Upgrade from v6 to v9

[Monedeath]

Originally Posted by glenner

I guess I may not need OpenDCT is what it sounds like... But strange that OpenDCT would be needed for HDHR Prime, while not needed for Extend?

Not really, the Prime is a CableCard tuner, and plays by different rules. Forget which tier the h.264 transcoding happens on the OTA HomeRuns, but that would be the only other thing/mode which would require OpenDCT.

That said, OpenDCT can manage the interface between Sage and any HDHomeRun series device, which can be very useful if you want to allow more than just Sage to use them.

[Fuzzy]

For the migration here's what I'd suggest.

Setup your sage server on unRAID. It will already have recording and import folders created, accessible via network shares. Set up your sources and EPG info.

Make sure all your recording and import folders on your old server are shared. On the new server (well, via client or placeshifter connected to the new server), add import folders that point to all your old recording and import folders (NOTE: You are adding all of these as import folders, NOT recordings folders - even your old recording location. Sage won't care, it will still treat recordings as recordings, even if they are in an import folder, but by doing this, it will prevent sage from recording new shows to the old server's drives). Then shut down the docker, and copy your wiz.bin from the old server to the new.

When you restart the docker, it will be with the old wiz.bin, so it will take some time to upgrade it to the new version. It will then scan all the assigned recording and import folders - both local on unRAID, and remote on the old server. It will recognize all your media and recordings and they will all be fully accessible on the new sage server.

You can then take your time moving recordings from the old server into the appropriate folders on the new server. All it takes is a rescan every so often for sage to pick up that they are now in new locations. Once a location is empty, you can remove that location from Sage. After all is done, everything will reside in the default shares on unRAID.

[glenner]

Originally Posted by Monedeath

Not really, the Prime is a CableCard tuner, and plays by different rules. Forget which tier the h.264 transcoding happens on the OTA HomeRuns, but that would be the only other thing/mode which would require OpenDCT.

That said, OpenDCT can manage the interface between Sage and any HDHomeRun series device, which can be very useful if you want to allow more than just Sage to use them.

h.264 transcoding is configurable on the HDHR Extend (it is enabled by default)... I just setup my Extend with SageTV9.

tip: I actually had to disable transcoding on the Extend. Otherwise, with transcoding turned on, SageTV will appear to successfully scan for channels, but when you try to preview any channel, you will get "No Signal". This definitely threw me for a few hours until I figured it out. The Extend comes with transcoding turned on by default. So it needs to be disabled via the HDHR web interface before doing the tuner scan with SageTV9.

That said, are you saying if I use OpenDCT, then SageTV9 will work with an Extend *with transcoding enabled*? If so that might move OpenDCT from the "nice to have" bucket, squarely into the "must have" bucket. The disk space optimization and network streaming performance benefits would be significant.

[glenner]

Originally Posted by Fuzzy

For the migration here's what I'd suggest.

Setup your sage server on unRAID. It will already have recording and import folders created, accessible via network shares. Set up your sources and EPG info.

Make sure all your recording and import folders on your old server are shared. On the new server (well, via client or placeshifter connected to the new server), add import folders that point to all your old recording and import folders (NOTE: You are adding all of these as import folders, NOT recordings folders - even your old recording location. Sage won't care, it will still treat recordings as recordings, even if they are in an import folder, but by doing this, it will prevent sage from recording new shows to the old server's drives). Then shut down the docker, and copy your wiz.bin from the old server to the new.

When you restart the docker, it will be with the old wiz.bin, so it will take some time to upgrade it to the new version. It will then scan all the assigned recording and import folders - both local on unRAID, and remote on the old server. It will recognize all your media and recordings and they will all be fully accessible on the new sage server.

You can then take your time moving recordings from the old server into the appropriate folders on the new server. All it takes is a rescan every so often for sage to pick up that they are now in new locations. Once a location is empty, you can remove that location from Sage. After all is done, everything will reside in the default shares on unRAID.

Thanks for the migration plan Fuzzy. Makes perfect sense... I will use these notes when I setup my unRAID server.

[glenner]

I'm also now wondering... It would be really useful if I can continue to use my WinXP setup as an ongoing backup SageTV box, or it may need to continue to serve as a primary system over the next month or two, as I properly setup a brand new system.

Can I just run the SageTV v9 windows installer and install directly on top of my existing SageTV v6.6.2 on WinXP? Then just setup the SD EPG... Will that work, or do I have to upgrade using SageTV v7 first?

If so, I would take a backup of my v6 folder... and attempt the v6 to v9 upgrade sometime after July 1st.

[Tiki]

Originally Posted by glenner

I'm also now wondering... It would be really useful if I can continue to use my WinXP setup as an ongoing backup SageTV box, or it may need to continue to serve as a primary system over the next month or two, as I properly setup a brand new system.

Can I just run the SageTV v9 windows installer and install directly on top of my existing SageTV v6.6.2 on WinXP? Then just setup the SD EPG... Will that work, or do I have to upgrade using SageTV v7 first?

If so, I would take a backup of my v6 folder... and attempt the v6 to v9 upgrade sometime after July 1st.

as far as I know going directly from v6 to v9 has not been tested. It might work, but the advice has been to upgrade from 6 to 7 first, then go from 7 to 9.

The first launch of Sage after going from 6 to 7 can take a long time because it goes through all your recordings and inserts the metadata in them if isn't already there.

People have successfully installed Sage v9 on Win XP, however some reported having to work through minor issues such as needing to run Windows Update first to make sure they had the latest updates.

[glenner]

Originally Posted by Tiki

as far as I know going directly from v6 to v9 has not been tested. It might work, but the advice has been to upgrade from 6 to 7 first, then go from 7 to 9.

The first launch of Sage after going from 6 to 7 can take a long time because it goes through all your recordings and inserts the metadata in them if isn't already there.

People have successfully installed Sage v9 on Win XP, however some reported having to work through minor issues such as needing to run Windows Update first to make sure they had the latest updates.

Thanks Tiki. So sounds like I will try the following:

1. download v7.1.9 from here: https://forums.sagetv.com/forums/showthread.php?t=56137
2. install v7.1.9 on top of 6.6.2.
3. start up SageTV v7 service. (so this initial start will take some time as it rebuild metadata?)
4. confirm extenders can connect to v7 server and test basic function. EPG may not be working...
5. shut down SageTV v7 service
6. install v9.
7. setup SD EPG
8. confirm extenders can connect to v9 and test basic function.

I only have a v6 licence. Not a v7 licence. I would think Sage 7 will prompt me for a v7 key? I guess I can just use the 21 day trial since I will be installing v9 directly on top?

My XP system is up to date... It will be useful if I can still have this old box as a backup SageTV v9 machine.

Thanks!

[glenner]

Actually, I found a post that allows v6 licence keys to work in v7. So maybe my v6-->v9 upgrade steps will actually be like this:

1. download v7.1.9 from here: https://forums.sagetv.com/forums/showthread.php?t=56137
2. install v7.1.9 on top of 6.6.2.
3. replace v7 exe files with those provided that allow v6 key to be used: https://forums.sagetv.com/forums/showthread.php?t=56225
4. start up SageTV v7 service. (so this initial start will take some time as it rebuilds metadata?)
5. confirm extenders can connect to v7 server and test basic function. EPG may not be working...
6. shut down SageTV v7 service
7. install v9.
8. setup SD EPG
9. confirm extenders can connect to v9 and test basic function.

[graywolf]

Originally Posted by glenner

Actually, I found a post that allows v6 licence keys to work in v7. So maybe my v6-->v9 upgrade steps will actually be like this:

1. download v7.1.9 from here: https://forums.sagetv.com/forums/showthread.php?t=56137
2. install v7.1.9 on top of 6.6.2.
3. replace v7 exe files with those provided that allow v6 key to be used: https://forums.sagetv.com/forums/showthread.php?t=56225
4. start up SageTV v7 service. (so this initial start will take some time as it rebuilds metadata?)
5. confirm extenders can connect to v7 server and test basic function. EPG may not be working...
6. shut down SageTV v7 service
7. install v9.
8. setup SD EPG
9. confirm extenders can connect to v9 and test basic function.

Add step 7a rerun v9 installer and choose Repair

Needed if you replaced the exe

[jusjoken]

Originally Posted by glenner

Actually, I found a post that allows v6 licence keys to work in v7. So maybe my v6-->v9 upgrade steps will actually be like this:

1. download v7.1.9 from here: https://forums.sagetv.com/forums/showthread.php?t=56137
2. install v7.1.9 on top of 6.6.2.
3. replace v7 exe files with those provided that allow v6 key to be used: https://forums.sagetv.com/forums/showthread.php?t=56225
4. start up SageTV v7 service. (so this initial start will take some time as it rebuilds metadata?)
5. confirm extenders can connect to v7 server and test basic function. EPG may not be working...
6. shut down SageTV v7 service
7. install v9.
8. setup SD EPG
9. confirm extenders can connect to v9 and test basic function.

As long as the folder is backed up i would skip steps 3-6. V9 should have no issue in upgrading a v6 database so the only reason to install v7 is that the v9 installer may not handle something the v7 installer was designed to do over v6.

Also in v9 installer go into options to ensure its installing where you have sagetv installed

k

[graywolf]

I did the V6 to V7 to V9 route myself.

Either way you choose, when you go from V6 to V7 or V9, it could take awhile since it converts your wiz.bin to new format AND will add metadata to all your recordings. I had a ton of recordings so when I started V7 the first time it took a couple hours before the UI would go to the main menu.