Belgium
TV-Server Version: 0.3
MediaPortal Version: 0.2.3. RC1 ... with very "SVN" of the last week.
MediaPortal Skin: standard default ?
Windows Version: XP Pro
CPU Type: multiple tests done on P4 3.0Ht/AMD 754 Sempron 3100/Athlon 3400
HDD: WD 200 Gig
Memory: 2 gig
Motherboard: K8MM-V MSI for AMD, Asus P4P800 for Intel
Motherboard Chipset: KM800 AMD, I865 Intel
Motherboard Bios:
Video Card: Onboard Chrome, ATI 9600XT, NV 5600
Video Card Driver: always the most recent
Sound Card: onboard Realtek
Sound Card AC3:
Sound Card Driver:
1. TV Card: Hauppauge PVR150 and PVR150MCE
1. TV Card Type:
1. TV Card Driver: Latest available
2. TV Card:
2. TV Card Type:
2. TV Card Driver:
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: Dscaler/Cyberlink/ ....
MPEG2 Audio Codec: Dscaler/Cyberlink
Satelite/CableTV Provider:
HTPC Case:
Cooling:
Power Supply:
Remote:
TV:
TV - HTPC Connection:
Hello People. I'm trying _very hard_ to like Mediaportal, but so far the Server hasn't given me nothing but grief. I suspect I'm missing out on something, and Live TV stutter is a pretty common problem, but I haven't seen anyone with the same kind of tests I did so far.
Problem : LiveStream TV is unwatchable. Using Mediaportal as client, it will cut/stutter every 2 seconds or so. Playing back _recorded_ material witch resides on the server though which was recorded by manual setting in the TVserver works perfectly and flawlessly. However, when I use the Timeshift system, odd things happen :
when I use VLC player to playback an active/manually started TV/timeshift stream, I can SEE just _why_ Mediaportal stutters : at intervals of about once every 2 seconds, digiblocks appear in the stream on my client's side. VLC "plays though them" although the image is of course distorted, Mediaportal seems to choke on those "bad blocks". First thought : bad Tuner card ? But sadly, installing Mediaportal Client on a testhdd on that same server shows perfect/blockless reception, also when recording, and even TVserver will *record* perfectly, but the Timeshifted result again shows blocks ???? (and yes, those blocks are also there in the recorded TS file)
Ah, and before I forget : testversions of SageTV and BeyondTV (with Placeshifter) worked perfectly using the same equipment.
What I have done so far is : (and don't laugh, I'm quite determined to get this potentially marvelous program working on my system, so I've gone though the ropes here)
1) rebuild 2 complete new "TV servers" from scratch, tallying the total of TVserver sysytems to 3 : 2xAMD, 1xIntel. Totally different systems, exactly the same problems.
2) used older builds of TVserver and Mediaportal (going back roughly 3 months) : exactly the same problem
3) used another PVR150 (non MCE, standard version) : same problem
4) Used Vista instead of XP : same problem
5) Used several combinations of dedicated HDD's to get the data streamed to as proposed in case of multiple streams (not the case here, but what the heck) : same problem
6) Went into "dumbo mode", reisntalled everything again, stricktly following the rules/tips as posted on the Mediaportal site : exactly the same problem remains.
7) Several combinations of using stricktly wired, 100mb, 1000mb lan networks, wireless networks ..... exactly the same problems. Threw out my router, used another one (different brand) : exactly the same problem. Exchanged ALL my cables : same problem
8) used combinations of different codecs, disabled any firewall/antivirus/antispy from the picture by either disabling it (in my router) or not installing/disabling it (in my pc's). Nothing changed.
So my conclusion is : I'm missing something very fundamental, and I'm repeating the same error in each and every test setup. I know for a fact the network is fast enough to cope with the traffic, as I tried a "full load/torrent/datacopy/...." on all the "servers" I tested, and again, using Beyond or Sage it never gave me a network-speed related problem. Also, I'm not working with illegally obtained OS's or slipstreamed intalls : every install is 100% clean, legally based and completely updated with all the latest patches.
It would be nice if someone would come forward and just tells me what an idiot I am for having forgotten something obvious, but as that's rather unlikely, I would be content to hear from anybody using a same Hauppauge 150PVR card (I have both the MCE and the normal version, both give me the same problem) who has got his system working correctly, and would be so friendly to provide me with the exact versions of Drivers he's using, and the exact versions of TVserver and Mediaportal SVN's, so I can try and duplicate a working situation here.
Sadly, I can't just try yet another Hauppauge other than the two 150's I've got here, but as both of them work correctly otherwise, I can't imagine they'd turn out to be defective.
So any help would be greatly appriciated, as this thing is driving me completely nutter.
Gosh, this really reminds me of the first couple of months of XBMC so many years ago, when playing back SVCD was still under heavy investigation ....
MediaPortal Version: 0.2.3. RC1 ... with very "SVN" of the last week.
MediaPortal Skin: standard default ?
Windows Version: XP Pro
CPU Type: multiple tests done on P4 3.0Ht/AMD 754 Sempron 3100/Athlon 3400
HDD: WD 200 Gig
Memory: 2 gig
Motherboard: K8MM-V MSI for AMD, Asus P4P800 for Intel
Motherboard Chipset: KM800 AMD, I865 Intel
Motherboard Bios:
Video Card: Onboard Chrome, ATI 9600XT, NV 5600
Video Card Driver: always the most recent
Sound Card: onboard Realtek
Sound Card AC3:
Sound Card Driver:
1. TV Card: Hauppauge PVR150 and PVR150MCE
1. TV Card Type:
1. TV Card Driver: Latest available
2. TV Card:
2. TV Card Type:
2. TV Card Driver:
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: Dscaler/Cyberlink/ ....
MPEG2 Audio Codec: Dscaler/Cyberlink
Satelite/CableTV Provider:
HTPC Case:
Cooling:
Power Supply:
Remote:
TV:
TV - HTPC Connection:
Hello People. I'm trying _very hard_ to like Mediaportal, but so far the Server hasn't given me nothing but grief. I suspect I'm missing out on something, and Live TV stutter is a pretty common problem, but I haven't seen anyone with the same kind of tests I did so far.
Problem : LiveStream TV is unwatchable. Using Mediaportal as client, it will cut/stutter every 2 seconds or so. Playing back _recorded_ material witch resides on the server though which was recorded by manual setting in the TVserver works perfectly and flawlessly. However, when I use the Timeshift system, odd things happen :
when I use VLC player to playback an active/manually started TV/timeshift stream, I can SEE just _why_ Mediaportal stutters : at intervals of about once every 2 seconds, digiblocks appear in the stream on my client's side. VLC "plays though them" although the image is of course distorted, Mediaportal seems to choke on those "bad blocks". First thought : bad Tuner card ? But sadly, installing Mediaportal Client on a testhdd on that same server shows perfect/blockless reception, also when recording, and even TVserver will *record* perfectly, but the Timeshifted result again shows blocks ???? (and yes, those blocks are also there in the recorded TS file)
Ah, and before I forget : testversions of SageTV and BeyondTV (with Placeshifter) worked perfectly using the same equipment.
What I have done so far is : (and don't laugh, I'm quite determined to get this potentially marvelous program working on my system, so I've gone though the ropes here)
1) rebuild 2 complete new "TV servers" from scratch, tallying the total of TVserver sysytems to 3 : 2xAMD, 1xIntel. Totally different systems, exactly the same problems.
2) used older builds of TVserver and Mediaportal (going back roughly 3 months) : exactly the same problem
3) used another PVR150 (non MCE, standard version) : same problem
4) Used Vista instead of XP : same problem
5) Used several combinations of dedicated HDD's to get the data streamed to as proposed in case of multiple streams (not the case here, but what the heck) : same problem
6) Went into "dumbo mode", reisntalled everything again, stricktly following the rules/tips as posted on the Mediaportal site : exactly the same problem remains.
7) Several combinations of using stricktly wired, 100mb, 1000mb lan networks, wireless networks ..... exactly the same problems. Threw out my router, used another one (different brand) : exactly the same problem. Exchanged ALL my cables : same problem
8) used combinations of different codecs, disabled any firewall/antivirus/antispy from the picture by either disabling it (in my router) or not installing/disabling it (in my pc's). Nothing changed.
So my conclusion is : I'm missing something very fundamental, and I'm repeating the same error in each and every test setup. I know for a fact the network is fast enough to cope with the traffic, as I tried a "full load/torrent/datacopy/...." on all the "servers" I tested, and again, using Beyond or Sage it never gave me a network-speed related problem. Also, I'm not working with illegally obtained OS's or slipstreamed intalls : every install is 100% clean, legally based and completely updated with all the latest patches.
It would be nice if someone would come forward and just tells me what an idiot I am for having forgotten something obvious, but as that's rather unlikely, I would be content to hear from anybody using a same Hauppauge 150PVR card (I have both the MCE and the normal version, both give me the same problem) who has got his system working correctly, and would be so friendly to provide me with the exact versions of Drivers he's using, and the exact versions of TVserver and Mediaportal SVN's, so I can try and duplicate a working situation here.
Sadly, I can't just try yet another Hauppauge other than the two 150's I've got here, but as both of them work correctly otherwise, I can't imagine they'd turn out to be defective.
So any help would be greatly appriciated, as this thing is driving me completely nutter.
Gosh, this really reminds me of the first couple of months of XBMC so many years ago, when playing back SVCD was still under heavy investigation ....