My problems setting up

[miken32]

I've been at this program for about a week, after being very disappointed with that awful Windows 98-style crap that Hauppauge sold me with my PVR-150. For the most part, it's a vast improvement, but I've had a few issues during setup. Some are bugs, some are probably something I'm doing wrong, and some I think are just the way the software is.

1. The software doesn't ask which of your zap2it lineups to use, it just tries to use all of them and breaks quite badly.
2. The software and the documentation tell me that my remote control receiver can be accessed directly, without need for Hauppauge's software running, but I can't get it working.
3. If I am setting up a recording and hit the left arrow one too many times on the 'quality' setting I get an error message that doesn't go away until I quit the program. Something about an index being out of range.
4. Managing the channels is really slow. If I want to remove a channel from the lineup it takes about 10 seconds (and also cancels any changes I've made to the checkboxes in the list.) Removing channels is faster when I've emptied the EPG, but then it's very slow updating it again. I have a P4 2.6 running Windows 2000, not a slow computer!
5. The documentation says I push F12 to exit from the main menu, but it doesn't work.
6. I'm surprised not so see some very basic stuff included in the software. For example: on-screen confirmation of changing the volume. I had to install a 'plug-in' to get that, and it involved hand-editing strange files and stuff.
7. No closed captions? I'm disappointed, but not too surprised about it being missing, decoding them from the video is probably very tricky stuff, especially for a free software programmer.
8. The web interface doesn't work for me. Going to http://localhost:4321/ gives me "Server Error in '/gbpvr' Application. HTTP Error 404 - Not Found." So there's a web server running, just not working.

Sorry it's such a long list, but hopefully somebody will have some suggestions for some of my problems. I remain very impressed with the software, especially compared to the Hauppauge stuff! Hopefully all these issues will be fixed by the time it gets to 1.0!

[sub]

1. The software doesn't ask which of your zap2it lineups to use, it just tries to use all of them and breaks quite badly.

GB-PVR only officially supports zap2it accounts with one channel lineup. You can have multiple zap2it accounts though.

2. The software and the documentation tell me that my remote control receiver can be accessed directly, without need for Hauppauge's software running, but I can't get it working.

It only supports direct access to the remote hardware for PVR250/350, so wont work with your PVR150.

3. If I am setting up a recording and hit the left arrow one too many times on the 'quality' setting I get an error message that doesn't go away until I quit the program. Something about an index being out of range.

This is a known bug introduced in the current release and fixed for the next release.

4. Managing the channels is really slow. If I want to remove a channel from the lineup it takes about 10 seconds (and also cancels any changes I've made to the checkboxes in the list.) Removing channels is faster when I've emptied the EPG, but then it's very slow updating it again. I have a P4 2.6 running Windows 2000, not a slow computer!

You dont have to do it often - usually only for channels you've manually created.

You should have disabled any channels you dont want at the http://labs.zap2it.com website prior to creating your GB-PVR capture sources, otherwise these channels will get recreated each EPG update.

5. The documentation says I push F12 to exit from the main menu, but it doesn't work.

F12 will run the default power plugin if you've installed one, otherwise it wont do anything. You can press alt-F4 to close the app at any time.

6. I'm surprised not so see some very basic stuff included in the software. For example: on-screen confirmation of changing the volume.

I use my amp for controlling my volume, so its not particularly useful for me. I'll get around to it one day. There are some additional complications with not knowing the volume of some devices supported by GB-PVR (MVP, XCARD) that mean this wouldnt be universal useful to GB-PVR users - this instantly drops it down the priority list.

7. No closed captions? I'm disappointed, but not too surprised about it being missing, decoding them from the video is probably very tricky stuff, especially for a free software programmer

It depends which part of the world you're in. I support the WST (world standard teletext) subtitles used by most of the world. I'm not in the US, so dont have access to the CC system you guys use, so it hasnt got the same treatment.

8. The web interface doesn't work for me. Going to http://localhost:4321/ gives me "Server Error in '/gbpvr' Application. HTTP Error 404 - Not Found." So there's a web server running, just not working.

Try http://localhost:4321/gbpvr/index.aspx

[miken32]

Wow, thanks for the very thorough response.

Are there any plans to support multiple zap2it lineups? Should it not just be an extra parameter beside the username and password on the request? I've gone and set up a new account, but it would be nice to have just the one.

I am in Canada, so no closed captions for now. It sounds like you're not ruling it out entirely though?

I'll take a look through the documentation and find out where to get a 'default power plugin.'

Thanks again, for the response, and the software!

[sub]

Are there any plans to support multiple zap2it lineups?

No at the moment, but probably some time in the future.

I am in Canada, so no closed captions for now. It sounds like you're not ruling it out entirely though?

No, I'm not ruling it out.