I need help to get MediaPortal to start up? (1 Viewer)

[kiwijunglist]

The TV Card is whatever card is in your PC that has the tv aerial plug in it.

it will look something like this

It's probably a driver issue, you need to reinstall the driver like i said.

Post a screenshot of your tv card from device manager and post your tv server log. No one can help without these 2 things.

 

[mm1352000]

Hello again

Ok, How did you find out my ViXS tv tuner model number is not good enough to work with media portal specs? Tell me if there's a list with the specs at MP, to see what TV card is the lowest that will work with MP??

It is not that your tuner is not good enough.
Rather, it is that I've read threads that indicate that tuners like yours are not recognised or don't work correctly in MP.
Just search the forum for terms like "ViXS", "VistaView", "Saber" and you'll see what I mean.

And could you please tell me what the TV card looks like and where is it on the mother board so i can see if its just came loose or a wire not hooked up right?? Or is it on the TV tuner board where i hook up the cable to the back of the computer??

I think you already said that the tuner is listed in device manager, so that means it is plugged in correctly. In other words, no need to check.
If you really want to check, shutdown and unplug the power from your PC. Then open up the PC and look for a card that slots into the motherboard, near where you connect the cable from the aerial. I suspect it might look a little like this:
http://www.linuxtv.org/wiki/index.php/ViXS_PureTV-U_48A3

And you said I need to install the BDA driver? What does BDA stand for and you said i just mite have WDM driver. What does WDM stand for too?? And where can i go to get the BDA driver?? I hope sourceforge.net or opensource.org will have a driver just for my ViXS TV card??

BDA = broadcast driver architecture
WDM = Windows driver model

As far as I can tell ViXS is a manufacturer of chips that are used for tuners:
http://www.vixs.com

I think they probably design tuner cards that OEM PC manufacturers (like Dell, HP, Gateway and Asus) manufacture and put in their PCs.
Evidence:
http://www.linuxtv.org/wiki/index.php/ATSC_PCI_Cards#Currently_Unsupported_ATSC_PCI_cards

You're more likely to get drivers from your PC manufacturer (for example Asus).
Please tell us the "brand" and model number for your PC.

and do you think a place like tigerdirect or newegg or tell me another electronic web site that would have a TV card board for my vista that's about 6 years old now??

Unless the tuner has fried itself (which is possible I guess) there is no need to buy a new tuner.

Is the TV card hooked up on the electronic board TV Tuner Board) at the lower back of my computer where i hook up my cable to one of the connections so i can watch TV shows?? or is the TV card apart of the whole electronic board where i would have to buy the whole big TV Tuner board again or what??

I think the TV tuner will be a separate card.
As above, please post the brand and model number of the PC.

...or if its a simple fix by finding the right driver ( thats the hard part too) like you said the BDA driver mite do the trick and then I can use media portal??

Your tuner should work in MP since it used to work in WMC.
I'm not sure whether it will work well, but it should at least be recognised.
Finding a good driver could be hard.

 

[curt2012]

Thanks guy's for all the help. This is the best help I ever got on a forum.!! I did not grow up with computers, so I just know enough to screw things up by missing with the software or program. LOL. I'm a 100 % disabled veteran and middle age, so i did not grow up with computers like most of you guys did and I do not know as much as as any one here. LOL Any way the computer is a Gateway GM5420. You know come to think about it,I had a lightning strike back in August 2012 and it fried my DSL modem and took out the hard wired either net port in back of computer from where the wire hooks up to the DSL Modem that goes into the hard wired port. the port used to glow green and now its just red. So I bought a DSL modem thats has 4 either net ports and is also b/g/n wireless. So I had to buy a D-Linkwireless G USB 2.0 Adapter and with the help of ATT Tech on the phone we finally got the D-Link G 2.0 to talk to the Netgear 7550 wireless modem. On my desktop gateway computer that is wireless now. I think thats the same time I could not watch TV with WMC any more. So that Lightning took out 2 devices on my computer. I sure to like all the help i got here from each and every one of you.!!! Its to bad I wont be able to join you guys and use the media portal.! Well when I get another computer one day, I'll make sure the TV card and GPU and CPU are good enough to play games and watch TV and not have to worry if the computer will run any program or game or DVD or software programs. Ok you have my computer name and number is there a TV card thats not to expensive that will work with my MOBO and while your at it let me know if i can replace this GPU I have it G965 chipset at G-3000. which means i can play only 1/2 of the video games because my video card is not very good. But some one told me its soldered onto the MOBO so i just can't unhook it and put another one in?? well thats what some one said so I have not looked to see if i could upgrand my GPU and it looks like I need a TV card that will work with my gateway GM5420 too. The TV card is right next to the eithernet port that got freied too that day so it took out my TV card too because thats about the same time WMC stoped working. I can get WMC to open up nice and when i select the TV guide channels it does nothing. So i wonder if its a file that I'm missing or a few files or something about the program wont work now but it worked great for 4 1/2 years then it just stoped so i wonder if it will be a easy software fix because i can't get the whole program from microsoft they stoped making WMC for vista>!! maybe i can find a whole program in open source?? but thats when i founf media portal that day and i thought It would work for my computer too, but looks like my vixs TV card wont work with MP.. ok thats for all the help. chat with you later bye.

 

[kiwijunglist]

well if the tv tuner stoped working after it was struck by lightning then maybe it's fried Antenna's are good for getting struck by lightning and the cable would lead charge straight into the tuner

Here is the link for your tv tuner driver
http://global-download.gateway.com/GDFiles/Driver/TV Tuner/TV Tuner_Gateway_6.2.100.12_Vistax64Vistax86_A.zip?acerid=634158984127467313&Step1=DESKTOP&Step2=GM SERIES&Step3=GM5420&OS=ALL&LC=en&BC=GATEWAY&SC=PA_6G

This is what your tv tuner looks like

You should go into device manager (press the windows key on the keyboard, then type device manager into the little box)
Right click on the tv tuner card and select properties
Then click uninstall.
Then install the driver above

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Re: Video card upgrade

Your pc has an onboard video chip, which means it's on the motherboard, but that doesn't mean you can't add on a new video card, that motherboard takes PCI-E cards so you need a PCI-E graphics card, I would suggest you buy a second hand card from ebay. Maybe an ATI HD 4XXX ~$15-25. There is no point buying a new video card for an old PC. You have to make sure your new video card is a single slot video card (not a big ass dual slot video card), since the tv tuner slot is right next to it. You should also buy a video card that doesn';t need an additional PCI-E power cable.



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If you get your tuner going again after reinstalling the drivers, your probably better off sticking with windows mce, as it's a bit easier to setup/use and your already familiar with it.

 

[mm1352000]

Thanks guy's for all the help.

You're welcome.

You know come to think about it,I had a lightning strike back in August 2012...

That might well explain the problem with WMC and why MP can't see the tuner.

Any way the computer is a Gateway GM5420.

Thanks.
Drivers for your computer are available from here:
http://support.gateway.com/us/en/product/default.aspx?partNumber=1014159

In particular, the TV tuner driver is available.
I think it would be worth at least trying to uninstall and reinstall the driver.
If you download and unzip the "TV Tuner Driver (VIXS)" zip file from the page above you'll see a "read_me.txt" file that tells you how to remove and install the driver.
So I would suggest to follow the "removal" instructions, then go for the "installation" instructions.

If the tuner still doesn't work in WMC after that then I think you'll need to get a new tuner card.
Depending on what cards you have in your PC already, it looks like almost any of the tuners on newegg would work for you. You also could get an external tuner if you wanted (though they tend to be a little more expensive).
Basically just look for anything that mentions "ATSC" for "TV standards". Some of the more expensive models have an FM radio tuner as well, which might be useful to you. Lots of options...

...and while your at it let me know if i can replace this GPU I have it G965 chipset at G-3000. which means i can play only 1/2 of the video games because my video card is not very good. But some one told me its soldered onto the MOBO so i just can't unhook it and put another one in??

The person who told you that was right - you can't replace it because it is indeed soldered onto the motherboard. *However*, according to the information about your PC, it has a PCIe x16 slot... which means it should be compatible with 90% of the video cards that you can buy from Newegg.

mm

 

[kiwijunglist]

I just noticed your PSU is 300watts, I'd recommend you to look at the following cheap + lower power (wattage) video cards, All these video cards don't need an auxillary pci-e power cable, which is important as you probably wont have this feature on your PSU.

ATI HD4670 (2nd hand)
ATI HD5450 (2nd hand)
ATI HD6450 (brand new or 2nd hand)

Don't spend more than $40