Was SageTV easy to install?

[freedml]

Hi,

I've had endless problems trying to get SageTV to work. The SageTV folks keep pointing the finger at my hardware and operating system, which seem to be fine except for SageTV. I even bought a new computer to give me a fresh start and I'm having the same problems I had with the old hardware and operating system.

Has anybody had an easy time installing SageTV? You installed it and it just worked right great off the bat?

What about with SageTV Client, or Placeshifter, or using a Hauppauge MVP?

[Brent]

I had no problems setting it up - just installed it, made a few adjustments and it worked. You really should do this before starting a post like this:

• Post your setup - give details of what OS, what CPU, videocard network etc. you are using. Include your server and any clients/extenders/placeshifterPC's you are using
• Explain they problems you are experiencing with enough detail someone could help you with.

Any HTPC setup takes a little extra work, but I certainly wouldn't say it was difficult - but thats coming from someone who's been doing this hobby for a while now.

[freedml]

Hi, Brent,

Ok, first of all, you said you 'made a few adjustments.' But you didn't check 'a few problems' in the poll. What 'adjustments' did you need to make? What problems did they solve?

I'm a very tech-savvy guy. I think the last time I was this frustrated was interfacing my electric typewriter to my Apple II. I'm really stubborn and finally got it to work. But I'm about to give up on using SageTV as a whole house media server.

I did initially try posting a few of my problems to the boards, but got no responses, so I gave up on that method. Before doing that, of course, I tried to find existing references to my problems, but no luck there either.

I've been going back and forth with SageTV folks on email off and on for months now. The server works ok locally (I even bought a new PC to 'start over') but it's not in a convenient location for daily watching. I can watch it most reliably over the internet on my notebook with Placeshifter. I've been having a tough time trying to use Placeshifter on my notebook on my wireless lan. Audio and video often stutter or stop. Sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't. Sometimes it shows me the bandwidth and buffer status, and sometimes not. Same playback problems with SageTV Client. Doesn't matter whether it's Basic or Advanced playback mode or no transcoding or manually set.

I've had almost no luck using wireless MVPs. They seem to barely work for hours or days and then quit, which I am chalking up to hardware failure so far. Not Sage's fault, I assume, but it's still a frustrating part of the puzzle.

I'd appreciate any help you're willing to give me. I'll send you a pm.

[Brent]

Originally Posted by freedml

Hi, Brent,

Ok, first of all, you said you 'made a few adjustments.' But you didn't check 'a few problems' in the poll. What 'adjustments' did you need to make? What problems did they solve?

Adjustments like - setting up the tuners, setting up the non-SageTV codecs. Those sort of things. Not really problems per se, but things I needed to do to make the HTPC work the way I wanted it to.

I'm a very tech-savvy guy. I think the last time I was this frustrated was interfacing my electric typewriter to my Apple II. I'm really stubborn and finally got it to work. But I'm about to give up on using SageTV as a whole house media server.

Don't give up. Do like I said and post a "please help" post and you'll get some quality user-to-user assistance. I'm always amazed at the amount of quality help I've gotten on this forum.

I did initially try posting a few of my problems to the boards, but got no responses, so I gave up on that method. Before doing that, of course, I tried to find existing references to my problems, but no luck there either.

The only post I saw you make (might have missed one) was about wireless MVP. Wireless and video really don't mix well - especially with HD content. I don't recommend it and don't do it myself.

I've been going back and forth with SageTV folks on email off and on for months now. The server works ok locally (I even bought a new PC to 'start over') but it's not in a convenient location for daily watching. I can watch it most reliably over the internet on my notebook with Placeshifter. I've been having a tough time trying to use Placeshifter on my notebook on my wireless lan. Audio and video often stutter or stop. Sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't. Sometimes it shows me the bandwidth and buffer status, and sometimes not.

I use placeshifter for viewing content on my laptop at home using G. It works pretty good except for h.264 playback - no problems otherwise except that HD gets transcoded to a lower quality because of the wireless connection.

Same playback problems with SageTV Client. Doesn't matter whether it's Basic or Advanced playback mode or no transcoding or manually set.

How is your client PC connected to the server?

I've had almost no luck using wireless MVPs. They seem to barely work for hours or days and then quit, which I am chalking up to hardware failure so far. Not Sage's fault, I assume, but it's still a frustrating part of the puzzle.

Wireless is bad imo.

Hang in there - like I said, I'd start a new post with the goal to fix any individual problems you're having other than the wireless thing. I can't help you with anything you're connection wirelessly.

[paulbeers]

Originally Posted by freedml

I did initially try posting a few of my problems to the boards, but got no responses, so I gave up on that method. Before doing that, of course, I tried to find existing references to my problems, but no luck there either.

Not to be a jerk here, but you are on post 6. That isn't many and 2 of them are in this thread.

As Brent said, wireless G is not good for video. Sage quit selling the Wireless MediaMVP for a reason. Some people have gotten Draft N to work but since the Wireless MediaMVP uses wireless G that just isn't going to help to pair it with a Draft N wireless network (yes it will work, but it won't give you the benefit of Draft N).

As Brent stated, we need to know what you are trying to do and where your problems are. If they are solely the wireless issue, then I think you know your solution at this point: Run Cable. I know that is easier said then done, but it can often be done. I have had to run cable in houses from the basement, thru closets on first floors and then up to the second floor and other times I have had to run thru closets into attics and then back down. If nothing else, try running temporary cables. If you do this, then you will know that it isn't really a Sage issue, but a wireless network.

Also as Brent stated, Sage does require some configuration. This isn't a Sage issue per-se. Every system is differnet that runs this software and therefore needs to be set up and adjusted to fit. My first Sage box was a single computer with a cable tuner and that worked right out of the box. I had to do nothing to get it to work. BUT, anything beyond that requires setting up Sage to get IR Blasters working / Video Renderors tested to get perfect playback / adjustment of tuners for color (analog) / amplifiers due to too many tuners and signal loss / etc. / etc. / etc.....the list goes on....

As it stands, I have 3 MediaMVP's, 3 HD100's, Placeshifter on my laptop, a fileserver storing my DVD collection, and a Sage Server with 8 tuners (recording OTA HD, OTA Analog, SD Dish Network, HD Dish Network). I could strip my system down and have it all back running within 4 hours if I needed to.

[freedml]

Ok, so two people on this board say wireless really doesn't work. Why doesn't Sage just say that? "It should work, but we don't recommend it and don't support it."

Three of my early posts asked fairly simple questions, and none of them got answers. How many times do you suggest I bang my head against a wall before turning to other methods? Companies that promote a forum for support usually have someone monitoring to answer questions that don't get answered.

If bandwidth is the issue, why does it work for me over broadband wireless internet which has much less throughput than my wireless-g home lan? Same notebook computer, sitting in the same chair, same everything except a different network connection. On the wireless lan it stutters and sputters if it works at all most of the time.

[MeInMaui]

Wireless can work fine for standard definition programs. I have a Media MVP connected over 802.11g using a Buffalo wireless bridge. I don't see so much as a hiccup for SD material. The wireless radio in the Wireless MVP was very poor. I believe that was the source of many peoples' issues.

I don't really use Placeshifter, so I can't help very much there. The only thing that comes to mind is that it is probably not transcoding video when connected via your internal LAN connection. There may be a way to override that, but I don't know for sure.

Aloha,
Mike

[pjpjpjpj]

Plugged in my HDHomerun, went to the server, installed the software, ran it, everything worked fine.

Installed the Sage software, ran through the wizard, it found the HDHRs, all the channels were correct, etc. The only problem was that the wizard tried to tune a channel for test reasons, which locked up my slow PC (never intended to watch on the server; newer releases allow you to bypass that part in the wizard). However, when I rebooted, the wizard continued from that step and everything was fine.

Plugged in the HD extender, it found the server, installed the latest firmware, everything worked perfectly.

Then I started messing with customizations.... but I'll take the blame for that one.

[MitchSchaft]

Originally Posted by freedml

Ok, so two people on this board say wireless really doesn't work. Why doesn't Sage just say that? "It should work, but we don't recommend it and don't support it."

It's common knowledge among us tech folks that wireless is not good for video application. Nobody has to tell us this because we know from first-hand experience. You're seeing why first-hand, but are in denial I guess.

Also, you need to help us help you. What are your PC hardware specs? What OS are you running? That will have a major impact on the output quality you're getting. You're also not describing your problem in detail. You just say you have endless problems . You claim to be tech-savvy, but you're not giving us even the basics to help you.

[steven017]

My experience with the Sage server has been pretty great. It worked pretty much right out of the box the way it was designed to. But, given I live outside the US, I had some manual configuration to worry about to get my EPG up and running. After that, I had some trouble with DVD playback, but only because I didn't read and understand the manual. A little research uncovered my problem. Fixed.

I've also tried out the Placeshifter. For whatever reason, I did have trouble getting it to work well. But, I was using a WIRELESS connection at the time. I just gave up on it since I didn't really need it.

I actually then tried out the Sage Client, which unbelievably, outperformed the Placeshifter on my WIRELESS home network. I must confess I had a spot of trouble with fonts not working properly. But this was sorted out quickly.

I have since run cable throughout my house (for other reasons) and everything is working flawlessly.

Anyways, since this is supposed to be a poll about experience setting up Sage, I thought I'd post my experience with the process. By the way, I'm just a tinkerer, not a technician.

Best of luck

Steven

[mbowling]

As a new user I would say that the installation and configuration of the core SageTV product was easy and free of problems.

However, the installation and configuration of customizations is not easy and requires research and patience.

With that said, I do have SageMC, ComSkip, and the SageMC tooobar installed and configured. After a little research and patience.

[sundansx]

freedml,
I would suggest you install a client license on your laptop, sit right next to the server and play a video. If it works fine, then you can surmise that your wireless MVPs are the problem. If that fails, plug your laptop into 100Mbit+ lan and then try to play the videos. If either of these tests pass, it is likely that you have a wireless problem with the mvps. If the mvps have a crappy radio, interference in the area (such as a neighbors wireless using same channel, neighbor with 2.4GHz cordless phone, your own 2.4GHz cordless phone) will raise the noise floor and crap out your MVPs. You can do a wireless site survey and see if there are people sharing your channel. If so, move your router to a different channel. You can also test by moving the MVP right next to the router so you get a very strong signal and see what that does. There are a lot of other variables to consider, as well, but this is a start.
BTW, I am running a M10000 based PC with sageclient over wireless in the other room and it works really good playing back SD content - the wife and my kid use it for watching his crap all the time. We have the occasional big skip when she is using the microwave heavily, but I increased the buffering in the registry and that happens very seldom.
Other than that my installs were pretty smooth, until I started mucking with things and enhancing things. I recommend getting a base install working first before you start dicking with addons such as sagemc and other addons.

Originally Posted by freedml

Ok, so two people on this board say wireless really doesn't work. Why doesn't Sage just say that? "It should work, but we don't recommend it and don't support it."

Three of my early posts asked fairly simple questions, and none of them got answers. How many times do you suggest I bang my head against a wall before turning to other methods? Companies that promote a forum for support usually have someone monitoring to answer questions that don't get answered.

If bandwidth is the issue, why does it work for me over broadband wireless internet which has much less throughput than my wireless-g home lan? Same notebook computer, sitting in the same chair, same everything except a different network connection. On the wireless lan it stutters and sputters if it works at all most of the time.

[bcjenkins]

Sweet, I voted for every item on the poll. I didn't know you could do multiple choice.

Back on topic.

If you have coax running to multiple locations instead of wireless, I would look at MoCA.

Here's an auction for 35 a unit (not bad)

http://cgi.ebay.com/Motorola-NIM100-...QQcmdZViewItem

[Fluffdaddy]

SageTV Placeshifter has never workwell for me. But I think my air card inot being up to the job is the problem. I don't even try to use Placeshifter anymore.

SageTV and SageTV Client worked great right after I installed it for the most part

[evilpenguin]

I really can't answer the poll because I did my first install *sooo* long ago I can't remember. But I can say that at this point, my Sage Server could basically explode and i'd still be able to get it back up again and fully functioning in less than 2 hours.

[Djc208]

When you use placeshifter on your laptop over the in-house LAN are you connecting to the found local server, or are you using the internet ID you would use from outside your home network?

Trying to do the latter can cause lots of problems depending on the router.

Another big issue is firewall programs on either machine. They can ham-string the connection if they don't like it, and if you're not at the server to allow the connection then you get nothing.


As for me, it was really about as plug-and-play as it gets. Like everyone I had issues with some of the add-ons, and channel mapping (for clearQAM) is very confusing the first time (and the second if it's been a while), but basically it's been install OS, install drivers, install Sage, setup, then install extras and set up. Good video playback on my old server was the hardest, but that was Windows and my graphics card, not Sage. The HD-100 fixed that though. But then all my systems have been dedicated to Sage and similar, so there's little other software to conflict with.

[SHS]

Wireless lan dose work well I have one PlaceshifterPC on A and one clients on N.

But do keep mind it all depend on how you setup your wireless lan router security.
Software Firewall programs can cuases problem try disable them on both server and client to see if helps any.
Know Key problem authentication and encryption for secure wireless networking which is unfortunately cuases headack.
This how I do mine
Manual Mac filtering option Premit only thoses PCs listed below to access the wireless network
Web Utility Access via Wireless: Disable
SSID Broadcast: Disable
WEP setup by default: Disable
Remote Management: Disable
DHCP: Disable
UPNP (Universal Plug 'n Pray -- I mean, Play): Disable or Enable that will depend on you in most case's with this disable it can cuases problem with some software and hardware devices.
Change router internal IP to something non-standard

Most people that install wireless router are not re-configured by change the default Password and SSID Name.

Do keep in mind Wireless security is not 100% secured a good hacker will get in.

[stevech]

Originally Posted by MeInMaui

Wireless can work fine for standard definition programs. I have a Media MVP connected over 802.11g using a Buffalo wireless bridge. I don't see so much as a hiccup for SD material.

Same with me. Wired MVP (std def), 11g bridge, great signal strength, no busy neighbors on same channel.

I don't, but you could setup a pair of bridges in 802.11 ad-hoc mode on channel 1, 6 or 11 avoiding main WiFi), if your main WiFi does a lot of high bandwidth non-Sage things.

[reggie14]

Originally Posted by SHS

Do keep in mind Wireless security is not 100% secured a good hacker will get in.

It looks like you forgo WEP/WPA in favor of simple MAC filtering. As you probably know, MAC filtering is pretty trivial to circumvent and really isn't an alternative to WEP/WPA. The step up to WEP is fairly significant. It moderately easy to crack, given the proper software, but still far more difficult than getting around MAC filtering. WPA/WPA2 are actually quite strong, given a good passphrase. I don't know of any attacks against WPA2 besides a brute-force attack on the key. As long as you choose a long passphrase and avoid dictionary words you'll be very safe with WPA2.

Of course, not all devices support WPA2, or even WPA.

[mistergq]

I did not find the installation of STV to be difficult. Now customizations is a slightly different story. In the beginning, I had to have patience to figure it out the customizations. Now it just seems intuitive.

I hate to sound like a broken record, but if you want a good solution, build a server and use the HD100 on each tv.