SageTV beta and HDHomeRun

Update: Turns out it really was my fault.  Still working on getting the tuner to lock on when viewing TV, but at least the channels are getting picked up!

Update #2: A few reboots fixed the problem.  Go figure.

It’s my own fault – I wanted to test the latest SageTV beta, but I didn’t bother searching to see if there was a problem using it with clear QAM on the HDHomeRun.

Sage is adding native support for the HDHR, so there are alternative installation steps that you need to follow. I’m still trying to get it working (even shut down the firewall), but so far, no dice.  Everything works fine in the HDHR/VLC software, but Sage just refuses to find the channels.

I guess I was due – VMC had been running smoothly for so long, I really needed a project!

Guess what I’m installing right now?

Testing Sage while running VMC

Update: You have to disable the service, not stop it.  And, you have to also disable the “Windows Media Center Scheduler” service.

ehrec.exe ties up the tuners, so you can’t run an alternate media center while running VMC (or MCE).  Just stop disable the “Windows Media Center Receiver” service, and you should be good to go.

To access the services in Vista:

1. Open Windows Explorer
2. Right click on “Computer”
3. Select “Manage”
4. Select “Services and Applications”, and the “Services” from the tree

Use Windows Media Center remote to start SageTV

Andy has made the switch, and has already started cranking out enhancements.  This one allows you to use the green button on the MCE/VMC remotes to start Sage instead of MCE/VMC.

High chairs for 10 year olds

Maybe I’ll take another look at this one in 9 years…

Thank you, AT&T, for doing your job

My AT&T account has a corporate discount on it, so last week I called AT&T to find out if I needed to remove it before adding an iPhone as a new line.

The nice lady reviewed my information, told me I did not, in fact, have a FAN discount (although she couldn’t identify what type of discount I do have), and that I would be perfectly fine getting setup with an iPhone (after waiting in line for who knows how long).

Of course, when I got there, my account was “ineligible”, so I had to create a new account.

I called AT&T today, and they merged the new account into the old account and activated the Family plan, all within about 10 minutes.  I got off the phone thinking, “Wow, great work, AT&T!”  Then I remembered why I had to call in the first place…

Battery survival mode for the iPhone

UPDATE: Just found this.  There really is nothing new under the sun.

I got home yesterday evening and realized I had left my charger at work (I have a couple more on order, but they haven’t arrived yet, so I only have the one from the box).  I had charged all day and on the drive home, so I was pretty much full up after about an hour’s worth of use.

To extend the battery life, I shut down the following:

• 3G
• Bluetooth
• Location Services
• Wifi searching

I used the Wifi a bit that night, but I had about 75% remaining when I went to bed.  8 hours later, I still had probably 65% battery life – I was shocked!  I turned everything but the Wifi searching back on once I plugged it back into  the car charger.  Good to know I can squeeze a full day+ out of this if necessary!

Inexpensive iPhone car charger

I picked up two iGo iPhone chargers at Buy.com for $6.99 each – shipped.  Each charger comes with the iPhone tip, which works great with the 3G.  Beats $20/pop.

Gmail stopped working on the iPhone

For about 4 hours, my iPhone kept saying it couldn’t contact “imap.gmail.com”:

I tried deleting and recreating the account, but no dice.  Finally, I fixed the problem by deleting the account, rebooting (hold down the action button and the top button for about 10 seconds), and then recreating the account, but with a different name.  Really strange…

The i760 is no more…

I just got back from selling my i760. I have officially left the realm of Windows Mobile (ok, not really – I still have my old Moto Q, but I no longer have a Verizon account). The 6.1 upgrade seemed nice, too, although I did not really play with out much.

Onwards and upwards!

(btw, this was posted from the new WordPress app for theiPhone)