eHome Problems - any advice?

[edmc]

Okay, so I just received the 2 eHome w/FM cards promptly sent from NewEgg. Plugged them in and - not!

First problem I noticed was that Sage found them but when I went to use the tuner (via the Calibrate Setup Function), I got the following two errors:

"There was a MPEG-2 Demultiplexor Error in playback. Details: Unable to connect source filter to SageTV DeMux ErrCode=0x80040207"

- and -

"There was a Capture Error in playback. Details: Unable to add the MPEG Encoding filter for specific capture ErrCode=0x80004003"

I should also mention that the 2nd Error Box actually appears first and then is overlayed by the 1st Error Box. When you "dismiss" the 1st, the 2nd is again revealled.

I'm a bit perplexed by what to do here. The MPEG-2 Encoder and Demultiplexor don't seem to have gotten connected to by Sage.

Well back to the installation CD. Originally, I recalled one poster mentioning all that was on the CD was the WDM Driver for the card. So, when WinXP's Hardware Wizard discovered the eHome, I directed it to install the WDM Driver from the CD. Up it came (although I don't ever remember it indicating something like "Your new Hardware is now available for use" as it had with other cards I've installed.

So then I went and launched the autorun.inf-referred atisetup.exe in the root of the CD. It brought up the splash screen and I selected "Software Install". Whether I select "Express" or "Custom", the ATI WDM Driver appears to get (re-)installed. But the 1st several times resulted in an Error Dialog reporting an error I can't duplicate presently. In any event, it forces me to reboot.

When things come back up, I'm still at the same point with SageTV.

I've tried disabling 1 of the 2 eHome's I installed. I haven't yet disabled the lone PVR-250 (-15) I have in there.

Can anyone offer any suggestions?

[edmc]

Let me answer my very own question - by giving the you the results of Search. Very handy feature of this forum btw :-)

The following post URL (http://forums.freytechnologies.com/f...6201#post36201) referenced a step that is still needed in the 2.0 Release apparently:

Delete this registry value and see if it works then:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Frey
Technologies\Common\AdditionalCaptureSetups\ATI eHomeWonder Capture\Encoder

Me, I just renamed the Registry Key (i.e. from "Encoder" to "DELETED_Encoder") and restarted SageTV 2.0 and... voila!

I must say I very much like the result! I now have 1 PVR-250 (-15) and 2 eHome (w/ FM, and hence Theatre 200-based) NTSC Tuner Cards in my HTPC and all are working fantastic!

Now if only SageTV would support the DViCo FusionHDTV 3 Gold QAM card so I could also PVR HD on Comcast Cable via SageTV :-)

[mlbdude]

These keys were put there from a beta many versions ago. I know Sage won't delete anything it puts there so I wonder if those of us that have upgraded from previous beta's are having to do this.

Anyone from a fresh OS install have this issue?

[ranger]

I had the same problem. Since I am not currently a SAGE TV owner, the released version of SAGE 2.0 was my very first install and the key was there. Once I deleted it, all was fine.
BTW, so far it is working great. I am of course comparing it to some other popular piece of software and both have their merits. Overall a great looking application!

[ckron]

Originally posted by edmc

I must say I very much like the result! I now have 1 PVR-250 (-15) and 2 eHome (w/ FM, and hence Theatre 200-based)

What do you mean by Theatre 200-based? My understanding is that this card uses a Conexant 16 series chip for encoding and the Theatre 200 is a decoding chip.

Note that if I am correct, this card is equivalent to a PVR-350

[Narflex]

This is an issue in the 2.0 release, my bad. We'll be putting a note about it on the website with the fix, which is this:

1. Go to the Start menu and select Run.
2. Type in "regedit" (without quotes) and click OK
3. Navigate to the registry key named:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Frey Technologies\Common\AdditionalCaptureSetups\ATI eHomeWonder Capture
4. On the right side find the entry that is named Encoder
5. Right click on Encoder and select Delete
6. Click Yes to confirm you want to delete it
7. Exit the registry editor application

[edmc]

me> I must say I very much like the result! I now have 1 PVR-250 (-15) and 2 eHome (w/ FM, and hence Theatre 200-based)

ckron> What do you mean by Theatre 200-based? My understanding is that this card uses a Conexant 16 series chip for encoding and the Theatre 200 is a decoding chip.

I was definately confused by this as well. From a Search on NewEgg's site I was told the following:

--------------------------------------------------------------------
ATI PCI TV Tuner Box, Model "E-HOME WONDER" -OEM

- Specifications -

Video/Audio Decoder: Conexant
TV Tuner: PHILIPS
Interface: PCI
Ports In: RF TV In
Ports Out: N/A
Remote Control: N/A
Accessories: Driver CD
Supported OS: Windows XP Media Center Edition 2004

Model#: EHOME WONDER W/O FM
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
ATI PCI TV/FM Tuner Box, Model "E-HOME WONDER" -OEM

- Specifications -

Video/Audio Decoder: THEATER 200
TV Tuner: PHILIPS
Interface: PCI
Ports In: RF TV In+FM In+Composite In
Ports Out: Not Specified
Remote Control: N/A
Accessories: 1 Adapter, Driver CD
Supported OS: Windows XP Media Center Edition

Model#: E-HOME WONDER
--------------------------------------------------------------------------

Taking the advice of others, I passed on the (only slightly) cheaper W/O FM version as several had pointed out it was incompatible with Sage for some reason. I did not investigate this myself so don't take this as evidence of that lack of support.

The W/ FM version clearly states the Video/Audio Decoder as being the THEATER 200, not the Conexant used in the W/O FM version. This was also reported on other sites (e.g. svideo.com) I searched as well. Perhaps the Conexant device used on the W/O FM version isn't the same Conexant device used on the Hauppauge PVR-250 - don't know... In any case, I'm happy to see support for the ATI device (THEATER 200) in Sage :-)

BTW, I've always had a pet pieve with calling this a "Decoder". It's an MPEG-2 Encoder, not a Decoder :-)

[mlbdude]

That ATI card uses the same Conextant encoder as the 250. The ATI Theater 200 decoder is not supported by Sage and is why you are using some kind of software decoder for that purpose. Does that model have some kind of SVideo out?

[ckron]

I checked ATI's website and it says very specifically that the e-home line of cards uses the Conexant 16 series encoder and that the theatre200 chip is a decoder for audio and video. I also noted on newegg.com that someone had reviewed the cheaper e-home card and he said it worked great and he was using it with Sage. He posted in the forums here that it worked with .15 but not with .16

[SHS]

The ATI Theater 200 chip is basely the same as the Conexant CX23880 chip
Basely the ATI eHome Wonder card is over all the same as Hauppuage WinTV-PVR Roslyn aka Conexant Blackbird design.
Here an Example, Video Digitizer (Philips SAA7115HL), Audio Processor (Micronas 4448G) and Video Decoder (Conexant Fusion 878A) stuff it all in one chip package.
Now Conexant made newer CX23416 the run a slave like mode bypass build in Video Decoder.

[edmc]

Okay - so are we clear that the ATI Theater 200 chip is supported now? At least it works in my HTPC :-)

As for the ATI Theater 200 including the Conexant functionality, is SHS saying that this function is not just equivalent but controlled by the same interface as the standalone device? I would think that's not actually required. The WDM Driver is what Sage talks to. The ATI WDM driver just needs to support the same functionality (thru the same APIs) as for the Conexant chip on the PVR-250.

But lets also get back to the W/O FM version of the eHome which, by several reports, does *not* work in Sage - despite including an actual Conexant device on-board. I just want to point out that including an actual Conexant is no guarantee of support in Sage apparently. But I wonder if folks who tried (and failed) to get the eHome W/O FM to work knew about the Registry Patch which was certainly required for the W/ FM cards...

[notfromhere]

I bought the stripped-down version of the eHome Wonder a while back from Newegg, hoping it would work with Sage 2. From the sticker on the card, it looks like it's called the eHome Wonder VE (value edition?).

Yesterday, I popped it in to my MSI K7N2G-ILSR based system (next to my PVR-350), let the drivers install automatically off the CD, deleted the Encoder entry from the registry, and voila! Looks like it's working great.

I still haven't tested whether or not it can change recording quality or not, but so far, so good!

[justme]

Very good news. Too bad the version without the FM tuner is only $9 cheaper now. They were $73(FM tuner) and $63(no tuner) last I checked. Or am I looking at the wrong card?

I'm interested since I'm considering adding another tuner. I have a Hauppauge PVR250(type15) and an AverMedia M150(type16) in my SageTV machine right now. I'm not sure if a second M150 would cause problems, so I'm considering one of the ATI E-Home cards. Since the M150 is $74 dollars the price is not really an issue. However I have to be able to adjust the recording quality profiles, encoder capture settings, etc for the card I pick.

PS: Does anyone know if you can turn on CC embedding for the ATI E-Home like you can for the PVR250? I'd assume there's some way since the ATI card was made for Windows MCE originally and MCE supports CC. This would be a large factor in my decision as well.

Any info would be great, thanks.

[edmc]

justme,

The eHome's I have (w/ FM) are supported in SageTV v2.0 with the Color Calibration screen. Interestingly, I found the defaults to be pretty much what I wanted, so no adjustment was technically required. I did dial back the Sharpness setting as this introduces "noise" imho.

As for the CC embedding feature, I don't know. How does one enable it for the PVR-250? I have one of those, too, and might be interested to give it a try if only to see if that setting affects the eHome as well.

[justme]

Thanks for the info about adjustments.

As for CC...
I doubt the exact method would work on the eHome since it involves a registry setting. Unless that Reg setting is already there for the eHome. You also need to setup an apropriate recording quality profile in SageTV. Check out this thread for info on getting CC in SageTV.

There's several links in that thread. This one is to Amontillado's section on enabling CC reg setting for the PVR250. The thread also has examples of recording profiles and a link on how to change them. SHS's also has lots of info on his site. SHS has some graphs examples for CC and lots of other info. But the link I provided for his site is just to the main page.

Please try out getting CC on the eHome. The key things to do are to make sure that the card is embedding the CC into the mpeg2 stream. And that you setup a SageTV recording profile that uses the correct stream type. Let me know how it turns out. If I can get all the info I'd like to add how to get CC for all the major* supported cards to the SageTV FAQ.

*PVR250, Hauppauge Roslyn, AverMedia M150, and ATI eHome.

[notfromhere]

Tested the without-FM eHome VE's ability to change quality settings, and it too seems to work fine. I'll see about CC; if it works on the eHome VE, it should certainly work on the full card.

[justme]

Tested the without-FM eHome VE's ability to change quality settings, and it too seems to work fine. I'll see about CC;

Very big thanks. I can't what to see what the CC results are.

PS:I forgot to mention that with the PVR250, at least, the test recording must be done in one of the DVD standards. Also watch out, the first time I tested my PVR250 I accidently used a show that din't have any CC. I've since learned to use the TV to selct a test show.

[edmc]

I have a new issue with the eHome... One of my two cards just purchased has developed a problem. Kind of scary that I've now had two Tuner Cards fail within a month. Not sure if there is some systemic problem I should be addressing, but that is another matter.

No, my real issue is when replacing my cards, WinXP's H/W Wizard insisted on re-installing drivers. That's when the fun began :-(

Recall that I have a PVR-250 as well as an eHome w/FM in my system (having removed the failed eHome).

Lo & behold, but WinXP's H/W Wizard INSISTS that I still have two eHomes in my HTPC. How could this be, you ask? Well, a hint is that the Wizard does NOT see the PVR-250. What could it be?

Sure enough, I browsed around the .INF files and found that the eHome drivers I installed from the CD claimed, of course, the same VendorID and DeviceID (these are PCI Registers which have a set value for a given ASIC typically) as those for my PVR-250. Uh oh...

The .INF file for the PVR-250 correctly ALSO specifies the SubsystemVendorID (which is typically specific to a particular HBA utilizing said ASIC). The SVID is how all the cards using the same ASIC can differentiate themselves. It is what is supposed to be used to allow different drivers to be used for different HBAs which use that same ASIC.

Alas, the eHome's .INF doesn't specify the SVID. So it acts as a "match all SVIDs". Sure enough, WinXP is insisting my PVR-250 is an eHome because the VendorID & DeviceID match those in the eHome .INF and the SVID doesn't matter :-(

Big warning: The eHome driver will CRASH WinXP.

I'm not a WinXP Driver person and I'm not at all knowledgeable on this .INF stuff. So I'm currently at a complete loss as to how to get WinXP to correctly search for my PVR-250 driver rather than the eHome "generic" one.

Any help would be appreciated (SHS?)...

But whatever solution is found, I believe folks will still be forced to load PVR-250 drivers FIRST then go back and load their eHome drivers as required. Very uncool...

[edmc]

To complete my earlier post, I have found the following:

The "Encoder", as used in the PVR-250 -15 variant and the PVR-350 has:
..PCI VendorID == 0x4444
..PCI DeviceID == 0x0803

The "Encoder-16", as used in the PVR-259 -16 variant has:
..PCI VendorID == 0x4444
..PCI DeviceID == 0x0016

The SubsystemVendorID has many values e.g. (these are kinda guesses):
0x40010070: Hauppauge Retail PVR-250 -15
0x40000070: Hauppauge Retail PVR-350
0x48010070: Hauppauge OEM PVR-250 -15
etc...

There is a unclear section entitled "U/N" as well as "Retail" and "OEM".

Of course the ATI eHome .INF only specifies the VendorID and DeviceID claiming to support/handle "all" SVIDs - which, I'll attest, they do not :-(.

[edmc]

I did figure out how to override the "pattern match" causing the PVR-250 to "look like" an ATI eHome - I simply selected "Have Disk" and pointed to the "autorun.sys" file in the root of my PVR-250 driver disk image.

Now that I know about this solution, I think it would even be possible to perform even if the ATI eHome card and driver were previously present in the HTPC - simply don't let Hardware Wizard install what it has been told are compatible drivers from ATI.