Improve SageTv uptime

[iostream212]

I have been having a lot of trouble lately with Sage. I have 4 extenders and a dedicated server with 3 ota tuners. It seems like things are crashing a lot and it takes a while to reset the system. It almost seems like too much trouble at times to watch regular broadcast tv. I am looking for suggestions to crash-proof my setup and get my system uptime closer to 100%.

I am running Vail release canidate
I am using Hauppauge 1600 and 2250 tuner cards
I have 2 HD200 extenders and 2 HD300 extenders (never more than 2 are in use at a given time)
Running SageTv v.7.

Issues:
1.) I think sometimes the tuners cause the system to crash. Though it is rare I see it usually about once a month and it causes the whole server to restart. Rebooting takes ~5 minutes before I can get Sage going again.
2.) Sometimes the extenders freeze. This is more common. It is usually when they are not in use for a while and then I go to watch something. Most the time a power cycle will cure, in several case I have to physically unplug them to fix the issue. An unplug and reboot takes ~3 minutes
3.) My main entertainment room Sage has the most issues. I think there are HDCP issues between Sage and the HDMI switcher in my Onkyo. I usually find myself unplugging the extender and power cycling the receiver to get it going. Should I forget the switcher and plug it directly to the tv?
Thanks for any ideas. The WAF is so low. I just want this thing to work.

 

[Spot]

Wow...It sounds like you may have a lot going on. Some lessons I've learned:

1. Make sure all the software on the extenders is current. I typically stick with the beta software and it seems to solve any issues that arise.
2. Windows updates seemed to cause problems with my setup. It would disable or stop the service occasionally. A reboot of the server usually solves this...I have to say it's a lot less frequent since I now have beta software running on my extenders.
3. Minimize other software/hardware on the server. I installed a "windows 7 compatible" modem to do callerID & my computer kept crashing. Once it was removed....It was an incredible leap in reliability.
4. Don't run out of HD space. I recently learned this one...I now have moved all of the movies and recordings off of the OS disk.
5. I use wired connections if at all feasible.
6. My best friend for reliabilty was an HDHomerun Dual-tuner encoder. I eliminated channel changing issues, and the hum when I use a cable box to go to composite inputs for encoding.
7. When I started having issues, I reduced the system to the very basics (server & single HD300). Then slowly added pieces to figure out the problems.
8. I also switched to reserved DHCP addresses for my devices. it enables me to troubleshoot the network issues.
9. Eliminate the plugins until you have a stable configuration (just so that you can reduce the variables)
10. try different cables from your HD300. I found a lot of variability on which cables would work between my HD300 and the receiver. Sometimes, cables themselves would just stop working. I used an optical connection for audio during this period so that I could figure out if it was the HDMI cable of the HD300.

My setup includes sager v7,two ATI TV Wonder 650s, usb UIRT, two two-tuner HDHomeruns running on a 64-bit Windows 7 machine. I also have 2x HD300 (1 wired, 1 wireless), 2 x HD200 (Wired) 2 x MediaMVP

Dave

I have been having a lot of trouble lately with Sage. I have 4 extenders and a dedicated server with 3 ota tuners. It seems like things are crashing a lot and it takes a while to reset the system. It almost seems like too much trouble at times to watch regular broadcast tv. I am looking for suggestions to crash-proof my setup and get my system uptime closer to 100%.

I am running Vail release canidate
I am using Hauppauge 1600 and 2250 tuner cards
I have 2 HD200 extenders and 2 HD300 extenders (never more than 2 are in use at a given time)
Running SageTv v.7.

Issues:
1.) I think sometimes the tuners cause the system to crash. Though it is rare I see it usually about once a month and it causes the whole server to restart. Rebooting takes ~5 minutes before I can get Sage going again.
2.) Sometimes the extenders freeze. This is more common. It is usually when they are not in use for a while and then I go to watch something. Most the time a power cycle will cure, in several case I have to physically unplug them to fix the issue. An unplug and reboot takes ~3 minutes
3.) My main entertainment room Sage has the most issues. I think there are HDCP issues between Sage and the HDMI switcher in my Onkyo. I usually find myself unplugging the extender and power cycling the receiver to get it going. Should I forget the switcher and plug it directly to the tv?
Thanks for any ideas. The WAF is so low. I just want this thing to work.