Diamond PVR600 USB2

[schmod]

Hi,

Do any of you have any idea if it's possible to get the Diamond PVR600 tuner working in gbpvr? I'm using snapstream right now and am hating it with a passion....

The tuner is an external USB2 box that does internal MPEG2 compression. WDM/DirectShow drivers are provided, and I can watch TV through VLC using the directshow interface in there.

Any suggestions? I see the softwareRecorder plugin here, and would really rather not have to recompress the mpeg-2 stream. I have no idea what chipset the box is based upon..... there's a good chance that it's got something in common with one of the supported boxes.

Thanks!

[sub]

I see the softwareRecorder plugin here, and would really rather not have to recompress the mpeg-2 stream.

Unfortunately this plugin is your only real option. This is not a common device, and there is no built in support for it.

[schmod]

that's no fun. I was under the impression that the device was fairly common as far as external USB tuners went.....

[sub]

To be honest, I'd never heard of it until you mentioned it. I've never had another person ask if it was supported. Sorry.

[daphatty]

Is it possible that this is just a rebadged Hauppauge WinTV PVR USB2?

[cybrmage]

The Diamond XtremeTV PVR600 USB is not (exactly) a rebadged hauppauge unit.

However, both units are based on the connexant "Butterfly" reference design. The drivers for both are derived from the standard connant drivers, but hauppauge has done more development on their drivers (added additional settings and tweaks) and added components to the design to support a remote control.


GBPVR does work with the PVR 600... but your have to convince it that the PVR600 is a hauppauge PVRUSB2 unit.

Follow these steps to get the PVR600 working with GBPVR.

1) Copy the PVR600 driver files to a new directory, i.e. c:\PVR600gbpvr\.
2) load PVR600MC.inf into your favorite text editor.
2) Remove the following lines from end of the file:

iComp.InstallationDir = "Diamond XtremeTV PVR600 USB Driver"
iComp.Provider = "Diamond"
iComp.Manufacturer = "Diamond"
iComp.DeviceDesc = "Diamond XtremeTV PVR600 USB WDM Encoder"
iComp.TvTuner = "Diamond XtremeTV PVR600 USB TvTuner"
iComp.Crossbar = "Diamond XtremeTV PVR600 USB Crossbar"
iComp.TvAudio = "Diamond XtremeTV PVR600 USB TvAudio"
iComp.Encoder = "Diamond XtremeTV PVR600 USB Device"
iComp.Decoder = "Diamond XtremeTV PVR600 USB WDM Decoder"

3) Add the following lines to the end of the file.

iComp.InstallationDir = "Hauppauge WinTV PVR USB2 Driver"
iComp.Provider = "Hauppauge Computer Works, Inc."
iComp.Manufacturer = "Hauppauge Computer Works, Inc."
iComp.DeviceDesc = "Hauppauge WinTV PVR USB2 Encoder"
iComp.TvTuner = "Hauppauge WinTV PVR USB2 TvTuner"
iComp.Crossbar = "Hauppauge WinTV PVR USB2 Crossbar"
iComp.TvAudio = "Hauppauge WinTV PVR USB2 TvAudio"
iComp.Encoder = "Hauppauge WinTV PVR USB2 Device"
iComp.Decoder = "Hauppauge WinTV PVR USB2 Decoder"

4) Save the file.
5) delete all the oem??.inf files from your windows INF directory (usually c:\windows\inf\)
6) with the PVR600 plugged into a USB port on your computer, use device manager to remove the existing PVR600 drivers.
7) unplug the PVR600 then plug it back in.
8) when the "found new hardware" wizard asks to connect to windows update select NO, then next.
9) select "Install from a list or specific location", then select next.
10) Select "search for the best driver in these locations", deselect "search removable media", select "include these locations in the search", click on browse and select the directory where you put the edited INF file, click OK, then click next.
11) The wizard will then detect your PVR600 as a "Hauppauge WinTV PVR USB2 Encoder".

Then configure GBPVR as if you actually had a hauppauge unit and you are in business.

[schmod]

Awesome!


Sorry -- I have no idea how popular this particular encoder is... all I know is that it's the one that the folks at Snapstream reccommend most often. I'd imagine that there are a lot of snapstream users looking to ditch that bloated, expensive piece of software in favor of something a bit lighter.

It would seem that bundling 'official' support for this device into gbpvr would only involve changing a few strings in the source....


To build upon your workaround method, I would strongly advise against deleting the oem**.inf files, and instead, use the 'Update Driver' option from the Device manager.

[cybrmage]

Ok... Here is an easier, and probably more correct, way of adding XtremeTV PVR600 support to GB-PVR...

1) Install the original PVR600 drivers.
2) load the direct.ini file from the GB-PVR install directory into your favorite text editor
3) add the following lines to the end of the file:

[Diamond XtremeTV PVR600 USB]
INIT_MODE=IVAC
INIT_MSP=1
SUPPORTS_FM_RADIO=1
DETECT_MSP=0
FILTER_CROSSBAR=Diamond XtremeTV PVR600 USB Crossbar
FILTER_CAPTURE=Diamond XtremeTV PVR600 USB WDM Encoder
FILTER_TV_TUNER=Diamond XtremeTV PVR600 USB TvTuner
FILTER_TV_AUDIO=Diamond XtremeTV PVR600 USB TvAudio
PIN_CROSSBAR_VIDEO_TUNER_IN=Video Tuner In
PIN_TVTUNER_ANALOG_VIDEO_OUT=Analog Video
PIN_TVTUNER_ANALOG_AUDIO_OUT=Analog Audio
PIN_TVAUDIO_TV_AUDIO_IN=TVAudio In
PIN_TVAUDIO_TV_AUDIO_OUT=TVAudio Out
PIN_CROSSBAR_AUDIO_TUNER_IN=Audio Tuner In
PIN_CROSSBAR_VIDEO_DECODER_OUT=Video Decoder Out
PIN_CAPTURE_ANALOG_VIDEO_IN=Analog Video In
PIN_CROSSBAR_AUDIO_DECODER_OUT=Audio Decoder Out
PIN_CAPTURE_ANALOG_AUDIO_IN=Analog Audio In
PIN_CAPTURE_CAPTURE_OUT=Capture
PIN_CAPTURE_PREVIEW_AUDIO_OUT=Preview Audio
PIN_WRITER_INPUT_IN=Input

4) Save the new direct.ini file
5) run the GB-PVR configuration program and configure the device under capture sources to use the direct recording plugin and the new Diamond ExtremeTV PVR600 USB device.

I Should have figured this out sooner... but i'm new to using GB-PVR... 8-}

[sub]

Cheers. I'll add this to the master direct.ini file for the next release.

[daphatty]

Excellent! Glad I was able to (sorta) make a connection between the two and help enquiring minds come together for a solution.

Ok, ok... I had nothing to do with the solution.