Wierd problem with multiple USB DVB-T tuners

[MrFusion]

Hi,

Experiencing a wierd problem with some USB tuners which I hope someone can help with.

I have a headless XP 64 server, and a handful of HD200s as clients, and have been using an ASUS U3000mini USB DVB-T tuner quite successfully for some time now (supports 64 bit, BDA drivers, etc).

Thought I'd get another, and ended up buying an AverMedia Volar X. It has XP 64 drivers, BDA, supports multiple tuner instances, etc.

Installed, worked great with the U3000, everything good.

I then got a bit overheated and bought another four of the Volars.

Installed these as well, Can use the supplied TV software to watch TV using any of the devices, record with another, etc.

Started sage, configured the video sources (it sees all the devices, lets me configure them all etc).

All good -- or so I thought.

Then I discovered this interesting little bug -- SageTV can only actually use one of the Volars at a time.

That is, say I have three of the Volars plugged in, it can only use one of them (say #2). So if I tune a channel with #2, then #2 lights up & I get a nice signal.

If I get Sage to use either #1 or #3 (ie: start recording with #2 and then tune into another channel), it tries, but only the light on number 2 comes on, and I get no signal.

No matter which combination of USB location, etc, it'll only ever fire up #2. If I remove #2, it picks another one (say #1), and will only use that.

But happily continues using the U3000 as well, if it's plugged in.

Any hints???


Many thanks!!

[Smiley]

Hi MrFusion,

I have the exact same problem right now that you have experienced with the Volars - did you ever find a solution to this problem?

I've tried with both two different pinnacle usb-tuners (340e and 73e) and with two identical hauppauge usb-tuners (WinTV HD MiniStick) but can only use one at the time even if sage discovers them. The second one just says 'No Signal' - but they both work fine independantly

I've never had this problem when using PCI based tuners - is multiple USB tuners just a no-go in sage?

Cheers,

Smiley

[Smiley]

Ok, this is just a post i case anyone else runs into this problem.

After much banging my head against the wall and many many rounds of reinstallation of drivers I finally got all three tuners working simultaneously in my SageServer.

I can't say for sure that this will be the only solution, but at least it worked for me (along with large buckets of coffee )

Tuners:
2 Hauppauge WinTV-MiniStick HD (DVB-T)
1 Pinnacle PCTV Hybrid Pro Stick (Only DVB-T being used)

Problems:
1. Enabling Windoze to see all tuners in the device manager
2. Couldn't use more than one USB tuner at the time even if SageTV picked up all three installed.

My Solutions:
1. Install a PCI-2-USB board and plug all tuners into that
2. Install each tuner with a separate lineup and ensure that they work simultaneously. Remove 2 of the tuners and add them again using the lineup from the first tuner (to avoid getting duplicates in the TvGuide).