Utility: SageExtCtrl (Sage Extender Power Control)

[shadeblue.com]

This command line utility will connect to your SageTV STX-HD100 or STP-HD200 Media Extender via TCP/IP and power 'ON', power 'OFF', or 'REBOOT' the extender.


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SageTV Extender Controller
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sageextctrl.exe <address> <function>

<address> is the IP address or hostname
to access the extender.

<function> is the action you wish to
perform. The available
functions are:
- "on"
- "off"
- "reboot"

Example: sageextctrl.exe 192.168.1.105 on

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More Information is located on the DOWNLOADS page

[Brent]

How would you use this program? I'm not understanding its purpose although its been a long day so it might just be that I'm tired

[Fonceur]

Originally Posted by Brent

How would you use this program? I'm not understanding its purpose

The extender goes in standby after inactivity, so this is one way to wake it up... Of course if you are in the same room and can simply use the remote that doesn't help you much.

[shadeblue.com]

Originally Posted by Brent

How would you use this program? I'm not understanding its purpose although its been a long day so it might just be that I'm tired

Hi Brent,

I just created it as a generic utility so that if a user needs this type of functionality, they could make use of it. It is probably not of much use for the average user.

Since the standby mode on the extender does not power down the unit, I'm using this tool to power down the extender. If the extender is powered down, then my LCD TV will shut itself off after a few minutes. So, in my case I am using it to provide the ability to auto shut down the extender and consequently the TV after some period of inactivity. So now, if I fall asleep while watching TV, my LCD TV is not running all night

You could using Nielm's dynamic menus also include a "Reboot Extender" menu item on some advanced technical user page if you wanted.

[personalt]

this is a great little project. This also benfits anyone that controls the via home automation software that doesnt work after the extender looses connection. CQC is like that. After I reboot my pc I need to reboot the extender but have no way to.

[Brent]

OK that makes sense. I just didn't understand how it worked and how people would be using it. Looks like a good idea.

[sic0048]

Yeah, I will certainly make good use of this program. My HD extender is actually located in my central wiring closet and is distributed via a matrix switcher to the TVs around the house.

If I had to reboot my server for some reason, I would have to go down to the closet and manually turn the extender off and then back on. By using this program, I'll simply have a new button on my wireless touchscreen that will allow me to reset the extender.

EDIT - For that matter, I should probably just put the app in the startup folder so that it is automatically run every time the computer is booted. This way I don't even need to manually run the application, it will be done for me.

[CollinR]

Nice! Thanks for the addition!

[personalt]

batch works great... startup folder i think runs on login not startup i think.

wonder if i need to make it a service

Originally Posted by sic0048

Yeah, I will certainly make good use of this program. My HD extender is actually located in my central wiring closet and is distributed via a matrix switcher to the TVs around the house.

If I had to reboot my server for some reason, I would have to go down to the closet and manually turn the extender off and then back on. By using this program, I'll simply have a new button on my wireless touchscreen that will allow me to reset the extender.

EDIT - For that matter, I should probably just put the app in the startup folder so that it is automatically run every time the computer is booted. This way I don't even need to manually run the application, it will be done for me.

[shadeblue.com]

Originally Posted by personalt

batch works great... startup folder i think runs on login not startup i think.

wonder if i need to make it a service

Yes, in order for it to be able to run automatically at system startup (if a user account is not logged on) you will need to find a way to run it as a service.

However, an alternate method, the one I use on my Sage server is to use TweakUI (http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/D...powertoys.mspx) and just setup a user account to auto logon at system startup. This way I can just add startup items to the startup folder.

[personalt]

What about if you just add the batch file to a scheduled task on startup.

I havent fully tested it but it seems to work fine for me.

[SnyperBob]

I will be using this with my home automation software. I'll have it power up the extender when I walk into the room and power it down at the end of the day.

Thank you for this. I'll be trying it out sometime in the next couple weeks

Edit: Can this be run on any machine on the network? Or does it need to run on the SageTV server? Just want to make sure

[shadeblue.com]

Originally Posted by SnyperBob

I will be using this with my home automation software. I'll have it power up the extender when I walk into the room and power it down at the end of the day.

Thank you for this. I'll be trying it out sometime in the next couple weeks

Edit: Can this be run on any machine on the network? Or does it need to run on the SageTV server? Just want to make sure

Hi SnyperBob,

Sorry for the delayed reply. This program can be run from any (windows) computer that is network accessible to the SageTV server. Under the hood it is simply performing a TELNET connection over TCP/IP port 23.

[shadeblue.com]

I wonder if this will work on the new STPHD200 extenders? I guess it depends on the telnet access and commands required on this embedded OS.

If anybody gets a new STPHD200 extender and would be willing to try this program out, that information may be useful and helpful for other users.

Thank You,
SB

[shadeblue.com]

Release 1.0.1 (2009-04-07)
- added support for STP-HD200 Media Extender

Download Here

[RocKKer]

For those of us on Linux I just posted a Linux solution to control hd200's on the SageTV Linux support section.

Thanks Shadeblue.com for the inspiration!

[jgscott987]

Just a thought if anyone is still maintaining this program... The Reboot command will not turn an HD200 on if it is off when the command is issued. I think it would make sense for it to, since your expectation would be for a box to be on after you issue a reboot command.

Thanks!

EDIT:

A potential solution would be to issue a 'reboot' command followed by an 'on' command, using a batch file for example. If the extender was off, it would ignore the 'reboot' command, but would respond to the 'on' command. If it were already on, it would obey the 'reboot' command but ignore the 'on' command.

EDIT #2:
I tried the solution above, but it wasn't completely successful. A better solution is to send an 'off' command followed by an 'on' command.

[sic0048]

I have installed this program and have it set to execute when the computer is rebooted. This will allow my HD extenders to automatically reconnect after the server is rebooted.

The process works fine, but the application is executed too quickly during the reboot process. This causes the extenders to reboot and attempt to reconnect to the Sage server. The problem is that 95% of the time, the Sage service has not finished starting on the computer by the time the extenders have rebooted and search for the server. So they do not find the server and do not automatically reconnect.

Is there a way to induce a pause into the equation? Either some way of delaying the execution of my scheduled task (scheduled to run at start up), or adding a delay into the program itself - perhaps 30-45 seconds?

I'd love to hear everyone's suggestions.

Thanks,

[Fuzzy]

there are a few ways to put in the pause. One way would be to add a 'ping pause' to the batch file that is calling the program.

ping -n 1 -w 5000 1.1.1.1 > nul

this will wait 5000msec (change the wait timeout to whatever time you need), and then continue.

Another is to launch your program from a windows scheduled task. The task can be started at various times, one of the options being at startup. There is also a delay task option, so you can effectively make it run x seconds after startup.

[sic0048]

Originally Posted by Fuzzy

there are a few ways to put in the pause. One way would be to add a 'ping pause' to the batch file that is calling the program.

ping -n 1 -w 5000 1.1.1.1 > nul

this will wait 5000msec (change the wait timeout to whatever time you need), and then continue.

Another is to launch your program from a windows scheduled task. The task can be started at various times, one of the options being at startup. There is also a delay task option, so you can effectively make it run x seconds after startup.

Thanks for the suggestions. I should be able to get one of those to work. I'll dig into the scheduled task first, but certainly can modify my batch file if I need to. I just wasn't sure of the command syntax to use. Your example helped greatly.