[no Bug] DVB-T Channel Scan unable to detect any channels (2 Viewers)

[mm1352000]

Hi again robbo100

Thanks for taking the time to test.

Question: Is this an MP bug or a Pinnacle 300i driver issue? I never had this problem with 1.1.2 or earlier, but this “Stop/Pause” option was not available before. Should this option be set to “Stop” as a default setting during the installation of MP 1.2 (as it presumably was before 1.2) to maximise compatibility with DVB-T cards for all users?

Interesting explanation of the problem - I guess it fits. In answer to your questions: this is not an MP bug. These issues are a reflection of the fact that the 300i driver just can't handle "pause" mode. The fix for you is to stick with "stop" mode. As you have observed, the option is new in 1.2.0a; before that we used "stop" exclusively, which is why you didn't experience problems before now. We set the default as "pause" for 1.2 alpha and beta to evaluate how useful the option is and to see if there are any side effects. For some tuners there are significant performance benefits (faster channel changing or startup), but there have been other tuners like yours that have had exhibited a range of problems with scanning failures, tuning failures, BSODs etc. For this reason, it is my understanding that "stop" will be used as the default for the final release...

I trust that answers your questions?

 

[jameson_uk]

Could this still be a possible issue that is a combination of pause graph, scanning and tuning freq not being available?
Ie. is the pause graph code potentially causing an issue if we attempt to scan a frequency where we can't pick anything up and it is in fact the route through the code that is problematic rather than pausing the graph ??

I know on DVB-S on my Hauppauge Nova HD S2 card that the pause graph makes a massive difference to channel changing times. I also know that when scanning DVB-S I get lots of transponders with no signal and it seems to cope ok. (although now you mention it I bought a DVB-T2 card last week and did a full rescan and I was not convinced I picked up 100% of the channels....)

Could someone with a setup which seems to be happily working with the pause graph setting try creating a tuning detail file which contains a frequency that does not exist then follow that with a frequency that they know does exist. When you scan (with pause mode enabled) does it pick up any channels on the second transponder? Would be good if someone could test this with DVB-S and DVB-T

Also Robbo100, after scanning and picking up the channels, if you re-enable the pause graph setting does TV playback seem to work ok (channel changing, stopping / restarting TV etc) or does live TV only work when the graph stuff is set to stop?? (trying to figure out whether this is a scanning issue and we should actually use the stop graph method always when scanning or whether it is just that your card does not like the pause option)

 

[mm1352000]

Could this still be a possible issue that is a combination of pause graph, scanning and tuning freq not being available?
Ie. is the pause graph code potentially causing an issue if we attempt to scan a frequency where we can't pick anything up and it is in fact the route through the code that is problematic rather than pausing the graph ??

I don't think so. If it was then I think we'd have received a ton more bug reports than we did with these sorts of symptoms for 1.2.0a. My opinion is that this is an isolated driver issue...

Could someone with a setup which seems to be happily working with the pause graph setting try creating a tuning detail file which contains a frequency that does not exist then follow that with a frequency that they know does exist. When you scan (with pause mode enabled) does it pick up any channels on the second transponder? Would be good if someone could test this with DVB-S and DVB-T

Just tested. Works perfectly on both satellite and terrestrial for me. I use 2 Pinnacle PCTV 7010ix tuners and one Technotrend Budget S2 3200 (also just bought a Hauppauge Nova S Plus for compatibility testing but haven't had time to plug it in yet).

 

[jameson_uk]

I don't think so. If it was then I think we'd have received a ton more bug reports than we did with these sorts of symptoms for 1.2.0a. My opinion is that this is an isolated driver issue...

Unless everyone upgraded rather than installing so has not yet attempted to scan

But as you have confirmed it works ok with DVB-T and S with the pause setting on and invalid tuning details then I will mark this as no bug.

The default will be set to stop for RC (0003333: Set Default Pause Graph Status - MediaPortal Bugtracker)

 

[robbo100]

Just to add - the reason I did the re-tune after MP1.2 install was because my DVB-T channels didn't seem to work, so it seems to fit that it is related to the card not working in pause mode.

However, I will double check tonight and do some stress testing to confirm.

Robbo100

 

[onelegend]

Spotted this thread and thought I would add that I was missing alot of channels after a clean 1.2 beta install and a fresh channel scan (channel 4, itv etc)

Switching to the stop method increased my channel scan count from 167 to 584!

FYI my tuner is a PCTV 4000i Dual DVB-S, Astra 28

Any info needed let me know

 

[mm1352000]

Hi onelegend

Thanks for reporting. As you've probably read, the default option will be changed to "stop" for 1.2.0rc. As long as everyone has configured their tuners in a mode that will work then there should be no further problems. In other words, this issue is not considered to be a bug.

 

[willemaster]

Hi there,

I'm suffering with similar issues to this, with a Blackgold 3620 -- it installs OK with the drivers supplied and is listed correctly in MP, but when I try to scan with any of the tuners it fails to find any channels. Sometimes when it scans it shows about 80% signal level and 0% signal quality, sometimes it shows 0 for both. Interestingly, when removing the aerial cable completely from the card, this is still the case. I have checked the cable though by plugging it into a TV, and it works fine.

This is the case in other TV apps - it cannot find a channel anywhere, so I realise this is probably a BlackGold hardware or driver or compatibility issue, but I thought some of the log reading experts on here might be able to shed some light on the MP log file I've attached... any help MASSIVELY appreciated... this is driving me nuts. I have reinstalled drivers and MP several times.

thanks for anything!

(One more thing - I'm doing this on Windows Server 2008 R2, which I'm running as a workstation, not Windows 7)

 

[jameson_uk]

(One more thing - I'm doing this on Windows Server 2008 R2, which I'm running as a workstation, not Windows 7)

Not had time to look at your log (you really should attach all logs) but remember that this is not a supported OS.
This is because it does not contain some of the bits needed for MP to work (hence why there are extra steps to get it working)

 

[robbo100]

Chaps,

Just to confirm after a few days of normal usage - I am having no further problems.

Thanks again

Robbo100