SageMCTuner - anyone have this working with cablecard?

[kmp14]

Anyone having problems skipping around in file while it is recording? When watching a TS file from SageDCT while it is recording, I can't seem to skip around. It is very strange behavior, but in a nutshell I skip forward, fast forward, or Skip forward 2, and it seems to jump backwards to the same place. This is the 3rd recording this has happened with. Each of them were sports, so 3+ hour long recordings, and I think all 3 were on the same channel (Comcast SportsNet in the Chicago area). Really strange is that, if I let the recording finish, then it skips just fine. Only a problem while it is still recording.

My guess is that this is more a SageTV thing with TS files then it is a SageDCT thing, but not sure.

Anyone else have this problem?

[AlphaCrew]

Originally Posted by kmp14

http://forums.sagetv.com/forums/show...&postcount=264

I and am sure many others would not think twice about paying for a working solution to fully integrate sageTV with the Ceton card.

I sure hope others are supporting Andy (Donating) he's putting in a ton of work on this project.

[anosis]

Originally Posted by AlphaCrew

I and am sure many others would not think twice about paying for a working solution to fully integrate sageTV with the Ceton card.

I sure hope others are supporting Andy (Donating) he's putting in a ton of work on this project.

Just did ;-).

Thanks Andy for your hard work. This makes SageTV just so much better.

[anosis]

Originally Posted by kmp14

Anyone having problems skipping around in file while it is recording? When watching a TS file from SageDCT while it is recording, I can't seem to skip around. It is very strange behavior, but in a nutshell I skip forward, fast forward, or Skip forward 2, and it seems to jump backwards to the same place. This is the 3rd recording this has happened with. Each of them were sports, so 3+ hour long recordings, and I think all 3 were on the same channel (Comcast SportsNet in the Chicago area). Really strange is that, if I let the recording finish, then it skips just fine. Only a problem while it is still recording.

My guess is that this is more a SageTV thing with TS files then it is a SageDCT thing, but not sure.

Anyone else have this problem?

Sorry no, but I had to abandon the SageDCT solution for now since my Sage setup for some reason does not like the TS streams at all. I am currently using the SageMCTuner setup and so for it works fine.

I am however worried that if I have four shows recording with 8 total files being constantly written to will take a toll on my Core 2 Dup E7500 system. If I had the cash I would upgrade but this is it for now.

I sure hope with our small contributions Andy can come up with a .MPG solution for us which is more nativly supported by Sage.

[kmp14]

I did a poor job describing this a couple posts ago, so I am going to try again, and explain it better. I also sent these details to SageTV support.

SageTV Version: Beta 7.1.5
HD300 Firmware: Beta 20110217-2

When trying to watch a TS file produced by the Ceton and SageDCT WHILE IT IS RECORDING, the HD300 (and HD200) has problems with the timeline and skipping through the file. As I try to skip through the file, at some point the timeline gets messed up and all of a sudden it skips way back to early in the file. This continues to happen, and when it skips back, it usually skips back to the same place. Also, if I let it play, it will continue to play as normal, but the timeline, and the indicator as to the place in the file is WAY OFF. For example, I could actually be 1:30 into a file, but the timeline will indicate that I am 0:28 into the file.

Couple more notes:

1. If I let the recording finish, it PLAYS FINE. ONLY if I watch while still recording do I have the timeline problems.
2. This seems to happen more with longer recordings, like sports.
3. This has happened more than 5 times, so it is not an isolated incident. I can reproduce it anytime I am recording a long program and start watching before the recording is done, and do a lot of forward skipping.
4. When watching the same file directly on the Server, it plays fine.

I would try to provide a sample file to anyone that might know how to analyze it, but since the file plays fine once the recording is done, that is difficult.

If this happens to you, please let me know! I can't be the only one.

[nebulink]

Since the Ceton only supports Copy Freely content, why doesn't Sage provide native support for the card?

Also, it appears there are mixed reports regarding SageMCTuner and SageDCT. Between the two, which one works the best? What are some of the nuances?

Thanks!

[aepitaz]

I am currently building my first Sage box, switching over from a combination of Tivo and FIOS DVRs.

I have the hardware speced out but am trying to understand the tuner issue and use of a cablecard.

I have been looking at ATI TV Wonder Digital Cable Tuner Cablecard which connects through USB.

Will:

1) Sage be able to take input through this device?
2) Will I be able to get all channels through the device?
3) Will the FIOS pay channels be able to be recorded successfully?

I know most of the talk is about the internal cards, but are external tuners more helpfull in this area?

Thanks

[kmp14]

Originally Posted by nebulink

Since the Ceton only supports Copy Freely content, why doesn't Sage provide native support for the card?

ceton supports all cable card channels, sagetv does not. if you use the ceton with windows media center you can tune all the channels. I am not sure of all the details, but i think it has to do cablelabs certification, which may cost a big chunk of change?

[jptheripper]

Only the ceton card is currently useable, and only on copy freely channels, and only through a (very good) third party add-on called sagedct or sagemctuner (2 varieties).

No external options are even close to functional.

So to be specific

1. Yes can use with sage with third party addons
2. No you will not get all channels, only copy freely
3. you will absolutely NOT get pay channels.

Originally Posted by aepitaz

I am currently building my first Sage box, switching over from a combination of Tivo and FIOS DVRs.

I have the hardware speced out but am trying to understand the tuner issue and use of a cablecard.

I have been looking at ATI TV Wonder Digital Cable Tuner Cablecard which connects through USB.

Will:

1) Sage be able to take input through this device?
2) Will I be able to get all channels through the device?
3) Will the FIOS pay channels be able to be recorded successfully?

I know most of the talk is about the internal cards, but are external tuners more helpfull in this area?

Thanks

[nebulink]

Originally Posted by anosis

Yup, got the same fear. The only thing that makes me optimistic is the fact that one of the reps I spoke to about cable card availability told me he has been using a similar setup with WMC for months and he commented to be very happy with the HD content. At that time I was not aware of the 'copy freely' restriction, but judging his comment it sounded like he got more than just the basic channels.

I will let you know next week, given I can get a tech out here to install the card.

So, whatever happened? Do you receive your premium channels with this card?

I am a Charter customer and was curious as to what your results have been like.

[SuiDog]

Ok so I'm still having problems. I'm getting the tuner drops offs. I have my ceton card in bridged mode. I'm wondering if that might be the problem. I also don't want to disable it because slowed down in the past. That was before 1.4 though. Any suggestion? I know you want my logs. I will send them tomorrow. The wife won't let me work on it tonight because she's got recordings. I have had to resort to rebooting my server twice a day. I'd switch to sagemc but I couldn't get it working.

[King of Bayonne]

You need to get access to Ceton InfiniTV 4 v1.0.3.4 beta firmware from the nice folks at Ceton support.

See my full writeup here.


KoB

[SuiDog]

Sounds good. Do you have bridging on the ceton card enabled?

[King of Bayonne]

I do have bridging enabled... actually, based on YOUR suggestion further up in this thread.

I haven't tried turning bridging off, so I have no data points to indicate whether it makes any difference at all w/r/t SageDCT. But I CAN verify that SageDCT 1.4 + InfiniTV firmware 1.0.3.4 beta work with bridging enabled.

To be honest, when I realized it was working, I was so happy that I lost all motivation to do any additional scientific testing. Well, at least not for tonight...


KoB

[SuiDog]

Originally Posted by King of Bayonne

I do have bridging enabled... actually, based on YOUR suggestion further up in this thread.

I haven't tried turning bridging off, so I have no data points to indicate whether it makes any difference at all w/r/t SageDCT. But I CAN verify that SageDCT 1.4 + InfiniTV firmware 1.0.3.4 beta work with bridging enabled.

To be honest, when I realized it was working, I was so happy that I lost all motivation to do any additional scientific testing. Well, at least not for tonight...


KoB

I'd like to take credit but someone else in this thread suggested it for the slowness issue most of is were seeing after the 1.1 upgrade and it did indeed seem to help with the problem. Thanks for the update.

Sui

[anosis]

Originally Posted by nebulink

So, whatever happened? Do you receive your premium channels with this card?

I am a Charter customer and was curious as to what your results have been like.

Well, I got the Ceton working with my Sage setup, however I had to use SageMCTuner instead of SageDCT (my installation will not work with the .TS files produced).

I have Charter Basic and Extended (no HBO, Showtime, etc of the sorts) and all the channels are working inside SageTV. So if you go to this link and type in your zip and address : http://www.charter.com/channels/displayChannels.jsp
I have Digital View and HD Ultra selected, none of the others. I am however contenplating to add the Digital View Plus channels as BBCA is on there and my wife and I are big fans of the original Top Gear show. Those channels should be fine as well. If I do add them and they work I will report back.

[anosis]

Originally Posted by King of Bayonne

I do have bridging enabled... actually, based on YOUR suggestion further up in this thread.

I haven't tried turning bridging off, so I have no data points to indicate whether it makes any difference at all w/r/t SageDCT. But I CAN verify that SageDCT 1.4 + InfiniTV firmware 1.0.3.4 beta work with bridging enabled.

To be honest, when I realized it was working, I was so happy that I lost all motivation to do any additional scientific testing. Well, at least not for tonight...


KoB

Guys, as far as I understand the bridging is only needed if your Ceton is in one PC and your SageTV server is in another. The main reason Ceton released the drivers with this support was to allow WMC folks to share tuners accross a network. So for example two windows 7 machines with WMC on them and the bridging allows the second PC to use the Ceton as a network encoder over your LAN.

In my case and most of the users here I believe that your Ceton is in the same PC as your SageTV installation and the 'localhost' or 127.0.0.1 reference in the properties file is enough to communicate with the card. Bridging is not needed.

On the other hand, I don't see why it would make a difference but if you see performance issues that would be one thing to change as I can tell with confidence you will not need it in the above mentioned configuration.

Also, I had bridging enabled with the current none-beta drivers without a problem.

[kmp14]

Originally Posted by SuiDog

Ok so I'm still having problems. I'm getting the tuner drops offs. I have my ceton card in bridged mode. I'm wondering if that might be the problem. I also don't want to disable it because slowed down in the past. That was before 1.4 though. Any suggestion? I know you want my logs. I will send them tomorrow. The wife won't let me work on it tonight because she's got recordings. I have had to resort to rebooting my server twice a day. I'd switch to sagemc but I couldn't get it working.

I also have Bridging enabled. Not sure if it helps or not. With SageDCT 1.4 and the most recent stuff from Ceton I have been ROCK SOLID. I had one halt event, and in that case I only lost a minute or 2 of the beginning of the show. That might even have been before I updated to the 1.0.3.4 firmware. I must have recorded 50-100 shows since 1.4 was released, and have not had any other glitches than that single halt event. Here is what I have installed from Ceton:

Ceton InfiniTV Installer (1.1.0.8-20110309
IMAGE FW update (1.0.3.4)
IMAGE HW update (v4884)

I am not trying to rub it in . I had EVERY problem described on this thread with SageDCT. Packet loss, tuner drops, slowness, but now all is good (knock on wood). Definitely check which versions of the 3 Ceton parts you have, and upgrade as necessary. Of course, you need to be on the Ceton beta program for the FW and HW images. Stick with it.

[babgvant]

Originally Posted by kmp14

I also have Bridging enabled.

I'd say it's recommended.

[kmp14]

Originally Posted by anosis

Guys, as far as I understand the bridging is only needed if your Ceton is in one PC and your SageTV server is in another. The main reason Ceton released the drivers with this support was to allow WMC folks to share tuners accross a network. So for example two windows 7 machines with WMC on them and the bridging allows the second PC to use the Ceton as a network encoder over your LAN.

In my case and most of the users here I believe that your Ceton is in the same PC as your SageTV installation and the 'localhost' or 127.0.0.1 reference in the properties file is enough to communicate with the card. Bridging is not needed.

On the other hand, I don't see why it would make a difference but if you see performance issues that would be one thing to change as I can tell with confidence you will not need it in the above mentioned configuration.

Also, I had bridging enabled with the current none-beta drivers without a problem.

I am the one to blame (or thank) for recommending the Bridging be turned on (I think I was the first to bring it up, maybe not). Regardless, the reason I even mentioned it is because when I was having packet loss problems with SageDCT, Ceton recommended turning Bridging on to see if it solved the problem. It did NOT solve the packet loss problem at the time, but stuck in my mind as a troubleshooting tool as we moved forward. As we got closer to SageDCT being stable, I tried turning it on when I was having the dropping tuners problem, and it seemed to help. Since then, I just left it on.