New PC windows 7 64 bit or 32 bit?

[dc9mm]

Time to rebuild PC. Its old.
Iam using Sage tv 6.6 as I like this version I tried the 7 version didn't like it.
Old system is Win XP on a single core 3.0 Intel 1 gig ram 256 meg AGP video card, has 2 hard drives a SSD 40 gig C drive and recordings go to a mechanical500 gig drive. I put the SSD drive in about 2 years ago hoping for faster boot up time and faster time out of hibernation which it is but not much. I have a USB Uirt to change channels on STB and also take commands for Sage TV itself. works well for many years. Use the grey remote from Hauppauge. I think its called the 45 button remote.

FIRST question:
Will Sage TV 6.6 run on Windows 7 and if so 32 bit or 64 bit. Or is it best just to use Win XP?

SECOND question:
Right Now have 2 PCI Hauppauge 1600 cards that connect to an antenna for major over the air broadcast channels in HD (ABC,CBS,NBC,FOX,WB) .
Have older Hauppauge PVR 150 connected to Verizon STB via S-video for recording TV from the STB, its ALSO PCI which brings the problem. Most motherboards now ONLY have 2 PCI slots.

Solution thinking about the Hauppauge Colossus card which is "PCI express" type slot BUT not sure about using this Colossus card . I would be able to get HD video off STB which would be nice via component connection from STB as it sounds like HDMI off STB would be a problem with encryption of some sort. Does Sage tv 6.6 work with the Colossus card well? Will it recognize the card? The USB Uirt will do the channel changing like it does now. and then the Colossus just has to record what ever the STB is playing but it needs to record at the correct time for correct length. like the old PVR 150 card does now.

PC hardware I was think was middle of road dual core cpu, but if I get CPU with built in Video support do I need a video card at all? CPU like a Intel Core i3-3250 Ivy Bridge Dual-Core 3.5GHz LGA 1155 55W Desktop Processor Intel HD Graphics 2500 , add 4 gig of ram replace old 500 gig drive with a 1 terabyte drive and re-use SSD 40 gig drive for C drive. Already have good Antec Green power supply 350 watt.

[pjpjpjpj]

I'm afraid I can't answer whether Sage 6.6 works on Win7, but if you really want the Sage 6 UI, just install Sage 7 with the ADM plugin and then set your menus to look like the old Sage 6. You could even use the background manager to put in the old "wispy blue" background on every menu so it looked that similar.

That way you know that it will work with Win7 or even Win8.

[dc9mm]

Oh ok. How about 64 bit or 32 bit, does it work with both. if so I will go with 64 bit. Only going to put 4 gig of ram but at least 64 bit will use all 4 gigs of it if needed. Not sure Sage even needs that much I kinda doubt it as 1 gig in my XP machine has worked for years fine. BUT maybe the Colossus card might cause a need for more ram.

Is there a link to how to make sage 7 look like version 6.6 ?

[pjpjpjpj]

The ADM plugin is a plugin which allows you to customize the stock menu, in the same way Nielm's old Customizable Menus plugin worked with v6 (if you used that). If you search the original thread under the v7 plugins forum, you'll find explanation of how to use it. The only thing that is a little tricky is using the copy mode to make links to folders and such (if you even want those), but once you get the hang of it, it's easy. Basically, it just lets you move (almost) any of the menu items around, remove them, or add new ones to items you like. It also has a background manager built in, which allows you to save any photos you want into a folder on your server, and assign those to each individual menu item, such that when you move to that item on the menu, the background changes to that photo. So you can set up menu links to, for example, "home videos", and on that menu item, maybe make the background picture be a photo of your family, or whatever.

However, as I read this thread again, I am having this little bell going off in the back of my brain that maybe there was a way to actually install the v6 UI in place of the v7 UI, "officially"? You might want to dig around a little bit and see if you can find some of the original threads when v7 was first released, and see what you can find (or check the v7 FAQ stuff). You might be able to install the stock v6 UI within Sage.

[pjpjpjpj]

Oh, and yeah, v7 works on both Win7 32- and 64-bit. As well as Win8 and Win8.1. I believe the only issues of 64-bit are with firewire tuning and maybe some other things like that?

[dc9mm]

Ok thanks both of you. I use the USB Uirt for remote control for sage itself and changing channels on STB so no Firewire.
I will look at FAQ to see if I can use the 6.6 UI. Iam just so used to it and I don't like change. One reason I will avoid Win 8 for a longgggg time.

Now iam just reading through the very long thread on the Hauppauge Colossus card to see if that will work with new setup. Only reason I never went with it when it first came out was my PC wasn't fast enough. Now with new PC build and the fact that motherboards don't usually have more than 2 PCI slots Iam more or less stuck to getting at least on new Capture card, might as well be the one that will improve my recording with HD off STB.

[Dargason]

I used a HD-PVR for a long time and never liked it. I was much happier switching to the HDHomeRun Prime and a cablecard. I don't know if cablecard is an option for you, but system stability was much better. (I don't use it anymore because I dropped cabletv completely last year.)

[UgaData]

I am pretty sure you need SageTV v7 to use a cablecard tuner.

The only issues I know of with 64 bit OS (at least for SageTV v7) is firewire drivers for recording/channel changing and Java. You can load the 64 bit Java but Sage needs the 32 bit Java versions in order to work (yes, you can load both 32 & 64 bit versions of Java if you want).

[dc9mm]

Originally Posted by UgaData

I am pretty sure you need SageTV v7 to use a cablecard tuner.

The only issues I know of with 64 bit OS (at least for SageTV v7) is firewire drivers for recording/channel changing and Java. You can load the 64 bit Java but Sage needs the 32 bit Java versions in order to work (yes, you can load both 32 & 64 bit versions of Java if you want).

Ok so I can get 64 bit win 7 and load 32 bit java ONLY as this PC is used ONLY for Sage TV. I have a high end quad core PC for normal PC use. so that will work Plus I use the USB Uirt for controlling Sage and channel changes on STB so that should work ok on 64 bit win 7 ??

[UgaData]

Have you checked on 64 bit driver availability for your tuner cards?

I would think the 1600 would have 64 bit drivers but the 150 is getting a bit long in the tooth. I would expect the USB Uirt should have 64 bit drivers.

As long as you're not using the Hauppauge ir you should be fine. This may not apply to the Colossus as much as the HD-PVR, but the built in IR blaster seems to be problematic for many. But it sounds like your using a 3rd party USB Uirt so you should be good.

[dc9mm]

Originally Posted by UgaData

Have you checked on 64 bit driver availability for your tuner cards?

I would think the 1600 would have 64 bit drivers but the 150 is getting a bit long in the tooth. I would expect the USB Uirt should have 64 bit drivers.

As long as you're not using the Hauppauge ir you should be fine. This may not apply to the Colossus as much as the HD-PVR, but the built in IR blaster seems to be problematic for many. But it sounds like your using a 3rd party USB Uirt so you should be good.

Yes USB Uirt has 64 bit drivers I checked. I just checked the 1600 cards also have 64 bit drives BUT if I wanted to use the 150 card it says there are 64 bit drivers but the pc has to have less than 4 gigs of ram. Does that mean if I install 4 gig it wont work as that was what I was going to put in it. I could do 2 gigs of ram I guess. Iam hoping to use the hauppauge colossus instead of the 150 card so as long as I can get the hauppauge colossus card to work I wont need the 150 card any more. I cant use more than 2 cards that use PCI slots since no decent motherboard have more than 2 PCI slots, they now use PCI express mostly. The 1600 cards are PCI so they will take up the two PCI slots the motherboard will have.

[BobPhoenix]

Originally Posted by dc9mm

Yes USB Uirt has 64 bit drivers I checked. I just checked the 1600 cards also have 64 bit drives BUT if I wanted to use the 150 card it says there are 64 bit drivers but the pc has to have less than 4 gigs of ram. Does that mean if I install 4 gig it wont work as that was what I was going to put in it. I could do 2 gigs of ram I guess. Iam hoping to use the hauppauge colossus instead of the 150 card so as long as I can get the hauppauge colossus card to work I wont need the 150 card any more. I cant use more than 2 cards that use PCI slots since no decent motherboard have more than 2 PCI slots, they now use PCI express mostly. The 1600 cards are PCI so they will take up the two PCI slots the motherboard will have.

Correct. The Hauppauge drivers for the 150 have a bug that will cause problems (may not work at all but don't remember for sure or not) if you have 4GB or more memory installed. By problems I mean BSOD either right away or after some use as well as spontaneous reboots (if I remember correctly anyway).