Hauppauge HD-PVR & Colossus Support (5 Viewers)

[kilik360]

Hi Blue Energy
The first step would definitely be to install MP 1.2.0b. Since you're completely new to MP it is probably a good idea to have a bit of a look around first before you dive into HD-PVR stuff - try out some skins, set up your video and music libraries, explore the configuration tools... If you find anything that you're curious about then the wiki is always the best port of call for explanations and guides, but if that doesn't cover it then chances are that searching the forums will turn up some information. If you find anything that is clearly a bug then please do raise a bug report over in the bug report section (there is a link in my signature to tell you how to do that). Perhaps just as importantly: if you think something could be improved then please do tell us about it - we're always looking for ways to make setting up easier...
mm

Well said mm.
I want to suggest Blue Energy to get a analog/atsc tuner card to begin with MP. I'll suggest Hauppauge WinTV-HVR-1800 'cause it's really good and cheap. It's easier to scan for channels than getting Scheduled Direct working. But once you know how to get your EPG data from SD, then you could try the colossus, and map channels you got from SD to it.

@mm
TVlibrary.dll update, my problems came back. I'll try to describe my problems. When it works, i get sound from any channels. DD5.1 AC3 and DD2.0 AC3. The problem occurs on *wakeup* but not on ALL wakeups.
The problem is that I don't got sounds from any channels. All channels graph is AAC (monogram) instead of AC3 (ffdshow). To cure this sh***, I have to close MP stop TVserver service, open Arcsoft Showbiz and hit Refresh button. Restart tvservice and MP. And now problem solved.

 

[WileECoyote]

Hi guys, I got a Colossus a few days ago, and I'm having some problems.

For the most part, I got everything figured out. Then I realized I can send an unencrypted HDMI signal from my STB (Cogeco in Ontario).

So, I can get the Hauppauge and Arcsoft software to play the HDMI signal, but I can't get Media Portal to. Any ideas on which video/audio signal I should be setting the channels to? I've tried them all, but my methodology for testing could be wrong.

I'm open to posting logs and going through the source to try and figure things out, but I'm not sure where to start. Also, I thought this might have a simple answer.

Let me know if I can help.

Hey Klairic,
Im not sure if you made any progress with this, but Im not sure HDMI will be supported. MediaPortal does recognize the pin "crossbar pin:0 type:Video_SerialDigital" and the audio would be on SPDIF Line #1. I havent checked, so I dont know if there is a option for the pin Serial Digital in the Channel properties (on the Advanced Options tab.) Also, Im not sure if the Arcsoft software does some kind of HDMI handshaking, in which MediaPortal will not be able to.

One thing you can do is hook up the component cables and an SPDIF cable (or RCA cables.) Those will work correctly until we can investigate the HDMI issue.

Also, please post your TV Server logs so we can take a look at what is going on.

Thanks,
Wile E.

 

[WileECoyote]

@mm
TVlibrary.dll update, my problems came back. I'll try to describe my problems. When it works, i get sound from any channels. DD5.1 AC3 and DD2.0 AC3. The problem occurs on *wakeup* but not on ALL wakeups.
The problem is that I don't got sounds from any channels. All channels graph is AAC (monogram) instead of AC3 (ffdshow). To cure this sh***, I have to close MP stop TVserver service, open Arcsoft Showbiz and hit Refresh button. Restart tvservice and MP. And now problem solved.

Hey Kilik,
Are your channels set to "Automatic" in the TV Server channel setup? If so, I have set mine to the correct input (Line #1 for RCA and SPDIF #2 for the optical) and have not had any issues since (with that problem anyway.) What we think is happening is the crossbar is switching the audio inputs.

I have posted on the SD forum and requested the Audio field be added to the setup. Then we can select the correct audio input before we import the channels.

 

[elconejito]

+1 that the Colossus on MP1.2BETA **is** working.

I have 2 of them in my setup along with a pair of NTSC/ATSC cards from Avermedia. I can record up to all 4 at a time (btw, this is still to that dinky WD Green 500GB. Moving the 1TB Black over to it sometime this week).

I'd recommend, if you're in the US, to just go ahead and drop the $20-30/year for Schedules Direct. In my opinion, it's 100% worth it. Once you've setup your account at SchedulesDirect and configured the plugin it will auto-create all the channels for you in MP. You then assign (map?) the channels to the Colossus and you're done.

For blasting to your STB, I'd recommend also dropping about $20-30 on a Microsoft Media Center Remote (or equivalent/generic). Then use the IRSS plugin to blast to the STB. As far as I know, I don't think the built-in Hauppaugge remotes/blasters are well supported by IRSS (or MP?).

I know it's a bit counter-intuitive to purchase something to get your free open-source software running, but I think it is well worth it to avoid headaches.

 

[tenuhseegeek]

Ok, I'm back. Recall I had the sound/IR issues. Turns out the IR issue was a cable, Hauppauge sent me a replacement and I hooked up and rebooted. Tested and I have navigation (Yeah). I was reading through where I left off and WileE, looks like you have made some headway? Does the audio into the RCA work? I still have not, but was concentrating on two different issues and now one resolved, time to tackle the other. I could locate another optic cable and connect from STB directly to card to see (I believe if my memory serves me correct that it is a pass-through???)

 

[Klairic]

Ok, so I downloaded the source, and took a look at adding Hdmi support. Looks like it's going to work. I got the video and sound showing up in the preview window of the Tv-Server Configuration app. My current problem is that I can't run the release code unless I start it with F5. Something weird going on, but nothing to do with adding Hdmi support.

So after I get this working, what do I do next? I haven't worked on open source software before, so I'm not sure what the protocol here is.

 

[WileECoyote]

Ok, so I downloaded the source, and took a look at adding Hdmi support. Looks like it's going to work. I got the video and sound showing up in the preview window of the Tv-Server Configuration app. My current problem is that I can't run the release code unless I start it with F5. Something weird going on, but nothing to do with adding Hdmi support.

So after I get this working, what do I do next? I haven't worked on open source software before, so I'm not sure what the protocol here is.

Hey Klairic,
If you make changes to the code, create a patch file and post it back here. mm will look at it and approve it for submission.

Thanks!

 

[WileECoyote]

Ok, I'm back. Recall I had the sound/IR issues. Turns out the IR issue was a cable, Hauppauge sent me a replacement and I hooked up and rebooted. Tested and I have navigation (Yeah). I was reading through where I left off and WileE, looks like you have made some headway? Does the audio into the RCA work? I still have not, but was concentrating on two different issues and now one resolved, time to tackle the other. I could locate another optic cable and connect from STB directly to card to see (I believe if my memory serves me correct that it is a pass-through???)

Hey tenuhseegeek,
To resolve in the short term, you can set the audio input in the Channel setup. Go to the TV Server -> TV Channels -> Edit the channel and change the audio input to either Line #1 or SPDIF #2 (depending on if your using RCA or SPDIF.) If you ultimately want DD to work with your STB's, I would use an optical cable and turn DD off on your STB's. That way you dont have to go back later and reset the audio settings

Let us know if you continue to have issues.

Thanks!

 

[WileECoyote]

@mm,
Attached are my logs from the TV Server & client.

Thanks mm!

 

[Klairic]

Ok, here's a patch for Hdmi video support. I'm not sure if the audio works yet. I'm still using an optical cable for audio because I had problems with audio. I'll take a look at it later, but for now this will get the video going. Set a channel to Hdmi #1, and it'll work.