Hauppauge Colossus HD-PVR

[TechBill]

Whom those are recording from DirectTV boxes via HDMI.

Are you doing nightly reboots?

What version is your drivers?

Thank you

Bill

[panteragstk]

Originally Posted by BobPhoenix

OK then must be HR21's then. Get earlier boxes and you might still have HDMI recording then.

I can't use earlier boxes with the SWM system. I forget how far back you have to go before they aren't compatible. Plus, I've heard that it is a pain to activate used boxes with DTV. Other than that, I'd love to.

[BobPhoenix]

Originally Posted by TechBill

Whom those are recording from DirectTV boxes via HDMI.

Are you doing nightly reboots?

What version is your drivers?

Thank you

Bill

I do nightly restarts of the SageTV service (net stop SageTV...). It helps quite a bit but I still get bad recordings - out of sync audio or AAC audio that doesn't play at all. I upgraded the server that has my Colossus to an Intel DH77EB with i7 3770S recently and installed 29192 drivers.

[sumrtym]

Still sounds like most are having problems with Colossus.

I've suffered setbacks on upgrading my home media recently due to finances. However, I hope to be up and running by year end. Looks like I really ought to be pursuing an HD-PVR instead...especially since I currently have Time Warner and it's all encrypted anyway. If Google would just expand out of KC to the southern city areas I'd jump to them in a heartbeat.

[panteragstk]

Originally Posted by sumrtym

Still sounds like most are having problems with Colossus.

I've suffered setbacks on upgrading my home media recently due to finances. However, I hope to be up and running by year end. Looks like I really ought to be pursuing an HD-PVR instead...especially since I currently have Time Warner and it's all encrypted anyway. If Google would just expand out of KC to the southern city areas I'd jump to them in a heartbeat.

You're only seeing post by people with problems. I'm one of the few that posts that I don't have problems. I have two running right now that have zero issues. The only bad recordings I get a due to the DTV boxes doing something odd.

[sumrtym]

panteragstk,

Are you finding it necessary to do a daily reboot?

[panteragstk]

Originally Posted by sumrtym

panteragstk,

Are you finding it necessary to do a daily reboot?

Nope. I used to, but haven't in a long time.

[patja]

I still do daily reboots. The Colossus still has problems maybe twice or three times a month where it gets into a state where every recording is un-watchable. Sound gaps, big video jumps, etc. A good indicator this has happened for me is that Comskip won't work on these files, so I see their timelines show up with no commercials or a very unusual pattern of commercial breaks. Once it is in this state is stays there until the server is rebooted. It is usually on a heavy use day like Sundays, starting in the early evening. I have thought about adding another reboot on Sunday afternoons!

I am also still recording all content (including HBO) in HD via HDMI from a DirectTV receiver.

[BobPhoenix]

Originally Posted by patja

I am also still recording all content (including HBO) in HD via HDMI from a DirectTV receiver.

Me too. Is yours a H21 or HR21 STB (like mine)?

[patja]

Originally Posted by BobPhoenix

Me too. Is yours a H21 or HR21 STB (like mine)?

H21

[BobPhoenix]

Originally Posted by patja

H21

Then that confirms what SHS said here or another Thread. If you want to record with HDMI directly and not go through something you need an H21 vintage STB (or earlier I suspect).

[SWKerr]

I had been testing Windows8 for a month+ using a HDHR and a Colossus attached to a DirecTV H20. (Used Component and SPDIF, Hauppauge IR Blaster) Not one bad recording.

The test machine is more of a pre-production box meant to replace my existing Home\SageTV server. I actually ended up testing with a Gigabyte Z77X-D3H and an ASRock Z77Extreme4 using a i5-3470 and 16GB of RAM.
(So good quality Hardware)

In previous attempts on an older AMD based machine using Windows7, I had issues with bad recording. This was not unique to SageTV as WMC also produced bad recording at about the same rate in my testing. I had tried the Colossus in other machines as well in the past with the same corrupt recordings issues. (probably 1 in 15 was bad, some channels worse than others) DirecTV H20 locked on 1080p

Moved to Win8 and Colossus full time:
I experienced a boot drive issue with my current server and decided to go ahead move to the Windows8 build I had been testing with.
I had another Colossus on hand (planned on replacing my HD-PVRs at one point) and added the second Colossus along with a Aver Duet (OTA) to the new server. I also moved the USB-UIRT to the Windows8 box along with a whole bunch of hard drives.

New server is Windows8 Gigabyte Z77X-D3H using an i5-3470 and 16GB of RAM. 128GB SSD boot drive and 3x2TB, 6x1.5TB and 1x1TB hard drives.
1xAverDuet on Antenna
1xHDHR on Antenna
2xColossus on DirecTV H20 using USB-UIRT (delay_to_wait_after_tuning=8000)

I have been up on the new server for about two weeks without one single bad recording.

I am not sure if it is new Colossus drivers, Windows8 or the new i5 server but it is all working now without problems.

Note: I am not doing a nightly reboots at this point but probably have rebooted about once a week for some reason or another.

[panteragstk]

Originally Posted by SWKerr

I am not sure if it is new Colossus drivers, Windows8 or the new i5 server but it is all working now without problems.

Note: I am not doing a nightly reboots at this point but probably have rebooted about once a week for some reason or another.

What driver version are you using? I just updated to the one on their site after using one for over a year and it seems to have fixed the few issues I have.

[SWKerr]

Originally Posted by panteragstk

What driver version are you using? I just updated to the one on their site after using one for over a year and it seems to have fixed the few issues I have.

Driver version is: 1.5.30151.0 dated 5/30/2012

[panteragstk]

Originally Posted by SWKerr

Driver version is: 1.5.30151.0 dated 5/30/2012

Yep, that's the one I'm using. Pretty solid so far. I'll try to go without doing a restart for as long as possible to see if we can finally eliminate that. I only do one per week for one reason or another, but it'd be nice to be able to totally avoid it.

[Skybolt]

Originally Posted by panteragstk

... I did just get a second colossus and it works just fine.

So what is your drive version's and do you use optical or just plain analog stereo?

You did beat the dead horse you know

[panteragstk]

Originally Posted by Skybolt

So what is your drive version's and do you use optical or just plain analog stereo?

You did beat the dead horse you know

I wouldn't have purchased on if I couldn't get DD 5.1. I use component and optical. Works every bit as good as HDMI. I have run them side by side and do not notice a difference in PQ. HDMI is more convenient, but with the random HDCP crap it's just easier to use Component+optical.

[Skybolt]

Originally Posted by panteragstk

I wouldn't have purchased on if I couldn't get DD 5.1. I use component and optical. Works every bit as good as HDMI. I have run them side by side and do not notice a difference in PQ. HDMI is more convenient, but with the random HDCP crap it's just easier to use Component+optical.

Thats good news.

What is the best driver version to use? I have the card coming tomorrow. Thanks.


EDIT: Never mind you answered that in another thread. Try the latest from Hauppauge and if not revert back the May driver or such. Thanks!

[Skybolt]

Ok, so I installed my new card tonight with the latest Hauppauge drivers. Set it up in sage and well, no audio and slow motion video ...

I setup capture + spdif. and rebooted twice. So any advice on drivers to roll back to?

I didin't use hardware clear because I am using 2 hvr1600's. I guess I will give it a try tomorrow. I am running an older quad core 9400 series 2.66 with 8gb ram.

[Skirge01]

My first thought would be to uninstall the 1600's and see if you can get the Colossus working by itself first. Hauppauge is notorious for hardware/drivers not working with their own mixed hardware.