Stability

[Deadbolt]

The problem with this is that I've been told by Support to update to the latest Beta (when I was using the current release 4.1.3.67) to try to clear up stability problems. Well...there is always a beta rolling out and so I'm always updating to the latest beta and the problem is never solved!

Originally Posted by DFA

I don't see a point in running a stability poll on beta software. It's not likely to be stable by definition (beta). I'm expecting at least two more cycles on this beta run before things settle down and a release can be anticipated.

I think "PlaceShifter" has turned out to be a bit of tough nut for Sage dev. team.

A stability poll on the current release (4.1.3.67) would be meaningful. I found 4.1.3.67 to be quite stable.

The release version (4.1.3.67) is what you should be using if wanting stability.

DFA

[fastoy]

Originally Posted by Deadbolt

The problem with this is that I've been told by Support to update to the latest Beta (when I was using the current release 4.1.3.67) to try to clear up stability problems. Well...there is always a beta rolling out and so I'm always updating to the latest beta and the problem is never solved!

My problem exactly. Now I'm being told by SageTV Support that they don't support the betas and that I need to use a different source (betatest@sagetv.com) for beta support.

[Wheemer]

That's too bad... In my opinion the procedure that needs to be done to submit bug reports is too much of a pain.

Sage should be doing everything to make submitting bug reports as easy as possible. Like perhaps having the system remember who you are and all your details, instead of having to go through all that stuff every time.

[salsbst]

Originally Posted by Wheemer

That's too bad... In my opinion the procedure that needs to be done to submit bug reports is too much of a pain.

Sage should be doing everything to make submitting bug reports as easy as possible. Like perhaps having the system remember who you are and all your details, instead of having to go through all that stuff every time.

Agreed. A little bit of time spent building a better bug submission page would go a long way.

[fastoy]

Originally Posted by salsbst

Agreed. A little bit of time spent building a better bug submission page would go a long way.

I submit that the effort would be better spent making it not necessary to submit bug reports.

[blade]

Originally Posted by fastoy

I submit that the effort would be better spent making it not necessary to submit bug reports.

It's kind of difficult to fix bugs if you don't know about them.

[fastoy]

Originally Posted by blade

It's kind of difficult to fix bugs if you don't know about them.

I'm not at all suggesting for users to not report bugs. I was just observing that I'd rather have the developers work on the product rather than work on the bug report form.

It looks like the bug report form just does a mailform to support at sagetv.com. Often, e-mails back to me from support at sagetv.com contain the e-mail that results from the bug report form. One could just capture that and reuse most of the fields when you need to report another bug.

[eobiont]

A couple of weeks ago, my OS hard drive crashed. I was still able to mount the drive and move most of my data off, by my SageTV directory was lost.

I installed XPSP2 on the new drive, the latest Sage Beta, and got to work setting everything up. Previously I was using a a version of sage a couple of betas older

Even with the pain of reinstalling everything I wish this had happened months ago. Everything is now working great.

Before the crash, there would be long delays between changing channels. And I would need to restart the A/V in Sage to resume playback.

Now, even HDTV recorded with SGraphRecorder works well. I can flip HDTV channels as easily as S-Vid and composite on the Hauppauge 150. I can watch programs while they are recording.

It is possible that my problems were caused by a failing hard drive, but I think really the problems were caused by having too many of the wrong directX video/audio codecs loaded. I am nearly certain of this, because I had to do a lot of experimenting to get it to work the first time. Now that I had a fresh start, I could just use my note to load only the ones I needed.

Just from my experience, I think a lot of crashes and poor functioning of Sage could come from poorly configured elements outside of Sage's control. I rebuilt my machine from the ground up, and couldn't be more pleased with the functioning of Sage.

[Polypro]

Originally Posted by eobiont

...It is possible that my problems were caused by a failing hard drive, but I think really the problems were caused by having too many of the wrong directX video/audio codecs loaded. I am nearly certain of this, because I had to do a lot of experimenting to get it to work the first time. Now that I had a fresh start, I could just use my note to load only the ones I needed.

Just from my experience, I think a lot of crashes and poor functioning of Sage could come from poorly configured elements outside of Sage's control. I rebuilt my machine from the ground up, and couldn't be more pleased with the functioning of Sage.

I agree 100%. I know not everybody can have a purpose built PC, but it does go a long way toward stability. Mine has home entertainment apps/tools only and it's been up 24/7 (re-boots automatically at 4AM) since last August.

P

[DFA]

I forward that thinking. A lot of problems can be rooted in the system and not a Sage problem. Separating the two is difficult. Intermittent harware problems, some drivers, AntiVirus SW (I use none on HTPC) and over-taxed power supplies can also wreak havoc. For that reason, I follow the forum closely and try not to have knee-jerk responses. If I am having a problem not shared by others, I start poking around at the system rather than Sage.

DFA

[MadAxeMan]

I had quite a lot of stability problems until I discovered that upgrading Java always seemed to be the problem.

I now no longer upgrade to the latest release of Java and use whatever the sage installer installs by default.

This has cured my stability problems to almost 100%. I have very rare crashes now - in fact I can't remember the last one.

I have multiple tuners and use EXEtuner/MCE Remote/Client/GetStatus LCD Plugin and Nielm's webserver.

I also almost always install the BETAs (I leave it a few days to gauge bleeding edge user feedback).

[dblaine2]

I fully agree. Definitely need a dedicated PC for Sage. Nothing extraneous on it including antivirus. Turn off autoupdating as much as possible. I think the Java updating thing is very important and is the root of most trouble. Of course, if you are playing around with DirectX and codecs (especial codec packs) you are doomed to instability.

I run 4.1.9 beta (can't keep up with all the releases) but it is rock solid - no crashes, etc.

Now if people are surfing on their HTPC - look what spyware and other ad crap does to a normal PC!