Anyone using the HD-PVR Beta Drivers 1.5.6.0

[MeekMaster]

GBPVR is working very well for me and my HD-PVR right now with only a minor liveTV problem, playback hiccups when not using timeshift. I was thinking about trying these drivers out but wanted some feedback on how they have worked for others first.

The beta drivers are marked as May 15 2009, they can be found here if you want to try them for yourself.

Beta Drivers 1.5.6.0

Just click on the Beta tab.

[beav_35]

There is a thread over at the shspvr forums about these beta drivers. Someone said the driver "rendered the device unusable" until they reverted to the older drivers. I think i'll wait until its out of beta to try them. It seems like the main fix in these drivers is the FIOS problem anyways.

http://www.shspvr.com/smf/index.php?topic=12043.0

[MeekMaster]

Okay cool, thanks for the heads up. Latest Non-beta seems like the way to go then. Ill keep my eyes open for an official release.

[bogyver]

Im using the beta drivers because they fix the sync issues that I have with my dish network receiver, they work fine on xp and vista 32bit. They clearly state that the beta drives are not whql certified so they will not work on 64 bit systems because they require whql drivers. I remember seeing those post I believe most of them where on people using vista 64 but sometimes other problems happen ymmv.

I think Part of the problem is if you but a system with 4gb of ram from dell/hp/gateway/etc it comes with vista 64. I think a lot of people don't realise they are running 64bit windows. Its hard to tell the difference on most consumer computers.

EDIT:
I just was over looking at the HD-PVR support page and noticed the date of the drives is about a month newer than when they came out before but still have the same version number, and they say they work with 64bit Vista now. I suspect that this version might be real close to the new stable driver. Over all if the older stable drivers work for you run them, if you have dish network or fios run the newer drivers.
On a side note my hd-pvr is more stable needs less rebooting than with the older drivers. I have not updated and don't think there is any need to since they have the same version number as what I'm running.

[bogyver]

A quick look inside at the dates on the files shows that the driver files are the same as the april drivers, the cat files are newer. Also interestingly the rom for the hdpvr is newer.

[MeekMaster]

Im running the latest official stable drivers, March 13th I think they are dated. I guess I am going to stick with these for now. The only problem Im having is that when you go into LiveTV preview mode, it takes a good 5-10 seconds before the recording light comes on, on the HD-PVR and get a picture. Im not even sure this is a HD-PVR problem or something with my GBPVR setup.

I might try different decoders but I cant imagine there is anything much better than the PowerDVD 8 decoders. When using arcsoft, I dont get picture, only sound. Things are much better though since I fixed my set top box to a steady 720p. Before, it was changing to 480 depending on channel.

[bogyver]

I have the same thing happen when I try and view live tv on mine. On a side note have any of you noticed your HD-PVR when starting a recordings will light up turn off light up and some times turn off again before finally staying on. I for me its due to the dish network receivers audio stream changing from 5,1 dd to 2 channel pcm and back as it changes channels.

[persim]

I have always had that issue with the light turning on, then off, then back on again when a recording starts. Not exactly sure what its from because most of my recordings are in 5.1 so I'm not sure it is from the 2.0 to 5.1 audio change. Tried the new beta drivers and I lost my sound but a quick update to the latest ffdshow solved that. I'm hoping this fixes my problem where the unit will shut off randomly in the middle of a recording and then immediately turn back on but I'm not counting on it. Been kind of a love/hate thing with the HDPVR since I got it.