WDM Recorder using Software Compression

[nitrogenx]

Okay, it all connects great, but when I try to play it in Windows Media Player the video starts going really fast and there's still no sound. At least in GB-PVR the video plays at the right rate. :mad:

UGGGG it was so easy, all i had to do was switch the recording control from microphone to line-in.

[nwenos]

I was able to get this working with the LEAD MPEG-2 encoder. There is a free trial, like the moonlight encoder. After that you have to purchase it so it doesn't solve the free issue, but if someone already owns it, it might be helpful for them to know that this encoder does work. My Moonlight trial has expires so I was unable to compare two for quality. The trial has a few annoying features - there is a popup everytime it is used to inform you that it is a trial, it adds text to the top and bottom of the screen.
One last note, by default it is set for DVD encoding which causes it to throw up another message about the aspect ratio not being compatible with DVD. If you change it from DVD to custom, this message goes away.

[normanr]

UGGGG it was so easy, all i had to do was switch the recording control from microphone to line-in.

Good to hear. The software should do that automatically for you - to a certain degree (i.e. it only changes the graph source, and the mixer playback). Maybe with your audio card/drivers the DirectX source and the Mixer sources don't link up properly.

[normanr]

I was able to get this working with the LEAD MPEG-2 encoder. There is a free trial, like the moonlight encoder. After that you have to purchase it so it doesn't solve the free issue, but if someone already owns it, it might be helpful for them to know that this encoder does work. My Moonlight trial has expires so I was unable to compare two for quality. The trial has a few annoying features - there is a popup everytime it is used to inform you that it is a trial, it adds text to the top and bottom of the screen.
One last note, by default it is set for DVD encoding which causes it to throw up another message about the aspect ratio not being compatible with DVD. If you change it from DVD to custom, this message goes away.

Nice to hear. I'll add the info to post #1. Hmm, I have yet to try the transcoding

[ansonm]

I am trying to configure GBPVR to use with my PC Rave card. I have successfully installed the WDM Software Encoder but when I try to configure it I get the message further below. The WDM Driver picks up PCTVCAP.DLL but generates this message......

An unhandled exception has occured in your application.....etc.....etc

The log is :

See the end of this message for details on invoking
just-in-time (JIT) debugging instead of this dialog box.

************** Exception Text **************
System.NullReferenceException: Object reference not set to an instance of an object.
at DShowNET.DsUtils.GetStreamCaps(IAMStreamConfig pin, ArrayList& mediatypes) in C:\Documents and Settings\Norman\My Documents\Visual Studio Projects\SoftwareRecorder\code\DShowNET\DsUtils.cs:line 364
at SoftwareRecorder.RecorderConfig.comboBoxVideoCard_SelectedIndexChanged(Object sender, EventArgs e) in c:\documents and settings\norman\my documents\visual studio projects\softwarerecorder\code\softwarerecorder\recorderconfig.cs:line 1066
at System.Windows.Forms.ComboBox.OnSelectedIndexChanged(EventArgs e)
at System.Windows.Forms.ComboBox.WmReflectCommand(Message& m)
at System.Windows.Forms.ComboBox.WndProc(Message& m)
at System.Windows.Forms.ControlNativeWindow.OnMessage(Message& m)
at System.Windows.Forms.ControlNativeWindow.WndProc(Message& m)
at System.Windows.Forms.NativeWindow.Callback(IntPtr hWnd, Int32 msg, IntPtr wparam, IntPtr lparam)


************** Loaded Assemblies **************
mscorlib
Assembly Version: 1.0.5000.0
Win32 Version: 1.1.4322.573
CodeBase: file:///c:/windows/microsoft.net/framework/v1.1.4322/mscorlib.dll
----------------------------------------
Config
Assembly Version: 1.0.2093.28455
Win32 Version: 1.0.2093.28455
CodeBase: file:///C:/Program%20Files/devnz/gbpvr/Config.exe
----------------------------------------
System.Windows.Forms
Assembly Version: 1.0.5000.0
Win32 Version: 1.1.4322.573
CodeBase: file:///c:/windows/assembly/gac/system.windows.forms/1.0.5000.0__b77a5c561934e089/system.windows.forms.dll
----------------------------------------
System
Assembly Version: 1.0.5000.0
Win32 Version: 1.1.4322.573
CodeBase: file:///c:/windows/assembly/gac/system/1.0.5000.0__b77a5c561934e089/system.dll
----------------------------------------
GBPVRBackendCommon
Assembly Version: 1.0.2093.28448
Win32 Version: 1.0.2093.28448
CodeBase: file:///C:/Program%20Files/devnz/gbpvr/GBPVRBackendCommon.DLL
----------------------------------------
System.Drawing
Assembly Version: 1.0.5000.0
Win32 Version: 1.1.4322.573
CodeBase: file:///c:/windows/assembly/gac/system.drawing/1.0.5000.0__b03f5f7f11d50a3a/system.drawing.dll
----------------------------------------
GBPVRPublic
Assembly Version: 1.0.2093.28425
Win32 Version: 1.0.2093.28425
CodeBase: file:///C:/Program%20Files/devnz/gbpvr/GBPVRPublic.DLL
----------------------------------------
System.Xml
Assembly Version: 1.0.5000.0
Win32 Version: 1.1.4322.573
CodeBase: file:///c:/windows/assembly/gac/system.xml/1.0.5000.0__b77a5c561934e089/system.xml.dll
----------------------------------------
System.ServiceProcess
Assembly Version: 1.0.5000.0
Win32 Version: 1.1.4322.573
CodeBase: file:///c:/windows/assembly/gac/system.serviceprocess/1.0.5000.0__b03f5f7f11d50a3a/system.serviceprocess.dll
----------------------------------------
NativeUtilities
Assembly Version: 1.0.2093.28446
Win32 Version:
CodeBase: file:///C:/Program%20Files/devnz/gbpvr/NativeUtilities.DLL
----------------------------------------
System.Data
Assembly Version: 1.0.5000.0
Win32 Version: 1.1.4322.573
CodeBase: file:///c:/windows/assembly/gac/system.data/1.0.5000.0__b77a5c561934e089/system.data.dll
----------------------------------------
DShowNET
Assembly Version: 1.3.0.0
Win32 Version: 1.0.2093.28448
CodeBase: file:///c:/program%20files/devnz/gbpvr/gbpvrbackendcommon.dll
----------------------------------------
RecorderHelper
Assembly Version: 0.3.2043.36519
Win32 Version: 1.0.2093.28448
CodeBase: file:///c:/program%20files/devnz/gbpvr/gbpvrbackendcommon.dll
----------------------------------------
SoftwareRecorder
Assembly Version: 0.19.2058.40660
Win32 Version: 1.0.2093.28448
CodeBase: file:///c:/program%20files/devnz/gbpvr/gbpvrbackendcommon.dll
----------------------------------------
DShowNET
Assembly Version: 1.3.0.0
Win32 Version: 1.3.0.0
CodeBase: file:///C:/Program%20Files/devnz/gbpvr/DShowNET.DLL
----------------------------------------
RecorderHelper
Assembly Version: 0.3.2043.36519
Win32 Version: 0.3.2043.36519
CodeBase: file:///C:/Program%20Files/devnz/gbpvr/RecorderHelper.DLL
----------------------------------------
RegexAssembly3_0
Assembly Version: 0.0.0.0
Win32 Version: n/a
CodeBase:
----------------------------------------

************** JIT Debugging **************
To enable just in time (JIT) debugging, the config file for this
application or machine (machine.config) must have the
jitDebugging value set in the system.windows.forms section.
The application must also be compiled with debugging
enabled.

For example:

<configuration>
<system.windows.forms jitDebugging="true" />
</configuration>

When JIT debugging is enabled, any unhandled exception
will be sent to the JIT debugger registered on the machine
rather than being handled by this dialog.


How do I correct? Many thankjs in advance......Mark

[normanr]

I am trying to configure GBPVR to use with my PC Rave card. I have successfully installed the WDM Software Encoder but when I try to configure it I get the message further below. The WDM Driver picks up PCTVCAP.DLL but generates this message......
How do I correct? Many thankjs in advance......Mark

Hmm, that error is only generated if it can't find the filter properly. Throw the log files in this direction anyways, they always help. Even if I add extra null checks you will not have a fully functional card (as it is currently installed/configured).

[ansonm]

Thaks Norman....2 Questions.....

1. Sorry for being dumb - where are the log files?

2. Do I need to install a later PCTVCAP.DLL from somewhere, if so where?

Thanks again.

[normanr]

1. Sorry for being dumb - where are the log files?

2. Do I need to install a later PCTVCAP.DLL from somewhere, if so where?

1. In the same folder as all the executables.

2. I have no idea, each capture card is different. You may want to look for the latest drivers for your card on the vendor's web site.

[venger]

Hi there normanr

I haven't been following your work on the Software Recorder.. so just had a quick read of this thread.. wow!... really impressive

I've got two cards on my PC - my first card is a SW card (Leadtek Expert) and my second is a DVB-T BDA card. I basically bought the second one to be able to record TV using GBPVR.

Anyway, I was curious as to whether I could get my SW card working - so downloaded the plugin and tried it out using the RecorderTest.exe.

I could easily Preview TV using the RecorderTest.exe - but when I added my SW card as a second tuner card in GBPVR Config.exe, I couldn't seem to view any TV on my SW card... here are my steps:

(1) The SW card used the same TVGuide.XML as my BDA card.
(2) I updated EPG and mapped the TV guide channels to the channel numbers that I found using RecorderTest.exe
(3) I start recording a currently running show - and as expected my BDA card starts recording.
(4) I then tried to view Live TV - here, I expect GBPVR to switch on my SW card but instead, I get the normal dialog saying that my BDA card is recording - I had two choices : don;t watch or watch the recorded show.

(4) basically indicated to me that GBPVR couldn't start up my SW card. I've checked the logs and it seems to confirm this:

9/10/2005 9:03:53 AM.875 VERBOSE [2] installDirectory is C:\Program Files\gbpvr\
9/10/2005 9:03:53 AM.890 VERBOSE [2] configurationFile is config.xml
9/10/2005 9:03:54 AM.031 VERBOSE [2] getValue() loading new key/value into cache: /settings/DatabaseConnectionString
9/10/2005 9:03:54 AM.031 VERBOSE [2] getValue: /settings/DatabaseConnectionString : Provider=Microsoft.Jet.OLEDB.4.0;Data Source=".\gbpvr.mdb";User Id=admin;Password=
9/10/2005 9:03:54 AM.031 VERBOSE [2] databaseConnectionString is Provider=Microsoft.Jet.OLEDB.4.0;Data Source="C:\Program Files\gbpvr\\gbpvr.mdb";User Id=admin;Password=
9/10/2005 9:03:54 AM.031 VERBOSE [2] getValue() loading new key/value into cache: /settings/DontAntiAlias
9/10/2005 9:03:54 AM.031 VERBOSE [2] getValue: /settings/DontAntiAlias : false
9/10/2005 9:03:54 AM.031 VERBOSE [2] getValue() loading new key/value into cache: /settings/LoggingLevel
9/10/2005 9:03:54 AM.031 VERBOSE [2] getValue: /settings/LoggingLevel : Info
9/10/2005 9:03:54 AM.281 INFO [2] Starting
9/10/2005 9:03:55 AM.906 ERROR [2] Unable to locate specified key command file: OnScreenKeyboard.xml
9/10/2005 9:03:57 AM.359 ERROR [2] Unable to find node: /settings/SpecialElements/SpecialElement[@name="PopupMenuButtons"]
9/10/2005 9:03:57 AM.718 ERROR [2] Error initializing plugin: C:\Program Files\gbpvr\\plugins\SoftwareRecorder.dll
9/10/2005 9:03:57 AM.718 ERROR [2] One or more of the types in the assembly unable to load.
9/10/2005 9:03:57 AM.734 ERROR [2] at System.Reflection.Module.GetTypesInternal(StackCrawlMark& stackMark)
at System.Reflection.Assembly.GetTypes()
at a6.e()
9/10/2005 9:04:01 AM.125 INFO [2] Initializing InputDeviceManager
9/10/2005 9:04:01 AM.453 ERROR [2] Error creating: SoftwareRecorder.SoftwareRecorder
9/10/2005 9:04:01 AM.453 ERROR [2] Exception has been thrown by the target of an invocation.
9/10/2005 9:04:01 AM.453 ERROR [2] at System.RuntimeType.CreateInstanceImpl(Boolean publicOnly)
at System.Activator.CreateInstance(Type type, Boolean nonPublic)
at a6.c(String A_0)
9/10/2005 9:04:01 AM.453 ERROR [2] Failed to locate requested recording source: SoftwareRecorder.SoftwareRecorder
9/10/2005 9:04:01 AM.453 ERROR [2] Error int SourceConfigurationContainer::LoadAll(): System.NullReferenceException: Object reference not set to an instance of an object.
at c1.a(Boolean A_0)
9/10/2005 9:04:02 AM.000 ERROR [2] Unable to find node: /settings/SpecialElements/SpecialElement[@name="MenuType"]
9/10/2005 9:04:10 AM.281 INFO [2] LiveTVStreamPlayer.initialize()
9/10/2005 9:04:10 AM.984 ERROR [2] Error creating: SoftwareRecorder.SoftwareRecorder
9/10/2005 9:04:10 AM.984 ERROR [2] Exception has been thrown by the target of an invocation.
9/10/2005 9:04:10 AM.984 ERROR [2] at System.RuntimeType.CreateInstanceImpl(Boolean publicOnly)
at System.Activator.CreateInstance(Type type, Boolean nonPublic)
at a6.c(String A_0)
9/10/2005 9:04:10 AM.984 ERROR [2] Failed to locate requested recording source: SoftwareRecorder.SoftwareRecorder
9/10/2005 9:04:10 AM.984 ERROR [2] Error loading CaptureSource: Object reference not set to an instance of an object.
9/10/2005 9:04:10 AM.984 ERROR [2] Stack:
at c1.a(Int32 A_0)
9/10/2005 9:04:20 AM.203 INFO [2] playFile(JETIX)
9/10/2005 9:05:02 AM.843 INFO [2] NetRadio buffer size is: 96000

[normanr]

You seem to be using an older version of GB-PVR, either try an old version of the SoftwareRecorder plugin, or upgrade GB-PVR.

You might also want to set up the card via the gb-pvr config app, because the RecorderTest defaults to oid 1, where as gb-pvr might assign a different number to it. The logs show what number is being used, and you can just edit config-recorders.xml and change the oid value to the new number.