initial support for Hauppuage HD-PVR (2 Viewers)

[Mithrandir]

Just checked TME again and even though it is somehow less noticable then in mediaportal it also has jitter.
I've ran hcwclear and am installing the packaged drivers again.

Means no SPDIF but at least a stable working system..
I also used the drivers you used, 1.0.5.301, but those led to massive system freezes etc in Vista x64. (Which i didn't have with my packaged drivers nor with the 1.5.6.0 drivers).

Still cant get all the other codecs to work with the HD PVR though...they all show the same issue..slowmotion playback. It can't be a hardware latency issue as the PDVD8 codec doesnt suffer from the problem. The same codecs that cause slowmotion in MyTV, work fine in The MyVideos/MyTVSeries sections.

I'll run graph edit and post the screenshot here later.

Edit: Sorry i realize i'm the one asking for help here, however havent had the time to run graph edit. Will get back to this next week.

 

[ixian]

I had never heard of DPC before - thanks for that link! It looks like a great tool to check out HDPVR issues, especially with remote clients.

Just checked TME again and even though it is somehow less noticable then in mediaportal it also has jitter.
I've ran hcwclear and am installing the packaged drivers again.

Means no SPDIF but at least a stable working system..
I also used the drivers you used, 1.0.5.301, but those led to massive system freezes etc in Vista x64. (Which i didn't have with my packaged drivers nor with the 1.5.6.0 drivers).

Still cant get all the other codecs to work with the HD PVR though...they all show the same issue..slowmotion playback. It can't be a hardware latency issue as the PDVD8 codec doesnt suffer from the problem. The same codecs that cause slowmotion in MyTV, work fine in The MyVideos/MyTVSeries sections.

I'll run graph edit and post the screenshot here later.

Are you doing this all on one PC? I believe so but just checking.

If so then you have TME/Arcsoft drivers installed on it, which means you should check out your graph asap because the Arcsoft codecs have a nasty habit of taking over no matter what you set their merit to be in Mediaportal. Believe it or not, on the system I had the most problems with the simple solution turned out to be not to install TME/Arcsoft at all.

However if you are running standalone you have a problem, because technically the Arcsoft software is the only way to control the settings the HDPVR uses. However, over on AVSForum some enterprising users came up with their own program (it was started so Linux users could work with it, but there's a windows version too). I can't remember the name of it and AVSForum is down at the moment, but if you go to the HTPC section there when it's back up and search you should find it. Using that will allow you to completely remove Arcsoft software from your PC.

 

[sjeffrey]

I had never heard of DPC before - thanks for that link! It looks like a great tool to check out HDPVR issues, especially with remote clients.

Just checked TME again and even though it is somehow less noticable then in mediaportal it also has jitter.
I've ran hcwclear and am installing the packaged drivers again.

Means no SPDIF but at least a stable working system..
I also used the drivers you used, 1.0.5.301, but those led to massive system freezes etc in Vista x64. (Which i didn't have with my packaged drivers nor with the 1.5.6.0 drivers).

Still cant get all the other codecs to work with the HD PVR though...they all show the same issue..slowmotion playback. It can't be a hardware latency issue as the PDVD8 codec doesnt suffer from the problem. The same codecs that cause slowmotion in MyTV, work fine in The MyVideos/MyTVSeries sections.

I'll run graph edit and post the screenshot here later.

Are you doing this all on one PC? I believe so but just checking.

If so then you have TME/Arcsoft drivers installed on it, which means you should check out your graph asap because the Arcsoft codecs have a nasty habit of taking over no matter what you set their merit to be in Mediaportal. Believe it or not, on the system I had the most problems with the simple solution turned out to be not to install TME/Arcsoft at all.

However if you are running standalone you have a problem, because technically the Arcsoft software is the only way to control the settings the HDPVR uses. However, over on AVSForum some enterprising users came up with their own program (it was started so Linux users could work with it, but there's a windows version too). I can't remember the name of it and AVSForum is down at the moment, but if you go to the HTPC section there when it's back up and search you should find it. Using that will allow you to completely remove Arcsoft software from your PC.

In theory I believe the only thing we need from Arcsoft is the File Dump filter. I haven't tried it myself but I'm confident that this will work based on the graphs used to control the HD PVR with RCTVCap.
I can't remember the filename but it should be under the Arcsoft folders, something like filedump.ax.
You should be able to copy that file to c:\windows\system32, uninstall Arcsoft and then use "regsvr32 c:\windows\filedump.ax"

I'll try and test that theory before breaking everyones install

 

[jbf154]

I've been having stuttering issues too. Will try running MP in window mode and using GraphEdit to identify the graph. Maybe is is the Arcsoft codecs taking over, but I doubt it.

I managed to get the PowerDVD 9 codec to show up in MP. You need the "deluxe" version of PDVD9.

So I checked in graph edit, it is using the PowerDVD codec. Aside from the the stuttering, has anyone noticed a "slower framerate"? Even when it isn't stuttering, it looks like it is at a film framerate (24 fps) instead of 30/60. When I switch my TV input to the component input directly it looks much smoother. Sports are the best example to see this.

I've been running at 1080i with AAC.

 

[ixian]

I think it's ctrl+I to check framerate while the video is playing, have you confirmed? Can you try the Auto-refresh rate changer and confirm it's actually changing to the correct rate based on source? That's what I'd do next.

Also, out of curiosity, have you tried AC3 even for 2-channel sound (option in Arcsoft)? I ask because I use AC3 myself.

 

[jbf154]

It was actually Shift+1 to see the frame rate. I looks like it is playing at 30 fps instead of 60 fps. Could it be because it is 1080i? It should still do 60 even if its interlaced. Can other people try and let me know what frame rates you get?

Thanks.

Update:
Checked the frame rate when running at 720p and it was 60. So I guess the question is why is it only 30 with 1080i?

 

[Mithrandir]

I've raised a question earlier on jittery playback on the HD PVR.
somehow it (magically?) dissappeared.

I've only done a few things and can't be sure this was what solved my issues:

- I've removed the HD PVR drivers, installed 1.0.5.3.x again, seemed to work ok then installed 1.5.6.0 and the image playback was still perfect.

- One other thing that could've solved it: I've switched off my taskbar and tray messages in mediaportal. One of my icons was animated and it could have caused the issue.(Even though mediaportal was forced on top)
I used to run my mediaportal on a second screen but got tired of switching desktop and mediaportal so then ran mediaportal on the same screen (= the desktop). It can be that the jitter only started then and was resolved due to removing tray messages/taskbar.

Everybody thanks for the replies anyway !

i still have a few things open though:

SPDIF
Did anyone get this to work properly within mediaportal?
Here's my story...

SPDIF with 1.5.6.0 drivers in TME: works perfectly.
SPDIF in mediaportal / tv server config: i get <1 second of sound and then it instantly cuts off. I don't see any ffdshow icons, can i asume there is no interference/merits issues then or should i run graphedit nonetheless?

Stabillity HD PVR
First of all..the HD PVR seems to be working a bit wonky when it DOES work. (In this example, with the blue led lighting set to on in TME)
- Sometimes, it works and the whole unit lits up blue, power is blue, recording is red.
- Sometimes, it works and only the normal blue power light is on. Nothing else.
- sometimes, it works and the blue power light is on, the red light is on, but no massive blue light.

No settings are changed in the meantime.
I seriously do not understand what occurs when and why?

Also sometimes the HD PVR and/or TV Server locks up and CPU usage goes to maximum basically freezing the whole system.
The system is then so stuck that i can't check what is going on. I do know there is an issue raised for TV Server 1.1.0 with the HD PVR. however this issue states that when the HD PVR is not connected for whatever reason, TV Server locks up.

In my case the HD PVR is on and somehow massive freezing occurs when starting a TV channel. Can i assume its related?
It can work fine for days, even with the HTPC going to standby and back on, without issue. I can't see any pattern.

 

[dyrvig]

Hd-pvr +stuttering

Hi everybody

i have been using Mediaportal for some time now and has just got a Hd-pvr and i also got it to work more or less
first here is my conf
Server
case = Chenbro Es34069 mini itx server case 4 hotswap disk
Mainboard = Intel D945gclf2 miniitx with atom 330 prosessor
Ram = 4 Gb
Harddrive = 4 x 500gb sata2 (Windows disk 1. timeshift disk 2 . recording disk 3)
Tvcard = Hauppauge Hd-pvr
Lan = Gigabit
Windows = Vista ultimate (mediaportal server 1.0.2)
Client 1
Msi media live
Prosessor= amd dual core 2 x 2,53ghz
Grafic= onbord nvida gf 6150
Ram= 4 Gb
lan= Gigabit
Harddrive = 500gb sata2
Windows= vista home premium (mediaportal client 1.0.2)
connected to 42" lg LCD via Hdmi
Client 2
Mainboard = intel G45 miniitx
Prosessor = dual core 2x 2,53ghz
Ram = 4gb
Harddrive = 500gb sata 2
Grafic = Intel g45oo onboard
lan = Gigabit
Connected to 52" samsung Lcd via hdmi

I am currently only using the Hd-pvr via the s-vhs input and audio acc with sky Brasil SD signal pal-m or ntsc i got it to work using cyberlink powerdvd 8 i can wach live tv but i have a lot of stuttering i have checked the CPU on the server and the client on the server i have 10-15 % Cpu Lan is under 2% and harddisk is around 1 Mb in taskmanager on the clients i also have low CPU on the Msi around 20-30% and on the Intel 10-15 but still stuttering this is also the same if i play back a recording from the server on the other hand if i move the recorded file to the video folder of one of the clients it plays back fine .For me it seems to be a problem with the stream between the server and the clients . I have tryed to use Graphedit but that i beond my understanding how to use that . For info i have only installed the arcsoft programs on the server to setup the hd-pvr on the clients i use Cyberlink.

I have one doubt about the Hd-pvr if i am right the hd-pvr always outputs in h264 ewen if the tv signal i SD

I have tryed to lower the bitrate on the hd-pvr but it dosent seem to change the fact that live/recorded tv stutters

I was worryed that the spec of my server was the problem but even with a dual core Atom the The cpu stays around 10-15% during live tv or recording

I am planing to get the new settop box from sky here in brasil with 10 channels in hd but if i cant get it to work with sd it will probaly not be better with 720P or 1080i

Best regards
Dyrvig

And thanks for a great program :

 

[sjeffrey]

Hi everybody

i have been using Mediaportal for some time now and has just got a Hd-pvr and i also got it to work more or less
first here is my conf
Server
case = Chenbro Es34069 mini itx server case 4 hotswap disk
Mainboard = Intel D945gclf2 miniitx with atom 330 prosessor
Ram = 4 Gb
Harddrive = 4 x 500gb sata2 (Windows disk 1. timeshift disk 2 . recording disk 3)
Tvcard = Hauppauge Hd-pvr
Lan = Gigabit
Windows = Vista ultimate (mediaportal server 1.0.2)
Client 1
Msi media live
Prosessor= amd dual core 2 x 2,53ghz
Grafic= onbord nvida gf 6150
Ram= 4 Gb
lan= Gigabit
Harddrive = 500gb sata2
Windows= vista home premium (mediaportal client 1.0.2)
connected to 42" lg LCD via Hdmi
Client 2
Mainboard = intel G45 miniitx
Prosessor = dual core 2x 2,53ghz
Ram = 4gb
Harddrive = 500gb sata 2
Grafic = Intel g45oo onboard
lan = Gigabit
Connected to 52" samsung Lcd via hdmi

I am currently only using the Hd-pvr via the s-vhs input and audio acc with sky Brasil SD signal pal-m or ntsc i got it to work using cyberlink powerdvd 8 i can wach live tv but i have a lot of stuttering i have checked the CPU on the server and the client on the server i have 10-15 % Cpu Lan is under 2% and harddisk is around 1 Mb in taskmanager on the clients i also have low CPU on the Msi around 20-30% and on the Intel 10-15 but still stuttering this is also the same if i play back a recording from the server on the other hand if i move the recorded file to the video folder of one of the clients it plays back fine .For me it seems to be a problem with the stream between the server and the clients . I have tryed to use Graphedit but that i beond my understanding how to use that . For info i have only installed the arcsoft programs on the server to setup the hd-pvr on the clients i use Cyberlink.

I have one doubt about the Hd-pvr if i am right the hd-pvr always outputs in h264 ewen if the tv signal i SD

I have tryed to lower the bitrate on the hd-pvr but it dosent seem to change the fact that live/recorded tv stutters

I was worryed that the spec of my server was the problem but even with a dual core Atom the The cpu stays around 10-15% during live tv or recording

I am planing to get the new settop box from sky here in brasil with 10 channels in hd but if i cant get it to work with sd it will probaly not be better with 720P or 1080i

Best regards
Dyrvig

And thanks for a great program :

Can you try analog audio (rca cables) and tell us if it still stutters?

 

[dyrvig]

hd-pvr

Hi again

fast reply i like it

i am using the rca audio input my current settop box from sky only has that (rearly crap box )
I had a lot of problems with the Hd-pvr jumping back to AC3 all the time and no sound but now it is set to rca front input and acc sound

P/s i also tryed the dpc latensy checker and all is fine

Regards Dyrvig