New Hauppauge DCR-2650 CableCard Success

[phelme]

Originally Posted by tvmaster2

and the file format is...?

Originally Posted by jptheripper

ts

so the recordings are done through WMC? Do you have any premium channels that have the CCI byte > 0? Do those also come out ts?

[jptheripper]

Originally Posted by phelme

so the recordings are done through WMC? Do you have any premium channels that have the CCI byte > 0? Do those also come out ts?

Yes they are done through WMC, and then "recontainerized" in.ts by sagedct

yes I have channels where the CCI byte>0 (I assume, i seem below)

Yes they come in .ts, but they are blank black files. TruTV, for example, does not work. NFLHD does, and it varies location to location.

You can NOT use ANYTHING that is not copy freely with SageTV via cablecard.

[phelme]

Cool. Now I think i get it.

For someone running XP still (like me) I guess the Prime would be a better option as I can still get by without installing Windows 7. Since having to run W7 and WMC with the 2650 doesn't give one the advantages of viewing flagged material within Sage, it's a wash.

I assume the upcoming Ceton InfiniTV USB will require W7 as well.

[jptheripper]

I am not sure how they work without WMC. My understanding was that for cablecard to work you need WMC somewhere.

I may be mistaken. Maybe babgvant can clear things up

[phelme]

Originally Posted by jptheripper

I am not sure how they work without WMC. My understanding was that for cablecard to work you need WMC somewhere.

I may be mistaken. Maybe babgvant can clear things up

The activation of the card I believe can be done via phone and the embedded webserver on the Prime.

Saw someone on the SiliconDust boards say they were able to select the CableCard tuner on XP though the SD setup software. I'll know soon enough as I just ordered a Prime. If it doesn't work I'll simply and upgrade to Windows 7.

[jptheripper]

i finally got to that point right before the cablecard. Life just seemed simplier if i gave up and went to 7.

[swedub]

Just a tip: Try not to Activate your M-Card during non-business hours. Apparently Comcast can't activate my card. I have to wait for the "Local Market" to call me back, likely Monday. Argh!!!

So far, my M-Card Comcast journey has been ...

1. 20 minute chat just to confirm where I could pick up a card. (Day 1)
2. 40 minute wait at office to find out I needed photocopy of the account holders license with written authorization to pick up a M-Card. (Day 2)
3. 30 minute phone call to confirm that they can't ship M-Cards in the mail. They can ship everything else though, just not M-Cards. (Day 2)
4. 40 minute wait again at the local office to finally get M-Card in my hand. (Day 3)
5. 30 minute call plus another 30 minute call to confirm they can't activate my card, have to wait for "Local Market". (Day 3)

I really want to get through your tutorial so bad! Thanks for providing this information though. It will help me a lot, eventually.

[sundansx]

jp,
is this hauppuage setup still working good for you? I am reallly thinking about ordering one. Usually I like to wait a good 2 years to order anything made by Hauppuage while they beta test on the public, but from what I hear, this thing is a Silicon Dust design.
thanks.

[swedub]

Mine keeps locking up my computer. Sometimes it seems to do so after it stops recording for a while and every single night. Memory Dumps point to usbhost.sys. I've upgraded bios, uninstalled and reinstalled video card, usb host controllers. I've tried every single USB port, the ones soldered to MoBo and even each USB header. I also tried a brand new USB PCI card. I've tried 3 different BETA drivers, always using hcwclear to remove all drivers before installing new ones. I should know by this weekend whether it's me or the device since I just ordered a new Mobo/CPU last night. I'm still trying to get it to work smoothly in MCE before I attempt to use it in SageTV. I even uninstalled SageTV in case there was some kind of conflict. I'll post an update after I get my new MoBo/CPU up an running, on a clean Win7 64bit install. I really want this to work, especially after everything I went through to get the damn M-Card from Comcast.

[jptheripper]

Originally Posted by sundansx

jp,
is this hauppuage setup still working good for you? I am reallly thinking about ordering one. Usually I like to wait a good 2 years to order anything made by Hauppuage while they beta test on the public, but from what I hear, this thing is a Silicon Dust design.
thanks.

i had a bad unit. after the rma, it is rock solid. in 4 weeks never a missed recording, no lockups, perfect.

[swedub]

Mine kept locking up even with a brand new computer setup. So I got a RMA and shipped it back. How long did it take for you to get your replacement? I'm stuck with just my HVR-1250 so all I can record is ATSC for now.

[VCRUser]

Is there a way to make the Hauppauge unit work in XP? Everything else works fine on my XP box, so don't really want to go to 7 if I can possibly avoid it. Also, I have 7 on my work puter, and pretty much hate it.

[mechling-burgh]

No, From my understanding the only XP tuner is the HDhomerun Prime. Ever other Cable Tuner needs Windows 7.

[mistergq]

People have gotten the Silcondust HD Homerun Prime to work with XP. You just manually set the firewall settings.

[Dargason]

What audio formats does the DCT-2650 support? I'm looking for a cablecard tuner that does captions and at least stereo 5.1.

The HDHR Prime and the Ceton sound OK, but they are more money (and more tuners) than I really want.

[jptheripper]

Most recordings show up as dolby digital 384kbs 5.1

some aac 5.1

[Dargason]

Excellent. I think I'll give one of these a try... only $100 on newegg and it sounds like it's better quality than the HD-PVR that I'm running now. I'll still have the HD-PVR for recording the CCI flagged stuff.

A little dissappointed that it's another Hauppauge product though... I've had so many problems with their stuff over the years.

[jptheripper]

I have a colossus for CCI stuff, a 2650 for most, a 2250 for QAM, and a 1600 for qam and analog backup. All in one box, works great.

[Dargason]

I went ahead and purchased one of these.

I had some headaches getting all the drivers installed properly. It appears that it won't work if it is plugged into a USB2.0 port -- the driver won't even start. I plugged it into a USB 3.0 port I have (via a PCIe card) and it works fine now.

I also had some troubles getting the tuning adapter to work, but I think that was an issue with the service provider, not the tuner.

One oddity is that the DCRDiag.exe program tells me that my windows might not be activated (it is) and that I haven't run the Digital Cable Adviser (I have, several times). But everything seems to work, so I'm guessing the flaw is in the diagnostic tool.

Overall, I'm very happy. The 2 new tuners record with 5.1 stereo and CC, which the HD-PVR wouldn't do. And I discovered that there is only one non-premium channel marked as Copy-once and everything else is open. And I have the HD-PVR configured to record the ones that the cablecard tuners can't do.

[Fluffdaddy]

Love the DCR-2650 and for just 99 bucks it's a great deal

The only troubles I had was on Comcast end. Once I got a hold of the tech guy every thing been great, I get all the channels minus Fear-HD. Took two days of calling Comcast support