have three choices, only check the second box
• At the end of the row following the text, there will be a browse button, click the browse button
• You will then need to find the unzipped inf folder you downloaded from Hauppauge and once you find it, hit OK
• You will be back to the New Hardware Wizard now, then hit next and then you will have to hit next again followed by continue installation and then hit next once followed by finished
• Then you can install the pvr update.exe file followed by the IR remote.exe
• Then it is best to reboot

The other option

• Goto www.shspvr.com/forum or ftp://www.shspvr.com and download the newest CD from SHS
• Note: The drivers that SHS has listed are always at least as current as the ones listed by Hauppauge. But they are many times Beta releases. Many times there is nothing wrong with these drivers, but you may want to check the forum
  to see if others are finding issues. And these drivers are not made by SHS but rather he knows someone at Hauppauge that is willing to release these drivers for beta testing.
• You will need to download the newest CD for your model PVR, and then if there i newer driver update you will need to download it as well. The driver updates if newer than one included in the CD are listed in the Topic usually above the Topic with the CD available for download or can be easily found of SHS's ftp site listed above
• After downloading both of these you will need to unzip the CD folder and much like the installation above, you will need to run hcw.clear.exe and then reboot. Then install the inf via the New Hardware Wizard
• Note: SHS also has another tool available in his CDs that Hauppauge does not offer at there website. It is called unregister.bat. If you intend to use this, you will need to run it before HCWCLEAR. It is another tool is help in the uninstalling of the Hauppauge PVR cards
• The inf in this case is just files. you will see in the CD folder that you not in another folder (like IR, Scheduler, PVR, etc...)
• Again, you will browse when installing the inf driver and this time just find the unzipped CD folder and hit OK
• Then when you have finished installing the inf driver, you can just run the pvr update.exe, then install the IR remote from the IR folder in the CD folder
• It is always again best to reboot afterwards. Then you can go ahead and run SageTV

Enjoy!

-Robert

Any questions or comments, please post a message in the SageTV forums


Note: If you have previously installed the Hauppauge SDK Intervideo Decoder, using HCWCLEAR will not uninstalled it. You will need to manually uninstall it from your ADD/ REMOVE PROGRAMS list

[Opus4]

Q: How often is the Program Guide (EPG) updated?

A: Every 24 hours.
You can easily see when the next EPG update is scheduled to occur by going to the main menu and using the Info command, or go to Setup -> Help -> System Information. On that screen, you will see a listing for the "Last EPG Update: date/time" and "Next EPG Update In: hours + minutes".


Q: Can I force the Guide to be updated?

A: Yes.
OH! You want to know how!? There is no direct option yet to tell SageTV to :"Update Guide NOW", but an update will occur if you do the following: go to Channel Setup. On that screen, click on one channel twice to 1) toggle its status and 2) toggle it back to what it was. Then, select "Done with Channel Setup". SageTV will then update its guide, even though no channels have actually been enabled or disabled. The next automatic guide update will be scheduled 24 hours from the time you forced an update.

Alternatively, the Webserver for SageTV by nielm has a button to click that forces the EPG to be updated. (Note that this does not trigger the grabber mechanism to run if you are using XMLTV.)

Also see this FAQ for more info if the EPG still doesn't update.


Q: Is there a way to specify an exact time for the update to occur? (I want to have the update occur at 3:00 AM, but I don't want to stay up that late!)

A: Yes, a way to do that has been found.
Thanks to the discussion in the thread titled Guide download time?, it was discovered that the property epg_data_sources/#####/expanded_until controls when the next EPG update will occur. (##### will be some set of 5 digits.) This property is the number of milliseconds since Jan 1, 1970. (Epoch time, as the discussion explains.) This value can be changed quite easily, by either adding/subtracting an adjustment value or using the links to epoch time calculators that others posted:

http://dan.drydog.com/unixdatetime.html
http://esqsoft.com/javascript_exampl...e-to-epoch.htm
http://www.onlineconversion.com/unix_time.htm

To make changes:

1. Adjust the value by adding to or subtracting from the current expanded_until value. Remember, the time is in milliseconds. To calculate your adjustment time from the current update time (shown in System Information), simply determine your desired time change and calculate the following:
   
   time adjustment = seconds * 1000 + minutes * 60000 + hours * 3600000
   
   Thus, to set your EPG update time to 3 hours 25 minutes earlier:
   
   time adjustment = (-25) * 60000 + (-3) * 3600000 = -12300000 milliseconds.
   
   Subtract 12300000 from your current expanded_until setting and restart SageTV.
   
   
2. Use the epoch time calculators mentioned above to determine the exact time you want to use for your next EPG update. However, note that those calculators are using seconds, so you will have to convert the new value to milliseconds (um: add 000 to the end of it) when you enter the value in the properties file. Restart SageTV.

If you set the time to the past, an update will probably occur as soon as you restart SageTV. It should be safe to use a new update time further than 24 hours from the last update, but I sometimes had the update occur immediately. It seemed safest to use a time less than 24 hours from the last update time.

Note: If you are using multiple lineups or EPG sources, look for multiple epg_data_sources/#####/expanded_until entries in the properties file, with a different ##### for each EPG source.

As always: be sure to completely exit SageTV before editing the properties file, or your changes will not have any effect.

- Andy

[stanger89]

Q: What's the difference between a Decoder and a Renderer?

A:
Most (basically all) audio and video available on the PC is stored in a compressed form (eg MPEG-2 video, MP3 audio). That form is not useable by the system for playback.

Decoders unpack/uncompress the audio/video data into it's native form, they "decode" the audio/video.
Once decoded, the audio/video can be used by other "filters" in the system for additional processing.

Renderers take the uncompressed audio/video, and write, draw, "render" it to the output device.
Renderers are what take the uncompressed audio/video and draw it to the screen, or route it to the speakers.

Q: What's a "filter"?

A: A filter is a DirectShow component.
The Windows playback engine used by SageTV is DirectShow. It's a modular engine that allows components from different providers to be "mixed and matched" to allow playback of basically any media file, in any media application. A "Filter" is the generic name for a DirectShow component, it can be a decoder, a renderer, a processor (ffdshow), a file source, etc. Filters are connected together into what is called a graph, a graph defines which filters are used for playing a media file.

Q: What is the "Default" audio/video decoder?

A: There isn't one.
Yeah, sorry to burst your bubble, but there's no one answer to that. There are two ways to create a "graph" to play a media file, one is to explicitly select and connect all the filters needed to play a given file. The other, is to let DirectShow pick some or all of the filters needed.

Whan you pick "Default" in SageTV, what it means is that SageTV will let DirectShow pick the decoder. How does directshow do that? It looks at two things, one being the decoders capable of decoding the selected file, and two being the "merit" of those decoders. Merit is just a number, a priority basically. DirectShow will pick the decoder with the highest merit capable of decoding the file. In DirectShow speak, it will pick the "Preferred" decoder


Q: How do I tell what the "Preferred" decoder is on my system?

A: There are a couple ways:
First, whenever you install a decoder, it usually sets itself as Preferred. So the last decoder you installed is usually the Preferred one.

Second, you can simply play the file in Windows Media Player, and then go to File -> Properties and it will tell you what decoders are being used to play the file.

Third, you can download graphedit, and drop the file in there. Graphedit will actaully show you the "graph" that's created to play the file. This is probably the most reliable way.

Fourth, download Deccheck from Microsoft. Deccheck will show you the available MPEG-2 decoders installed, and which one is preferred.

Q: What is the difference between Renderers, which one is best?

A: That's a pretty complex question.
There are three video renderers: Overlay, VMR7, VMR9
Overlay is a "legacy" renderer. Originally video was something hard to do on PCs, video cards came with dedicated hardware used for mixing video with the rest of the screen. The Overlay renderer, draws video to that special purpose hardware on the video card.

Because it's dedicated hardware on the video card, Overlay has minimal resource requirements, but it also has limitations. Most video cards only have one Overlay Mixer, so only one overlay renderer can be active (only one video) and it usually only works on the primary display (if you have multiple displays setup.) [Edit: Overlay will work on the secondary monitor, unless your decoder doesn't support it correctly. The SageTV Placeshifter client, which only uses Overlay on a PC, can also run on the secondary monitor now. - Opus4]

VMR7 came (I think) in Windows 2000, and uses DirectDraw (DirectX 7) to draw the video. VMR7 never really took off as a renderer. VMR7 is the Default/Preferred renderer on Windows XP, so selecting Default in Sage will use it.

VMR9 came about with DirectX 9. It renders video as a Direct3D texture, since it uses Direct3D, it has higher requirements than the other renderers. There are several ways to run VMR9:
Windowed/Windowless, both of which use the Microsoft supplied VMR9 renderer, and which I don't know what the difference is.
Renderless, which is where the application does not use the Microsoft renderer (hence renderless), it supplies it's own.

A special form of VMR9 Renderless is Fullscreen Exclusive Mode. FSE, as it's called, is a way of running a Direct3D application where the application is given complete control of the video hardware. This is the same mode games run in. This mode can solve some common problems with VMR9 (most notably tearing) since it is run like a game with all the D3D features enabled. However it also can cause some problems, since it's "exclusive" you can't change focus to other apps.

Which is best? That basically comes down to Overlay or VMR9. An oversimplified answer is that VMR9 is more accurate doing minimal processing to the image, Overlay can appear more "vivid" or "sharper" but only because it adds additional processing to the image.


As for Audio renderers, I've really found no practical differences between them. There are usually several renderers, Default Directsound, Default Wave out, and duplicates of each for your specfic soundcard, and one that's usually just named for your soundcard. I usually use the one named for my soundcard (M-Audio Revolution). Best advice is to try them and see if one works better than the others.