New user new install and a few "issues"

[rkircher]

Is this XP Home or Pro? If it's Pro just right click on the directory, select Properties and go to the security tab. Then just give Everyone full access to that directory. If it won't let you do that you'll have to make yourself the Owner of the directory first, which is another button on the security page. Sorry, I don't have an XP machine to refer to in order to give you exact instructions.

If it's XP Home I thought it wasn't possible to lose access to a directory, but then I rarely use Home versions of Windows so I don't recall for sure.

Good question. It's Media Center XP which cannot be purchased and is OEM only. I always thought it was based upon XP Pro and had extra media software, but when boot into Safe Mode it is clearly identified as XP Home Edition. I acquired it by buying a used Gateway computer with it installed. The Gateway motherboard failed so I moved the hard drive and everything I could to a same vintage Sony Vaio computer (same parallel IDE ATA hard drive), and fought the Windows Activation problem for about a month. It's a long story, but there is also a Windows file access bug I mentioned in previous post and addressed by MS Knowledge Base articles 308421, 307874, and their fix-it program Mats_Run.winfilefolder.exe.

Anyway, thanks to the forum help and others I have the "Access is denied" Windows problem fixed. It was not a File Sharing Problem, not a file privileges/attributes problem like hidden or read-only, although those properties were also locked / unchangeable, but it was a file/folder access problem reported as "Access is denied.". I don't think I had the problem before plugging in the new hardware WinTV-HVR-1600 tuner card. It was NOT caused by this later version of Hauppauge's product with the same model number, but caused by Windows' adverse reaction to the introduction of what it thought was new hardware. To be honest, I tried so many things in the Safe Mode, sometimes two or more at a time with more evidence of Windows confusion, and multiple reboots, that I'm not sure how or what fixed it at this point.

I think it is helpful for others to know that Hauppauge's latest HVR-1600 needs the latest Windows Media Center roll-up patch. Since the supplied WinTV7 program that replaces the WinTV2000 program does not need Windows Media Center to work as is the case for NPVR (I think), I'm not sure why a Media Center patch makes any difference, but neither NPVR or WinTV7 work in the Live TV mode without it. Maybe I replaced a corrupted file in the OS by coincidence with the patch - don't know.

I still have a problem with the lowest channel number, Ch 2. One or two other channels at the high end also have the same problem of skipping video and audio cutting in and out. It seems like a decoder problem or corrupted signal from the tuner card. It happens with both WinTV7 and NPVR, so I'm suspicious of the the new tuner card. It definitely works better with the new HVR-1600 card than with the old bad one that it replaced because the old one had the same problem on ALL channels. I don't think it could be anything in the software that would effect one TV channel differently than other channels, but has anyone had a similar problem, i.e., a problem on some channels and not on others?

[Reddwarf]

I still have a problem with the lowest channel number, Ch 2. One or two other channels at the high end also have the same problem of skipping video and audio cutting in and out. It seems like a decoder problem or corrupted signal from the tuner card. It happens with both WinTV7 and NPVR, so I'm suspicious of the the new tuner card. It definitely works better with the new HVR-1600 card than with the old bad one that it replaced because the old one had the same problem on ALL channels. I don't think it could be anything in the software that would effect one TV channel differently than other channels, but has anyone had a similar problem, i.e., a problem on some channels and not on others?

That description sounds very much like insufficient signal level. Is there anything you can try to make the signal stronger? remove any splitters, shorten cable etc...?

[rkircher]

That description sounds very much like insufficient signal level. Is there anything you can try to make the signal stronger? remove any splitters, shorten cable etc...?

Good call. I sent the WinTV-HVR-1600 tuner card back to Hauppauge on an RMA. Before mailing it, I tried taking and amplifier out and raising the system gain. Both gain changes made the problem worse with more errors. My gain and gain distribution was optimized for the old analog signals so I sort of knew it was right.

I got the card back this week and have been testing it. Absolutely no problems for any reasonable signal variation and NPVR is working great, so I guess the RF Gain/Loss problem was in the card itself. Wanted to test it a lot because the old card had the same problem and is the reason I bought the new one. Don't know if this is a typical problem for the Hauppauge WinTV-HVR-1600 tuner card, but I had it for 2 out of 2 cards about 4-years apart in manufacture date. Hope this feedback helps someone out.

[johnsonx42]

A lot of people have had such complaints about the HVR-1600. They're supposed to be pretty good for analog, but pretty variable for digital as you've found; they're supposed to be even worse for digital cable. Glad you managed to get a good example and have things working.

[rkircher]

Every time I play back a recording, I right-click with the mouse on the screen, select Aspect Ratio from the menu, and select Fill. I would like this setting to be permanent. Can this be done, and how?

I notice that there is never a check mark that indicates the previous or default setting. Don't know that this is a problem, but that is the way it is.

[sub]

Every time I play back a recording, I right-click with the mouse on the screen, select Aspect Ratio from the menu, and select Fill. I would like this setting to be permanent. Can this be done, and how?

On the Settings -> Misc page, you can set the default aspect ratio to 'Fill'

[rkircher]

On the Settings -> Misc page, you can set the default aspect ratio to 'Fill'

I forgot to mention that I have NPVR version 1.5.36. On my installation, there is no Aspect Ratio selection under Settings => Misc. I get to Settings by mouse right-click on a NPVR window.

[sub]

This feature was only added in 2.0.3. You'd have to upgrade to get this feature.

[z06racer66]

I have mine set to auto in the Settings -> Misc. , but I sometimes find myself needing to bring up the context menu to select auto again during playback.

[rkircher]

My installation does not have the file Guide-4x3.xml. I have a Guide.xml file and experimented with it. I could reduce the space between the Ch no. and Callsign by changing the default <Element name ="channels" size ="15.45, 6.12" to size="8.27, 6.12". This reduced the space between Ch no. and Callsign from about 8 character widths to 2 character widths and would have solved the problem except more of the Callsign got truncated (all but 2 chrs) because the box for text got more narrow. Increasing the width from 15.45 to 20 increased the wasted space and increased the truncation because the right side of the box went under, or got covered by the next box.

I tried the same experiment with the <Element name = "Guide" size = "80.68, 6.12", and change it to "70.0, 6.12". That made the "6.12" Guide area smaller in width by truncating at the far right and had no discernible effect on the Ch no. & Callsign box, i.e., wasted space and truncation of Callsign stayed the same.

This question has its roots back to message #94, #97, and others where you suggested trying Guide-4x3.xml back in version 1.5.33 when I upgraded to 1.5.36. Installing the Guide-4x3.xml as you suggested solved the problem as I indicated in a message around the same time frame.

Now I have just upgraded to NPVR 2.0.3 and the Ch Callsign truncation problem is back as described in earlier messages. I also installed the SearchLite plug-in and it has the same truncation problems. For example, the word Search in the upper left shows up as "Searc". My question: Is there a way to make the Guide-4x3.xml fix permanent to avoid having the problem pop-up again on the next upgrade when I will have forgotten the fix again? Secondly, is there a similar fix for the same problem I now have with the screen for the SearchLite plug-in?