My Review of the SageTV STX-HD100 Media Extender and SageTV
Wednesday, June 11, 2008Television dramas can be broken up into segments that span a long period of time. That's not to say that a lot of it is trash. That's also not to say that I'm above watching trash. But there are gems: Lost, Jericho, (beats, bears and) Battlestar Galactica, The Office (US and UK). These shows define why television is more than a boob tube, even though ... often ... it's a boob tube.
For a bit of background, I'm a US satellite subscriber and former Cable TV customer. I started using DVRs the day after the Tivo Series 2 became available. I purchased one because it was available at a steep discount as a refurb. Now I wouldn't watch television without a DVR. Owning a DVR means you get to watch precisely what you want to watch when you want to watch it. It's a time saver, or at least a way to waste less time watching bad television because that's all that happens to be on when you wish to watch television.
The Tivo was short lived. I didn't like paying a monthly service charge and I really didn't like the fact that I couldn't hack-upgrade my Series 2 easily.
Previous posts will indicate that SageTV isn't my first experience with DVR software.
SageTV
SageTV is a spectacular piece of software. But making it work spectacularly requires a bit of ... work. I wouldn't hand this over to my mother to get up and running. While it's not nearly as complicated to get working as MythTV (in its current state), it's a daunting task to get it to do "everything".
The Good Parts
SageTV will play back ... well ... whatever your processor is able to handle. This includes the obvious container formats like avi, and mpeg. But also some of the more obscure like mp4, avchd, Matroska (mkv), mpeg TS. You may have to install the appropriate codec or splitter in Windows, but provided you've done so, the files play back flawlessly.
SageTV can be controlled -- entirely -- by remote control. It works well on a range of televisions, from my very old 23" analog set, to my rather new 50" Full HD set. The interface is incredibly flexible, regardless of how inflexible your particular display technology happens to be.
SageTV includes Place Shifting capability (think Sling Box). And for a very small fee, you can purchase a placeshifter license. The SageTV PlaceShifter works beautifully.
It has the only High Definition Media Extender I've ever seen, and it's got the only Media Extender I've ever used that didn't come with a bunch of "It will work, as long as your media is encoded in precisely <insert format that your media is *not* encoded in> this format".
Though not Open Source or Free, there is no recurring cost other than major version software upgrades. The guide data subscription is included in the price of the application.
The Other Good Things (Provided you have customized SageTV)
I mentioned earlier that it's not easy to setup. This isn't entirely true. It is actually very easy to setup, provided you are happy with the default SageTV Interface. You won't be. The default SageTV interface is among the worst Media PC interfaces I've ever worked with.
All is not lost, however, as there is an add-on called Sage TV Media Center that fills in almost all of the gaps you can imagine. The interface is clean and refined. Screen real-estate is efficiently used and the ability to customize it is incredible.
Put bluntly, I wouldn't run SageTV were it not for SageMC.
The Not-so-good Things
With any system that is this customizable, you run into usability problems. Any system that is this customizable is always going to be geared toward the geekier amongst us. I had previously used, and enjoyed using, BeyondTV. It was a great system but lacked the ability to play many file formats, and as of writing does not support recording from the HD-PVR, which in my circumstances is a must.
Getting the device to work with one of the best remotes ever made, the Snapstream Firefly isn't trivial unless you have a license for Girder or have donated to and installed LM Remote Keymap (the latter being the most inexpensive choice).
Similarly, getting SageTV to work properly with the USB-UIRT, also requires LM Remote Keymap.
The downright bad
Television shows that are recorded are stored in "Recordings" and include all of the metadata that you'd expect from a Tivo, or other standalone DVR. All of the rest of your videos live in this black hole called Imported Videos. Assuming you have a large library of videos that were recorded with other software (BeyondTV), or downloaded (legally, of course), the Imported Videos might as well include a card catalog organized using the Dewey Decimal system.
The best analogy I can find is that it's basically Windows Explorer in a 10-foot interface.
As bad as this is, there are ways around it. The current best way is to use the SageTV Web Interface plug-in and provide the metadata yourself. Obviously, if you have several hundred videos from a different source (BeyondTV, or otherwise downloaded), you're going to be spending a lot of time manually typing metadata.
I whipped up a quick application (soon to be released here), that scours the web for the metadata and turns the "imported videos" into actual Recordings.
All of that said, based on how I have SageTV configured, including add-ons and my custom software, I give it an 8 out of 10.
The SageTV Media Extender
I was very skeptical the day that the SageTV STX-HD100 was released. I've worked with various media extenders and streamers (in fact, I own an Xbox 360, so I technically have another brand of Media Extender in my house). They're all lousy. Often they require you to run a client on a PC that re-encodes video (poorly) for playback on the streamer. Sometimes they have little to no user interface. And they almost always come with serious restrictions on what they will and will not play back.
Even the Xbox 360 -- with all of its processing power -- will refuse to decode and playback various file formats. Get into the obscure like Matroska (MKV) and you can simply forget it. It won't work.
I was intrigued when I discovered the list of formats that SageTV committed to supporting.
As of the latest beta firmware, you can play back video/audio files in these container formats:
Matroxka (MKV), AVI, ASF, MPEG1/2 (MPG), QuickTime (MOV, MP4), OGG, Windows Media Video (WMV), Good old DVD (VOB), and AVCHD.
You can play back audio files encoded in:
AAC, MPEG Audio, Vorbis (it appears only in the ogg container, which would be normal and it supports stereo only), AC3 (Dolby Digital is decoded if you're plugged in via the Stereo outputs, otherwise it does a pass-thru via the optical output), Windows Media Audio (WMA), Free Lossless Audio Codec (FLAC), DTS (It does not decode DTS but it will pass-through to optical).
You can play back video files encoded in:
MPEG-1 and 2 (at all DVD supported bitrates and several well above DVD), MPEG-4.2 ASP@L5, H.264 (AVC) up to 1080p, WMV9/VC-1 up to 1080p.
Video/Audio Output:
It's important to note that though this device is a High Definition media extender, it doesn't necessarily have to be. Despite the fact that the majority of my library is High Definition, I have one of my HD Extenders plugged into an analog television via the S-Video port. It does a brilliant job of displaying HD content on SD displays.
In fact, on the back of the HD Extender you'll find an optical port, two RCA stereo ports, an S-Video port, a composite video port, the typical "HD" component video ports, and an HDMI port, which means it'll plug in to just about any television made after 1990.
The versatility of this device is it's biggest feature. It'll play back almost everything, and it'll play it back to almost any kind of television.
The second biggest feature is one that you won't notice -- it's silent. Despite its ability to crunch through some of the more processor intensive video codecs, it's a small, silent and nice looking device.
The Two Drawbacks
It's somewhat expensive at $200 (more if you don't already own a SageTV license). Considering all of its capabilities, I'm happy to pay $200, rather than $100 or $150 for a device that has a slew of limitations.
No WiFi. Likely this is to prevent play-back limitations. 802.11G may not be able to handle the larger HD videos and "N" (in it's never-going-to-be-released state) is still "Draft".
You can always bridge if you need wireless. Though I'd hazard a guess that if you're really working with SageTV, you probably aren't uncomfortable with running Cat-5e cable into yet another room in your house.
The Verdict
SageTV is great, but tricky to get working "just right".
The SageTV STX-HD100 Extender is the gold standard. There is nothing on the market today that works this well and if you're serious about your home theater rig, you'll be happy to have a wallet that's $200 lighter.
Much thanks to Brent Evans of Geek Tonic fame for convincing me to buy one of these. He's got his own review of the STX-HD100 that puts mine to shame.
Konica Minolta Magicolor 2300 DL and Vista x64
Tuesday, May 6, 2008I had to share this one, since I spent several hours today fighting with my printer. I place the blame squarely with me. My expectation was that any driver for any prior version of Windows would never work with a later version of Windows. It's a fair assumption, but it was wrong.
The backstory: I migrated from XP to Vista, then after discovering how terribly slow the Vista world really was, I bumped up my RAM to 6 GB. Of course, this meant having to move to Vista x64, otherwise my system would only have 3GB of (yes, 3GB, not 4GB due to the intricacies of Memory Addressing).
Here's the scenario:
You have a Konica Minolta Magicolor 2300DL with Controller Firmware 2.85S (you can find the firmware revision by printing the Configuration page using the kludgey menu system on the front panel of your printer). In addition, you're using the Ethernet interface, rather than USB or Parallel.
In a desire to torture yourself, you have installed Vista x64 on a workstation that you wish to print using your 2300DL.
Here's the solution:
The Windows XP x64/Windows Server 2003 driver is compatible with Vista 64-bit.
Download the XP x64 driver and follow the directions for installing the 32-bit Vista driver up to the point where they tell you to go to the advanced settings and use LPR printing mode. Skip LPR, use Raw, and make sure the port is 9100.
When it's time to select a driver, use "Have Disk" and point the "wizard" in the direction of the folder that you extracted the XP x64 driver to and you're set.
A note about the 2300DL printer and the liklihood that this will work . . .
I've noticed that most people did what I did. When this model went EOL in 2004 (or was it 2005?), OfficeMax and others started selling it (with rebate) for around $400.00. A quick calculation indicated that the cost of the consumables was about $400.00. And a quick look at competing products (at the time) had the next color laser-like printer around nearly double the price.
The printer had its drawbacks: It shipped with 64MB of memory and used enough electricity to cause the lights in your house to blink when it ran. But it had its huge plusses: It used typical PC133 memory, of which any geek has a box full of. It had an Ethernet adapter. And it was a 400.00 Color Laser Printer!!
If you purchased this printer when I did, your firmware is probably alreadya at 2.85S
If you purchased it earlier, there's a chance that your firmware isn't even able to be updated.
Before you embark on updating the firmware, do yourself a favor, call Tech Support at 1-877-778-2687. Despite the fact that this printer is discontinued and mine is well out of warranty, it took 4 minutes to reach a representative who spoke perfect English and I was never once asked to pay a "one-time $45 dollar support fee". You don't see that too often.
Verizon: It's not all about the network anymore.
Saturday, October 6, 2007I am a Verizon Wireless customer. I've been using a horrible Motorola E815 phone for the last couple of years. My next phone will be a Windows Mobile or similar device.
I've been with Verizon since the Air Touch days. I had one of their top calling plans and as a result was given a "perk" of the 3-ring 611 call (this essentially means when dialing *611, the phone was answered in three rings by a human being who ... most of the time ... could solve whatever question I had). Air Touch had customer service, good network coverage in my area and after their purchase by Verizon, coverage only got better. And lets face it, if your coverage is good, you're not calling Customer Service often. Verizon put their effort into a digital network and gave several of its customers free digital phones (with a contractual commitment). They were on the bleeding edge both in terms of network quality and the devices they offered their customers.
I would laugh at my friends who chose Nextel, or Ameritech (Cingular now AT&T) and T-Mobile, but they'd rarely hear my laughs because the it was far less often that their phones actually had a signal. Verizon was more costly, but if you wanted to actually use your phone, you went with Verizon in my area.
Late last year, my mother decided to switch to T-Mobile. I did everything in my power to stop her, as I remembered how poor T-Mobile signals were around here. Several months after purchasing her new phone I was surprised to find out that she has had no coverage issues. Another friend of mine decided on the iPhone (booming voice is heard as he says the words, as the expectation is that everyone around him is secretly envious). AT&T Wireless prior to Cingular had nearly the worst signal quality in my area (and I'm told much of the rest of the country). They were terrible, but since purchasing ... well ... everyone, AT&T's network is great here as well.
In fact, other than "Hello? ... can you hear me? I can hear you. You're breaking up. %$^#!" Sprint/Nextel , I don't know of anyone experiencing problems more or less problems than anyone else with their wireless service. And I'll assume that Sprint/Nextel figures their problems out in the short-term as well.
So if you're not going to lose a customer because of call quality . . . why would you lose a customer?
Locked Down Devices and Lack of Selection
Back to my E815 for a moment. I picked this phone up because the Motorola web site indicated it supported Bluetooth OBEX (transfer of pictures/ringtons to/from your PC without using "The Network"), and Bluetooth Dial-up Networking (allowing you to connect a PDA, laptop or other device to the internet without a USB wire). Of course, I knew that Verizon would kill these features in the production model, but a couple of well documented hacks existed for the early firmware versions. Mind you, a firmware upgrade will break Dial-up, so I'm running the initial release revision.
The phone itself, sucks. I bought it for those two features because I have a PDA, and a nice wireless headset, so I don't have to touch it very often. This is good, since setting it down on a table sideways causes it to shut off.
While they attempt to lock out features on the PDA phones, it is far less common since the devices cost more and run an OS that they don't direct control over. Of course, Apple changes the rules, or maybe Apple customers are simple-folk. I never imagined I'd see a day when someone would be willing to pay $500 (or $300 for that matter) for a phone that they'd have to break into in order to install software ... and still have to sign a contract.
It's an unfortunate trend, and I really, sincerely hope Apple loses because if they win, we all lose. The expectation that you'd be able to install software to your PDA/Smartphone or that you'd have most of the features "left alone" will be something that we will not be taking for granted. The good news is that it appears everyone but Verizon has discovered the only way to differentiate themselves from the Executive Jewelry that is the iPhone is to offer devices that are bleeding edge and flexible.
Even the Exclusive iPhone Vendor of the United States of America AT&T (EiVUSAT&T for short) seems to have gotten it with the "Tilt". This product is about two generations ahead of the VX6800. And now T-Mobile is releasing some new WM Smartphones (though, admit it, their selection has been lacking). Sprint, with their "lack of a network" network has also been ahead of the curve on new devices compared with Verizon.
Verizon has the fastest data network (for now), but they have equivalent phone coverage in my area. They've put the cart before the horse, though, because the phones they're releasing can't crunch the web pages at the speed they're downloaded. And what's the point of all that speed if the phone is running a crippled OS, or one that is so outdated that it doesn't let me actually take advantage of "the network".
Bottom line: In my area, the network doesn't matter. And my contract's up. TTYL Verizon Wireless.
A word about Seagate RMAs
My drives were about 2 years old and the process was incredibly simple. Put in a serial number, a model number, box it up and go.
The only cost was shipping it to them. They paid for the return shipping of my refurbished drive and shipped on the day my bad drive was received.
While filling out the online warranty repair forms, I received a notice asking if I'd prefer to upgrade my drive instead. The upgrade cost was $99.00 for a 500GB Refurbished SATA2 drive. The price was the same for both my 400GB and 300GB drive, both of which were also SATA2. Interestingly, at the time of the replacement, NewEgg was selling brand new OEM 500GB SATA2 drives for the same price, so this upgrade was less an upgrade and more of an upsell.
I had a dead 400GB from another PC, along with a 300 and 400GB drive from the HTPC and in both cases the 400GB drives were replaced with 500GB drives despite my not choosing to spend $99.00 on an upgrade. Your results may vary.
For those of you wondering if it's worth the $20 bucks for a cross ship, I can't tell you. I chose the standard replacement method. I shipped three drives USPS Priority, they arrived at the Texas facility within 3 business days and replacements were sent back UPS Ground, arriving back at my house (which is a max of 5 days depending on where you live).
Not a bad turn around. They're either really quick at identifying bad drives, or they don't bother checking. Considering they probably sell a lot of $99.00 upgrades, I'm guessing they don't put a lot of time into validating whether or not the drive they received is actually dead, though there's really no point in returning a good drive since the warranty on the refurbs is 90 days or the end of your warranty period on the drive you sent in, whichever is later.
Buy a Good Power Supply
Tuesday, September 25, 2007- Buy a good power supply. Cheep power supplies are not reliable and can be very tough to troubleshoot unless you are fortunate enough to own a PSU tester that actually works (mine didn't).
- Don't blow dust and heat directly at the bottom of your computer (i.e. make sure you don't have a heating vent in a place that directly affects the running temperature of your PC)
- When you have many components fail simultaneously, at least suspect the PSU. In my case, since I knew the Motherboard and Processor were dead I figured they could have been the reason that the drives failed.
- If you have a suitable, working spare PSU, try that and see if your problems don't go away.
- Buy Seagate or Maxtor hard drives. Their RMA process is incredible. They have my business for the rest of my computing days.
I have an HTPC running Snapstream Media's Beyond TV. It's a fantastic application that is easy to get up and running on Windows. Though it's not free and there are certainly alternatives, it doesn't come with subscription fees and due to various historical reasons I won't get into in this post, I have been using it for a while and switching to MythTV would be painful as a result.
So, the rig is:
High-end Asus Motherboard running a Pentium D 850 over-clocked to 3.6GHz.
(2) 300GB Seagate Hard Drives
(1) 400GB Seagate Hard Drive
Creative Labs Soudblaster Audigy 2ZS
Hauppauge PVR-150MCE
Plextor Mpeg-4 USB TV Capture Device
AMD/ATI X1800XT PCIe Video (I'm outputting 1080i to a Sony HDTV)
Tons of custom software I've written to do various tasks that are shortcomings of BeyondTV.
Antec 500W power supply (not great, but need 500W to overclock this chip with what this box has installed)
1G of DDR2 memory to able to run at speed necessary for overclocking this chip.
About a month ago, the box started rebooting at random. As this machine is very overclocked, I assume that I'm having heat issues. The first step was to put everything back to spec. Yes, I know "overclocking bad". In this case, I disagree. The system was incredibly stable for over a year and the parts were hand picked for the task (including a very nice Zalman CPU cooler).
Things seem ok for a few days, until another sudden reboot. I had no time to troubleshoot it so I left it to its own for about a week. Unfortunately, when I did get to it ... after hours of troubleshooting ... I discovered the following had happened:
The processor is dead.
The motherboard has a black mark next to a place where a capacitor belonged and there are pieces of it throughout the case, so the board is toast too. The capacitor in question handled power to the processor, which explains my dead chip.
Two of my drives are clicking, data is unreadable. I don't back this machine up because in my short-sightedness I thought "gee, it's only TV shows, I can just record them again later". Unfortunately, one of the dead drives had all of that custom software on it and I hadn't backed up that folder in over a month. Oops!
So I put a few things on order, and send away for warranty repair on a few others. I decided to go AMD with an Athlon X2 4200+ and a suitable Asus Motherboard and for good measure, pick up a Maxtor 500GB hard drive. Still figuring this was a heat issue, I decide to go a little crazy on cable organization and end up with a very suitable, clean, airflow friendly rig.
...Except, my hard drives are clicking, I'm getting read/write failures and the one good drive that I had left is now reporting a S.M.A.R.T. failure (useless feature). I'm at a loss at this point. I've replaced almost everything in this box and it's still failing. I go down the path of troubleshooting drivers, even installing different operating systems (I always wanted a Myth box!). Nothing resolves the issue.
Suddenly it occurs to me that the drives only fail when all three are plugged in to power. They didn't even need to be plugged into the motherboard, just power. It dawns on me that I have a dead PSU. Well, not actually dead, but failing under heavy load conditions.
Something I had failed to notice is that while BeyondTV is recompressing video and I'm simultaneously watching video, my system becomes totally unstable. Similarly in Linux when I'm running the graphics test and load testing, the system becomes unstable.
Under idle or even minor load, the system is fine (mostly).
Back to Newegg, this time I purchased a very overpriced Pure80 600W power supply.
Now, there's a twist here that I completely missed when I installed the system the first time. The Antec power supply is located in the back/right side of the case (as is typical). When the case is positioned in my stand, the back right part of the case sits immediately above a heat register which during the summer blows cool air and a lot of dust, but in the winter blows a lot of piping hot air. It's a credit to this particular power supply that it didn't die any earlier. I have since blocked off this particular vent to prevent any airflow or dust.
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I write code, sometimes from a beach.