Can't Get my Colossus Working... (2 Viewers)

[mm1352000]

Can the Hauppauge software tuner software that we're talking about be deleted from Media Portal without my actually removing the software from my system?

No. The only way to [permanently] remove it from MediaPortal's tuner list would be to uninstall the plugin that WMC uses, thereby breaking your WMC install.

You can just ignore the software tuner. It's not doing any harm, and TV Server (MediaPortal) won't use it unless you tell it to. If it makes you feel better you can even untick it to completely and absolutely prevent TV Server from using it.

It's not a problem that the software tuner is in MediaPortal's tuner list. The only thing you have to keep in mind is that you only have one Colossus, and TV Server and WMC cannot both use it at the same time. Therefore if you're viewing or recording with WMC, don't ask TV Server to view or record a channel too. And obviously the opposite applies too - WMC needs to be prevented from using the Colossus while TV Server is using it.

Btw, many thanks for your continued enthusiasm and help!

No problem - that's what I'm here for. I'm happy to be able to assist.

 

[Marvin Miller]

Perfect - I've un-checked the offending software

OK, I think I'm making some progress! I just ran MP and had video

What I did notice though is that I have remote working but it seems, not the blaster. I'm using the standard Media Center Remote (HP version #3 in the picture) and the standard Hauppaugge IR Blaster...

In the meantime, I'm researching it...

 

[mm1352000]

OK, I think I'm making some progress! I just ran MP and had video

Brilliant.
In order to ensure that the setup is going to be reliable, make sure that you:

• ...have all your channels created by the SD plugin with the correct input settings. We talked about this earlier in the thread. Setting the SD plugin input settings, deleting the first batch of channels it created, then restarting TV Server should do this. You can double-check by:
  1. Open TV Server Config.
  2. Go to the "TV channels" section.
  3. Select any channel and click "edit".
  4. Select the tuning detail row in the bottom of the edit channel dialog and click "edit" again.
  5. Confirm that the video and audio source fields are set correctly (ie. for you: HDMI #1 and SPDIF #1).
• ...have set your TV codec preferences. I recommend you install the LAV codecs (available as the "LAVFilters" package in the MediaPortal Extension Installer) and use them. A lot of other people use them, they're free, and they're good at what they do. After installing them:
  1. Open MediaPortal Config.
  2. Go to the "codecs and renderer" section.
  3. Go to the "TV codecs" tab.
  4. Choose the available "LAV..." option for each of the settings. Exception: the audio renderer setting, where you should choose a DirectSound option. Usually the "default DirectSound" option (ie. use the Windows default audio output) is the correct choice.

P.S. If you intend to use MP to view video files, DVDs and/or Blu-Rays, I recommend you also repeat the TV codec instructions above for the other tabs in the codecs and renderer section of MP Config.

What I did notice though is that I have remote working...

Very good.

but it seems, not the blaster. I'm using the standard Media Center Remote (HP version #3 in the picture) and the standard Hauppaugge IR Blaster...

Right, that's to be expected. The blaster is disabled by default, and must be enabled. I can tell you how to enable it:

1. Open TV Server Config.
2. Go to the plugins section.
3. Enable the ServerBlaster plugin.
4. Click OK to dismiss the "...restart..." dialog.
5. Expand the "plugins" section in the left pane (ie. click the little + symbol) and select "ServerBlaster" to enter the ServerBlaster section.
6. Select blaster type "Hauppauge".
7. Go to the "manual control" section [of TV Server Config].
8. Click "stop service"... then "start service".

...and that's it. Your blaster is now active and should be working (as long as WMC doesn't interfere). Try it out...

 

[Marvin Miller]

Wow, it now works...

We're making some unreal progress here....I'm in shock!

Ummmm......here's a quick question before I set up a whole slew of series recordings....

How do I set the highest possible recording quality? I'm using the Colossus and it records in H.264 I've got it set to something like 24 MB (variable) for Media Center. I am using the LAV filters.

This is pretty coool......

 

[mm1352000]

We're making some unreal progress here....I'm in shock!

I did say "literally a matter of minutes", and I wasn't lying.

How do I set the highest possible recording quality?

TV Server is not able to control the recording quality directly. However from what I've heard, you should be able to set the quality through the version of ArcSoft ShowBiz that is supplied with the Colossus. Changes made that way will apply for TV Server as well.

 

[Marvin Miller]

Yeah, this was much faster, mind you, last time was 20 minutes but game got called on account of the blaster - which turned out to be pretty darn easy.

Awesome - so the recording quality is the same then (as it's already been set in Arcsoft).

I am seeing a bit of jerkiness in the video every 20 or 30 seconds or so. This is in live video - any ideas on that?[DOUBLEPOST=1464410083][/DOUBLEPOST]Also, in the LAV settings what should I use for hardware acceleration? I have an nVidia card and it's current and powerful

 

[mm1352000]

I am seeing a bit of jerkiness in the video every 20 or 30 seconds or so. This is in live video - any ideas on that?

Yes, I have some ideas. However I'll need some more information before I can tell you how to fix it. Please can you supply log files:

1. Close MediaPortal.
   
2. Open the MediaPortal Watchdog tool.
3. Select option 1 ("report a bug to Team MediaPortal").
4. Click proceed. This will open MediaPortal with the default skin and 3rd party plugins disabled.
   
5. Start viewing any channel that you know shows jerky video.
6. Hold the shift key and press 1 (ie. exclamation mark on most keyboards). This should bring up a detail overlay on the video.
7. Keep viewing until you see jerky video.
8. Press F11 to take a screenshot of the problem (saved to your My Pictures folder).
9. Close MediaPortal. This will trigger the Watchdog to collect all the log files etc. Save the zip file it creates to somewhere you'll remember.
10. Attach ("upload a file") the screenshot from step 8 and the zip file from step 9, and post.

Don't hesitate to ask if any of the above is not clear.

 

[Marvin Miller]

Update, I played back some crystal clear video that was recorded by Media Center (known good) and it too jerks briefly every 15 or 20 seconds or so. So it's not the feed from the card, it seems to be whatever plays the video (codec perhaps?). Also, the audio and video appears to be just a bit of sync.

On the above, I can do that, but, it would be hard to catch the actual jerk in action If you know what I mean!

 

[mm1352000]

codec perhaps?

Yes, that's one of the prime candidates.

On the above, I can do that, but, it would be hard to catch the actual jerk in action If you know what I mean!

You don't have to. A couple seconds after the jerk is fine. I just want to see the detail overlay. It'll give me all the info I need.

 

[Marvin Miller]

F11 doesn't seem to save a screenshot for some reason...