HDHomeRun EXTEND H.264 and SageTV

[brandypuff]

Just picked up a Extend because it encodes to h.264 natively and i thought it would be better for bandwidth on my network. I am running OpenDCT along with a HDPrime on Windows 10 x64.

The issue is that Sage (V6 as i haven't upgraded yet) won't play or record any of the Extend's channels even though it scans for them OK. I can play OTA channels from the Extend fine outside of Sage.

So what can i do? Do i need to return it and buy a connect? Does Sage V9 support H264 files? Can i install a codec in Sage?

Also, do i really need to go though OpenDCT like i do for the Prime because it uses a cable card, i guess? Will that be better?

[Fuzzy]

You only need to use openDCT if you want to use the transcoding of the extend. SageTV itself doesn't support that feature, and will instead just grab the stream directly as broadcast.

To help you any further, though, we'd need some logs. sagetv_0.txt, sagetvclient_0.txt and opendct.log for a short run (start sagetv, guide, watch live ota channel, stop sagetv, zip up and post logs).

[brandypuff]

Originally Posted by Fuzzy

You only need to use openDCT if you want to use the transcoding of the extend. SageTV itself doesn't support that feature, and will instead just grab the stream directly as broadcast.

To help you any further, though, we'd need some logs. sagetv_0.txt, sagetvclient_0.txt and opendct.log for a short run (start sagetv, guide, watch live ota channel, stop sagetv, zip up and post logs).

Since the EXTEND encodes natively in MPEG4 and Sage doesn't support MPEG4 playback, then will I need to transcode MPEG2 to be able to view the channels and recordings with Sage which is less than ideal.

I just tried grabbing some logs but nothing was created. I took OpenDCt out of the equation and added the EXTEND directly to Sage. L am using the Server Sage UI to tune a channel so there isn't a SageTVclient_0.txt file. I don't see a SagetTV_0.txt file either. does it take awhile before it's created? I am running SageTV v6.x btw.

[EnterNoEscape]

Originally Posted by brandypuff

I will grab a log for analysis. However, since the EXTEND encodes natively in MPEG4 and Sage doesn't support MPEG4 playback, then will I need to transcode MPEG2 to be able to view the channels and recordings with Sage which is less than ideal.

It's not that SageTV doesn't support H.264 playback, it's because it defaults to an MPEG-PS container and you can't encode H.264 into MPEG-PS. You can change a property on your capture device to enable the use of MPEG-TS which does support H.264.

1. Stop the SageTV service
2. Edit Sage.properties
3. Change mmc/encoders/<encoder_id>/100/0/encode_digital_tv_as_program_stream=true to mmc/encoders/<encoder_id>/100/0/encode_digital_tv_as_program_stream=false for each of your EXTEND entries
4. Save Sage.properties
5. Start the SageTV service

[brandypuff]

Good. Now I am making progress. I added one HDhomerun tuner to Sage without using OpenDCT. Sage was able to scan for the channels and actually preview them after I changed encode_digital_tv_as_program_stream false for the device. I can now open the guide via the SageUI and watch a OTA channel. Yeah!

However, for some reason, a lot of the OTA channels don't show up I the program guide screen for some weird reason even though they are enabled. See attached.

[graywolf]

V6 you have to turn logging on in detailed settings
Not at home so can't give you direct path.
Once turned on it will start writing to sagetv_0.txt.

V9 logging is automatic

Remember to upgrade to V9 & Schedules Direct soon since the Sagetv EPG source goes away end of the month

[brandypuff]

I will turn it on. V9 upgrade is on my task list. needed to upgrade to win10 first as my win7 install was broken. will do it soon once stable with the EXTEND.

[brandypuff]

Here's a debug log. Not sure if it will tell you anything.

My issue is with the Silicondust HDHomeRun Tuner 10562C06-0. To recap, it works OK with SageTV now but not all the enabled channels are showing up in the Program Guide. This tuner is direct connected and not going through OpenDCT. Thanks.

[Fuzzy]

Originally Posted by brandypuff

Good. Now I am making progress. I added one HDhomerun tuner to Sage without using OpenDCT. Sage was able to scan for the channels and actually preview them after I changed encode_digital_tv_as_program_stream false for the device. I can now open the guide via the SageUI and watch a OTA channel. Yeah!

However, for some reason, a lot of the OTA channels don't show up I the program guide screen for some weird reason even though they are enabled. See attached.

I'm guessing you also still have your Prime configured and enabled, correct? Sage will combine the channel lists from whatever sources you have, so if the same 'channel' is listed in more than once source, it will only display in the guide once. Which 'logical' channel number, and therefore placement in the guide, it uses I'm not sure the logic on. My guess is that sage is preferring the logical numbers of the prime lineup.

[brandypuff]

this could be the issue. I've attached two images. one for OTA 2-1 and the other from the Prime chan 782. Each channel has the same channel ID: 28055.

I have had this issue when I was using the prime with the Hauppauge HVR-1600. both chan 2-1 and chan 782 were listed in the guide simultaneously.

What is the solution? I want to be able to have the option of recording on either tuner as sometimes the shows are different.

I am using two different lineups for OTA and the prime.

[Fuzzy]

Originally Posted by brandypuff

this could be the issue. I've attached two images. one for OTA 2-1 and the other from the Prime chan 782. Each channel has the same channel ID: 28055.

I have had this issue when I was using the prime with the Hauppauge HVR-1600. both chan 2-1 and chan 782 were listed in the guide simultaneously.

What is the solution? I want to be able to have the option of recording on either tuner as sometimes the shows are different.

I am using two different lineups for OTA and the prime.

If they have the same channel ID, then the shows are NOT going to be different - they are the exact same EPG data (in fact, it's only downloading that data once anyway). There's not really a 'solution' because there is not a problem. If you'd prefer to have the channel at 2-1, instead of 782, you can do a logical remap to 2-1.

[glenner]

Originally Posted by EnterNoEscape

It's not that SageTV doesn't support H.264 playback, it's because it defaults to an MPEG-PS container and you can't encode H.264 into MPEG-PS. You can change a property on your capture device to enable the use of MPEG-TS which does support H.264.

1. Stop the SageTV service
2. Edit Sage.properties
3. Change mmc/encoders/<encoder_id>/100/0/encode_digital_tv_as_program_stream=true to mmc/encoders/<encoder_id>/100/0/encode_digital_tv_as_program_stream=false for each of your EXTEND entries
4. Save Sage.properties
5. Start the SageTV service

I tried doing these steps on a spare SageTV v9 rig I'm setting up. I'm running v9 on a Win7 laptop, and using an EXTEND. The only way I've been able to get Sage to tune and record shows is to set the "Default Transcode Profile" to "None" on the EXTEND.

I tried changing my encode_digital_tv_as_program_stream entries to false, and setting the transcode profile to "Heavy". This does not work as it will not tune or record... In some cases, it seemed like the Sage windows client would hang and I'd have to kill it. How can I debug this or any suggestions I can try?

You were able to get this to work Brandypuff? You are now recording shows in H.264 using only Sage v9 + Extend?

[EnterNoEscape]

Originally Posted by glenner

I tried doing these steps on a spare SageTV v9 rig I'm setting up. I'm running v9 on a Win7 laptop, and using an EXTEND. The only way I've been able to get Sage to tune and record shows is to set the "Default Transcode Profile" to "None" on the EXTEND.

I tried changing my encode_digital_tv_as_program_stream entries to false, and setting the transcode profile to "Heavy". This does not work as it will not tune or record... In some cases, it seemed like the Sage windows client would hang and I'd have to kill it. How can I debug this or any suggestions I can try?

You were able to get this to work Brandypuff? You are now recording shows in H.264 using only Sage v9 + Extend?

If the recordings started to end in .ts instead of .mpg, and you still can't use the transcode profile, I'm not sure what would be holding you back. I would post a log file with this problem in case something jumps out.

[glenner]

Originally Posted by EnterNoEscape

If the recordings started to end in .ts instead of .mpg, and you still can't use the transcode profile, I'm not sure what would be holding you back. I would post a log file with this problem in case something jumps out.

So I finally got back to this: trying to get the Extend transcoding working with native SageTV 9. This is what I did:

1. Stop the SageTV service
2. Edit Sage.properties
3. Change mmc/encoders/<encoder_id>/100/0/encode_digital_tv_as_program_stream=true to mmc/encoders/<encoder_id>/100/0/encode_digital_tv_as_program_stream=false for each of your EXTEND entries
4. Save Sage.properties
5. Goto HDHR Extend webui. Changed default transcode profile from "none" to "heavy". This presumably ensures that h264 encoding is turned on.
6. Start the SageTV service
7. Recorded a show from guide.
8. Noticed that .ts file is now being created instead of .mpg. Progress!
9. .ts file seems to to generate less MB/sec than a regular .mpg file. So I believe transcoding is on.
10. show is choppy when watching with placeshifter. audio is ok. video is displayed but very choppy and unwatchable. not sure why. Is there anything I should try?

I ended up reverting back to my old setting recording in mpeg2 again.

So not sure... Still not sure it is possible to get an Extend to record properly with native SageTV v9.

[Tiki]

Have you tried watching the recordings directly?

Placeshifter is not a good test. It transcodes everything on the fly to MP4, and it's playback engine is not very good to begin with, and you throw in the uncertain bandwidth and delays of going across the internet, and odds of a good experience are low.

I would guess it takes a lot more CPU power to transcode from h.264 to MP4, than it would to go from MPEG2 to MP4. So your PC may also be a bottleneck.

[Telecore]

I picked up an HDHR-Extend and ensured it was recording to .ts files. I tried using both the HDHR software/driver and OpenDCT (with default settings) but it doesn't work with transcoding set to "heavy". It only works with "none". I have followed a similar process to the previous posts. I am attaching a log file to see if anyone can assist. I believe the HDHR-Extend encodes to MPEG-4 which SageTV should understand, but when attempting to watch a channel it reports the detailed info->format as "MPEG2-TS" with no additional codec information (normally, there is additional info. on the codec and audio). I have created a new lineup for the tuner and am testing on a spanish channel which only the HDHR-Extend will attempt to tune. The attached file has some successful attempts to tune the channel when I changed the transcode setting to "none", so be aware of that. Also, I have deleted some large scheduler entries that keep repeating with a lot of TV shows. I am hoping that perhaps there are some OpenDCT FFmpeg settings that can be used to perhaps modify some aspect of the container/data stream without having to transcode video that can get this to work. Thanks in advance for any help.

[EnterNoEscape]

Originally Posted by Telecore

I picked up an HDHR-Extend and ensured it was recording to .ts files. I tried using both the HDHR software/driver and OpenDCT (with default settings) but it doesn't work with transcoding set to "heavy". It only works with "none". I have followed a similar process to the previous posts. I am attaching a log file to see if anyone can assist. I believe the HDHR-Extend encodes to MPEG-4 which SageTV should understand, but when attempting to watch a channel it reports the detailed info->format as "MPEG2-TS" with no additional codec information (normally, there is additional info. on the codec and audio). I have created a new lineup for the tuner and am testing on a spanish channel which only the HDHR-Extend will attempt to tune. The attached file has some successful attempts to tune the channel when I changed the transcode setting to "none", so be aware of that. Also, I have deleted some large scheduler entries that keep repeating with a lot of TV shows. I am hoping that perhaps there are some OpenDCT FFmpeg settings that can be used to perhaps modify some aspect of the container/data stream without having to transcode video that can get this to work. Thanks in advance for any help.

I do see that you have things configured correctly for SageTV to be able to use H.264 via the HDHomeRun, but you're not actually using OpenDCT in that log.

What appears to be happening is SageTV can't detect the file format. I'm not sure if OpenDCT would improve this any.

[Telecore]

In this log I did not capture using OpenDCT, but I did try it. Can you elaborate on the file format? It is supposed to be capturing to an MPEG2-TS (.ts) file. To me it looks like SageTV can't figure out what's in the file. But it does work with transcoding off.

I scheduled a recording and SageTV gave me 3 system messages: first, "Halt Detected in Recording" (stopped producing data), then (2) "Halt Detecting in Recording (23 more x) then "Recording Missed Due to Capture Device Failure". No file was produced.

I see the HDHR-Extend codec referenced as AVC and H.264 - I thought these were alternative terms for MPEG-4 - I know that SageTV understands MPEG-4, so I don't understand why this device doesn't work.

[EnterNoEscape]

Originally Posted by Telecore

In this log I did not capture using OpenDCT, but I did try it. Can you elaborate on the file format? It is supposed to be capturing to an MPEG2-TS (.ts) file. To me it looks like SageTV can't figure out what's in the file. But it does work with transcoding off.

I scheduled a recording and SageTV gave me 3 system messages: first, "Halt Detected in Recording" (stopped producing data), then (2) "Halt Detecting in Recording (23 more x) then "Recording Missed Due to Capture Device Failure". No file was produced.

I see the HDHR-Extend codec referenced as AVC and H.264 - I thought these were alternative terms for MPEG-4 - I know that SageTV understands MPEG-4, so I don't understand why this device doesn't work.

.ts is the correct container extension. I'm not sure why SageTV can't figure the video format out.

[brandypuff]

I've got an Extend but I am using it directly through SageTV and not OpenDCT. Seems to work fine. Not sure why I would need to transcode the shows, anyway.