Is anyone making a plug in to control a SageTV back end server?
#1
The SageTV server is Bullet Proof!  I have been using it for 15+ years and it always records and has never let me down, and if you have wives, you know how bad it can be for you if you miss recording one of her shows!  I have tried a lot of others (paid & free) as front ends and recording pvr's over the last 5 years because no one is updating the Sage clients, and they need updating to stay useful.   So far each PVR experiment has missed recording multiple shows within the first month or so.  Once I see that is a pattern, I wipe that from the test server and try a new one.    I keep using SageTV because it just works every time.  I really never even need to change anything except what I need recorded.  I can keep going into its dated interface to make those changes but being able to control it from the currently used client would be the cats meow.. 

Currently I am experimenting using Kodi 21. as a client and its working Ok.  Very similar to the Plex front end only more complicated. 

So far my only complaint using Kodi is actually deleting shows from disk after watching them is at best difficult.  Yeah, Plex is just as difficult... by design they proudly mumble..  For them, Everyone wants to keep their old soap operas their wives watched already.  Its just the thing that makes us happy.. NOT. 

Anyway, do know if someone has a beta SageTV PVR addon that can be imported into Kodi?  Even something old, that maybe we could figure out how to fund more development... 

Yeah,  wishful thinking..  But hey, its keeping from wondering if I will need to move to Ireland after the next election..  -Bill
Reply
#2
I challenge you to properly set up NextPVR or TVHeadend and prove that they miss scheduled recordings.   I have supported NextPVR for years and any problem that I have have seen could be explained or have been fixed over time.  Our users have wives too. 

I did look into writing a Kodi plugin for SageTV five years ago when since I considered that pvr.nextpvr needed work and I was looking to moving from Windows, since I wanted one Kodi client that could play from both Windows and Linux.  Function-wise I found the SageTV backend offered zero benefit over NextPVR and I was really concerned that the core SageTV backend needed an additional service (OpenDCT) for basic basic tuner support, it was dying that far back.    About that time NextPVR backend was moving to multi-platform so I basically took over the maintenance of pvr.nextpvr and I am so glad I didn't move to SageTV. It is not just clients that are dead, the server side is dead too and no developers frequent the forum to help users.  A Kodi addon will need backend work, there is not enough in the remote API to keep up with the evolving Kodi PVR API.

Your issue is most likely resistance to change which is common and after so many years understandable.  A lot of user of SageTV continue because they have very old h/w players but if you use Kodi for control that concern shouldn't exist and you can benefit from newer more capable h/w

Martin
Reply
#3
(2024-08-05, 14:18)emveepee Wrote: ...
About that time NextPVR backend was moving to multi-platform so I basically took over the maintenance of pvr.nextpvr and I am so glad I didn't move to SageTV. It is not just clients that are dead, the server side is dead too and no developers frequent the forum to help users.  A Kodi addon will need backend work, there is not enough in the remote API to keep up with the evolving Kodi PVR API.
...
Martin

Thank you for your efforts - NextPVR rules. I recently donated and plan to do so again in the future. Combined with SchedulesDirect, the W.A.F. is high, and the misses is happy. It "just works".
I use the outstanding Tidal2 KODI Add-On to stream music, along with rips of my CD collection.
Check out my CD library if you want:
Growing CD Collection
Reply
#4
SageTV supported OpenDCT a long time ago right after going public domain.  I didn't see a need for it, but its been available all along.  I will give nextpvr a look to see if has all the bells and whistles I have come to use all the time in SageTV.  So far every other system is missing a lot of things that sage had in the early 2000's.  One of the main things I have not been able to get my head around is the lack of a simple way to delete a watched show and being able to change the skip lengths to any amount of seconds quickly when watching a show and finding it needs shorter or longer skips for the commercials. Or American football so I can skip all the commentary between plays. (I often change it to 22 seconds for them) 

-Bill
Reply
#5
Delete is much more complicated in Kodi then it should be for PVR as noted in this thread https://forum.kodi.tv/showthread.php?tid=377142 I feel it was better before and I hope @ksooo will think about moving it back.   I find in NextPVR clients the default to delete a recording directly after viewing is a bit too easy though (so I disabled that) and a case can be made to make you work a little bit before losing a recording.  Deleting a full season may be easier in Kodi too, not sure how SageTV does that, it is easier in Kodi than in NextPVR clients.

Skipping is a client function not a backend function so even if SageTV was supported you'd have to use Kodi skipping.  It probably is more powerful then you realize if you look at all the options you have on the wiki https://forum.kodi.tv/showthread.php?tid...pid3205999  I never got used to additive skipping, but you can define short and long steps too.

The reality is not as many client remotes have all the keys on the old school remotes so clients have changed from the MCE/Hauppauge remote days.  You don't have that flexibility with just a DPAD and OK.  NextPVR clients address that a little differently with optional thumbnail based skipping but I am a resume and comskip guy so I actually don't use skip keys that much.

If you do look at NextPVR I have written recording import utilities for several backends including SageTV, just in case there are a few recordings you haven't watched or deleted yet.  My real point was that I think you were wrong in assessing that SageTV was the only reliable backend.
Reply
#6
OMG.  I just installed and setup After Watch and now I get a popup asking if I want to delete the tvshow.  And I can even change it to just delete it, but that is too close to the edge.  Thanks for your help.   @Kooo suggested I use a keyboard and hit the delete key..  I was wondering if I could remap one of the 5 extra keys the Onn 4k pro remote has.  But AW negates needing the figure that out. 

I will setup next when we get back from this road trip in October.   Sagetv has so many features its hard to imagine anything else is in class. 

Bill
Reply
#7
(2024-08-06, 17:15)emveepee Wrote: If you do look at NextPVR I have written recording import utilities for several backends including SageTV, just in case there are a few recordings you haven't watched or deleted yet.  My real point was that I think you were wrong in assessing that SageTV was the only reliable backend.
mvp, I have installed NPVR and recorded a few shows.  So far its worked, but the first config I looked for was season recording an NFL team,  but all I can get is all NFL broadcasts, not for a specific team in the picklist like STV asks when you want to record an nfl game for a season pass.  Second thing I did was install the apple client and was very surprised there was nothing configurable at all unless what channels you want to be able too see is all you want to configure.  Where is the skip time config.....    It seems to have skip,  but one size fits all, maybe 60 seconds.  I am hoping I am just missing something obvious,  I will give that app another day, but I am thinking I will return it for a refund. I cannot even get it to automatically connect to the NPVR back-end when turning it on.   NRFPT. 

I have not tried your plug in yet, but will soon.  So far, npvr has not shown me anything to make me want to switch from STV.  Hopefully that will change as I get further under the hood.  Is there a special config section to NPVR for power users like STV has?  For STV you go to a certain page and type in Jenny's Number and you have maybe a hundred more config options that are the real meat to make it do pretty much anything you can think of.
-Bill
SageTV as my OTA PVR.  Bulletproof with every configurable setting you could ever want/need!  Struggling to find a decent client.. Kodi is interesting now that I found the Afterwatch plugin. Infuse is pretty good after the first few days of using it and its simple to delete a show from disk, one click or two with confirmation!!!!   Traveling via 40'DP 6 months per year. 
Reply
#8
This is not the NextPVR backend support forum.  SageTV is optimized for Americans and their old guide data which pretty well demands Scheduled Direct right now so you won't find some of the shortcuts  However on the Kodi PVR timer use NFL Football as the title and the team name in the subtitle.  In NextPVR web go to the the search, I think this screen shot is self explanatory and you just haven't played around enough.

Image

I don't know how you can say that NextPVR doesn't support anything that would make you want to switch, wasn't the point of this thread is you want to use Kodi.  Whether you use NextPVR or TVHeadend they won't be SageTV but they will work with Kodi.

I know nothing about the Apple addon but since again you are posting on the Kodi forum and asking about Kodi support there are iOS and tvOS versions of Kodi that will work with pvr.nextpvr.  I do know that SageTV doesn't have an AppleTV client so really you are comparing something vs nothing.

Martin
Reply

Logout Mark Read Team Forum Stats Members Help
Is anyone making a plug in to control a SageTV back end server?0