Current Sage User, looking for a few quick answers

[slogic]

Hello,
I've been using SageTV since 2003, and as many of you know, that's no longer an option if you have a hardware failure. My HD-100 started occasionally entering an endless reboot cycle, and I did the capacitor fix 2 years ago so I know I'm in trouble. I thought I'd have time to read through the docs, set up a test server and go through the forums, but it looks like that won't be an option, so I hope you all don't mind me asking a few quick questions.

As aluded to above, I'm currently running a client/server setup using a HD100 for the client. I planned on migrating to NextPVR or MediaPortal, so I bought a AMD E-350 based nettop to replace the HD100 and added a SSD and loaded Windows 7 on it. That should cover me either way for a client. Glancing at the docs, it looks like you can use a ram drive for live (non-scheduled) recorded tv, is that correct? (that's a feature Sage didn't have) I take it if I'm watching something and hit record, it will copy to the harddrive and record as if it was scheduled? If I am using a ramdrive for live tv, where is the ram being used, on the server or the client? Any other consideration for a client/server setup like this? Any other tips from Sage users that have gone the NextPVR route or that you think would help make a smooth transition?

Again I apologize for asking questions I could probably search and find, but I may need to install as early as tomorrow if the HD100 dies, and with Sage being 100% reliable all these years, the WAF expectations are high, and now I have the additional time limitations of a 1 and 3 year old that don't allow me all the spare time I used to have to investigate these things. Thanks in advance for everyone's time and help in answering my questions (and understanding my predicament).

[mvallevand]

I think NextPVR would be pretty close to SageTV in performance and features and it is a good choice for you. I have an ION and it streams LiveTV HDPVR and ATSC HD so an E350 should be even better. The LiveTV file is all buffered on the server so you really won't have anything stored on the client. I have even written a utility to import your recordings and channel icons into NextPVR from SageTV to make the transition a little easier.

The only thing you might have an issue with is saving live tv. NextPVR does not treat the LiveTV like recording, if you push record it only records from the current clock time to the end, so if you used pause or rewind you will miss a chunk. This is without a doubt my biggest annoyance with NextPVR.

Martin

[slogic]

Thanks for the reply. The HD100 hung once today, but it did make it to the weekend so I'm hopefull it will last a little longer. What exactly does your utility do, and where can I download it? If it's not destructive to my existing Sage setup, maybe I can install NextPVR on my workstation acting as the server with the E-350 as my client to give it a test drive. I have a spare HD-Homerun I can use for a capture device, I'm assuming it will work with a USB-UIRT so I can set it up to work with a remote?

[mvallevand]

NextPVR is a very powerful PVR program, so it should be able to do everything that SageTV can. The utility is at http://forums.nextpvr.com/showthread.php...rt-Utility If you feel you are good at setting up shares (to play your SageTV files from another PC), I'd start first by installing NextPVR on the E-350. Changing the E-350 from server to client takes minutes. After you are playing you can decide about things like setting up NPVR on your server and setting up the HDHR.

Martin