RC2 Experiences

[ckron]

The media library refresh does not seem to be working. I have thousands of pictures listed that should no longer be there because I changed my library path to include less pictures. I have been seeing extremely poor performance with thousands of 2-3MB pics. I even went so far as to remove all library paths so it should remove all pics from media library. Am I doing something wrong?

[SHS]

try del all files in the folder GeneratedThumbnails in main sagetv folder

[ckron]

Originally posted by SHS
try del all files in the folder GeneratedThumbnails in main sagetv folder

I gave it a try, but alas, it did not help. Any more suggestions?

[theMixxMaster]

This version is still working VERY slow for me, when I start it, or bring it from sleep. I get to see a black screen for about 2-3 minutes, then can't enter any of the categories without anoth 1-2 minute delay.
Moving up and down the channel guide the first time takes forever, as it won't move up or down a new station, without moving the other direction first.
If I move between the windowed and full screen, I can expect a good 1-3 minute delay in actually seeing anything other than a black screen.
I also get some shows that don't want to actually delete fully, and will stay on the menu, even though the file HAS been deleted.
I still get no audio from time to time, when fast forwarding/rewinding. Luckily, it's not too often...
And is there ANY way to actually get to the recording conflicts menu via remote? The only way I can get to it, is by using the mouse. Kind of the defeating the purpose of having a dedicated HTPC box, IMHO.
Oh, and STILL no Tivo-like FFWD/REW(Hey, someone had to mention it!)

[justme]

And is there ANY way to actually get to the recording conflicts menu via remote?

try using the arrow keys to go to Main Menu>Schedule Recordings>Recording Information.

[turak]

Originally posted by theMixxMaster
This version is still working VERY slow for me, when I start it, or bring it from sleep. I get to see a black screen for about 2-3 minutes, then can't enter any of the categories without anoth 1-2 minute delay.
)

I am also somewhat dissappointed with the performance of both release candidates. It seems to do ok on my SageTV server except for a slight stutter which wasn't there before. With my two clients on the other hand, there are problems. On my one client playback keeps freezing. While the video is frozen I can navagate menus and such. So the app isn't completely freezing. Just video playback. My other client stutters like mad.


Client #1: (freeze ups)
Athlon 2700+
512MB DDR400
Abit NF7-S (nforce2)
Gainward GF4 Ti4600 GS
WinXP Pro
NVDVD 2.55

Client #2: (stutters like crazy)
Dell Inspiron 5150 3.2Ghz notebook
512mb ram
Ati radeon 9000 mobility
WinXP home
NVDVD 2.55

[kny3twalker]

Yeah I too am having a lot of issues with stuttering
VMR9 is still worthless
and overlay with 3d acceleration is as well
I seem to be doing ok with just Overlay except when watching LIveTV
My biggest complaint in regard to LiveTV is whenever I change channels or fast foward/rewind there is an audio garbled noise and a few seconds of bad frame drops
I tried disabling fast mux (channel change thing) and enabling it
both were horrible when changing channels
I tested on DirecTV and Southwestern Bell Cable
I cannot fast foward though commercials without wanting to put my fingers in my ears then close my eyes for a second until the video chills out
I think there should be a longer mute of volume when fast fowarding
and channel changes as well
I would love Sage just to black screen for like two or three seconds and muted if it needs it when changing channels
I hate the quick channel change if it does a bad job and would rather wait a second
No one surfs anymore, not after a while of using a PVR

Current decoders
cyberlink for both audio and video
direct wave out audio render
overlay video render
no 3d acceleration

[mlbdude]

I guess I am lucky because all three of my HTPC's are finally running smoothly with no stuttering or anything in VMR9 in video or in the menu's.

Server:
Sonic Decoders

Client1:
Elecard Decoders

Client2:
Hauppauge Intervideo Decoders

[m0ng00se30]

I'm with mlbdude... RC2 fixed the stuttering the started with RC1, and everything seems to be going smoothly at this point. (I reserve the right to let the wheels fall off at any moment tho!) But for my situation this is the best release so far!! I am only running a single machine.. Sonic Decoder, VRM9, and all is well!

--Mike

[Bubster]

Originally posted by mlbdude
I guess I am lucky because all three of my HTPC's are finally running smoothly with no stuttering or anything in VMR9 in video or in the menu's.

When you say you don't get any stuttering, do you mean when you are simply watching something, or even when messing around in the menus with the video in the background (or in the preview window)?

I've found the Sonic decoder to be particularly bad for me when navigating the menus, and also with pausing; when I un-pause, the video runs quickly for several frames, as if it thinks it needs to catch up a bit by skipping frames. The more time I spend with all these decoders, the more I'm starting to think the people writing them don't really know what they're doing.

This kind of problem also isn't limited to the Sonic decoder; they all have their annoyances. And the problems aren't always specific to Sage either, although I have generally found it to be a bit more sensitive than Zoomplayer, for example.

What's more worrying is that these problems vary so much from person to person. This suggests to me either a complete lack of understanding on the part of the decoder vendors, or a fundamental flaw in DirectShow itself. Not good, and I have nothing but sympathy for Frey, having to read complaints like these about something over which they may have no control.

- Neil.

[davey_fl]

I still get the very annoying blips of sound when FF and REW, and I still get the no audio when FF REW sometimes. I have to go back and forth a couple of times to get it to restore the sound. I've tried both the default Hauppauge Decoders and Sonic, they both do it. Is there a solution to this?

thx

[mlbdude]

I am getting no stuttering or slowdowns anywhere with Sonic or Hauppauge Intervideo. One thing to try is the decoders with DXVA disabled in each decoder to see if that helps. I often run Sonic with it off since I use it with TheaterTek along with ffdshow.

Try using the MPEG Audio Decoder to relieve no sound issues.

[SHS]

heheh me to I don't get any no stuttering
Server
REALmagic Xcard

Client1:
Hauppauge Intervideo Decoders

[Crowdx42]

For me with SageTV I get stutters when I have the info of the show onscreen. Is no biggie, once I hit TV button and menus are gone, all runs fine.
On the Sage Client and Sage TV when I go to find programs to record, the TOP button is not working. This is obviously a bug.
Not sure if it is my chipset or my client but same codecs work fine on SageTV that crash Sage Client to the desktop.
Apart from this, VMR9 on SageTV has gotten much better with very little tearing, have checked files which there were obvious tearing in and they now look pretty much fine.
This has been the 3rd beta I have installed over each other.
BTW ,,, something I just noticed while playing around with my main machine. It was recording from the card that has my composite input from my cable box running to it. When I selected a channel that was using the cable box Sage never gave any error or conflict, instead it switched to that channel. It was only later that I realised that Sage had been recording with that card. I checked the recordings and everything seems fine with them both. Can Sage now hot swap which tuner card it is using for recording to help more with conflicts? I know previously it would give an error when I would try to watch a show with this card if it was already recording. OR was it just the system info which was giving false info?
Patrick

[davey_fl]

As far as I can see sage has been hot swapping for the last 3 beta. On my system, if my tuner which also has digital channels is recording a show on an analog channel, and I switch to a digital channel, my analog tuner will automatically take over without any hiccups whatsoever.

davey

[Crowdx42]

Well for me this has been the first time it has done this, up till now it caused a conflict for me. I had been messing earlier this week with merit in the properties file to assign the composite tuner as the last tuner it used. So I have no idea what happened that fixed this in RC2 but hopefully t continues to work like this, is a great bonus.
Patrick

[turak]

Originally posted by Bubster
Not good, and I have nothing but sympathy for Frey, having to read complaints like these about something over which they may have no control.

- Neil.

The freeze ups that I get on my client only happen with the RC's. When I roll it back to 2.0.15beta the problem goes away. To me this indicates that Frey does have some control over what I'm complaining about. That being said, the playback on my server is great. Much improved over previous versions and the play back on the client that freezes up every 15 minutes or so is spectacular...except for freezing up for 30 seconds that is.

[tbpub2]

IMHO, don't try watching TV actually on the PC, just use it to Record the shows and get a $100 MVP and watch them on the TV. I only use SageTV for the EPG and to record with 2 tuners. I leave the monitor on the PC turned off and just use WinVNC to control Sage. Then I watch on TV.

That's about the best you can hope for. My neighbor's hacked ReplayTV is (1) better (2) smaller (3) smoother, (4) has undocumented "exact" commercial skip, (5) has undocumented Edit Decision List file creation.

Sage is nice but overall needs to be ported to a RTOS like QNX which is what Replay runs.

[turak]

I have an MVP, but I find it to be way too slow and it seems to have some issues with high bitrate recordings. I use it if I need to watch something in the livingroom. Playback of the recordings is great on the bedroom tv which is hooked up to my SageTV server.

[tbpub2]

How's the TV connected to the PC?