liveTV and recordings problems

[crazy_gadgets]

HI

I've been having some problems recently with recordings and Live tv. first some background info.
My Media center (Dedicated to runnning GBPVr and occasionally Slim server (although this tends top cause more problems thatn its worth So i tend to only activate it when i need it)

AMD Athlon 64 X2 4200+
2.5GB RAM
MSI K8NMG2-FID with the nvidia 6150 graphics chipset running my TV (SonyCRT) through S-Video connection
2 x Nova T tuners (connected to roof top Digital Aerial)
180Gb HDD partitioned for windows, swap file and picture/music storage
2x250Gb HDD in RAID 0 for video recordings, storage
Running windows XP SP2
GBPVR 1.2.9
PureVideo Decoder
AC3 Filter
DVRMS


IF theres anything else i've missed let me know and I'll add it in.
Now the Problem.
I've had somewhat of a knightmare with the whole playback issue from day one. with GBPVR I was using Overlay which was the only playback mode that didn't give me tha mosaic type pattern where you get the live picture overlaid with a checker pattern of one of the previous frames.

With the switch to PVRx2 I managed to get one of the VMR9 modes working to a point. the picture was fine but tended to jump, so the sound would continue normally but the picture would freeze for a second then catchup with the sound.

With the upgrade to 1.2.9 this became worse for some reason with even the sound jumping as if sections of the file were missing. So i switched to Overlay thinking that my problems would be solved. Unfortunately something else has cropped up.

I'm still sometimes getting the jumping sound/picture thing (although not as bad as with VMR9 FSE) but now something else also.

This is where it gets a bit difficult as it is difficult to force to happen. If recording two or 3 things around the same time for example two things at once and then a 3rd program afterwards. Often I get a zero length recording or the recording of one or two of the programs is cut short considerably. after this has happened it is not possible to watch Live TV. I typically get up in the morning (after setting things to record the previous evening) and find that when I watch Live TV I get a blank screen with no sound and then a No signal graphic (top bar full, bottom bar empty). This is the same for every channel and the only way to fix it is to reboot. Restarting the recording service doesn't help neither does restarting PVRx2. I've checked the event viewer for driver crashes but can't find anything.

This morning it happened actually whilst watching Live TV. (several times) The no signal bar came up and then PVRX2 stopped responding and I had to end the process. The recording service still thought it was watching Live TV so I had to restart that too. This happened several times and I have attached the logs.

I'll try and recreate the recording problem and attach logs for that as well as unfortunately the logs i've attached don't go back far enough. I thought it might be a signal problem but I don't think this can be right as we live less than 6 miles for crystal palace and there is very little in the way (I can pretty much see the tower) and the fact that you can fix it by rebooting doesn't seem right. I guess maybe it is a Haupauge Driver thing but it is odd that it has just started.

Has anyone any ideas.

Sorry for the long rambly post. If anyone needs more info let me know

kind regards

Rich

[Deusxmachina]

For the blank screen on playback stuff, have you tried a different video decoder? You know, because PureVideo kind of sucks. Er, I mean, it can be picky. Others work too and have their good points, but for "it just plain works" I recommend trying Gabest MPV first.

I don't know what that 6150 gpu compares to for video cards offhand, but I can't imagine it's doing you any favors. I'd keep things in Overlay mode while ironing out the kinks since the newest GBPVR version can do that again now.

Zero file size recordings and no signal things sounds like bad antenna reception. But, if that signal warning comes up too much, make sure to try turning it off in config.xml. I forget the exact line, but it's a fairly-common recommended fix (by me, at least ). DisableSignalStatus<true> or something like that. Shouldn't be too hard to find in a search.

What does "DVRMS" mean?

[crazy_gadgets]

Thanks for the tip on the video decoder I'll give it a go.

In terms of bad reception I thought that too at first but then why would rebooting fix the problem.

I'm so close to the transmitter and have zero problems with all other tv receptions (I know the tuners are better) ans would ahve expected to have had some glitches at least even if not total loss of signel.

THanks for your comments though I will have a bit of a play later and see what I can fix

Rich

[Deusxmachina]

Yeah, reading again, you probably have something worse going on than just the disablesignalstatus<true> thing. Along with that one, btw, sub had a patch file around here in threads about signal status, which I'm guessing is now included into the newest version of GBPVR anyway.

I sense some uninstalling/reinstalling of something is in your future. If the locking up started after installing 1.2.9, I'd ask if the install was clean. A lot of people were getting an error with the installer. I got one near the end, everything seemed fine, but sometimes pressing "record" in TV Guide would lock up GBPVR.

Whatever it is, I'm sure sub will magically fix it soon.

[crazy_gadgets]

to be honest I can't remember if there was a problem with the install. I think it went through without any errors but i couldn't be sure.

With this post i'm attaching an example of the logs from my rcordings failure problems. last night 27th I was trying to record the following

Bear Grylls Born Survivor 20:00=21:00 Channel 4. Appears in recordings list but is zero length (i.e. i press play and itjumps back to the recordings screen) I have two files in the recordings folder, both 6kb, 1 modified an19.57 and the other at 21.00

Celebrity Yo,Yo dieters 21:00-2200 Virgin1 Appears to haverecorded fine 1:02:58 a bit jumpy maybe but that is a seperate issue.

Supersize she 2100-2200 five life Is zero length, with again two 6kb files 1 modifed at the start of the recording and one at the end.

Desperate housewives 2200-2300 E4 Is zero length, with again two 6kb files 1 modifed at the start of the recording and one at the end.

In her shoes 2200-0025 channel4+1 is 1hour 20minutes long which obviously loses the last hour of th film.

and finally
Brothers and Sisters 2300-0000 E4 Is zero length, with again two 6kb files both modifed at the end of the recording.

looking at the logs there doesn' seem to be any errors but maybe I'm just missing them.

All this resulted in having the problem I described before where every channel has zero signal. A reboot fixed this though.

Any thought greatfully recieved

Thanks

Rich

[sub]

I cant see any obvious cause in the logs, but I'm guessing you have marginal signal strength.

[crazy_gadgets]

HI Sub

Thanks for taking the time to have a look.

I'm a bit reluctant to beleive the lack marginal signal solution. (no disrespect to your self of course). The reason is that we live about 6 miles away from Crystal palace, I have roof mounted Aerial pointed directly at the transmitter and there is not much in the way. My flat overlooks a field so there isn't another building right up against us blocking the signal or causing unwanted reflections. I've never had any problem with it on anything else.

Of course I do know that the tuners on PC cards aren't great so it could just be realllllllllyyyy bad! Is there anything I can do to improve it. The cables are all as short as possible and high quality cable too.

How does everbody else with splitting the signal to two cards. Currently i've got a Y splitter that then feeds the input of both cards. I could daisy chain it though, so stick the signal into one card and then put a short loop of cable from the output of the first card into the second one. Does anyone have a recomended way of doing this.

Is it worth getting a booster of some sort?

I also don't understand Why I get the problem of not being able to watch tv the morning after it happens. I mean obviously the signal strength varies but I would have thought that it would come back and the cards would recognise this. Especially because if I reboot the signal is fine and I can watch tv without a problem.

thanks for your help

Rich