Things that make you go HUH???!!!

[waynedunham]

Ok, I've got 2 SageTV servers in my house. One on Win8.1 and one on Win10 (upgraded from Win7). Both running 32bit SageTV service. The Win10 machine is 32bit OS while the Win8.1 maching is 64bit OS.

Everything had been running fine for a long time. When I got back from vacation at the beginning of August I turned off my WUB (Windows Update Blocker) which I run so that no updates would be installed and possibly hose my system(s) while I was away.
Both machines updated and all seemed OK, except on the Win10 machine which "so lovingly" updated my FW drivers completely hosing my FW channel changing for my HD-PVR's.

So here comes the problem. Right about the time all the updates took place my HD300 in the living room started having issues connecting to the Win10 machine. My other HD300 in the bedroom and the HD200 in the computer room had no issues. (all wired connections)
Yesterday that troublesome HD300 completely refused to connect to the Win10 machine, but had no troubles with the Win8.1 machine. Both running the same version of SageTV and Java.

My friend had recently shut down his SageTV server and was selling off all his extenders. I snapped up his 2 HD-300's and he threw in a couple HD-200's for free.
So I hook up one of his HD-300s and it connected to both the Win8.1 and Win10 machines just fine. Same network (actually same cabling, just unplugged from one and plugged into the other), same plugins, same options, etc. Also all the HD300's in question were running the same firmware 20101007 (or something like that) The HD300 in question did have a 2011 firmware so I thought that might be it. However the HD300 in the bedroom had that firmware also. I "downgraded" it to the 2010 version (the "latest" according to update firmware on the HD300). But it made no difference. The 300 in the bedroom still worked for both servers and the one in the living room would only connect to the Win8.1 server.

I even tried the whole unplug power, unplug the network cable and power up the 300, then after you get the menu screen, shut it off, unplug it, plug in the network cable and plug it back in. That didn't make a difference either.

Seems very odd that it is the only extender in my house that won't connect to the Win10 server, but has no troubles connecting to the Win8.1 server.

Anyone else ever see something like this? Any educated guesses?

[tvmaster2]

Originally Posted by waynedunham

Ok, I've got 2 SageTV servers in my house. One on Win8.1 and one on Win10 (upgraded from Win7). Both running 32bit SageTV service. The Win10 machine is 32bit OS while the Win8.1 maching is 64bit OS.

Everything had been running fine for a long time. When I got back from vacation at the beginning of August I turned off my WUB (Windows Update Blocker) so that no updates would be installed and possibly hose my system(s) while I was away.
Both machines updated and all seemed OK, except on the Win10 machine which "so lovingly" updated my FW drivers completely hosing my FW channel changing for my HD-PVR's.

So here comes the problem. Right about the time all the updates took place my HD300 in the living room started having issues connecting to the Win10 machine. My other HD300 in the bedroom and the HD200 in the computer room had no issues. (all wired connections)
Yesterday that troublesome HD300 completely refuesed to connect to the Win10 machine, but had no troubles with the Win8.1 machine. Both running the same version of SageTV and Java.

My friend had recently shut down his SageTV server and was selling off all his extenders. I snapped up his 2 HD-300's and he threw in a couple HD-200's for free.
So I hook up one of his HD-300s and it connected to both the Win8.1 and Win10 machines just fine. Same network (actually same cabling, just unplugged from one and plugged into the other), same plugins, same options, etc. Also all the HD300's in question were running the same firmware 20101007 (or something like that) The HD300 in question did have a 2011 firmware so I thought that might be it. However the HD300 in the bedroom had that firmware also. I "downgraded" it to the 2010 version (the "latest" according to update firmware on the HD300). But it made no difference. The 300 in the bedroom still worked for both servers and the one in the living room would only connect to the Win8.1 server.

I even tried the whole unplug power, unplug the network cable and power up the 300, then after you get the menu screen, shut it off, unplug it, plug in the network cable and plug it back in. That didn't make a difference either.

Seems very odd that it is the only extender in my house that won't connect to the Win10 server, but has no troubles connecting to the Win8.1 server.

Anyone else ever see something like this? Any educated guesses?

All I can offer is that ALL of my HD300's have been acting very inconsistently since this forum went down for maintenance last month. My HD200's are performing and communicating as usual. It seems the HD300's are having network problems. Cannot explain it, and have done all the things you have done - unplugged, disconntected, even tried changing their IP addresses.

[KeithAbbott]

For awareness, the de facto "recommended" firmware version for the HD300 is 20110124-2.

[tvmaster2]

Originally Posted by KeithAbbott

For awareness, the de facto "recommended" firmware version for the HD300 is 20110124-2.

That’s NOT a beta?

https://forums.sagetv.com/forums/showthread.php?t=50840

[KeithAbbott]

Originally Posted by tvmaster2

That’s NOT a beta?

You can still consider it a beta if you want. For me, it's been out for 9 1/2 years, in my personal opinion it lost it's beta status quite a number of years ago.

[tvmaster2]

Originally Posted by KeithAbbott

You can still consider it a beta if you want. For me, it's been out for 9 1/2 years, in my personal opinion it lost it's beta status quite a number of years ago.

hehe - yeah, makes perfect sense. I suppose it would have been nice that when the developers were satisfied with it they would have changed the designation...

Did you ever install; 20110217 2? It seems to have arrived one month later, for that matter - is anyone using the FINAL firmware, 20110506-0?

EDIT: I knew this all looked familiar. Firmware questions answered - https://forums.sagetv.com/forums/sho...ght=20110506-0

[KeithAbbott]

Originally Posted by tvmaster2

EDIT: I knew this all looked familiar. Firmware questions answered - https://forums.sagetv.com/forums/sho...ght=20110506-0

Yeah, do a search on 20110124-2 and you'll find many posts supporting that "beta" version. For example: https://forums.sagetv.com/forums/showthread.php?t=62106

[tvmaster2]

Originally Posted by KeithAbbott

Yeah, do a search on 20110124-2 and you'll find many posts supporting that "beta" version. For example: https://forums.sagetv.com/forums/showthread.php?t=62106

I've found loads of info, but for some reason I haven't figured out yet, the HD300 just errors out on everything BUT from an Internet connection, and then it only wants to see the versions I'm not interested in

[tvmaster2]

Anyone have DHCP problems with their HD300’s?

My units just zero out IP Address AND Gateway. If I set static, they work.

So that’s not good.

—————————-
UPDATE: found a thread, tried this, it worked. Wow, the HD300’s are way too much on the drama queen page

“Power the unit up without the Ethernet cable plugged in. Wait for the SAGETV logo to flash up. Plug the Ethernet cable in just after the SAGETV logo disappears. The HD300 will then get an IP“

[KryptoNyte]

No DHCP problems that I can recall. Assuming your router is your DHCP server, is it possible your router or an inline network switch is going bad? What happens when you unplug the problematic HD300 and hard plug a laptop into the same cable (using DHCP on the laptop)?

[NetworkGuy]

Originally Posted by tvmaster2

Anyone have DHCP problems with their HD300’s?

My units just zero out IP Address AND Gateway. If I set static, they work.

So that’s not good.

—————————-
UPDATE: found a thread, tried this, it worked. Wow, the HD300’s are way too much on the drama queen page

“Power the unit up without the Ethernet cable plugged in. Wait for the SAGETV logo to flash up. Plug the Ethernet cable in just after the SAGETV logo disappears. The HD300 will then get an IP“

I assign fixed IP addresses to almost everything in the house. I group them in ranges (i.e. computers, streaming devices, home automation, etc.) It makes it easier when you are troubleshooting networks problems.

[tvmaster2]

Originally Posted by NetworkGuy

I assign fixed IP addresses to almost everything in the house. I group them in ranges (i.e. computers, streaming devices, home automation, etc.) It makes it easier when you are troubleshooting networks problems.

As do I, but I troubleshoot both ways just in case.

[tvmaster2]

Originally Posted by KryptoNyte

No DHCP problems that I can recall. Assuming your router is your DHCP server, is it possible your router or an inline network switch is going bad? What happens when you unplug the problematic HD300 and hard plug a laptop into the same cable (using DHCP on the laptop)?

Maybe I’ve got a funky switch. Will experiment some more. I feel like Dr. Frankenstein.

Tested cables and switch. All good. Something in the HD300 is unhappy, either with itself or my network. Running Merlin on a Netgear Nighthawk, and mostly, everyone’s happy on the system, even the HD200’s. Interesting.

[waynedunham]

Originally Posted by tvmaster2

Anyone have DHCP problems with their HD300’s?

My units just zero out IP Address AND Gateway. If I set static, they work.

So that’s not good.

—————————-
UPDATE: found a thread, tried this, it worked. Wow, the HD300’s are way too much on the drama queen page

“Power the unit up without the Ethernet cable plugged in. Wait for the SAGETV logo to flash up. Plug the Ethernet cable in just after the SAGETV logo disappears. The HD300 will then get an IP“

Yes, I've seen this also. Trying reset the network and refresh IP on the extender settings menu does no good. When I see the 0 IPs refresh doesn't seem to do anything and reset goes for a while and then errors out.
I've been dealing with it so far by unplugging the extender, waiting a few seconds and plugging it back in. 95% of the time this gets me a non-zero ip/gateway. Oddly the IP is my "normal" IP (locked at the router), but the gateway doesn't have numbers it has "dlinkrouter.hsb", but this does work.

I'm going to try one of the newer firmwares I just downloaded yesterday to see if it helps.

[tvmaster2]

Originally Posted by waynedunham

Yes, I've seen this also. Trying reset the network and refresh IP on the extender settings menu does no good. When I see the 0 IPs refresh doesn't seem to do anything and reset goes for a while and then errors out.
I've been dealing with it so far by unplugging the extender, waiting a few seconds and plugging it back in. 95% of the time this gets me a non-zero ip/gateway. Oddly the IP is my "normal" IP (locked at the router), but the gateway doesn't have numbers it has "dlinkrouter.hsb", but this does work.

I'm going to try one of the newer firmwares I just downloaded yesterday to see if it helps.

So if you had to guess, would you say it’s a recent change in the open-source Sage server software, or failing hardware on the HD300? I believe software is to blame, and since there hasn’t been a firmware update in nine years, it makes sense that some code, somewhere, on the Sage server side has been modified without taking the HD300 into account. Since Narflex and Opus don’t comment anymore, it’s difficult to know...but it would be nice if a modern, firmware update for the HD300 appeared.
What’s strange: my HD200’s seem to just keep chugging along....

[waynedunham]

Originally Posted by tvmaster2

So if you had to guess, would you say it’s a recent change in the open-source Sage server software, or failing hardware on the HD300? I believe software is to blame, and since there hasn’t been a firmware update in nine years, it makes sense that some code, somewhere, on the Sage server side has been modified without taking the HD300 into account. Since Narflex and Opus don’t comment anymore, it’s difficult to know...but it would be nice if a modern, firmware update for the HD300 appeared.
What’s strange: my HD200’s seem to just keep chugging along....

I do not think it is anything in the SageTV software code. It is something in the network area. That new HD300 I put in my living room is now exhibiting the same issue my old one had. As of last night it will NOT connect to my Win10 SageTV server. It sees the server and attempts to connect but after about 20 seconds the HD300 shuts off. My HD200 in my office connects with no trouble, and my HD300 in my bedroom also connects just fine other than it sometimes not having the network set up correctly when I turn it on, but that problem is on all 3 HD300's I've tried. I still have yet to get any of them upgraded to a newer firmware.

[waynedunham]

Since trying to update firmware over the internet is saying no newer version is available I've downloaded several newer/beta versions and placed them in my SageTV/firmware directory.
I think they need to go into the SageTV directory to be see when doing a "via server" update, but I'm not sure if I can just leave them all in there (and pick/choose), or if I can have only one named stp300.bin (and .ver) or if I can leave all their respective dated names (i.e. stp300-20101012 or such).

I tried putting them on a 16Gb USB stick with all the dated bin/ver files and trying to update via USB would give an error message.

[JustFred]

Originally Posted by waynedunham

Since trying to update firmware over the internet is saying no newer version is available I've downloaded several newer/beta versions and placed them in my SageTV/firmware directory.
I think they need to go into the SageTV directory to be see when doing a "via server" update, but I'm not sure if I can just leave them all in there (and pick/choose), or if I can have only one named stp300.bin (and .ver) or if I can leave all their respective dated names (i.e. stp300-20101012 or such).

I tried putting them on a 16Gb USB stick with all the dated bin/ver files and trying to update via USB would give an error message.

There needs to be just ONE stp300.bin and ONE (corresponding) stp300.ver file present. This is true regardless of whether the pair of files is on the server or on the USB stick. All other filenames are ignored.

The typical solution for getting a stubborn HD300 to connect has been:
1. Unplug power from HD300
2. Unplug network cable from HD300
3. Plug in power to HD300, allow it to boot to setup screen
4. Inspect network parameters
5. Plug in network cable.
6. HD300 should get an IP address now.
... or so say a number of posts in these forums.

[tvmaster2]

Originally Posted by waynedunham

Since trying to update firmware over the internet is saying no newer version is available I've downloaded several newer/beta versions and placed them in my SageTV/firmware directory.
I think they need to go into the SageTV directory to be see when doing a "via server" update, but I'm not sure if I can just leave them all in there (and pick/choose), or if I can have only one named stp300.bin (and .ver) or if I can leave all their respective dated names (i.e. stp300-20101012 or such).

I tried putting them on a 16Gb USB stick with all the dated bin/ver files and trying to update via USB would give an error message.

Fred is correct - just one version named stp300.bin

[tvmaster2]

Originally Posted by JustFred

There needs to be just ONE stp300.bin and ONE (corresponding) stp300.ver file present. This is true regardless of whether the pair of files is on the server or on the USB stick. All other filenames are ignored.

The typical solution for getting a stubborn HD300 to connect has been:
1. Unplug power from HD300
2. Unplug network cable from HD300
3. Plug in power to HD300, allow it to boot to setup screen
4. Inspect network parameters
5. Plug in network cable.
6. HD300 should get an IP address now.
... or so say a number of posts in these forums.

And I have been doing this most frequently (can you tell I'm waiting for Bill & Ted 3?), and yet the HD300's continue to choke and sputter, needing the same thing done over and over again. Something has to be wrong somewhere that can fix this bug, yes? If not, I'll start buying HD200's from now on.