How to get your Compro VideoMate T750 working (1 Viewer)

AntonyC

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September 10, 2007
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After much research and testing I thought I'd post some tips on getting the Compro VideoMate T750 working with MediaPortal. Well, mostly...

I'm using MediaPortal v0.2.2.0 (stable) on WindowsXP Pro SP2 and a Compro VideoMate T750 with driver version 1.3.5.7.

I found some a good detail on this thread: https://forum.team-mediaportal.com/showthread.php?t=14750&highlight=T750 with the main bit being an XML definition for the T750 for the file CaptureCardDefinitions.xml ( C:\Program Files\Team MediaPortal\MediaPortal\CaptureCardDefinitions.xml )

I've reproduced here what I ended up using:

<capturecard commercialname="Compro VideoMate T750" capturename="VideoMate Dual A+DVB-T Digital Capture" devid="ven_1131&amp;dev_7133&amp;subsys_c900185b&amp;rev_d1">
<capabilities tv="true" radio="true" mpeg2="true" mce="true" sw="true" bda="true"/>
<tv>
<interface cat="capture" video="3" audio="4" mpeg2="1" sectionsandtables="2"/>
<filters>
<filter cat="networkprovider" name="Microsoft DVBT Network Provider" checkdevice="false"/>
<filter cat="tunerdevice" name="VideoMate Dual A+DVB-T DVBT Tuner" checkdevice="true"/>
<filter cat="capture" name="VideoMate Dual A+DVB-T Digital Capture" checkdevice="true"/>
</filters>
<connections>
<connection sourcefilter="networkprovider" sourcepin="0" sinkfilter="tunerdevice" sinkpin="0"/>
<connection sourcefilter="tunerdevice" sourcepin="0" sinkfilter="capture" sinkpin="0"/>
</connections>
</tv>
</capturecard>

NOTE: If you see "&a mp;" anywhere here, please remove the space. It's the forum changing the text for some reason. There should be no space.

You'll need to add this to the file. Initially this didn't work for me but after a while I realised that my capturecarddefinitions.xml file had a number of errors in it, including some non-standard dash and single-quote characters.

One quick way to check that the file contains valid XML data, open it with Internet Explorer (I used IE7) and it'll tell you about any errors.

If you find them, you'll need to correct the errors because MediaPortal bombs out of processing (rightly so) the file XML file. However, it doesn't report any obvious errors, it just stops reading the file, and you'll think the entry doesn't work.

Make sure that you don't have any component of the ComproDTV software running because things will normally get screwy when you try to tune in channels. The above only works for the digital part of the T750.

Now start the MediaPortal Setup, click on Television and then "Add". You should have an entry for VideoMate Dual A+DVB-T Digital Capture and from there you can access the tuner and other options. Naturally, you'll need a digital terrestrial arial attached.

Myself, I also want the analog part to work. I'm still playing with this area, so if anyone else has it working or can build on this, I'd love to hear it.

This is the entry I've built based on using GraphEdit (http://wiki.team-mediaportal.com/GraphEdit) for the analog part of my VideoMate T750.

<capturecard commercialname="Compro VideoMate T750" capturename="VideoMate Dual A+DVB-T Capture" devid="ven_1131&amp;dev_7133&amp;subsys_c900185b&amp;rev_d1">
<capabilities tv="true" radio="false" mpeg2="false" mce="false" sw="false" bda="false"/>
<tv>
<interface cat="capture" video="" audio="" mpeg2="0"/>
<filters>
<filter cat="tvtuner" name="VideoMate Dual A+DVB-T TV Tuner" checkdevice="true"/>
<filter cat="tvaudio" name="VideoMate Dual A+DVB-T TV Audio" checkdevice="true"/>
<filter cat="crossbar" name="VideoMate Dual A+DVB-T Xbar" checkdevice="true"/>
<filter cat="capture" name="VideoMate Dual A+DVB-T Capture" checkdevice="true"/>
</filters>
<connections>
<connection sourcefilter="tvtuner" sourcepin="0" sinkfilter="crossbar" sinkpin="0"/>
<connection sourcefilter="tvtuner" sourcepin="1" sinkfilter="tvaudio" sinkpin="0"/>
<connection sourcefilter="tvaudio" sourcepin="0" sinkfilter="crossbar" sinkpin="3"/>
<connection sourcefilter="crossbar" sourcepin="0" sinkfilter="capture" sinkpin="0"/>
<connection sourcefilter="crossbar" sourcepin="1" sinkfilter="capture" sinkpin="1"/>
</connections>
</tv>
</capturecard>

This allows MediaPortal to see the analog part of my T750 and MediaPortal shows the digital and analog parts as two separate cards.

My problem is that it fails to pick it up completely and I don't get the TV tuner part. Looking in capturecards.xml (this is a different file in the same base directory) it shows the tuner as digital instead of analog.

<a3:TVCaptureDevice id="ref-3" xmlns:a3="http://schemas.microsoft.com/clr/nsassem/MediaPortal.TV.Recording/TVCapture%2C%20Version%3D1.0.2546.32612%2C%20Culture%3Dneutral%2C%20PublicKeyToken%3Dnull">
<_videoCaptureDevice id="ref-5">VideoMate Dual A+DVB-T Capture</_videoCaptureDevice>
<_videoCaptureMoniker id="ref-6">@device:pnp:\\?\pci#ven_1131&dev_7133&subsys_c900185b&rev_d1#4&1add88a5&0&08f0#{65e8773d-8f56-11d0-a3b9-00a0c9223196}\{bbefb6c7-2fc4-4139-bb8b-a58bba720100}</_videoCaptureMoniker>
<_commercialName id="ref-7">Compro VideoMate T750</_commercialName>
<_deviceId id="ref-8">ven_1131&dev_7133&subsys_c900185b&rev_d1</_deviceId>
<_captureName id="ref-9"></_captureName>
<_useForRecording>true</_useForRecording>
<_useForTv>true</_useForTv>
<_friendlyName id="ref-10">card1</_friendlyName>
<_cardPriority>1</_cardPriority>
<_recordingPath id="ref-11">C:\Documents and Settings\Antony\My Documents\My Recordings</_recordingPath>
<_cardType>Digital_SS2</_cardType>
<_supportsTv>true</_supportsTv>
<_supportsRadio>true</_supportsRadio>
<_defaultRecordingQuality>-1</_defaultRecordingQuality>
<_lastChannelChange>2007-09-16T17:53:00.6718750+10:00</_lastChannelChange>
<_isAnalogCable>false</_isAnalogCable>
<_defaultCountryCode>31</_defaultCountryCode>
<OnTvRecordingEnded xsi:null="1"/>
<OnTvRecordingStarted xsi:null="1"/>
</a3:TVCaptureDevice>

See <_cardType>. I haven't been able to resolve this as yet, even if I change the "Digital_SS2" entry to "analog".

MediaPortal appears to try to access it based on this detail, unfortunately I haven't found out why MediaPortal (or whatever scanning process it uses) returns the tuner as digital. It is an analog tuner.

Any help appreciated.
 

AntonyC

New Member
September 10, 2007
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Home Country
Well, I've made some progress and can now get MediaPortal to recognise my Compro VideoMate T750 card.

Code:
  <capturecard commercialname="Compro VideoMate T750" capturename="VideoMate Dual A+DVB-T Capture" devid="ven_1131&amp;dev_7133&amp;subsys_c900185b&amp;rev_d1">
    <capabilities tv="true" radio="true" mpeg2="true" mce="false" sw="false" bda="false"/>
    <tv>
      <interface cat="capture" video="" audio="" mpeg2="0"/>
      <filters>
        <filter cat="tvtuner"  name="VideoMate Dual A+DVB-T TV Tuner"	checkdevice="true"/>
        <filter cat="tvaudio"  name="VideoMate Dual A+DVB-T TV Audio"	checkdevice="true"/>
        <filter cat="crossbar" name="VideoMate Dual A+DVB-T Xbar"	checkdevice="true"/> 
	  <filter cat="capture"	 name="VideoMate Dual A+DVB-T Capture"	checkdevice="true"/>
      </filters>
      <connections>
		<connection sourcefilter="tvtuner"	sourcepin="0"	sinkfilter="crossbar"	sinkpin="0"/>
		<connection sourcefilter="tvtuner"	sourcepin="1"	sinkfilter="tvaudio"	sinkpin="0"/>
		<connection sourcefilter="tvaudio"	sourcepin="0"	sinkfilter="crossbar"	sinkpin="3"/>
		<connection sourcefilter="crossbar"	sourcepin="0"	sinkfilter="capture"	sinkpin="0"/>
		<connection sourcefilter="crossbar"	sourcepin="1"	sinkfilter="capture"	sinkpin="1"/>
      </connections>
    </tv>
  </capturecard>

MediaPortal Setup now detects the card just fine and I can run an Autotune with success. I have Foxtel and it picks up the signal no problem (analog port using antenna), however, there's no picture, no audio, just a blank screen.

When I test the graph (with GraphEdit) it goes through the devices as above through to the capture filter, to the video renderer and I get picture and sound.

So I'm at a bit of an impasse at the moment and hoping someone might have seen this before. No other conflicting software, such as ComproDTV 3, is running when I'm trying out the configurations.

Thoughts?
 

MadMagpie

Portal Pro
April 17, 2007
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good to see someones having a crack at getting this card to work.
how does your card go for finding channels? the signal strength on my card makes it just about un-usable, I'm currently only using it for analog recording (austar) via the s-video, externally of mp.
I'll have a look and see if your card definitions work for my card when I can work up the will power to tackle it again :)
thanks for the info.
 

AntonyC

New Member
September 10, 2007
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Home Country
Hi,

Using the auto-tune seems to work just fine. I only have Foxtel, no normal arial, so mine picks up Channel 25 as full strength, however, I don't get a picture or sound.

The software definately think it's locked onto something, but like I said, no picture or sound, just a black screen.

I've been unable to figure out if this is because the card/stream needs an MPEG2 decoder. I'm not expecting so because it's analog, not digital, but I've been unable to prove it either way at the moment.

I'm having to use ComproDTV 3 as my TV software at the moment, and it displays just fine. Also, if I use GraphEdit, the picture and sound render correctly. It was using GraphEdit that allowed me to figure out the settings I've included previously.

If anyone has more detail or things to try, I'm all ears...

Regards,
Antony.
 

Commodore 64

Retired Team Member
  • Premium Supporter
  • June 20, 2005
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    Can you get a mediaportal log and error log and post it?

    Get the logs during an attempt to play the channel.
     

    AntonyC

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    September 10, 2007
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    Hi,

    Ok, well, just to confuse things a little, I decided to see if upgrading to MediaPortal 0.2.3 RC3 would help. I actually think I get slightly less far along as a result.

    I un-installed MP 0.2.2-stable (via Control Panel -> Add/Remove Programs) and then installed MP 0.2.3 RC3. Then I modified CaptureCardDefinitions.xml with my definitions for the Compro VideoMate T750. MP Configuration will start, I got to Television, Add and select my analog card just fine. However, when I tell it to Scan, MP Configuration aborts and Microsoft nicely asks me if I'd like to send an error report to them.

    Using MP 0.2.2-stable, it would scan no problem, tell me it got signal for Channel 25 (I guess that where it considers my Foxtel signal is), but always remains a black screen with no sound.

    Under MP 0.2.3 RC3, I cannot even scan for channels.

    I'm attaching the logs for this attempt. However, if you think logs fro MP 0.2.2-stable might be more useful, I'll un-install 0.2.3-RC3 and go back re-install MP 0.2.2-stable.

    Appreciate any help anyone can give.

    Cheers,
    Antony.
     

    fozz

    New Member
    November 4, 2007
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    Hi all,
    I've just finished putting together my media pc, using the Compro T750 as the TV card... after it not working at all in MP, the CaptureCardDefinitions.xml edit worked just fine. The only thing I had to do was remove ALL of the Compro software (including the last file left behind in my start menu after using "add/remove programs"..)

    The only thing I'm struggling to get working though is the FM tuner. Has anyone been able to get this to work? I have a few radio stations added but I get nothing. I aslo had a streaming .pls file which didn't seem to work either??

    I'm also looking for a solutions for an EPG for Brisbane. There's a utility through the MP apps but the site it's set up to retrieve the EPG is some random guys site and the zip file and folder just doesn't exist.

    Any help on the above would be greatly appreciated.

    Cheers,
    Fozz
     

    fozz

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    November 4, 2007
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    Hi guys, 2 in 1 day....
    has anyone been able to get the T750 remote to work with MP? It worked with the compro software before I removed it all less teh drivers but won't pick in in MP.
    Any tips would be appreciated

    Fozz
     

    MadMagpie

    Portal Pro
    April 17, 2007
    125
    12
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    nah never got the remote to work in MP here, there is a remote control software (can't remember the name) that you are supposed to be able to set up with it to get it to work, but I couldn't work it out.
    I just bought a M$ mce remote and haven't got any complaints, best $50 I have spent in ages ;)
     

    fozz

    New Member
    November 4, 2007
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    Cheers MadMagpie, that was going to be my next move... pain in the bum spending nearly 1K on harware and not being able to use it all properly with a remote...

    Sorry MadMagpie, what OS are you running? I'm on XP Pro
     

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