blank screen and error message with no text

[bluemorris]

Hi,
I'm running the following system and I'm having trouble getting a picture from MY TV. I've searched the forums and have found people with similar problems but can't find a solution.

My TV card is an Avermedia Ultra TV 1500, though MediaPortal recognizes it as an M150. For some reason "M150" is also stamped right on the card so I figure it is marketed under different names.

When I autotune, MP gets the signal and is able to add the channels (though I don't actually see the channels in the little tv display as it is doing this).

When I then go into "My TV" I just get an empty dialog pop up, with no text on the dialog. All I can do is press "OK." And the little tv window won't display anything.

I have tried all the other video decoders I have available to select in the options and that didn't help. Below is a summary of my system and attached are the log messages, including an "error.log" file.

If anyone can help me get this program working I would really appreciate it. It looks like a great program and I'm dying to use it!

MediaPortal Version: 0.2.2
MediaPortal Skin: Blue 2
Windows Version: Windows XP xp2
CPU Type: AMD Athlon XP 3000+ 2.16 GHz
HDD: Maxtor
Memory: 1 Gig SDRam
Motherboard: ACPI Multiprocessor
Motherboard Chipset:
Motherboard Bios:
Video Card:
Video Card Driver: VIA/SG3 UnitChrome IGP
Sound Card: M Audio Revolution 7.1
Sound Card AC3:
Sound Card Driver: latest
1. TV Card: Avermedia Ultra TV 1500 (recognized as M150 in MP)
1. TV Card Type: analog
1. TV Card Driver: latest
MPEG2 Video Codec: tried all I have
MPEG2 Audio Codec: tried all I have
Satelite/CableTV Provider: Shaw

[Taipan]

I think that the problem is this :-

Video Card Driver: VIA/SG3 UnitChrome IGP

You need a video card/driver that supports DirectX 9, and I dont think that the SG3 meets that requirement? Hence, the VMR9 error messages that you are getting ...

[bluemorris]

Thanks for your reply. I have now bought a video card that supports DX9 - GeForce FX 5500 256 MB PCI. I have installed that but I still can't get a picture or sound in the TV side of MediaPortal. It plays video just fine. But when I go to "My TV" I only get a blank screen for all channels. If I opt for full screen mode I get a dialog that says "no signal". Attached are the new logs.

I know that my TV card works because I can get channels just fine in the software it came with, but that software rather sucks in many other ways and I'd love to use MediaPortal.

TV Card is AverMedia UltraTV 1500 MCE (recognized as Aver M150 which is also stamped on the card)

Any help would be much appreciated, thanks!

[Taipan]

The Configuration.log file shows some errors with the TV database file (TVDatabaseV21.db3) - it could be corrupted. Try deleting this file (or just rename it, in case you want to go back later) and then run Mediaportal Setup again and re-scan the channels. That should re-build the TVDatabaseV21.db3 and get rid of the errors, and hopefully display TV for you ...

[bluemorris]

Hi Taipan,
Thanks for the advice. I did as you suggested but that hasn't solved the problem. It did seem to make that error go away in the logs, but I still can't get any picture in MP. I tried installing the Zap2It Plugin and that allows me to get the program guide very nicely. But I still just get a black screen in "My TV" and when I open a channel in full-screen view I get a "no signal detected message." all this even though the auto-scan detects signals (though does not show the picture as it is doing so.

Another thing, Media Portal doesn't seem to be shutting down on my computer. If I exit the program, it looks as though it has shut down, but when I try to run the Setup Program, setup warns me that MediaPortal is still running and asks if I want to close Media Portal. I select Yes and then nothing happens. I try to shut down windows but Windows won't shut down, it just keeps telling me that it can't close media portal. So i shut down the old fashioned way--the button on my machine.

I've attached the latest logs. I feel like I am so close to being able to use this program. Any help anyone can provide would be great.

Thanks!

[Ultimatum]

I have the same problem ( I have the same Tuner card) and I looked over your error log and they match. Everything else is working good but the TV. When I do a scan however I do get it to work. but that is the only time. Have you figured out what the problem is I am dying to use this program it look to be one awesome program! Far better then anything MS could produce!

[bluemorris]

Ultimatum,
Sorry I gave up. I tried everything I could think of and all the suggestions I could find on this site. I'm still watching this thread to see if anyone else can figure it out.
Blue