PVR-350 TV Out Locks Up

[RobSpangler]

OK, I'm brand new-newbie-green-guy...I just got a PVR-350 and Sage 2.0...

Installed it on a Micron PC that I had laying around (PIII 666), fresh install of WinXP Pro, got the latest drivers from Hauppauge, Java 1.4.2, DirectX9, Windows Update...everything seemed GREAT! It recorded a couple of TV shows that I set up just fine, so I got all excited, dragged the wife in to show off the new toy and when we sat down to watch them it gets a couple of seconds into it and the TV output freezes up. Plugged a monitor into the PC and the video is running great through Windows.

I played with the settings some and found that if I toggled the PVR tv output that sometimes it would bring the picture back, but most of the time I would need to restart the PC (ending the Sage app and re-starting didn't work either...)

OK, so I figured that PC is a piece of junk...moved the PVR to a different one (AMD 2800 w/K7VTA3 m/b) all different hardware except the PVR card...same type of problem although considerably less...it's a tease now because I can get 3 to 5 to 10 mins in before it freezes up! aarrrgghh!!

As far as I know, I have the latest drivers for everything and it seems isolated to the TV output on the PVR card as I can open the MPG files in media player and watch the whole show.

Could I have a bad PVR card? Need some help t/s this issue.

Thanks!
Rob Spangler

[pcuoco]

350 output is pretty finicky. Most people have found success using AMD nforce chipsets and older Intel chipsets like the 440BX which is what I use.

I don't know what chipset is in your Micron, but K7VTA3 is a VIA based board which could be the problem.

Also on some older systems people have had trouble with a USB-UIRT installed. Not sure if you're using one, your post didn't specify.

You may want to do a search on the 350. There are several long threads that discuss this issue. Mainly in the Beta forum.

I know this probably wasn't what you wanted to hear, but I hope it helps.

[Crowdx42]

Have you tried the 350 without the OSD display, that helps some. Another option might be to install the OS (XP or W2K) as a standard computer instead of ACPI, that means that the OS will not try to virtually use the same IRQs for several hardware devices at the same time, this can help also with lockups.
The bottom line really is the nForce 1 and 2 chipsets work best at present with the current hauppauge drivers. This may change if hauppauge release a better set of drivers.
The board listed below in my signature works great with the PVR 350 and was well worth the $60 I paid for it.
Patrick

[RobSpangler]

Thanks guys for the suggestions!

I'm not sure what chipset the Micron is, but the K7VTA3 board is VIA...
I don't believe that I am using a USB-UIRT since I'm not sure what that is...

The IRQ sharing did cross my mind, since when the setup was in the Micron PC the display would flicker erratically at times and then freeze and occasionally unfreeze...

Right now it "seems" to be working, it's only when I bring the boss in to see it that it acts up! I think I have her convinced enough right now though, that I could probably spend a few more $$ on it, so I think I'll look into the nForce chipset idea and couple of big HDD's (I've only got 80 GB total right).

In respect to the standard/ACPI, would you mean turning off the setting in the BIOS for "Plug 'n Play OS", manually select the IRQ's for each device and re-install WXP, correct?

"Have you tried the 350 without the OSD display, that helps some." - No, how do I do that? Well, maybe, is that the setting for "Multimedia - Hardware Decoding Only"? If so, I have toggled that a couple of times, and was leaning towards "enabled" since I don't really want a monitor attached to this PC in the long run and don't plan on watching play-backs through the monitor.

Thanks,
Rob Spangler

[Crowdx42]

In multimedia you are looking for UI enabled, click to disable.
As far as ACPI, yes you can disable in the bios and reinstall. You can also got to the device manager and double click computer, then right click ACPI and then update driver, select not to search and when it shows you the list of compatible drivers, the screen which allows you to specify a location for the drivers, scroll down the list and select standard computer. Once this driver is installed you have to reboot and windows redetects all the hardware and after another reboot you should be all set with everything on the irqs that are actually the ones the hardware uses instead of virtual irqs from windows.
Patrick

[mikejaner]

it's only when I bring the boss in to see it that it acts up!

There's your problem. If you get rid of the boss, it won't lock up anymore ;-)

[redman]

OK.
I have waited patiently for a solution for this.
Has anything happened?
Sage is working great (and has been for a while) with OSD off.
I want it on.

Is there any progress?

please?

[krutaw]

Originally posted by redman
OK.
I have waited patiently for a solution for this.
Has anything happened?
Sage is working great (and has been for a while) with OSD off.
I want it on.

Is there any progress?

please?

I've got my PVR-350 playing nicely with SAGETV 2.0 with the OSD on. But to do it, I had to buy a nForce 2 motherboard. Seems like that's the quick and easy answer these days. Not too expensive either.

[Crowdx42]

Well a little over $100 buys an nForce2 bpard plus cpu.
Solves a lot of headaches.
Patrick

[mikejaner]

Same with the ATI chipset. for just over $100 you get just as stable of a system.

[Whiskeyjack]

Hello,

I had this problem also, Intel 845-chipset and lock-ups with OSD and PVR-350 Tv-out enabled.

I just installed the new drivers for mixing 15/16 cards from the SHS post http://forums.freytechnologies.com/f...&threadid=5879 over the old ones. Has been working like a charm for two nights now. Lots of European Championship football :-)

Not a single problem.