Device Ini Editor

[kwrobel]

Well guys,

I have registered the dongle with KWorld, and I also registered the Arcsoft software with Arcsoft Support. I wrote KWorld a long-winded support request for more detail, which I may post here if you're interested. I will also contact Arcsoft to try to get some information from them. I still can't believe that Arcsoft's software is so specific to the USB dongle from KWorld. That just doesn't seem to be right... So hopefully, they (any of the two parties) will get back to me with SOME answer. Like you guys said, it is unlikely but worth a shot.

By the way, I also tried the commercial software from SageTV, and it also wouldn't find any channels, though it recognized the device as BDA 2870 Tuner and ran through the scan as if it was actually scanning (no error messages whatsoever), but eventually also ended up with zero, zip, nada.

That just shows you again in what kind of world we live in. "Friss oder stirb" we say in Germany, which somewhat translates into take it or leave it. Just gimme the money, sucker. Ohhh yes, I AM A SUCKER alright... Sigh!

(oh I feel much better now that I vented a little)

Thanks guys for your help, and I hope that if I get some info from Kworld/Arcsoft that you will be able to pin this one down. I'm sure I am NOT the only one who bought the Kworld ATSC 340U from Newegg, and I'm sure some are also pissed that it has ClearQAM support in name only.

Cheers...

[kwrobel]

KWorld Support finally got back to me; unfortunately with no real solution. They said (and I quote):

The all application of our product is designed and followed up the standard
format of the DirectShow programming interface;

Please consult the related program designed for DirectShow in the Microsoft
MSDN website.

We are sorry that we don't have any SDK (Software Development Kit)program to provide to End -user.

You can also try to use other program to use, as the CyperLink Power Cinema.

Or contact the Arcsoft

:eek:

Arcsoft has also looked at my request regarding their QAM scanning routine, and have forwarded it to their Engineers for review. Here's how I approached them:

Subject: Special QAM Tuning Algorithms
4/11/2008 11:27:56 PM
This question is in regards to the underlying software procedure to scan for digital cable stations (a.k.a. QAM Tuning). As of present, TotalMedia is the ONLY software that seems to be able to successfully scan for any digital cable stations in my area, which is zip code ***** in USA (Comcast). SageTV and other software like GB-PVR all are able to talk to my KWorld ATSC 340U, but don't find any stations. The developers of GB-PVR suggested I find out more about the internal workings of the QAM tuning of the software/driver. I contacted KWorld already, but I'd also like to get some information from Arcsoft. Could you please provide me with detailed information how Totalmedia tunes into my QAM stations on the KWorld ATSC 340U? Are you employing any special/proprietary software routines to talk to the BDA 2870 driver? Thanks for ANY help you can give.

... to which they respectfully responded that ...

Response
4/15/2008 2:32:01 AM
Hello,
We have forwarded your information to our relevant engineers for further testing. They are about to work on it. We will contact you as soon as there is a resolution.
Please wait patiently.
Thank you again for your cooperation.

So, I'm patient. They have 'til Feb. 9 2009...

[whurlston]

KWorld Support finally got back to me; unfortunately with no real solution. They said (and I quote):

:eek:

Arcsoft has also looked at my request regarding their QAM scanning routine, and have forwarded it to their Engineers for review. Here's how I approached them:

... to which they respectfully responded that ...


So, I'm patient. They have 'til Feb. 9 2009...

Don't expect to get the information from ArcSoft.

[kwrobel]

You know, I'm usually very patient, but you're probably right. Well, I actually thought about digging into source code myself. I am a programmer after all, just not well-versed with Windows apps, C++ and the like. I make small business applications in Visual Basic .NET or in legacy 4GL languages. But I am confident in my skills and am usually pretty good at digging up information and applying it. So I will probably start taking a look at Microsoft's MSDN reference for TV Applications. According to that site, everything has already been abstracted to a point where the hardware manufacturer only has to provide his snap-in BDA driver, and it should work.

I have also pondered the Arcsoft software. Now that I have a new dll from them it is finally able to pull in EPG data via TitanTV's web services. Still, I find it very hard to believe that Arcsoft and KWorld ever exchanged proprietary code for something as how to program a QAM tuning/scanning routine. I still think that KWorld just aquired an OEM license from Arcsoft to put their software on the KWorld driver CD. That's all I think there is to it. Meaning, Arcsoft probably uses some well-defined way of scanning for QAM channels that just hasn't found its way into GB-PVR or other software like SageTV. Maybe it's just simply because it's QAM-256, and not QAM-64, which seems to have been a feature that has been around a bit longer than QAM-256.

Anyway, I found a separate thread on the GB-PVR forum specifically discussing the KWorld ATSC 340U. So I will probably move over to that discussion.

Thanks anyway for your thoughts, guys.

[kwrobel]

Correct.

These other two numbers arent used. They're there for historic reasons.

Does it ever say "locked=1" in your config.exe.log?

By the way, I was wrong. Yes, it does occasionally say locked=1, mostly when strength and signal are above a certain threshold.

[whurlston]

By the way, I was wrong. Yes, it does occasionally say locked=1, mostly when strength and signal are above a certain threshold.

Then it's already working. Post a set of logs after doing a scan. And yeah, should probably move to the other thread.