HP media PCs

[jam_zhou]

Hi All,

was wondering if the HP media PCs are compatible with GBPVR? Anyone what TV tuner cards are in there and what interface the remote control uses? Does it use Girder? Can it be controlled by HIP?

Thanks,
Jam.z

[zed]

I'm running it on an HP M380n media PC. It's a couple years old, tho, so I imagine they've changed a bit. It came with an ASUS TV card...I forget the model...but it works fine in GB-PVR as a Conexant Blackbird card. I think it's made for HP by ASUS. I believe that they use a Hauppauge card now...a variation of the PVR150. It came with an MCE compatible remote & IR blaster which also works fine with GB-PVR with the standard MS eHome drivers. You could probably use Hip or Girder if you felt so inclined. It also came with MCE which I quickly abandoned when I discovered GB-PVR. I doubt you'd have any problems running GB-PVR on an HP box...they're pretty much a standard PC. They might be a little pricey, tho...you might be better off cost-wise getting a non-media system and just adding the bits you need (TV card(s) and a remote).

[klye]

Zed--
Sounds like you may be able to help me.
I, too, have abandoned the Media Center application on my HP desktop running MCE 2005.
The machine is an HP m470n, which came installed with the "Conexant 2388x Tuner (Philips 1236 MK3)" and "Conexant 23880 Video Capture (Blackbird NTSC Dual-Input)" as identified by Control Panel's Device Manager.
I have spent the better part of the day installing and attempting to configure GB-PVR v1.0.8.
I am able to play back old .dvr-ms files generated with Media Center, but Live TV and any type of recording within GB-PVR either shows a black screen or does nothing within the application.
[The TuningAssistant.exe application was able to display all 76 channels provided by my cable company as it scans through all frequencies.]
I appear to have been able to download some appropriate EPG information for the cable provider in my ZIP code.
Can you provide some insight into the necessary settings within the "Config.exe" application to utilize the Blackbird TV tuner card?
Much appreciation. If there are any additional files or logs I can provide to help, please let me know.
Thanks from the middle of the Pacific--
-Kevin

[prouton]

When setting up the "capture source", "recording source", "settings", did you select the "only show devices detected" checkbox before selecting the "capture card type"?

"Conexant Blackbird" should show up. If it doesn't, you probably need to disable the MCE services that are using the tuner (preventing any other software from using it).

[klye]

prouton--

Thanks for your prompt reply.

=======
When setting up the "capture source", "recording source", "settings", did you select the "only show devices detected" checkbox before selecting the "capture card type"?

"Conexant Blackbird" should show up. If it doesn't, you probably need to disable the MCE services that are using the tuner (preventing any other software from using it).
=======

I've just confirmed that the "Conexant Blackbird" does indeed show up when "only show devices detected" is checked. [No modification in setup, so no change in GB-PVR behavior.] Even so, which MCE
services should I attempt to disable?

Just hoping to have found a replacement for Microsoft's Media Center application.

Thanks.
-Kevin

[prouton]

See this link for instructions. I don't have/use MCE, but I've read about the problem elsewhere.

[klye]

Prouton--
Tried disabling the MCE services as described in the link you provided.
Unfortunately there is no change in GB-PVR's behavior.
I appreciate your help and wonder if there are any other configurations or log files from your system I could try to emulate on mine in another
attempt to get the Conexant/Blackbird TV tuner card to function properly.
Thank you again--
-Kevin

[prouton]

Hmm, it seems that "Blackbird" is something of a very general categorization. From what I can tell, you card was manufactured by ASUS, and became problematic when MCE was upgraded from the 2004 version to 2005, indicating something wasn't quite right in the drivers that HP provided. This may be affecting GB-PVR's ability to treat the card in a generic manner.

I haven't loaded the latest version of GB-PVR on either of my machines, and there was nothing custom required to get my "Blackbird" card (a Diamond XtremeTV PVR560) to work under version 99.05 (I've migrated both machines to 99.12, but the tuner card isn't being used at the moment).

It sounds like you will need to restart GB-PVR, recreate the problem, and zip and post the log files and let sub take a gander at them for error messages and their most likely cause.

[prouton]

I'm wondering if what you have is the notorious Hauppauge "Roslyn" card, which was only sold as an OEM product to major system builders...

[klye]

From what I've read, that's what it sounds like. Perhaps I am at the end of the line, here. Perhaps GB-PVR just will not work with this card.

I suppose if there is anyone who has successfully run the program with this card, I'd be quite interested in hearing about it.

Thanks.