No picture or sound in Live TV

[DaveA]

I get no picture or sound in Live TV, display shows Quality = 100% (full green) and Strength = 0% (full black).

System:
GBPVR 1.0.16.
HVR-1600, drivers only from Hauppauge "cd 3.4d1".
Using ATSC attached to OTA antenna only, for now.
WinXP Home SP2, Java 1.5.0_13-b05.
nVidia GeForce 8800 GTS 640MB, driver version 163.71.
New installation of O/S, etc., so it is a pretty clean environment.

I scanned the ATSC channels fine and found all known local OTA channels. The displayed signal strength during this initial scan varied from -7000 to +1600 (rough memory of numbers). I enabled my known HD stations and skipped the EPG. Live TV showed no image or sound but displayed the overlays as if it was tuning between stations.

I did all the following, recommended in the v1.0.16 survival guide and other posts, in the order shown:
- LivePreview (in Config) was already enabled.
- In config.xml, BDASubmitTuningRequestTwiceOnRecord was already true.
- Changed MUX from "Cyberlink" to "Microsoft DVR-MS". NO CHANGE.
- Used patched PVRX2.exe (survival post #5). NO CHANGE.
- In config.xml, changed BDADisableStatusChecks from false to true. NO CHANGE (the quality/signal strength overlay didn't show anymore, but that seems to be the point of this config line).
- Used new NativeUtilities.dll (survival post #6). NO CHANGE.
- Used new GBPVRBackendCommon.dll (survival post #7). NO CHANGE.
- Rescanned ATSC channels, found all the same channels as before. This time the displayed signal strength during the scan was zero for all channels. NO CHANGE.
- In config.xml, changed BDASubmitTuningRequestTwiceOnLivePreview from false to true. NO CHANGE.

I know I've got a good signal on the coax because I checked it with TS Reader Lite. Channel 2.1 (VHF 11) comes in at 100% strength = -7.0 dBm, 16Mbps on main stream, and gives me good screen shots. The PMT PID (48) and VPID (49) values for that stream on that channel match between TS Reader Lite and PVRX2.exe-native.log. Also, I temporarily installed Hauppauge's WinTV 6 and viewed live TV just fine (before I restored my drive image without it).

This environment plays .dvr-ms files I made with GBPVR v0.99.12(?) just fine in Windows Media Player 9.00.00.3354.

This seems to be a new twist on other posts. I appreciate any help you can offer. Logs are attached. I think I flushed them correctly before going to Live TV and tuning to channels 2.1, 2.2, then 2.1 again.

Also, this following observation may be completely irrelevant, but prior to starting this installation of WinXP, etc., I had been trying to use this HVR-1600 in QAM mode with my cable system. I finally got it to display live TV with QAM, although a few of the stations stuttered badly (cable channels 75.1, 76.1, 76.2 -- as verified by my QAM-capable TV).

DaveA

[sub]

In the logs it looks like its failing to find an MPEG2 video decoder. What decoder do you have selected, and what options do you have listed?

[DaveA]

Hi Sub,

Thanks for the quick reply.

My current setting for the Software MPEG-2 Playback Video Decoder is "System Default". Clicking on the VIDEO DECODER SETTINGS button does nothing. The only other video decoder listed is "Nero Video Decoder" (I have Nero 7 Ultra installed).

Dropping a DVD (in this case, Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within) into the drive brings up a "What do you want to do..." window. When I select "Play DVD Video using Windows Media Player", it plays the movie just fine.

Do I need a different MPEG-2 video decoder installed? If so, does it matter which one or how old it is? I've got a years-old copy of WinDVD that came with a DVD-ROM drive around here somewhere.

Thanks.

[DaveA]

Oh yeah. Choosing the Nero Video Decoder does not help, and VIDEO DECODER SETTINGS button does nothing.

[sub]

Oh yeah. Choosing the Nero Video Decoder does not help, and VIDEO DECODER SETTINGS button does nothing.

It'll only show settings for those decoders that implement that standard settings interface. Intervideo is one that doesnt. I've not used Nero myself, but it sounds like it also doesnt use the standard settings interface.

[sub]

The Nero decoder causes problems for most people that try to use it outside of Nero, so its not something often used. You can download a decoder from here: http://www.free-codecs.com/download/MPV_Decoder.htm

[DaveA]

Thanks again. I just saw my Adobe Premiere Elements 2.0 disc, so I'll install that and see if it has a compatible video decoder. If not, I'll explore your recommendation. Either way, I'll report back.

[DaveA]

Problem solved, you were right.

GBPVR did not like the Video Decoder ("Nero Video Decoder"). Surprisingly, installing WinDVD 2.6, PowerDVD 5, Adobe Premiere Elements 2.0, and Ulead DVD Movie Factory 2 did not help, although I'm nearly positive that each of those titles has an MPEG2 decoder in it.

What finally worked was installing the DTV/DVD decoder that came with my ATI HDTV Wonder card. The decoder is listed in GBPVR Config as "CyberLink Video/SP Decoder (ATI)".

This makes me wonder which video decoder(s) everyone else is using...

Thanks so much, sub!

[sub]

WinDVD or PowerDVD should have resulted in good decoders being added to the system, but glad you got it sorted anyway.