Nova-T Recording Sync

[bgowland]

Quote[/b] (gbq57 @ Feb. 07 2005,08:08)]Does any one have a Nova-T system with working recording - if so which mux is being used?

OK here is the setup that I first got working...

Originally just one card (350) setup as you'd expect.

Added Nova-t to Capture Sources page (350 at top, Nova-t second obviously). 350 set as 'Capture Device' #1, Nova-t as 'Board Number' 1.

The EPG for both is XMLTV pulled from the Radio Times web-site - info for 18 channels pulled. Both Capture Sources use the same data.xml file although the one for the 350 only has 5 checkboxes checked as Enabled (the other 13 are digital-only). The Nova-t's Capture Source has all 18 enabled.

The mux I'm using is the CyberLink MpgMux.ax.

In general everything is fine - recordings work OK (except the two channels on the same transmitter MUX that constantly seem to record garbled as mentioned in another post). Occasionally I get loss of sync. with sound/video on playback through the MVP - this is a playback problem though as stopping, starting and using Resume re-syncs.

Live TV on the PC monitor is rock solid for the digital channels.

I have occasionally had problems with the actual recording mechanism - if I schedule two digital recordings, about 50% of the time, the first records OK but the second crashes the recording service as it starts to record. Restarting the service lets everything carry on as normal.

That's about it.

Remember - sub didn't intend to release another version quite so soon (the TV Guide bug forced his hand). DVB/BDA support is still in its early stages and hopefully things will get sorted over time.

Brian

[gbq57]

I only have the Nova-T card - I had problems with tuning initially - I had to change the frequecies ini file for my transmitter - I had to subtract 166 from two multiplexes, add 166 to 3 others (and one was correct) the correct frequencies located by WinTV2000. I assume it's the transmitter that does not transmit exactly on the nominal frequencies.

The bad recordings are on all channels, all equally bad. Viewing all the channels on the PC via GB-PVR and WINTV yields excellent results.

The version of MpgMux.ax I aquired is 3.5.0.117 dated 26 Nov 2003.

I wish I understood better how applications like GB-PVR controlled the codecs and the api's to the capture cards (I really wish that codec management was kept sparate form application installation - I gulp each time I install/remove a media app).

I half expected with digital cards life would be easier as the nice TV companies have already mpeg'ed the data. I understand however, that the software has been release early, and I'm happy to wait for features/stability - i'd just like to get to the same state as other users - at present it's just recording (and by implication, timeslip) that giving problems.

Regards

[simon]

Brian,

As you have video working mostly without sync issues, could you tell us a few things that may help the rest of us.

Where exactly did you get your mpgmux.ax from? Was it a download from google as you mentioned previously, or installed with other software you have on your machine? What version of mpgmux is it?

Have you ever tried doing software decode of the signal from the Nova-T, i.e. not using the 350? Does this work?

I am starting to think that all these problems are due to mpgmux/ software decode issues so any more info could be helpful. I fully accept that this is early software, but would like to try and resolve my issues as much as possible without sending bug reports to sub, as I think he has enough to do!

Simon

[marc_ely]

Sorry to butt-in...
I've got a Nova-T almost working and I can help with one of these:

The mpgmux.ax file
Download Cyberlink PowerCinema demo.

It's about 33MBytes. Install that and you will find the file in there. Take a copy and register it (regsvr32 mpgmux.ax) at the command-prompt.

Best of luck
Marc

[gbq57]

Every one - please feel free to butt-in

Marc, The only vesion of PowerCinema demo I could find was only 24Mb in size (PCM3(Gen)_Trial_1126_Enu.exe) from a third party site (I could not get cyberlink's download to work at all!. Is it possible to let us know the version of MpgMux.ax you are using?

That goes for any other successful users of Nova-T recording out there. If you have a working solution please let us know (with version numbers if possible). Any reliable information on other installs (successful or faulty) is always useful.

Regards, Paul (gbq57)

[winston69]

Hi Folks,

Firstly great software, thanks folks its the closest i've got to working properly.

Same problem here using a twinhan DVB-t with BDA drivers. Can watch live TV fine, all functions work but the recorded mpg files are virtually unplayable. I'm using the Cyberlink mpgmux.ax from the Cyberlink PowerVCRII package.

[gbq57]

Anybody else with experience or success?

Regards

[sub]

I'm note sure how much difference it makes but I'm running CyberLink MpgMux.ax v5.0.0.727.

No, sorry I cant remember where I got it.

[simon]

I had some successes this weekend, when I finally got a chance to play around with gbpvr. Hope this is of help to someone.

Firstly, I fixed the problem I had with getting any Live TV preview at all. I uninstalled gbpvr, deleted the devnz directory in program files, then reinstalled from scratch. I also installed the NativeUtilities patch for the 0.908 release. I corrected the ini file for my DVB transmitter, then scanned and got all the channels I should have. I then changed to Overlay mode on the Playback tab, left everything else as default, and got live preview tv working ok, with fully synced sound and audio.

To try and get recording working, I installed Cyberlink Power Cinema 3 trial from the the Cyberlink website. This added a Cyberink MpgMux to my machine, its version 4.0.0 , so no more warning message in the tuning box in Config.

Time Shift TV is still unwatchable, with lots of skips and jerks and the audio is terrible. MVP Live TV has the same problem, as the MVP always uses Timeshift mode.

However, recordings work fine, with no problems at all with audio sync or recording quality. I haven't done full testing on all channels yet, but recordings are a lot better with this mpgmux than with others I tried.

I think my problems with timeshift are due to my machine specs. Its only a P4 1.5Ghz, with 512 ram and a very slow HDD, which is causing the problem I think. When recording, if I ask the machine to do anything else, the recording starts to jump and skip as the HDD can't keep up with the demands on it. Only solution here is a quicker HDD or a second drive.

Finally I copied the MpgMux from the Cyberlink install to another location, uninstalled Power Cinema, rebooted and registered the mpgmux.ax GBPVR still works ok, without PowerCinema clogging up the HDD.

HTH,

Simon

[Eireboy]

I have a Nova T with this Audio Sync problem also. Despite various changes in parameters, I cannot get the sync correct in Live Tv or Recordings. What am I missing here?