New MediaPortal Install - First Snag Hit - TV Card Detection Problem (1 Viewer)

[Steven Swallow]

First off, hello! This is my first post...be gentle.

Second, if you want to get to the actual bit I need help with, it's in bold near the bottom. This post was much longer than originally intended! For a bit of history, read on.

I've been into the 'HTPC Scene' for about a couple of years. I am a bit of an IT geek (did first and second line support for about 10 years) and decided to get my XBox 360 working as a WMC Extender which worked pretty well, but wouldn't play MKV files...bit of a pain but it was great for music. So, I went looking for an alternative and found XBMC (Eden at the time). Loved it...test ran it on an old Asus EeePC which ran it like a dog, but still. I got a Synology NAS last Christmas, then a Lenovo Q190 to use as a HTPC last March and a whole new world opened up. I had Movies, TV Show, Music, Home Videos and Pictures all at the my finger-tips. I added a simple remote (one of those with an IR Receiver than installs as a keyboard/mouse) and that pretty much worked out of the box. Beautiful.

What next? I wanted to get rid of Sky. So I did, and this Christmas, I got myself a PCTV 461e (which is the newer version of the popular 460e) DVB-S2 USB TV Tuner. I got that up and running with the provided software (crap) and that worked OK. Then installed NextPVR to use as a back-end for XBMC (now Frodo), installed the relevant plug-in and bingo. Sort of.

When it works, it's great..not the prettiest to look at. But channel switching is slow and cumbersome. Constant buffering until you hit stop. Losing contact with the tuner even when NextPVR states everything is OK. Not good, and not a great WAF.

So, I decide to ditch NextPVR and have heard of Argus and MediaPortal and decided to do a bit of research. I did not know that MediaPortal was a full-blown 'media-centre' and am now considering swapping completely. So, yesterday I installed 1.5.0 (not realising 1.6.0 was about to be released) and just used all the standard installation settings.

My first thought upon installation was and seeing all those icons (compared to XMBC's one icon) was that this would take a while. I went through the settings, and just started with my small(ish) music collection. Opened up MediaPortal and there they were...good start. Now for the TV side of things...this is where I've hit the snag and where I finally get to the point!

Going into the TV settings (in the configuration application) I see 'virtual' cards for DVB-IP and another for Radio Streams, but not my PCTV 461e DVB-S2 USB stick. My first thought it that I need to add it, but I can't see how. I have looked at the guides (honest) but they all assume your card will show up. Am I missing something obvious here? I'm running a brand new install of 1.5.0.

I also noticed the 'back' button on my remote (a generic IR remote that installs as a keyboard/mouse) doesn't go back. Doesn't do anything actually...in XBMC it acts as the 'Escape' key on the keyboard. I assume MP does things a little different.

I first thought XBMC was complex, but MP seems to take it to a whole new level and is obviously not for the faint of heart. I'm not...I like to tinker, and I really love to get this to work, play with skins, muck about with settings, get the artwork to my liking and so on and so forth.

Sorry this is so long! I didn't mean to write a novella for my first post!

 

[Steven Swallow]

Never mind...got it going. Navigated around the German PCTV site and downloaded their latest TVCentre software (and drivers), got that working. Upgraded MediaPortal to 1.6 and made sure NextPVR wasn't still hogging the TV stick. Loaded up the TV Server configuration module and there it was. One scan and an EPG fill later and I'm up and running.

Any ideas on the remote issue (navigation and selection works but no 'back'). Not sure what to do here as I keep having to resort to keyboard/mouse to get back home and so on. Like I say, it's a remote that installs as a HID mouse/keyboard and works out-of-the-box in XBMC. Not sure what to do or whether it will be easier to get a standard MCE remote instead...would rather not though!

 

[mm1352000]

Hello and welcome Steven

Sorry I missed your first post. Yeah, a tuner not being listed generally means it hasn't been detected by Windows or drivers haven't been installed.

Any ideas on the remote issue (navigation and selection works but no 'back'). Not sure what to do here as I keep having to resort to keyboard/mouse to get back home and so on. Like I say, it's a remote that installs as a HID mouse/keyboard and works out-of-the-box in XBMC. Not sure what to do or whether it will be easier to get a standard MCE remote instead...would rather not though!

Have you tried enabling the general HID remote:
http://wiki.team-mediaportal.com/1_...aPortal_Configuration/8_Remote/12_General_HID

mm

 

[Steven Swallow]

I did have a quick look at that and enabled it. But I need to play further. I had IRTrans enabled as well, so I'll turn that off, have a fiddle with the settings and see how I get on. I'll create a new thread if I still have problems (or just get an MCE remote) as I seem to have hijacked my own OP!