Help!

[JV911]

I just bought a PVR 250 today to use w/ my registered Sage TV software but I could not make it work. There is no picture on Live TV and the same when I record. Sound is choppy. Please help me get this thing to work.

Athlon XP 2400
MSI KT2 Combo
XP Pro
512MB PC133
160GB HD
PVR250
AIW 7500

[fidget]

Have you downloaded the drivers from here (http://www.shspvr.com/pvr2_drv-apps.html)? These are newer (but Beta) drivers for the PVR-250. I can't say that I have used SageTV with the default drivers as I updateg immediately. Also, make sure you have the latest VIA and video card drivers (it won't hurt).

Also, go into the Video directory that is inside the SageTV directory and try to play some of the files with your computer's DVD Player. Even the live TV shows get recorded here. How do they look? If they play back OK then the recording is going OK (i.e., the PVR-250 is installed correctly) and the problem is with the playback.

[JV911]

I've downloaded the new drivers and apps at shs and installed everything correctly but still no video. I can record but all I see is black screen on playback. Sound was actually fixed by the new driver. I'm using AIW as my video card. Do you think this is causing the problem? I'm using my 27 in TV as my monitor. Thanks for helping me out.

[fidget]

I, too, use a TV as a monitor for my Sage setup (32"), but I have a GeForceFX 5200 as my monitor. I have read some posts where people have used the ATI cards and thinhk that they give better TV pictures, so I don't think it is the AIW 7500.

Does WinTV (from Hauppauge) play correctly? If it still gives a black screen, but good sound, the I would have to blame the PVR-250. Here are a few other things to try:

Go to the SageTV "Detailed Setup" and select the "Video" tab. What do you have selected for the "Rendering Filter?" Mine is set up as "Default (Uses WMR on XP."

What do you have set for the "Video Decoder?" I have "Interview NonCSS" but you should also have one from your DVD player and maybe even from your AIW. Try changing the decoder and see what happens. I know that when I had the "Rendering Filter" set wrong I got some REALLY strange results.

Does your DVD player, or WiMP, play back the recorded MPEGs properly.

[Narflex]

Go to your display settings for your video card. You more than likely have your Overlay surface set to be on the monitor only, so video will show up as black on your TV screen. This is a VERY common problem when hooking up a video card to a TV. Time to add it to the FAQ....

[JV911]

I've tried installing and unistalling the pvr 250, even replaced it thinking it was defective, I still see black grainy screen when I use live tv on sage. The video card overlay is set to TV, still no luck. The only thing I've noticed after upgrading to Sage v1.4 is I can now see the video using wintv2k.I've made changes suggested by fidget, still no video. It's been a long time since I've purchased Sage and still could not make it work. Pls help.

[jmeeks]

So, from what I understand now, your card is working, because using the WinTV2000 application, you get good video and audio. (I believe setting your video card to tv for the overlay fixed the problem with seeing video when using WinTV2000 not upgrading SageTV to 1.4.) Is that correct? Your video card was not set to the TV output for the overlay?

What video decoders in SageTV setup are you using? Did you try running though your available choices to see if a different one would work?

[Narflex]

If you're using the S-Video or Composite input, and only have 1 option for each of those in the Setup Wizard, then upgrade to the latest Hauppauge drivers. You'll then see multiple options for Composite & S-Video input, choosing one of the secondary or tertiary inputs for Comp/SVid should give you a picture then.