New to PVR: Fresh NPVR Install - Not Working, Please Help

[damedic]

Greetings Forum:

I installed NPVR last week, and rec'd assistance from the forum to confirm proper installation of all updates & patches.

I had to leave town for awhile & now am back to play with the my temporary HTPC I just set up with NextPVR downloaded, installed & now trying to set it up to work!

FYI:

• I did recognize & set my tuner device - HVR1600
  
• I did scan & set all channels - OTA
  
• I did (for now) set up EPG, basic OTA
  

When I opened NPVR, and went and clicked on "Live TV" a message (error) popped up that said:
"Live TV buffer directory does not exist: c:\tem"

What did I miss?

Also, when I went to the: Settings - Decoders page, I think there are some problems there as well? Under "Renderers" EVR is in the box for Video & default is chosen for Audio.
But... Under "Decoders" for all options - "Disabled" is what shows in the box and the drop down menu does not provide any other choice but "Disabled"! :confused:

And it is true for the "Decoders" options under DVD of the Settings page, as well - they too say Disabled.

I thought that Windows XP Pro, SP3 would have had these within it & NPVR would automatically find them & then populate the drop downs for the decoders? Am I incorrect in this thinking? Do I have to locate & download the proper decoders. Should I be looking for a "Codec" package? If so, what is the most common suggested?

I would truly be grateful for some direction. I tried to look for another post/thread with my similiar problem, but did not find one that helped. I thought I may have found something in Johnsons "Help" thread, but I think I got a little more confused. In a quote from there, he mentions:

Digital video in the USA requires an HD-Capable MPEG-2 Video decoder and an AC3 Audio decoder. The Microsoft DTV-DVD Video decoder works well for many users, however the Microsoft DTV-DVD Audio Decoder will not work for AC3 Audio. Use AC3Filter (http://ac3filter.net) instead. In other countries H.264 Video and various other forms of Audio are in use; you should familiarize yourself with the format(s) used in your country.

Being in the USA - Portland Oregon, and somewhat of a newbie to this stuff, I don't mind learning & apologize to the forum for what may be considered as a very stupid question, but... :o

Thanks in advance to all who can provide some help & assistance

[sub]

When I opened NPVR, and went and clicked on "Live TV" a message (error) popped up that said:
"Live TV buffer directory does not exist: c:\tem"

What did I miss?

Try going into the Setings -> Recording screen, and set your recordings directory to somewhere that exists on your machine.

Also, when I went to the: Settings - Decoders page, I think there are some problems there as well? Under "Renderers" EVR is in the box for Video & default is chosen for Audio.
But... Under "Decoders" for all options - "Disabled" is what shows in the box and the drop down menu does not provide any other choice but "Disabled"! :confused:

And it is true for the "Decoders" options under DVD of the Settings page, as well - they too say Disabled.

I thought that Windows XP Pro, SP3 would have had these within it & NPVR would automatically find them & then populate the drop downs for the decoders? Am I incorrect in this thinking? Do I have to locate & download the proper decoders. Should I be looking for a "Codec" package? If so, what is the most common suggested?

NPVR doesnt install any decoders (since it would cost me $$$), so it's up to you to supply your own decoders. NPVR will list all the decoder you already have on your machine. If none are listed, then you dont have any decoders installed on your machine. There is lots of options for decoders - some use the decoders that came with the TV card's software. Some use codec packs, like SAF etc (http://forums.nextpvr.com/showthread.php...odecs-pack)). Up to you really.

[johnsonx42]

Since you're running Windows XP, you won't have the Microsoft DTV-DVD Decoder available - that's Vista/7 only. You can use hoborg's SAF as sub mentioned. You can also provide other decoders, but as the whole subject is new to you a pre-rolled decoder package like SAF is probably your best bet. I think hoborg has said you want to use SAF 5 for NVPR.

Also, you should select VMR9 for the video renderer; EVR is generally for Vista and 7 as well; for XP you'd need to have the .net 3.5 runtime installed, but even then EVR doesn't always work (or if it does, it doesn't use hardware acceleration).

[johnsonx42]

sub, that reminds me of a minor change that you should perhaps make - NPVR installs with the video renderer set to EVR by default. That's great for Vista and 7, but usually produces a black screen and a support post on XP. Can you make it so it defaults to VMR9 for XP?

[damedic]

Thanks alot guys. Once again, I feel better about moving forward. Will download & see how I can move along bymyself and get this thing to work.

I was doing some reading on hoborg's page at MP (?) and I saw a different version of 5.0 - Unlocked? It says that if he is pm'd, he will eventually send a way to download that version. Is this something I should request, being that I am just a newbie to this stuff? Or should I have it anyway & learn as I go along?

Thanks. Either way, it appears if I download 4.0 or 5.0 beta, I would be able to uninstall it with no problems & no traces left on my disk! So I will probably download the beta & see what happens. Then I will see (per your suggestions) if I need to download the "Unlocked version".

Have a great afternoon.

[damedic]

Ok, downloaded beta 5.0 version of SAF.

NPVR appears to be working.
I guess the codec's in this pak, downloaded just fine & NPVR located them & placed them where they need to be.
I will play around with it & get a feel for it's operability.

Thanks guys.

[johnsonx42]

I believe the unlocked version is only needed if you have h.264 video and want to use the cyberlink decoder, which you do not.

[BigBoyDale]

I'm running Vista64 and on the first question I had to go to MISC in the settings area and change the buffer to a known directory rather than c:\temp which is the default. Fixed the problem. The changing the default directory in Recordings had no effect.

[bossesand]

Create C:\Temp then live TV will work without extra configuration.
Thank you fot the tip on the third letter for me Te was the directory missing.


- B