SageTV FAQ

[Opus4]

Q: How do I edit the properties file? The settings don't change when I change them.

A: Edit the properties file with a plain text editor while SageTV is not running.

See Appendix A of the SageTV PDF for more information about properties files.

Here are some reasons why property file edits may not work:

1. The wrong properties file was edited -- Make sure you are editing the correct properties file: sage.properties or sageclient.properties in the SageTV directory, or <mac address>.properties in the "clients" subdirectory. Appendix A of the PDF manual has more information about which properties file to edit.
   
   
2. SageTV is still active -- Make sure that SageTV is not running. If using service mode, stop the service -- this means using the SageTV-provided SageTVServiceControl.exe tool to stop the service (or Windows' tools to do it); if you simply kill the service's process, it may just get restarted automatically. The UI must be exited, not just sleeping in the system tray. In Windows, make sure there is no SageTV process in Windows Task Manager. For a different OS, check its list of running processes.
   
   
3. Use a plain text editor -- Do not edit the properties file with something like MS Word. Use a program that does not add extra characters, like Notepad in Windows, with Format -> Word Wrap unchecked. If the editor adds extra characters, then the properties file may be seen as corrupts and the .autobackup copy may be used instead.
   
   
4. The wrong properties file was edited, part 2 -- In Windows, make sure that Windows Explorer does not have extensions turned off. If extensions are turned off, then "sage.properties" may be seen as "sage", while "sage.properties.autobackup" would be shown as "sage.properties".
   
   
5. The property already exists -- If you add a new property line and that line already exists somewhere else in the file, the already-existing value may be used instead. Search the file for the property to be changed before adding it.
   
   
6. The wrong properties file was edited, part 3 -- If using Windows Vista or 7 with SageTV versions earlier than v7, the properties files to be edited may be in the VirtualStore instead of the SageTV install directory. See this FAQ for more info.

- Andy