Help with TV setup (1 Viewer)

CyberSimian

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  • June 10, 2013
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    I was looking at this page in the Wiki, where in the section "Supported Tuners" it says:

    CableCARD tuners: Ceton, Hauppauge and Silicondust tuners are supported. ATI TV Wonder support is unknown. Hauppauge tuners require driver 2.4_20140121_32028 or later. Silicondust tuners require 20130708beta1 firmware or later.​

    It may be worthwhile checking which version of the Hauppauge driver you are using. The Wiki is of variable quality, and parts of it have not been updated for years, so the above statement in the Wiki may now be out of date or no longer relevant.

    Also, from your screen shots it looks as though MP is correctly identifying your Hauppauge tuner box, and the scan does find channels with names that look believable. There do not seem to be any other settings that need to be set correctly. So if the driver is up to date, it looks to me as though the problem is that your cable provider encrypts most or all of the channels in the way that MP cannot decrypt, and your only solution is to remain with WMC (using Schedules Direct plus EPG123 to get the EPG).

    -- from CyberSimian in the UK
     

    TLD

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    I know Comcast encrypts/scrambles all channels and everywhere I've traveled in the USA is the same. Before encryption/scramble we didn't need set top boxes.

    It is possible his cable company uses one of the other QAM tuning frequency ranges.
    QAM HRC+3
    QAM HRC
    QAM IRC
    QAM std alternative
    When i was using the digital tuners I could pick up channels on all of those frequency ranges but they were all encrypted/scrambled except QAM Standard where I picked up the channels i actually received.
     
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    CyberSimian

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    Does the MP TV server still disable WMC TV Server?
    This is controlled by a setting in "MP Config":
    • If you leave WMC enabled, when you press the START button on the remote control (i.e. the "green marble" button), WMC will start.
    • If you disable WMC, the START button will start MP.
    However, it is possible for both to run, but you need to start the other one by using the mouse to click the shortcut. Also, certain other buttons can start WMC, so if you press one of those while using MP, WMC would start. :eek:

    Note that WMC and MP cannot share tuners -- each must have exclusive access. However, with 2 tuners it would be possible (say) to allocate tuner 1 to WMC, and tuner 2 to MP.

    -- from CyberSimian in the UK
     

    joecrow

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  • August 9, 2012
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    What I don't understand is that while WMC has DRM which means it can copy protected programs it does not have any capability to decrypt scrambled channels as far as I am aware. So if the cable channels are really all encrypted but the set up worked with WMC then then it must be the tuner that does the decryption in which case it should be possible to do the same with MP. I
    f I get some time I will do a RTFM and let you know what I find.
     

    Old school Bob

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    • Display the "Guide" panel.
    • Use the LEFT_ARROW button on the remote control to move the focus to the "Channel Name" column in the guide.
    • Press the OK button on the remote control.
    • If I have remembered this correctly, WMC should now display the "Channel Details" panel, or display a menu from which you can get to the "Channel Details" panel.
    • On "Channel Details", you should be able to see the frequency of the channel.

    Because my tuner is connected to cable I don't think it's showing frequency.

    mp11.JPG
    mp12.JPG
     

    Old school Bob

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    Just click on "TV Channels" on the left pain NO other tabs do NOT open the "All Channels" tab.
    At the bottom right hit the delete button in the box labeled "encrypted/scrambled channels"

    I just deleted all channels. Ready to start a-new.

    If it's taking 11 hours to scan, I'll wait til tomorrow to re-scan.

    Hopefully I'll get it right this time. Any suggestions?

    Thanks everyone.

    Bob
     

    Old school Bob

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    CableCARD tuners: Ceton, Hauppauge and Silicondust tuners are supported. ATI TV Wonder support is unknown. Hauppauge tuners require driver 2.4_20140121_32028 or later.

    My driver looks be be old (2011). Should I update the driver? What worries me is loosing what I have. At this time I can at least watch TV.


    It is possible his cable company uses one of the other QAM tuning frequency ranges.
    QAM HRC+3
    QAM HRC
    QAM IRC
    QAM std alternative

    Would the cable provider tell me which one to use? Perhaps I should contact them.

    Does the MP TV server still disable WMC TV Server?

    No I still watch TV with WMC.


    On that page it says " To avoid this, disable Microsoft Media Center Services in Configuration > Additional 3rd Party Checks. " but I don't see Configuration on WMC. How do I get there.
    Please remember I'm a dummy when it comes to TV and computers. And I don't have a remote.

    What I don't understand is that while WMC has DRM which means it can copy protected programs it does not have any capability to decrypt scrambled channels as far as I am aware. So if the cable channels are really all encrypted but the set up worked with WMC then then it must be the tuner that does the decryption in which case it should be possible to do the same with MP.

    I think you're right that all channels are scrambled. That's where the cable card (plugged into the back of the tuner comes in). If I moved to another cable provider (which I can't), I'd have to get a different cable card from the new provider. This cable card (which I pay a monthly fee for) only works for this provider.

    I'm hoping we are on the right track and WE get this working for anyone in the future.

    Thank you all very much.

    Bob
     

    Old school Bob

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    Yesterday I wrote to Hauppauge:

    I have a Hauppauge Win TV – DCR-2650 with cable TV card. And Windows 7. I love this setup but Microsoft no longer supports Windows 7 and the TV guide is no longer available. I’ve been trying to get ‘Media Portal’ to work in place of Windows Media Center but have been unsuccessful. I’ve posted on Media Portal forum (Help with TV setup) but so far we have not found a solution.
    Can you provide any help?


    Today I got an answer:

    Hello,
    We cannot help with a third party application such as Media Portal.
    We normally recommend as a third party application NextPVR www.nextpvr.com
    You do need this software so NextPVR can discovered the unit https://download.silicondust.com/hdhomerun/hdhomerun_windows.exe
    Not sure if you need that for Media Portal.


    I've never heard of 'Silicondust'. Do you think it would help with our problem? Would it be safe?

    Bob
     

    TLD

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    My driver looks be be old (2011). Should I update the driver? What worries me is loosing what I have. At this time I can at least watch TV.

    I would check at the Hauppauge support page and see if the driver 2.4_20140121_32028 is for windows 7, it does say it is required.
    You may be able to find your existing driver there and download it just in case you wanted to go back, or backup the driver.
    Though I have replaced Hauppauge drivers many times in the past and never had a problem, just make sure the driver is for your exact device.

    Would the cable provider tell me which one to use? Perhaps I should contact them.
    Perhaps, you would probably need to talk to a technician as I don't think an office person would know.
    Also they might think you were asking for support on a device that is not theirs.

    No I still watch TV with WMC.
    This could be an issue, I have never used WMC but i imagine it has something like MP TV server service that starts with windows and may be interfering with TV servers access to the tuners.

    On that page it says " To avoid this, disable Microsoft Media Center Services in Configuration > Additional 3rd Party Checks. " but I don't see Configuration on WMC. How do I get there.
    Please remember I'm a dummy when it comes to TV and computers. And I don't have a remote.
    This is in "MediaPortal Configuration" see pic below.

    I think you're right that all channels are scrambled. That's where the cable card (plugged into the back of the tuner comes in). If I moved to another cable provider (which I can't), I'd have to get a different cable card from the new provider. This cable card (which I pay a monthly fee for) only works for this provider.
    Yes after reading the manual for this device I an sure the cable card from the cable company acts as a set top box.
     

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