Service and Standalone mode run concurrently

[jackmtl71]

Hi everyone,

I'm having a strange problem with SageTV v6.

I'm running it in service mode from my main PC and I can connect fine from another PC on the LAN using placeshifter.

However, when I run it on the main PC, it acts as if it was running in Standalone mode, ie: recordings stop when I close the UI, I can see mapped drives when browsing to play media files, etc.

I'm relatively new to SageTv but reading the User Manual, I don't think this is standard behaviour.

Does anyone have any insight on this?

Thanks.

Hugo

[GKusnick]

Are you saying that no recording happens at all if the server UI isn't running? But that Placeshifter can still connect in that state? That would be very odd.

Make sure you're actually using service mode. Enabling the server function (i.e. the part that allows Placeshifter to connect) is not the same as enabling the service (the part that runs invisibly in background even before you log in to Windows). To enable the service, use the SageTVServiceControl applet. Use Control Panel > Administrative Tools > Services to verify that the SageTV service is started. (You can also configure the service manually from here if you like, instead of using the SageTVServiceControl applet.)

If the service is running, and Placeshifter can connect even when the server UI is not running, then scheduled recordings should also happen whether or not the server UI is running.

On the other hand, if you start the server UI and tune it to Live TV, the Record icon will appear on the Placeshifter screen. That icon will then go away again when you close the server UI (because that unscheduled recording will stop when nobody's watching it anymore). Could this be what you're seeing?

[jackmtl71]

Are you saying that no recording happens at all if the server UI isn't running? But that Placeshifter can still connect in that state? That would be very odd.

Not quite, actually, recordings initiated from the placeshifter session will continue recording even after all UIs have been terminated. However, if I initiate a manual recording or a timed recording from the UI on the server PC, then everything beings and ends with the UI, if I close it, no recording.

Enabling the server function not the same as enabling the service

That's fine too, The server function is enabled and my placeshifter license is properly configured. The service is also enabled, set for recovery and to log in with my username/passwords to access network resources.

That's where it gets weird, I was unable to connect using placeshifter via the internet, even after configuring user accounts in the UI on the server PC, I kept getting an error that no users were configured. Then I connected from my local LAN with a placeshifter client and configured the user accounts from there, bingo, now I can logon through the internet.

Also, from the placeshifter UI, I cannot see mapped drives, I need to access network resources by UNC path, however, on ther server PC's UI, I can browse mapped drives from within SageTV UI, which further tells me the Server PC's UI is not using the SageTV service as I want it to do. Configuration changes made in one UI do not reflect themselves on the other.

[GKusnick]

Sounds to me like you somehow ended up with two different installations of SageTV on your server. The service is running out of one directory and the UI is running out of another, and never the twain shall meet. Or something like that.

Perhaps when you last upgraded SageTV you installed into the wrong directory by mistake?

[jackmtl71]

Hmmm...good theory GKusnick.

However, I just checked and that's not the case

I recently rebuilt my PC from scratch and installed Windows Vista Business. I did install my v5 and then upgrade to v6. I'm thinking of unistalling everything and reinstalling Sage from scratch. I don't mind not keeping the TV database, this was a fairly fresh reinstall and I didn't have time to build up any favorites or watched shows ar anything. But I did do a lot of work on configuring my media library and customizing settings using SageMC16x9 STV. I'd like to keep those. Which files should I back up and restore to accomplish that?

[Opus4]

Originally Posted by jackmtl71

I recently rebuilt my PC from scratch and installed Windows Vista Business.

Somehow, I thought this was running on Vista, since I had never heard of the UI not being able to talk to the service before & running as 2 separate instances of the core. I'm guessing there is some sort of permissions issue in Vista causing this, but since I don't have Vista...

Perhaps check with SageTV tech support; maybe they know about some issues running SageTV on Vista. And, if this is one of them, they would like to know about it.

I'm thinking of unistalling everything and reinstalling Sage from scratch. I don't mind not keeping the TV database, this was a fairly fresh reinstall and I didn't have time to build up any favorites or watched shows ar anything. But I did do a lot of work on configuring my media library and customizing settings using SageMC16x9 STV. I'd like to keep those. Which files should I back up and restore to accomplish that?

wiz.bin contains all your EPG data, viewing history, & favs.

sage.properties and sageclient.properties will have your settings, though there might be other settings for certain customizations.

- Andy

[jackmtl71]

Thanks guys,

Before I reinstall, I'll look into the user account control Vista feature. Maybe I can set some exceptions, and I'll try running the Sage UI "as an administrator" on the Server PC to see if that makes a difference. I know I need to do it to use Sage Service Control.

I'll post my results/finding back here

Hugo

[Opus4]

That's funny... when I asked about it, I found out that this should already be resolved for v6.1.4.

And, I was told that you should be able to right click on SageTV and use 'Run as Administrator'. I think that should work until v6.1.4 comes out.

- Andy

[jackmtl71]

Yup, Right-Click, Run as Administrator and everything is just fine.... don't know why I didn't think of it sooner... I was so convinced my Sage install was corrupt!

Thanks GKusnick and Andy for your help!

Hugo