Lifeview TV Walker Modded Drivers

[hitek146]

I have taken the very well behaved Typhoon TV PVR drivers, and added the wisgostrm.dll file from the version 1.6 TV Walker drivers, giving me an excellent driver set that still supports MotionJPEG and H.263 hardware encoding. You will need to update your go.ini file in the gbpvr folder as follows:
<table border="0" align="center" width="95%" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"><tr><td>Code Sample </td></tr><tr><td id="CODE">[SETUP-Main]
SupportedDevices=Plextor ConvertX M402U|Plextor ConvertX TV402U|WIS GO7007SB|LifeView TV Walker mini|LifeView TV Walker Ultra|Typhoon TV PVR|Rover Media TeleBox U2
WithTuner=Plextor ConvertX TV402U|LifeView TV Walker mini|LifeView TV Walker Ultra|Typhoon TV PVR|Rover Media TeleBox U2
VideoStandard=AUTO[/QUOTE]

After switching to the Typhoon driver set, the Lifeview TVR application will no longer work, and if needed, the Typhoon version will have to be installed. In my experience, it is not necessary to reboot after the driver update, unless you have also installed the application. Remember, as with any Walker driver update, you must first run the remove.bat script included in the driver install folder before reconnecting the Walker device.

Download

Hitek

[Deko]

Hi hitek,
It's possible to modify typhoon wisgostrm.inf and wistunerloader.inf so that it works with the Lifeview TVR application by changing the localisable string at the end of the typhoon inf files to match those in the lifeview inf files, that way there should be no need to modify go.ini to support typhoon pvr's.

[hitek146]

Yea, I know, but why go to the trouble? I just use the Typhoon application. The newest version of the Lifeview TV Walker Mini application is in Japanese.... Go.ini is not modified to use the new application, it's modified to use the Typhoon drivers, which are coded different than the Lifeview drivers.

Hitek

[jksmurf]

Every so often I drag out my Lifeview TV Walker Mini USB2 to see if it will work properly with my currently (beautifully) working with a PVR150 setup.

Just FYI, I also posted this in http://www.tv-cards.com/messageboard/vie...hp?t=12919 but as some GBPVR users have (or have had) this device, I thought I would cross-post, particularly as I am aiming solely at GBPVR use.

hitek146 wrote: ... I have taken the WISGOSTRM.SYS file from the 1.6 Lifeview driver, and used it with the new Typhoon drivers, giving me the best of both worlds.... . When using the modded Typhoon driver set, my Walker can now record in MPEG1/2/4/Divx/MJPEG/H.263.... From this thread http://www.tv-cards.com/messageboard/vie...ght=walker )

I first bought a Lifeview TV Walker mini a year ago, but never really got it going with GBPVR (various issues, documented on these GBPVR forums and in the WIKI I occasionally add to http://www.gbpvr.com/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Manual/TVWalker), which I have had running with a Hauppage PVR150 for almost a year. I thought I'd haul the Walker out and have another go, but I see the drivers haven't got any further. I did a bit of file comparing between NOVAC, Rovermedia, Lifeview, Typhoon and Hitek's modded drivers, as well as the TVWalker Ultra (and the "Leadtek Winfast TV Walkie"). Lifeview has listed this device as a discontinued product http://www.lifeview.com.tw/html/products...r_mini.htm

I also tried the drivers from the Leadtek Winfast Device, but no joy. As you can see from the attatched image though, MAYBE there is some scope to rename the driver names back to the Lifeview names?

I had a crack with the GBPVR and the Lifeview 1.8.0.0 (standard drivers) last night and it (GBPVR) did some pretty wierd things, like said it was recording TWO shows on my single-tuner PVR (can it do that ..Analog Tuner + Cable simultaneously?) while LiveTV'ing (see attached jpgs) on the 2nd Tuner.

Yep, I followed all the WIKI setup advice and both (different tuners were dveice #1) The thing hung a lot, like it was using 99% CPU forever and while the 150 recorded OK, the Walker "recorded" 0kb or 2kb recordings.

I don't really want to post a bug report just yet, until I have solid set of drivers, so that's what thsi thread is about, current feedback from users of this device or any of the sister devices

The Lifeview TV Walker Ultra and the Lifeview TV Walker Mini are exactly the same electronically, and so obviously use the same drivers. The Walker Lite uses a different chipset and different drivers. I hesitate to load the new drivers and the new software, because I like the Russian versions, and I don't see how any of the improvements listed in the update text file will help me. Hitek146

The Russian version is called "RoverMedia TeleBox U2" http://www.rovermedia.ru/site/rm/home.ns...pecs/RM202
The Japanese version is called "micro CATCH TV Walker" http://www.novac.co.jp/products/hardware.../list.html
Typhoon's version is called "Typhoon TV PVR Universal" http://www.anubisline.com/en/art.php?p=1465
Lifeview's version is called "Lifeview R+TV Walker mini" http://www.lifeview.com.tw/html/products...r_mini.htm (listed as a discontinued product)
The HK & China version "Sinovideo Nicam TV USB" http://www.sinovideo.com.cn/ No longer listed.
Leadtek's version is called a "Leadtek Winfast TV Walkie" http://www.leadtek.com.tw/eng/tv_tuner/o...nameid=239 but the drivers names are way different.

Q1. Is there any mileage in trying to do an update of what Hitek146 did and make a collection of the latest files from those drivers?
Q2. The drivers for the TVWalker Ultra: The device is supposed to be the same device so presumably it (my MINI) SHOULD work with the ULTRA driver set?
Q3. Anyone have any thoughts on whether a rename of the Leadtek Driver files might work (see image)?

k.

[jksmurf]

Just a running update ...

The Lifeview Walker Mini USB 2.0 can use the TYPHOON TV PVR UNIVERSAL Drivers (with no mods required) and even the native Typhoon PVR s/w (not that you'd want to with GBPVR... ). I tested a recording in the native TVR and the file grows just fine. I believe the channel change is much faster (which I think is something hitek146 also observed, either here or on the tv-cards forum).

I have some issues with GBPVR however, (zero-byte recordings, lockups) which I will post as a separate thread, with logs

Next step, test the Ultra Drivers, then "maybe" I'll try some mix and match. If anyone has any ideas on how I might get the Leadtek drivers going Deko's comment above perhaps?), I'd be grateful for any help.
k.

[KingArgyle]

I also have a Lifeview Walker Ultra that I use with GBPVR. I'm still at .96 mainly because I don't know how throughly if any testing sub has done with the 97x series and the Walker. My experience is as follows, it works great for recording...it is unusuable for watching Live TV. Since I only ever record, and never watch Live TV with it, I don't worry about it.

Also, the LifeView Walker drivers need to be the most current version, otherwise there will be memory leaks. One other issue is with sound. You have to run the TV software that comes with the walker one time when you first boot into Windows, otherwise the sound isn't initiated correctly. To me minor annoyances, but to some probably major annoyances.

I also only record my files in MPEG 4 DIVX 5 format. I bought the Walker because of it's inexpensive MPEG 4 abilities and hardware assisted compression. I get files half the size compared to equivalant files in MPEG 2.

[jksmurf]

Cheers for your comments.

it works great for recording...it is unusuable for watching Live TV.

Funnily enough, that's all I'm interested in using the Walker for too (recording). Occasionally I get two progs I want to record simultaneously, so it'd only be for that. I have the device, and don't want to purchase another PVR150 (or PVR500). If (when ) we can choose which tuner to use e.g. for LiveTV, I would always choose the PVR150.

You have to run the TV software that comes with the walker one time when you first boot into Windows, otherwise the sound isn't initiated correctly. .

That's interesting. I guess I haven't got that far yet, but did notice some audio glitches. Not a big issue for me either, the thing (PC) is on 24/7.

I bought the Walker because of it's inexpensive MPEG 4 abilities and hardware assisted compression. I get files half the size compared to equivalant files in MPEG 2.

Yeah, I guess that's important for some, but TBH I use the MVP 90% of the time and my PC isn't grunty enough to transcode, so I'd only be looking at MPEG2.

In any case sub isn't best pleased with it, so I am going to play around with it for a little while and probably end up throwing it under a large bus.

k.