The end of my Sage road

[brb84]

After 6 years, I'm sorry to say my SageTV setup will cease recording new shows after tonight. Tomorrow, Comcast begins encrypting my local channels (the only ones I really use), thus rendering my two beloved HDHomeRuns useless.

I got a CableCard and found a decent deal on a Ceton Echo/InfiniTV4 combo running WMC, and that setup has been running fairly well. I tried desperately to get SageDCT working, but alas, it wasn't meant to be and would probably just be prolonging the inevitable anyway.

I'll keep my Sage server and extenders running for a little until I get all the recorded shows moved over, but at this point, it looks like the end of the road is approaching and they'll soon be showing up on an eBay listing near you.

It's been a great run. Thanks everyone for the work on plugins and for making these forums a great place to get help

[nyplayer]

I just got an OTA Anetenna which turned out better as I got some channels Comcast was not offering. SageDCT works great with Comcast as long as you download the correct version and configure your ports correctly.

[brb84]

I tried the OTA route, but I live too far from the towers unless I were to use a giant outdoor monster, which my HOA would not be alright with.

[nyplayer]

Originally Posted by brb84

I tried the OTA route, but I live too far from the towers unless I were to use a giant outdoor monster, which my HOA would not be alright with.

Ok Good luck. I run duo right now SageTV and WMC. If they start copy protecting channels I will have to switch to just WMC. You are correct though WMC is much easier to setup.

[Skirge01]

Originally Posted by brb84

I tried the OTA route, but I live too far from the towers unless I were to use a giant outdoor monster, which my HOA would not be alright with.

I know you already made up your mind, but I wanted to point this out for everyone. Your HOA cannot legally stop you from installing an antenna or any other device used for receiving TV signals.

http://www.fcc.gov/guides/over-air-r...n-devices-rule

[brb84]

That's great to know, thanks. I'll file that information away in case I ever want to really give it a shot. Part of me still doesn't want to bother with the trouble of an antenna aside from the eyesore issue.

[FriscoJohn]

Sorry to lose a fellow Sager. Like nyplayer, I have had very good results with SageDCT. (See my recent thread on it.) Comcast has a very enlightened cable-card policy in San Francisco with everything except HBO, Starz, TMC, Showtime being unrestricted. Might be worth giving it another shot with SageDCT as the guys here are very good about helping one troubleshoot. (Fortunately my installation was very easy and I was done in 1 hour flat.)

In any case, best of luck!

[brb84]

I'd love to get SageDCT working, but even babgvant himself seemed at a loss as to what's going on when I showed him. Most of the documented successes seem to be with people who use HDHR Primes, so I don't know if part of the issue is that I'm using the InfiniTV 4 (3 tuners weren't enough for me).

Basically, I get as far as verifying SageDCT can control the tuners and even tune into channels. However, for whatever reason the resulting video file is unviewable unless it were processed through something like ffmpegmux, which is not a feasible option because I need live tv.

If you've got any ideas, here's a link to a sample I recorded with SageDCT: Link

The crazy part is it streams fine through whatever player dropbox uses to play it. But if you download it and try to play through media player or even VLC, it just acts like it's an empty file.

[FriscoJohn]

Afraid I can't help with the InfinityTV4 issue.

New Egg has a good deal on HDHRPrimes but I guess the three tuner limitation is a deal killer for you. I don't know if Sage would support two HDHRPrimes on the same server. I haven't heard of anyone trying this.

Best of luck, whichever way you end up going!

[madMan]

I use the InfiniTv usb 4 with comcast and it works fine.. are you using the newest version of DCT (2.7.0.2) with capture mode set to Ffmpeg?
Have you allowed your DCT ports through any firewalls?

[nyplayer]

Originally Posted by FriscoJohn

Afraid I can't help with the InfinityTV4 issue.

New Egg has a good deal on HDHRPrimes but I guess the three tuner limitation is a deal killer for you. I don't know if Sage would support two HDHRPrimes on the same server. I haven't heard of anyone trying this.

Best of luck, whichever way you end up going!

I have 2 primes and 3 Dual Astc Hd homeruns for a total of 12 tuners....on the same server no problem in Sage at all.

[ckewinjones]

FWIW I have been using SageDCT with the InfiniTV4 tuner card for several years with very few problems -- the first year or so with Comcast and then several years with Verizon FiOS. When I say "very few problems" I mean that perhaps three times in all the years I have been using it, the SageDCT service stopped and I had to restart it.

I am not qualified to help you troubleshoot it, only to assure you that it can be done.

[NetworkGuy]

Last year, Comcast also encrypted all of my channels. Luckily, I had one HDHomeRun Prime along with my other two non-Prime tuners. I simply ordered a new Prime and installed it into my system.

SageDCT has worked great. I just upgraded to the restricted version for better performance. In fact, I just moved to a new computer and it is running even better.

Wish you luck with your new setup.

John

[Telecore]

Sorry for getting off on a tangent here, but did you switch from SageDCT 2.6 to 2.7.2? And saw a performance improvement? Was the upgrade process painless and easy? I have 2.7.2 but have been putting the upgrade off. 2.6 has been running well for a long time for me.

BTW, in regards to this thread, I have the Ceton InfiniTV PCIe 6 working great with SageDCT 2.6 for 3 months and before that I used two HDHR Primes for 2+ years - but I do all my TV watching on HD300 extenders.

[phelme]

Originally Posted by Telecore

Sorry for getting off on a tangent here, but did you switch from SageDCT 2.6 to 2.7.2? And saw a performance improvement? Was the upgrade process painless and easy? I have 2.7.2 but have been putting the upgrade off. 2.6 has been running well for a long time for me.

The FFMPEG RTP capture back end Andy put in in 2.7x is much more reliable than using the VLC & 2.6 combo, at least for me. And yes it's painless to switch to. It's more than worth giving Andy a few bucks for.

Every once in a while, something will drop though, usually in a long recording (like a 3+ hour Olympics) and Sage will have to retune the channel. I think it's likely the Prime itself or Comcast or my cheap-ass RG5 cable run that I need to replace.

[brb84]

Appreciate the SageDCT info. I've not tried 2.7.2 because I can't seem to get access to it. I sent babgvant a message seeing if he was still giving it out for donations but never got a response, so I'm not really sure where that stands.

[NetworkGuy]

Originally Posted by phelme

The FFMPEG RTP capture back end Andy put in in 2.7x is much more reliable than using the VLC & 2.6 combo, at least for me. And yes it's painless to switch to. It's more than worth giving Andy a few bucks for.

Just remember to go to the last tab on SageDCT and set the recording mode to FFMPEG. I forgot to change it and spent an hour trying to figure out what was wrong. (Default option was DUMP.)

[Sparhawk6]

My SageDCT 2.7.2 setup is also working well for Comcast. However, I also am fearful about Comcast's copy protection practices. When I first installed SageDCT, virtually all of my channels were set as Copy Once. However, someone gave me the name of someone at Comcast who could get the flags in my area set correctly (as per current policy, Copy Freely). The guy helped me out, and ever since all the correct channels have been Copy Freely.

However, I am fearful that one day some unwitting engineer will again set the flags to Copy Once, and I won't be able to contact the fellow who helped me out the first time. Or, Comcast may decide as a matter of policy to set all channels as Copy Once. Then my SageDCT system will be forever broken.

I've been hesitant to get an Echo, due to all the negative reviews. However, I just watch TV and recorded shows with Sage. There are other methods of playing other videos (including Plex + Chromecast). If the Echo will play my recorded shows and live TV just fine, I may have to consider that. Newegg is selling the Echo for $99.

[KryptoNyte]

You also have the Xbox 360 slim 4gb models that work better than the Echo. I would think we'll see those pop up more and more on Ebay as the new Xbox takes hold

[Sparhawk6]

Originally Posted by KryptoNyte

You also have the Xbox 360 slim 4gb models that work better than the Echo. I would think we'll see those pop up more and more on Ebay as the new Xbox takes hold

I hate that the Xbox has a fan, and I'm also told that there is a long bootup time to get to the Windows Media Center area.