SageTV Newbie: Any problem with running SageTV Media Center on primary computer?

[botsmack]

I'm new to SageTV, so please bear with me. Here are a list of components I already have:

• Sony KDS-55A3000
• Core i7 920 Computer
• Radeon 4890 & 4870 on the computer
• DirecTV HR20 HD DVR
• Toshiba HD DVD Player
• Hauppauge HD PVR

The computer and the TV are about 10-15 feet apart. This is my primary, and only, computer. Initially, I just wanted to get the HD PVR to watch/record HDTV on the computer since I can't directly see the television from where I sit. Then it grew into wanting to stream to the television and possibly add placeshifting down the road.

Seeing as how I don't have an extra server lying around and that the computer is near the television, is there any problems with running the Sage Media Center on that computer and letting it handled everything? My plan was to connect the computer to the television via HDMI (audio & video) through one of the Radeon ports, which is supported apparently.

Is the Sage Media Center an intensive application or is it fine to have it run in the background all the time on my main computer?

Later on, I have thoughts of adding a second television for the bedroom and maybe I would tackle the need of a true separate "server". But for the time being am I find not running a dedicated server? I think the only thing I might want to do is install a dedicated Sage hard drive in the computer.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

Computer Specs:

• Core i7 920 (o/c'd to 3.8 GHz)
• 6GB Memory
• 300GB VelociRaptor 10k
• 1TB WD Caviar Black
• Blu-ray Drive (Player Only)
• EVGA Radeon 4890 1GB
• EVGA Radeon 4870 1GB

[stanger89]

Originally Posted by botsmack

I'm new to SageTV, so please bear with me. Here are a list of components I already have:

• Sony KDS-55A3000
• Core i7 920 Computer
• Radeon 4890 & 4870 on the computer
• DirecTV HR20 HD DVR
• Toshiba HD DVD Player
• Hauppauge HD PVR

The computer and the TV are about 10-15 feet apart. This is my primary, and only, computer. Initially, I just wanted to get the HD PVR to watch/record HDTV on the computer since I can't directly see the television from where I sit. Then it grew into wanting to stream to the television and possibly add placeshifting down the road.

Seeing as how I don't have an extra server lying around and that the computer is near the television, is there any problems with running the Sage Media Center on that computer and letting it handled everything? My plan was to connect the computer to the television via HDMI (audio & video) through one of the Radeon ports, which is supported apparently.

Is the Sage Media Center an intensive application or is it fine to have it run in the background all the time on my main computer?

No you shouldn't have any trouble running Sage in the background. Most of us run Sage on a separate PC, not because of Sage, but because we tend to reboot/install/mess with our "main" PCs and thus putting Sage on a more stable place is preferable.

That said, trying to run two displays, with two interfaces ( TV and Monitor, Sage and Desktop) presents it's own challenges. I'd get an HD200 to actually do the "using" of Sage on the TV.

Later on, I have thoughts of adding a second television for the bedroom and maybe I would tackle the need of a true separate "server". But for the time being am I find not running a dedicated server? I think the only thing I might want to do is install a dedicated Sage hard drive in the computer.

Weather or not you need/want a dedicated server has more to do with how you use the "primary" PC than anything else. If it's just on all day, 24/7 and you rarely need to reboot then it can be fine.

Throwing Sage on it's own PC just eliminates things like having to consider if a recording is going on, if someone else watching something, when you do major (eg reboot-inducing) operations.

[botsmack]

Thanks! I do tend to run my computer 24/7, so it is acting like a server. I've got SSL (via cygwin) installed on it so I can tunnel VNC and SFTP connections from the office or wherever. If I need a file, I just log on and grab it. I've been looking into getting a small Windows Home Server to make life more simple, but I'm trying to decide if the funds are there. I think, ultimately, having a dedicated server running Sage and the television running its own HD Theater would be optimal.

You bring up an interesting point regarding trying to run Sage with multiple displays installed. I didn't think about it being a problem. My computer already has 3 monitors on it (the television would be the 4th). But for simplicity's sake, I do like the idea of running the HD Theater on the television.

Another question, if you don't mind. Having never used Sage Media Center, how does the software work on the Server? Are you able to watch your programming direct on the computer itself or does the Server also require the addition of the Client? If so, can the Client and the Server run together?

[stanger89]

Originally Posted by botsmack

Thanks! I do tend to run my computer 24/7, so it is acting like a server. I've got SSL (via cygwin) installed on it so I can tunnel VNC and SFTP connections from the office or wherever. If I need a file, I just log on and grab it. I've been looking into getting a small Windows Home Server to make life more simple, but I'm trying to decide if the funds are there. I think, ultimately, having a dedicated server running Sage and the television running its own HD Theater would be optimal.

I agree, but most of us started by running Sage on our "main" PCs probably.

Another question, if you don't mind. Having never used Sage Media Center, how does the software work on the Server? Are you able to watch your programming direct on the computer itself or does the Server also require the addition of the Client? If so, can the Client and the Server run together?

The "main" SageTV app includes what they call a "Pseudoclient". Basically it's just like SageClient but doesn't need a separate license. Or put more simply, yes the full GUI is included in the SageTV Media Center product, but only for running on the PC you install SageTV on (vs Client which can be installed elsewhere).

[vikingisson]

Interesting setup you have there. I think the biggest problem you would have is getting the UI to look right on the tv assuming that it isn't the primary monitor. It might or might not have issues going full screen. Worth a try but I'll bet you'll be happier with an HD200 and a short ethernet cable. Otherwise it should work as a server, mine is also a general purpose computer.
And you get a side benefit of being able to run the UI on one of the other monitors (headphones needed I'd say).

[GKusnick]

The main thing I'd look out for is if someone is trying to watch TV using Sage while someone else is at the keyboard paying bills or answering email or whatever, you may run into issues with stealing keyboard focus from each other. There are ways around this, but they take some finagling, and it's simpler to avoid such issues altogether by using an extender to drive the TV.

You'll definitely want to run Sage as a service rather than as a foreground app, to insulate the recording engine as much as possible from other foreground activities.

[botsmack]

Thanks for the continued help! Those are all good points. As soon as LOST finishes recording to my DirecTV DVR, I'm going to do some testing with SageTV and my HD PVR.

I think for a nice introduction into the SageTV world, I'm going to keep the Sage Media Server as my main computer. For the time being, it's primarily going to be used only by me, so there shouldn't be any interruptions.

That should allow me to research good, yet inexpensive, hardware for a media server. I've been reading some more threads here in the forums and it's raised some more questions.

A file server doesn't need processing power, however, if I want to do placeshifting or commercial skip, then I will need to get a good CPU, right? This might be too much to ask, but is there a CPU out there that is low power consumption and able to handle those duties? Would an AMD Athlon X2 BE-2300 1.9GHz Dual-Core work? I ask, because I already have one laying around.

My goal would to build something similar to the HP MediaSmart, that has lots of space for hard drives, but doesn't consume tons of power since it will be on all the time.

[stanger89]

Originally Posted by botsmack

A file server doesn't need processing power, however, if I want to do placeshifting or commercial skip, then I will need to get a good CPU, right?

Comskip, well it depends on how impatient you are. Or you could do like I do, and have comskip (the detection) run on a different machine, that's more powerful than your server.

For Placeshifting though, especially with HD PVR recordings, you're going to need quite a lot of power for that.

This might be too much to ask, but is there a CPU out there that is low power consumption and able to handle those duties? Would an AMD Athlon X2 BE-2300 1.9GHz Dual-Core work? I ask, because I already have one laying around.

My gut tells me that's not enough to placeshift HD PVR recordings.

[Chriscic]

Originally Posted by stanger89

My gut tells me that's not enough to placeshift HD PVR recordings.

Is placeshifting even working for HD-PVR recordings now? Even the 1080i ones? Wondering is my Core2 Duo 2.6ghz will be up to the task (just migrated my WHS server over). Guess just need to give it a whirl and see what happens. I've had Sage for about 8 months now but haven't even tried placeshifter.

Just so I don't hijack this thread, let me say to OP, wow, that's a kick*** PC and I'm sure it can handle Sage in the background as smooth as butter. But like someone else commented, I'd be futzing around with it all the time for one reason or another and wrecking my recordings

[stanger89]

Yeah, I just ordered i7 parts (so I'll soon be a member of the Nehalem club). Can't wait to see how comskip/SA run That and I decided to go crazy and opt for the 12GB of memory and 60GB SSD

[botsmack]

Thanks Chriscic! Nice system Stanger89! This was my first computer build in a long time, so I tried to get as much as I could. So far, it's been a great machine. The i7 920's can be overclocked further if you get a good batch and nice RAM. I'm running mine on the EVGA X58 SLI motherboard.

Last night I hooked up my Hauppauge HD PVR to the DirecTV box (HR20-100) and I can see video fine using Arcsoft Total Media Extreme while in recorder mode. The picture looks awesome, I should say! Now on to my immediate problems...

1) Is there any application out there to just watch the live stream of video coming from the HD PVR? For example, I don't want to record, I just want to watch the stream. Granted, I can do that now inside the recorder of Total Media Extreme, but I wonder if there is a better way?

2) The IR Blaster remote works, but I can't get it to change channels on the DirecTV box. The remote will mute and change the volume on the computer as well as bring up the task switcher, etc. However, if I try to change the channel, nothing happens. I can verify that the right config is there in the BlasterConfig app, because I can change the channel in there. Is there something else I should be looking at? It's like the remote doesn't recognize that I want to change the channels for something other than the computer.

I know these questions are breaking off a little from my original topic. I'm not sure where to go for HD PVR questions. Is there a specific forum out there for that or should I just contact Hauppauge's support?

Added:

My gut tells me that's not enough to placeshift HD PVR recordings.

Ok, placeshifting aside, would it be good? I'm trying to save money on a server and I think I can piece one together for $200.