General First timer advice (1 Viewer)

[Teebor]

Is there any information for people who have no clue (like myself) about hooking up a computer to your tv/home entertainment software.

For example I had no idea how to get the tv output working on my tv card at all but I eventually found out. Now I have another problem that I just cant get my head around, it could be the gfx card or the tv I just dont know.

It might be a useful starting point for people who want to get into Media Portal but do not know where to start.


I have some questions that I would like some help anwering if people would be so kind

I'm including the below info although I am not sure if its really needed

Area: Other (general PC setup for use with Media Portal)
MP Version: RC2
Skin: MCE
Windows Version: XP Pro SP2
CPU Type: AMD 64 3200+
Memory: 512MB PC2700 (at the moment for building purposes)
Motherboard Chipset: MSI ATI Express 200
Video Card: MSI ATI X1600 Pro
Video Card Driver: Latest Catalyst (1.2 or something, I cant remember)
Video Card Resolution: 1280x768 (problem area)
Video Render Type: VMR9 or Overlay ??errr
Video Codec Type & Version: not got that far yet
Audio Codec Type & Version: not got this far yet either
TV Card: Terratec 2400i Dual tuner
TV Card Type: DVB I think
TV Card Driver: Packaged driver, I guess its the latest but not got it working yet
Optional Log: no log, not got that far yet either
Optional References: NONE

Synopsis:

So here's the questions, first off I believe that the res I should be running my tv at (Philips 28inch widescreen) is the PAL 16:9 res of 720x576 and being an old CRT screen it should be at something like 60Hz
I cant run it at that res I have to run at the much higher res of 1280x768 otherwise the screen breaks up and is really jumpy and has saw edges to all the straight lines.
I am outputting the signal from the gfx card to an RCA connector which is in turn connected to the AV input on the screen (this is easier then reaching the scart connector which also looks really bad when connected)

so am I running it at the right res? becuase I cannot read anything written on the screen at all until I enter media center then everything is big so it looks fine. or is there a problem with the gfx card? its only just been bought and has been taken out of the box and used for this, nothing else at all.

Next question, Can someone explain what the error "Cannot create graph for this device" means? I get it with my new tv card but I have not tried getting it to work properly anyway so it doesnt bother me that much right now. But what causes it or what does it mean? I see it on the forum a lot so I know it indicates a bug but why?

any other hints or suggestions on how to get the best would be great.

T

 

[NorthernJohn]

I too have a PAL 28" CRT TV. I'm running at 720 x 576 through ATi catalyst quite happilly.

I let the Catalyst driver do everything for me. If you open Catalyst Control Center in Basic Mode, there is an optimize for desktop or tv setting somewhere (it has a pic of a monitor and a telly). Choose tv and the resolution, contrast etc are sorted out for you.

Within MP, set the display to Stretch and videos and DVDs will fit either the 4:3 or 16:9 as they should. It's then up to you whether to have the TV on wide or 4:3 according to the source.

Sorry I can't be more specific. 1. I'm not really and expert on this. 2. I'm trying to describe from memory. If you're unable to find your way around with the above, I'll post something more specific when I get home and have the pc in front of me.

 

[Teebor]

I must have something wrong with my Catalyst drivers then. I will try switching them back to basic as I normally use them in advanced, but whilst in advanced I cannot get them to change my res at all it actually sticks at 1024x768 which is strange.

Thanks for that advice becuase I had completely ignored the catalyst drivers previously because of this single fact.

I will let you know how I get on.

 

[amnw14545]

Hello,

another 2400i user - that's good!

"Cannot create graph" is caused, probably in your case, by slightly incorrect definitions for the "2400i" in "Program Files/Team MediaPortal/MediaPortal/CaptureCards.xml".

There's an updated one in the later CVS's.

You can search the forums for 2400i, and find the correct definitions.

I believe that "Graphs" are the way that the various (BDA) tuner cards are associated with the filters that provide MPEG and Audio decoding.

If you want a great picture on a CRT TV you really need to run your TV at 720x576 interlaced at 50Hz and send the video in through the SCART connector at the back of the TV.

You may be able to create / or buy a cable for your ATI graphics card that allows you to drive the SCART input of your TV from your VGA connector.

This is because the VGA connector provides exactly the same RGB signals that are accepted by the SCART connector, however the vertical and horizontal syncs are separate on most VGA connectors.

You can make a simple circuit that will combine the syncs into the composite that's expected by the SCART connector ... but since you have an ATI graphics card it's likely that the card presents the composite alread y on the VGA connector, provided you use Entech's "PowerStrip" software.

The PowerStrip software allows you to set your VGA to 720x576, cause it to output interlaced video, and permits full control over the vertical and horizontal frequencies. It also enables the composite output from the VGA.

Google is your friend in all this; search for "ATI" "vga to scart" and read all about it.

Of course, there's always the possibility of wrecking your TV by driving it at the wrong frequencies, so it's wise to practice on something else first.

I did try this with and old TV and a cable I made for an Nvidia GeForce 6600 and it appeared to work OK. I got fed up with the chunky graphics though.

I now run it on a 32inch LCD screen through the DVI at 1360x768 and get a fabulous picture using the Nvidia PureVideo codecs.

 

[Teebor]

I am familiar with powerstrip as I have used it several times in the past.

I have also played with the Playstation screens and an LCD screen for outputting information from the PC. But It never even crossed my mind to thing that the SCART accepts the same outputs from the VGA adapter.

I will find myself some wiring diagrams for the SCART output and I may still have the VGA outputs so I might break out the soldering iron and try doing that. Big thanks!

as the TV seems happy enough at 1280x768 as long as I stay below that res I should be ok. I now have my aim set on the correct res. Thanks for the help.

Again I will let you know how I get on


As a cinergy user you wouldnt be able to answer some other questions would you?

I think the card is a HW card is that right? I really dont think its software.
If it is hardware do I set it up as hardware in MP, and how do I tune the channels? It tells me I cant tune a HW card when I tried with a really old piece of rubbish card.

 

[amnw14545]

As I understand it the card receives the interlaced MPEG2 stuff that's broadcast by DVB and dumps the MPEG2 stream onto the PCI-e bus. I don't think it does any decoding of the video.

I think it's the responsibility of the MPEG2 decoder (in my case it's the NVIDIA PureVideo one) to decode it - this should be done by your graphics card if the decoder is configured to do so. Audio decoding may also be done by your audio hardware.

I'm not sure about deinterlacing, I think this is done in software by the decoder.

I've got an AMD3500, TV playback causes mediaportal to run around 20% cpu.

The card should be easy to add, once the definitions are in the CaptureCards.xml file. You should be able to add the cards (note that it appears as two separate cards) in the TV setup and then select the Auto Tuning tab and autotune which takes about 10 mins.

A word of warning though, RC2 + CVS's beyond sometime in late Jan / early Feb this year trashed channel changing for DVB-T cards and made them spectacularly slow.

This is fixed in RC3 + latest CVS.

Also, it's worth reading the Tips + Tricks posting https://forum.team-mediaportal.com/viewtopic.php?t=8146.

Also, there are some Microsoft fixes to do with handling of dual tuners by the BDA drivers that they have only rolled out to MCE users - you might want to install those. Search for psisdecd.dll and mpeg2data.ax within the forums.

If you can't find the files that they're on about, PM me.

 

[Teebor]

HI guys, Thanks for the help it has been greatly appreciated.

I got the TV output correct, my tv doesnt support 720x568 it supports a slightly higher 800x??? in widescreen and looks terrific. I can even work in windows and browse websites too.

I downloaded RC3 but not the latest CVS and the terratec works perfectly well for reception after I changed the mpeg decoder.

The channel changing seems to take a long time but I noticed a few other people having the same problem so I will trawl through the forum to find the answer for that unless some kind person posts a terratec specific answer here. My guess is its the mpeg decoder I am using as I just randomly picked one to test the picture and have not tried setting the one that will do the job the best.

I now have a list of things to work on :-

configure the remote
remove logon screen
replace windows xp bootscreen with media portal themed screen
replace background with media portal desktop background
remove all icons from desktop

I'm going to be busy getting it all sorted out, and I cant wait to try recording something or trying timeshifting to pause live tv.

If any of the developers read this please keep up the great work guys I can now really start to appreciate the work that you are doing.

If any new people read this stick with it I was scratching my head and was really frustrated and lost for two weeks but after getting some help here and sticking with it, it has been worth it just to even see part of it working properly.


Thanks again to those that gave me help and BIG THANKS to the developers.

 

[Teebor]

I've been playing around some now that I have the remote working mostly properly

But I have found myself having a few issues that I cant find that answer for, I know I have seen them but I cant find them now and the search feature gives me hundreds of answers so I know I am not searching properly.

The main questions I have at the moment :-

When I change channel it takes almost a minute to change from one channel to another, I think its a codec issue and I am going to try the intervideo codec instead of the Ati one that I have set at the moment. Am I in the right area or missed the boat completely and am now floating in the harbour?

Second, where does Media Portal store my recorded tv programs? I tried my first recording last night and I checked in my movies folder where I assumed it would be stored and its not there and I cant find a settting to determine where recorded programs are stored.

Third, The EPG for the channels BBC1, BBC2, ITV,Channel4 are correct but the rest of the channels are out by two hours, I know thats my fault as I think I messed up the grabber and I found the info to fix that, but would that affect my recording as for some reason the program I recorded is missing the first few minutes of the show. even though it did say that the programming for BBC2 which I was recording from was correct

 

[amnw14545]

1. Use the CVS from:
http://cvs.team-mediaportal.com/Med...0.2 RC3/mediaportal-cvs-03-23-2006--01-03.rar

Follow the instructions that are displayed when you open the file in winrar.

This fixed the immensely long DVB-T TV channel changes. Radio changes are still really long though. I don't think it's a codec issue.

2. Recorded programs are stored where specified in the MediaPortal setup TV section.

3. DVB-T EPG if that's what you are using is a little dodgy; you might want to use WebEPG instead.

How is your PC clock synchronised? Is the machine attached to the net permanently?

 

[Teebor]

Hi thanks for the feedback.

Downloaded the CVs and channel changing is much better

I cant be looking in the right place, the only setting I can find is add recorded programs to movie database which is just a tick box, BUT the movies folder is still empty so they are not being stored there. Otherwise I just dont seem to have a setting that tells me where they are stored.

I was using xmltv to retrieve the EPG data but that used to miss BBC1, BBC2, and ITV which would later get themselves from the DVB-T stream I guess so they were correct. HOWEVER channel 4 and ITV2 used to be correct and then all the other channels would be wrong by an hour.
So I tried WEBEPG as you suggested, again it only retrieved Channel 4 and up but this seems to have the same problem in that Channel 4 and ITV2 are correct but all the other channels are out by an hour so I cant just correct the database from the media portal setup as the other channels would then be wrong. It has to be me doing something wrong here but I cannot understand what I even followed the webepg for dummies guide step by step TWICE.

My PC is attached to the net permanantely but at the moment I do not use any synchronisation software as the clock is correct and was double checked by me on that day to ensure that it was correct for recording later that evening.