[awistaiw]

MediaPortal Version: 0.2.2.0
MediaPortal Skin: Blue Two Wide
Windows Version: Windows XP Pro SP2 + all recent updates
CPU Type: AMD Athlon 64 X2 3800+
HDD: Seagate 250GB (100GB Windows + programs with 20GB free; 150 GB data with 65GB free); 700GB RAID5
Memory: 2GB DDR2 Corsair Performance
Motherboard: ASUS M2N32-SLI Deluxe
Motherboard Chipset: NForce 590
Video Card: BFG NVidia 7900GT
Video Card Driver: 162.18
Sound Card: Creative Soundblaster Audigy 2 ZS Platinum
Sound Card AC3: optical out / spdif out
Sound Card Driver: 2.8
1. TV Card: Terratec Cinergy 2400 DTi
1. TV Card Type: DVB-T
1. TV Card Driver: 1.0.3.266
2. TV Card: as above; it is a dual-tuner card
MPEG2 Video Codec: MPV
MPEG2 Audio Codec: MPA
Satelite/CableTV Provider:
HTPC Case: ThermalTake Shark
Cooling: Fan (Zalman Flower on the CPU)
Power Supply: Tagan
Remote: Terratec (supplied with card)
TV: Belinea 10 20 35W 20.1" Widescreen Monitor
TV - HTPC Connection: DVI

Thank you for taking the time to read this post. My problem is as follows: when watching TV through MediaPortal, the stream stutters and jerks in both audio and video. Occasionally, the audio distorts slightly with a high-pitched squeak. Videos play without any problem at all. MediaPortal and my PC in general become unresponsive, although looking at the CPU and Memory usage in Task Manager resource usage seems to be ok at this point (no more than ~5% CPU; ~130MB memory).

I've searched the Wiki and the forum for information regarding this issue, and I cannot find anything that helps. If you have any insight as to what might be causing the problem, I'd be very grateful for your help.

Many thanks

Alastair

[awistaiw]

My apologies; having installed the Windows XP fix, the audio and video now work fine.

On a related note, is there a recommended way of closing off MediaPortal having viewed TV? Just closing the window causes my computer and MediaPortal to stop responding, as does turning off the TV.

Thanks again

Alastair

It seems that the same behaviour has returned. I have no idea why or how; I rebooted my computer, and there it is again. I re-ran the XP dual-tuner patch to see if it made a difference (in case the files had been over-written on re-boot, perhaps), but no joy.

Sorry for the stream of posts; if you can provide any help, I'd be very grateful.

Many thanks

Alastair

[Taipan]

Originally Posted by awistaiw

when watching TV through MediaPortal, the stream stutters and jerks in both audio and video. Occasionally, the audio distorts slightly with a high-pitched squeak. Videos play without any problem at all.

This suggests that your TV reception (signal strength and signal quality) is marginal.

Can you use the application that came with your TV card to measure the signal strength and quality?

Do you get problem free viewing when you use the TV application that came with your DVB card?

What sort of antenna setup do you have to feed a good signal to the card?

[awistaiw]

Originally Posted by Taipan

This suggests that your TV reception (signal strength and signal quality) is marginal.

Can you use the application that came with your TV card to measure the signal strength and quality?

Many thanks for taking the time to reply, Taipan. Using Cyberlink PowerCinema that came with my TV card, the signal strength is reported at 4-5 bars (out of a possible 5, I think).

Originally Posted by Taipan

Do you get problem free viewing when you use the TV application that came with your DVB card?

What sort of antenna setup do you have to feed a good signal to the card?

I get the same problem viewing TV through PowerCinema as through MediaPortal; I am using an indoor aerial with a signal amplifier.

Do you have any ideas about the non-responsiveness experienced when trying to shutdown the TV or closing the MediaPortal UI when the TV is playing? It seems like MediaPortal accepts the command to close the UI, but it remains "stuck" in the background, still being re-drawn (i.e., the TV still plays). I can't alt+tab between applications when I have MediaPortal in the foreground either. Is this a settings problem?

Many thanks again

Alastair

[Spragleknas]

Originally Posted by awistaiw

My apologies; having installed the Windows XP fix, the audio and video now work fine.

What fix?

[awistaiw]

Originally Posted by Spragleknas

What fix?

Thanks for replying Spragleknas. The fix to which I refer is the Windows XP multi-tuner fix, dvbfix.rar, that I now can't seem to find on the MediaPortal website... It's discussed in this forum thread.

Thanks again

Alastair

[Taipan]

Originally Posted by awistaiw

Do you have any ideas about the non-responsiveness experienced when trying to shutdown the TV or closing the MediaPortal UI when the TV is playing?

No, I don't have any suggestions about this one - I have never had trouble closing MediaPortal like you describe. Check the last line of the MediaPortal.log file after one of these "hangs" - that might give you a clue as to the cause. If it only occurs from the TV section, then it could be your TV card or the BDA drivers?

[awistaiw]

Originally Posted by Taipan

If it only occurs from the TV section, then it could be your TV card or the BDA drivers?

Sounds plausible, thank you again. I've attached the relevant part of the log file; there's nothing rated worse than "Info", however

Alastair

[Taipan]

It looks like your MediaPortal is hanging at the point where it is trying to close the ProgramDatabaseV4.db3 file (that's the next step in the shutdown process, when I look at my MediaPortal.log file). Here's something you could try (I am assuming that the ProgramDatabaseV4.db3 file is corrupt) - rename the ProgramDatabaseV4.db3 to ProgramDatabaseV4.old (in case you need to restore it after this test) and then start Mediaportal again. MP will create a new ProgramDatabaseV4.db3 file, and then see if you shutdown cleanly after viewing TV.

[awistaiw]

Hi Taipan

I tried out your suggested fix; unfortunately it was unsuccessful. MediaPortal recreated the file successfully, but the behaviour has not altered. I'll try a reboot and an upgrade to the 0.2.3RC1 version of MediaPortal to see if that helps at all...

Thanks again

Alastair