PVR 350 - Hardware decoder instability?

[barrya]

Hi,

I've been thinking about getting the PVR350, but noticed on the page at
http://gbpvr.com/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Hardw...reCardList
that its "No longer recommended due to unstable hardware decoder".

Is this a problem with the card itself, the Hauppage drivers, or just the combination of gbpvr and the card? Is this current, or has the statement just been leftover from some previously solved issue? I tried the "check forums" link, but its broken.

Would I be better off getting a PVR150 and a seperate TV-out card (like the Geforce FX 5200)?

Cheers,
Barry.

[Chris.Day]

I think it's either a driver issue or a compatability issue between the card and certain motherboards (or certain chipsets).

[sub]

Would I be better off getting a PVR150 and a seperate TV-out card (like the Geforce FX 5200)?

Yes.

[Caliban]

I hate to bring this up again, as I know it should be dead and buried by now, but I find it a bit cheap to blame the card or mobo, and here's why.

1. I have a PVR350 installed, and also experience this problem.
   
2. Boards are blaming hardware (or drivers)
   
3. As far as I can tell, this problem only happens with gbpvr. (See note)
   
4. I am currently running MythTV on Linux with the same config, and without any problems.
   

Note to #3: I did not test other dvr's, but a quick browse among various forums did not show a significant trend. But even if they all have the same problem (and hide it well), fact remains that the happauge software itself does not suffer from this problem, so hardware and drivers are fine.

So, this proves to me that it is not a hardware problem. And since the same driver is being used by other software (if nothing else, hauppauge software itself), that excludes the driver as well. So only option remaining is the application. I do understand it's a closed driver, and no support, etc, etc, etc, but the fact remains that other software is using it without problems, and the hardware runs fine on Linux.

So please stop trying to hide your capability to get something to work properly by blaming drivers or hardware. It is neither of these! Just tell it the way it is: You can't get it to work. That's not a bad thing, that happens to the best of us. What is bad however, is blaming something beyond your power while knowing that's not the problem.

Thanks,
Caliban

[dottore]

i don't think, other software is using the tv-out feature of the 350.... i only know gbpvr and the hauppauge-software. the capture-part is working fine in various applications.

[Caliban]

That could be, that would explain why there's no reports about it. But like I said, the happauge software is using it without problem, so driver and hardware are fine.

[stefan]

Hauppauge is not using osd on the tv-out. There are other applications that do, and they also suffer from the same problem. If myth handles it well by now, it depends on the fact that they don't use the windows drivers. So, the problem definitely is within the driver of the card in combination with certain motherboards. So please stop trying to hide your capability to deduce the cause of problems properly by blaming excellent authors of software.

[Caliban]

Ok, maybe I'm an idiot, in which case I will gladly eat my words, but I don't see how watchng live tv has anything to do with osd... Isn't osd something that shows when you're *not* watching live tv? Someone enlighten me please.

Plus, if it only occurs with certain motherboards, it's still not a hardware issue (the hardware works fine with other drivers & software)

It is at best a driver problem, which I'll be willing to accept. Compatibility issues though? No way.

[Chris.Day]

Plus, if it only occurs with certain motherboards, it's still not a hardware issue (the hardware works fine with other drivers & software)

I'm not sure about this as I haven't tested it, but perhaps the driver has issues with APIC based HALs (APIC as in interrupt controller, not ACPI as in power management), such as what is installed by Windows XP on most modern hardware. Or it could be one of many other possibilities such a BIOS issue, or just the way resources are assigned on some boards and not on others.

If you look, there are people having issues with the TV-Out on the PVR-350 with WinTV2000:
http://www.shspvr.com/smf/index.php?topic=8809.0
http://www.shspvr.com/smf/index.php?topic=6562.0
http://www.shspvr.com/smf/index.php?topic=5330.0
http://www.shspvr.com/smf/index.php?topic=6720.0

FYI heat is one of the biggest problems with the PVR-350. It runs a lot hotter than the other Hauppauge cards, and the card is often located in hotter areas of the case too, making the situation worse.

[Caliban]

Hmm, ok, you're loosing me a little bit here, as I'll have to read up on what APIC and HAL are exactly, but as far as I understand they're both a hardware thing. (To keep things easy, I also consider BIOS hardware).

So that still would not explain why my box locks up with gbpvr, but runs smooth with mythtv. Same box, no changes to hardware or config at all.

And I can see that heat could cause problems, but I have to say that my card does not get very warm at all. It's *warm*, yes, but not *hot*...
Thanks for those links, I missed that forum for whatever reason, but they seem not to apply (will do more reading). They're talking about either an irq conflicts or building up heat (after 2 hours of play) Mine crashes after about 2 seconds of play. Not enough time to build up any heat...