Lots of problems on W2K3 Server (1 Viewer)

[midiboy]

TV-Server Version: V0.2.3.0 RC1 Snapshot 15641
MediaPortal Version: V0.2.3.0 RC1 Snapshot 15641
MediaPortal Skin: normal
Windows Version: Windows 2003 Server SP2 -> Server, Windows XP SP2 Client
CPU Type: Core 2 Duo E6400
HDD: Seagate 500GB SATA 2
Memory: 4 GB
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA G33-DS3R
Motherboard Chipset: G33/ICH9R
Motherboard Bios: F5C (latest)
Video Card: onboard Intel or Nvidia GF7600GS (tried both)
Video Card Driver: latest final version (not beta)
Sound Card: onboard Realtek HD Audio
Sound Card AC3:
Sound Card Driver: 1.73
1. TV Card: Hauppauge PVR500
1. TV Card Type: 1. Analog
1. TV Card Driver: Hauppauge: 20_48_25037
2. TV Card: Terratec Cinergy USB XS Diversity
2. TV Card Type: DVB-T
2. TV Card Driver: 3.3.1.0
3. TV Card:
3. TV Card Type:
3. TV Card Driver:
4. TV Card:
4. TV Card Type:
4. TV Card Driver:
MPEG2 Video Codec: default MP setting
MPEG2 Audio Codec: default MP setting
Satelite/CableTV Provider: UPC Telekabel (analog cable)
HTPC Case:
Cooling:
Power Supply:
Remote:
TV:
TV - HTPC Connection:



Hi guys,

I have used MP for months without any problems but recently I started creating a client/server environment and now things just do not work. I currently do not have any logfiles for you because I don´t know which ones you need and also I just reformated the server to start from scratch but I am sure the problems are not solved yet so if you need logfiles I will be able to provide them. The "normal" Media Portal runs fine in Windows XP on both machines, client and server so this is either a Problem with MP Server or with MP server on Windows 2003 or both.

First I had my server based on the 64 bit version of Windows 2003 Server Standard because I have 4x1GB RAM inside and PAE in the 32 bit version is supposed to be problematic with some drivers. Also I had utorrent and PeerGuardian 2 installed and working fine. I then installed MP server, scanned for the channels of both cards, set up everything according to the WIKI and FAQs and installed the client plugin on the client. On the serverside I did not get any error messages, everything seemed fine, the same goes for the client side.

Yet, when I tried to surf the channels on the client, I got a very broken picture (stuttering, digital artefacts, freezing frames) and no audio, no matter what channel. The network is a gigabit network so bandwith should be enough. Also I was not able to preview channels on the server itself, a small window opened but nothing was displayed.

I played around a bit but did not find a solution so I disabled PeerGuardian and utorrent and tried again .... same thing.

I then installed the 32bit version of Windows 2003 Server just to see if this was a 64bit incompatability problem. After configuration of MP server I tried again, this time things were even worse. First, during channel search I noticed that the names of the channels did not get resolved automatically, instead I got numbers. Of course preview of the channels on the server did not work either. Second, on the MP Client when surfing the channels, I did not get any picture at all now, instead after a while I got an error message on the client. Now, this was with a complete new Windows 2003 server installation without any other programs/tools installed.

I then thought that maybe MP server needed some tools or dlls from Windows XP like Mediaportal did so I did the following:

I copied sbe.dll and sbeio.dll from Windows XP over and registered it.
I installed the latest DirectX redist.
I moved the "Hardware acceleration" slider in the graphics card and audio settings dialogs to maximum position.
I ran dxdiag to check if DX was enabled (it was)

It still did not work. No audio/video during preview on the server and no audio/video on the client. I again checked all the steps in the WIKI and I am positive it is configured correctly. I also tried with another videocard (GF7600GS instead of the onboard Intel card). I also tried with MP 0.2.3.0 RC1 instead of the latest SVN snapshot but this did not work either.

Actually I earn my living as a network administrator so I should know what I am doing yet I cannot get this to work properly. My conclusion today is that MP server is either too buggy yet, not compatible with W2K3 or I am missing something.

Maybe you guys can help me out here ?
Does MP Server need some special configuration to run on Windows 2003 Server ?
What bandwith is needed for the streaming to 1 client ?
Why are the channel names of the analog card (PVR500) resolved one time and not another time ? Does this have anything to do with this problem ?

Also I would like to know if it was possible to add a "lookup" button to the channels configuration section. It was very convenient on the standard MP client to lookup the channel configuration according to location instead of having to scan for the channels. Why is this not possible with MP Server anymore ?

Thanks everyone for your help !
Alex

 

[dekkers]

Well, according to your story you can't even preview the channels within the TVE3 setup. That indicates the problems are on the TVE3 itself and not Netwerk/Clients/Etc.

I think you should look in your logs finding what is causing the failure. Delete your logs, and preview again. Then you will be able to see what is causing the failure.

Greetz

 

[midiboy]

Hi dekkers,

thanks for your reply. You may be right. I have attached the logfiles now. When previewing a channel I get the message: Preview failed. No videoaudio detected.

I then had the idea that maybe codecs were missing so I installed the MP client on the server but again, the same happened. Also, in the MP client with the client plugin installed I got the same message when turning on TV.

I cannot find the reason for the missing video/audio in the logs though, just had a quick look.
Any ideas ?

Thanks,
Alex

 

[dekkers]

Well, I see some errors that channels aren't locked. This could be a signal problem.

Try this:

- Delete logs again
- Start TVE3 setup
- Goto manual, select channel and hit "Start timeshift"
- post logs again

 

[midiboy]

Hi dekkers.

thanks for your help. I did as you said. Logs are attached. I do not seem much difference to the one before. Do you ?

Bye,
Alex

 

[dekkers]

26.08.2007 22:02:49 8 card: timeshifting fileSize:0 TIMEOUT

I think it goes wrong when timeshifting, but i cannot find the exact cause of it.
Maybe someone more familiar with analogue cards can have a look at it.

I'm sorry, but i can't help you further.

 

[midiboy]

Hi !

after about 20 hours or more of time investigating this issue I was able to find the solution. The Hauppauge PVR500 card does not work with 4 GB of RAM installed. At least not when PAE is used which Windows 2003 server uses. I removed 2 GB now and everything is fine. I did come across a few other problems in the process but I think I was able to solve most of them, for the rest I will open a new topic. Thanks for your help dekkers.

Bye,
Alex

 

[dekkers]

midiboy

Great to hear the problem is solve. At least, the problem with your tv-card.
It's kind of strange Hauppage cannot handle 4 GB RAM becouse they could expect this kind of card is gonna be used in HTPC's wich are overall pretty heavy machines.
Well, maybe it's worth giving this information to Hauppauge so they can fix it, and you can use you 4 GB.

Greetz and success

 

[seppatbedo]

This might be also my the cause of the Problem i had with TvServer on win2003x64 with also 4gb RAM but a Terratec Cinergy-1200-S

https://forum.team-mediaportal.com/tv_engine_hangup_freeze-t27231.html

I nearly solved it by installing older x64 winxp drivers for my card and starting the tvservice in debug mode
(cmd in /Prgram Files (x86)/Team Mediaportal/TvServer/ -> TvService.exe /debug)

now there ar no more hangups but i have to disconnect the client on channel change, which is still pretty annoying.


another problem i came over when installing mp was that i just didnt find ANY ramdrive compatible with win2003x64