help with v-stream dvb-t pci card (1 Viewer)

jerrytaff

Portal Member
October 16, 2005
11
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Area: Media Portal Program
MP Version: 0.3.1
Skin: projext x
Windows Version: windows xp sp2
CPU Type: athlon xp2000+
Memory: 512M ddr 266
Motherboard Chipset:via kt266/a kt 333/a
Video Card: nvidia geforce mx420
Video Card Driver: 6.6.9.3
Video Card Resolution: 1280x1024
Video Render Type: Overlay
Video Codec Type & Version:
Audio Codec Type & Version: a
TV Card: type of TV card, v-stream xpert dvb-t pci
TV Card Type: DVB
TV Card Driver: 4.0.108.0


Synopsis:can't tune it in.
TV wizard finds the device as Connexant 2388x Transport Stream Capture (general H/w encoder card) .
input is set to antenna.
the first time i press "autotune" I'm informed the card does not support the function. The second time, though it scans through, taking a couple of minutes and then comes up with a microsoft.net framework error unhandled exception. 101 is not a valid value for 'value'. 'value' should be between minimum and maximum. If I complete the wizard, with no channels found, and go back in, the input seems to have changed itself to "cable"

The card is listed on your site as supported.
The card works fine under the kworld/v-stream software supplied with it, (including autotune) but that software is useless. I found a post on this site for getting it to work, but it referred to a driver that is no longer on the kworld ftp site. I understand from looking at various linux postings that there are several versions of this card, all with different chipsets. I believe I have the version with the samsung tuner.

regards,

Jerrytaff
 

Taipan

Retired Team Member
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  • February 23, 2005
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    Follow the instructions here (scroll down to the bottom of the web page) and see if your card can be added to the CaptureCardsDefinition.xml file.... :)
     

    jerrytaff

    Portal Member
    October 16, 2005
    11
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    Taipan said:
    Follow the instructions here (scroll down to the bottom of the web page) and see if your card can be added to the CaptureCardsDefinition.xml file.... :)

    I wrote in the original posting that the card is already supported. I'd already visited that page, which is how I knew. So why should I need to add it to the CaptureCardsDefinition.xml file when part way down that page it says that my card is natively supported?

    ie.
    "V-Stream Xpert DTV DVB-T Conexant CX2388x PCI Yes Yes Yes DVB"
     

    Taipan

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  • February 23, 2005
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    jerrytaff said:
    I wrote in the original posting that the card is already supported. I'd already visited that page, which is how I knew. So why should I need to add it to the CaptureCardsDefinition.xml file?
    Because you also wrote in the first post that "TV wizard finds the device as Connexant 2388x Transport Stream Capture (general H/w encoder card) . " - which suggests to me that your particular card is not specifically supported.

    If Media Portal recognises the capture card as one which it has predefined settings for, it will use them. Otherwise it has to use a generic setup which might not provide the best results.

    The TV wizard should have reported something more specific like "V-Stream Xpert DTV DVB-T ......", rather than selecting the generic device.

    You also say in your first post that "I understand from looking at various linux postings that there are several versions of this card, all with different chipsets." So, it is possible that the manufacturer has changed the design of the card, which is why your particular version may need to be added to the CaptureCardDefinitions.xml file.
     

    sonome

    Portal Pro
    June 26, 2005
    69
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    Perth, Australia
    Hi Jerrytaff -

    You have two options.

    1. Update your drivers to at least 4.0.108.2, which are supported in Mediaportal 1.3.0 & 0.2.0RC1 (this is technically the *best* option).

    or

    2. Replace your capturecarddefinitions.xml file with the one from MediaPortal 1.2.0 (which supported the older drivers). I've uploaded a copy here. I only mention this option because if you use the older drivers, you can then also use HIP with V-stream remote control to control MediaPortal (which is what I do).

    HTH.
     

    jerrytaff

    Portal Member
    October 16, 2005
    11
    0
    Hi Sonome.

    Where can I get the latest drivers? the kworld website is a nightmare to find anything on - another posting pointed to drivers on their ftp site - but the files are no longer there. The only time I got anything from the site, the update completely broke the apps which came with the card and I had to re-install them all.

    I tried your other idea - I'd like to use the remote - but the file you'd uploaded gave me the same errors as I currently have.
     

    jerrytaff

    Portal Member
    October 16, 2005
    11
    0
    OK. now it tunes in. However, the result is unusable. It takes about 10 seconds to get a picture after changing channel. It drops more frames than it displays, and the sound is out of sync.

    Any ideas what I need to do to make it work properly?
     

    jerrytaff

    Portal Member
    October 16, 2005
    11
    0
    I've played with a few settings - and now, most of the time the speed is OK. Don't ask me what I did to speed it up. So, thanks for all your help. I've still got a few teething troubles - I should probably go to a new thread or search the website but as I'm here anyway - here goes:

    1) The programme guide has automatically picked up the data for a couple of the channels, but not the rest - is there any reason for this? How do I get it for the others?

    2) When in full screen mode, using the on screen programme guide, the picture goes very dark. Can that be prevented?

    3) the colours are a bit off. I can adjust them from the setup -filters MPeg2decvideodecoder but I have to restart each time to see the effect. Is there a real-time adjustment?
     

    sonome

    Portal Pro
    June 26, 2005
    69
    0
    Perth, Australia
    If you still have your video renderer set to overlay, try changing to VMR9 instead. See if it makes a difference. As you said yourself, you may want to start a new thread for these problems in the "general support" section - it may get more attention.

    Also, in my post above where I said this:
    2. Replace your capturecarddefinitions.xml file with the one from MediaPortal 1.2.0 (which supported the older drivers). I've uploaded a copy here. I only mention this option because if you use the older drivers, you can then also use HIP with V-stream remote control to control MediaPortal (which is what I do).

    I left out a bit :oops: . I completely forgot that in order to get the older (version 4.0.108.0) drivers working with MediaPortal, I had to first install the newer drivers. Then, without uninstalling them, install the old drivers - whenever Windows came up with a message saying something like "You already have a newer version of this file, do you want to replace it with the older version" I clicked "no". So essentially, there are still bits of the new drivers left installed. As I said, it was the only solution I could find to get the Kworld remote working as well. (Unfortunately the developer of HIP hasn't updated it for the newer drivers).
     

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