Hauppauge HD-PVR 1212 overheating and power supply issues

[lakehouse]

I hope this is posted correctly; I am a bit new here and had some trouble
finding a tab for New Thread.

I have two Hauppauge model 1212 units, one is two years old, the other
about 18 months. In the past 6 months I've been having increasing
frequency of recording failures and the sudden freeze-ups you're all so
familiar with. They are connected to two Dell Inspiron laptops, one
a model N7010 and the other an N7110, one an Nvidia GeForce GT
525M, the other an ATI Mobility Radeon HD 5470, all drivers up-to-date.
They both run 64-bit Windows 7 Home Premium with 6 gigs of RAM.

I never record any 1080p, no gaming sessions, and I only record
720 x 480 movies off my satellite using the medium or "better" bitrate
of 6 Mbps in Total Media Extreme. Typical recording is a half-hour
TV sit-com, longest is a two-hour movie.

I have recently replaced both power bricks with the D-Link AF1805-A
adapters. I have ordered a couple more of the D-Links and also a couple
more of the entire Hauppauge 1212 itself, as I figure they'll stop making
them in the near future and I haven't heard of any alternative system.
I haven't added any fan modifications, but both units are running with the
top lids fully removed, standing upright to allow full ventilation through the
cooling slots on the bottom of the units. I have even tried redirecting the
video to two external Acer 22" monitors while recording to take some load
off the CPU and video cards. None of these efforts seem to have made
any difference. If I set both units to record the same channel on my two
satellite receivers, there's a 50 / 50 chance one of them will get through
an hour-long recording without stopping at any random time while recording.

Next I'll try just clamping the two units together upright in the air flow from
a table fan. But I'm starting to question whether this will make any difference
and wondering if the units are just reaching the end of their life cycle. It
reminds me of the transistor radios of the 60s and 70s with condensers
soldered to the circuit boards. They all sounded great at first but within a
few years the sound quality deteriorated and they all ended up in the garbage.

Would love to know if any of you has an older vintage Hauppauge 1212 from
maybe 2008 or earlier, and what you've done to get it to record reliably again.

This is a great forum, thank you all for your stories and experiences, it's
reassuring to know I'm not alone in my frustration.

[wbarber69]

1st, your cpu usage has nothing to do with the heat generated by your hdpvs. 2nd I would check the ambient temp of your hdpvr location to see whats happening there, if your house ac is set to 80 then your pvrs will be about 20 degrees hotter than that.

I'm running 3 1212's in an unventilated media closet, and I am having 0 issues with heat or lockups.

Try running the most recent drivers from hauppauge v1.7.30059.1 as of today.

When you install the drivers I would recommend you plug every pvr in that you intend to use, use hcwclear.exe before installing and make sure you restart after clearing out the drivers and before reinstalling them. This method will insure that you have the latest firmware pushed to every device as well.

Take a picture of the location of these units and post it here. There may be something your overlooking.

Make sure every unit is plugged into a usb2.0 port and not a 1.1 as many laptops don't have them labeled.

If you are using spdif audio try stereo instead and see how long you can record. And try recording the show without the preview video running and see if that helps.

Go back to using the hauppauge power supplies.

try to keep the usb cable under 10 feet.

These are just some troubleshooting points I'd try to rule out before you label these units as bricks.

Also, when I was setting my closet up I had to go through about 5 different usb cable manufacturers before I was able to find one that would give me the distance I need with proper shielding and low signal loss. If its thin then its probably the choke point.

[lakehouse]

Thanks for your information. Neither unit is located anywhere near a heater
or any source of heat from equipment and they are fully ventilated in a wide
open loft. This house is chilly in any season and in 20 years I have never had
an overheating issue with ANY equipment. I've never installed or run anything
in an enclosed space or drawer or closet or even on a shelf with a back
enclosure.

I have never used spdif, only stereo. Neither laptop has a USB 1.1 port, both
units are jacked into USB 2.0 only and I specifically don't use the USB 3.0
ports on the newer Inspiron N7110. I have never used longer cables, I am
using the original Hauppauge USB cables but it hadn't occurred to me that
BOTH cables might be bad. Shouldn't I be looking to replace them with similar
gauge as the original Hauppauge cables ? Or is it better just to move up to a
heavier gauge ?

Thanks for suggesting hcwclear.exe, I will make sure to run it and re-start
before installing the latest drivers. I'm pretty sure I didn't run hcwclear.exe
when I updated drivers a few months ago, hopefully that might explain the
lack of improvement after updating.

Do you think the fan modification stuff is necessary in most cases, or just in
situations where ambient heat is a major contributor to an overheating
problem ? Also, it doesn't seem to matter if the power is on a power bar or
directly plugged into a wall outlet. The preview on recording was never a
problem during the first year / 18 months of operation, not sure why it would
become a problem later.

Thanks so much for your suggestions, will report back after running
hcwclear.exe and driver update.

[lakehouse]

Well, Hauppauge's release v1.7.30059.1 turned into a bit of a joke. This is actually
just a download of DriverTuner, which scans your system for all device drivers.
No surprise that mine are all up to date, as I routinely update using DriverFinder.
And the latest driver version for the HD-PVR is dated 2010-06-23, same as on
my original install from the CD, same as my re-install from the CD and from download
through DriverFinder. So, I'm not going to waste any more time re-installing a driver
which clearly hasn't been revised to address the operating issues with these units.
Inherent design weaknesses cannot always be undone by re-writing drivers. No driver
will ever replace a fan if it should have been shipped onboard. Both my Dells work
beautifully and flawlessly with all software and peripherals except for the Hauppauge
1212 units. 18 months of normal use leading to gradual deterioration indicates
only one thing - bad hardware.

So this is my plan -

1 - Will re-read all the fan modification threads and see if there is anything I'm willing
to cobble together to get these units working normally again. I will probably just go with
a non-elegant fix of running them upright in the airflow from a table fan, even on days
when I'm wearing two sweaters because the house is already so chilly.

2 – Will see if I can match original Hauppauge USB cable specs but get them from a third party.

3 - Will re-direct recording to two external drives through eSATA instead of onto the hard
drives of each Dell. This should not be necessary as both hard drives aren't even a third
full and I run absolutely NO programs or automatic processes while recording. Again,
if this were a problem, it should have showed up two years ago. Other capture programs
including Dazzle and ADS DVD Xpress DX2 were buggy when recording onto externals,
worked fine when switched back to hard drives. This is also a pain as it adds the hassle
of constantly shuffling files between a recording drive and various archive drives.

4 - When the new units arrive, I may just try them briefly and then put them away in
storage. When the older units stop working entirely, despite fans, power unit replacements,
whatever, then I will get out the new ones and start all over again. I'm not concerned
about using them while still under warranty, as a warranty from Hauppauge is likely
a guarantee of the same issues returning. I've become techno-weary over the decades,
just don't feel like re-living Iomega's Click Of Death dragged out over months and years.

5 - Hopefully by the time all four of the 1212s have expired, somebody will have come
up with hardware that records just as beautifully at the outset but without deteriorating
functionality over time.

[wbarber69]

Its always better to up the copper on usb if you can. I can promise you that it will make your usb ports happier. I have to use 10' cables to get from in the closet to my pc and it took nearly 3 weeks of shipping and waiting for different cables till I found 3 that would allow me to connect all my devices without one or 2 disappearing from device manager.

[lakehouse]

Just a quick update and some new info.

Both new Hauppauge 1212s arrived today. Physical units appear identical to earlier versions,
base stickers are still 49001 LF Rev F2 Product of Indonesia. New units, like old ones, shipped
with IR blasters but without remotes as seen on various versions of packaging. Makes me
wonder if Canada is on a list of blacklisted countries prohibited from operating remotes,
who knows what havoc we might wreak upon the world ?

Still lots of confusion re: versions of install CDs and versions of drivers. It turns out that the
most recent HD-PVR driver is NOT v1.7.30059.1 dated 2010-06-23, it is hdpvr_1.7.1.30059.zip
dated 2012-03-25. The direct download link is -
http://www.hauppauge.com/site/suppor...ort_hdpvr.html

My 2010 install CDs are both version 3.0, the new CDs are version 3.1, but strangely the
Hauppauge site has no mention of 3.1 anywhere, only version 3.0A. Hauppauge says 3.0A
installs HD PVR driver version 1.7, but the features listed for Total Media Extreme v.2 are
identical to the TME v.2 features as installed from CD 3.0.

Hauppauge states ... " This driver fixes A/V sync issues with some Dish Network and FIOS set top
boxes. This release also fixes IR receive issues with third party applications. In addition, this
release includes changes to fix flash memory corruption problems. This driver fixes a problem with
loss of video sync (which shows up as a "glitch" in the video) when the video source switches from
NTSC to PAL or from HD to SD while recording. This problem only occurs when recording from a
cable TV or satellite set top box, when the broadcaster changes video formats in the middle of a
broadcast. This problem does not affect recordings made from an XBox360 or Playstation3.

This driver also fixes video flicker problem on European Sony Playstation3 and also addresses
reliability problems returning from Sleep mode. This version includes a record format which can
be immediately played back on a Sony Playstation3. This is the .M2TS format. "

I've never been aware of my satellite receivers switching incoming formats in mid-broadcast,
I only record from HD channels and my Sharp Aquos has never detected anything other than
incoming 720 x 480p.

At a quick glance, I see that the drivers and TME folders on the new 3.1 install CDs are
dated respectively March 7 2012 and April 3 2012.

SO ..... before firing up the Dremel, hot glue gun, whatever ...

1 - Will un-install everything, TME, etc. from both Dell laptops.

2 - Will re-install the older / original 1212s to the Dells, but using only the new 3.1 install CDs.

3- Will switch back to original power supplies, USB cables, etc. of the older 1212s.

4 - Will see what happens running with the lids off but standing upright.

Hauppauge site also notes -
" This driver now supports Windows 7 Media Center. Your HD PVR can now be used in Windows
Media Center as a TV recorder for cable TV and satellite set top boxes. Note: the installation for
Windows 7 Media Center requires two parts: this driver plus the updates described under the "For
Windows Media Center" tab above. First install this driver, then click on the "For Windows Media
Center" tab above for instructions. "

I'll be very pleased if the new install just gets TME back to normal recording without freeze-up.
If that's successful, I may see if the Windows 7 Media Center set-up is also successful, although
TME meets all my needs when it doesn't freeze up.

Will report back ... at least now I can compare old and new units in operation. If it's all about
deteriorated hardware, that should become pretty obvious pretty quick.

[KryptoNyte]

I don't know what you may have downloaded, but clearly it was not the driver for that unit. First thing I would do is get the driver from here;

http://www.hauppauge.com/site/suppor...ort_hdpvr.html

Then, I'd pull one unit out and test with only one unit attached. Then I'd swap the one unit and test the other unit, alone. Probably run it like that for two or three days.

If that didn't resolve anything, I'd setup a second clean computer and test them one at a time.

If they didn't pass that, because they are still within the 2 year warranty, I would call Hauppauge for RMA and return for a free repair or replacement.
http://www.hauppauge.com/site/support/warranty.html

[lakehouse]

Just want to thank you for all replies, am not sure about time sequencing
of posts in thread as I'm not seeing replies prior to replying myself.
Sometimes I see GMT -4, other times GMT -6.

Yes, the correct driver is the zip file from Hauppauge, two other supposed
versions from links are Setup files that don't actually update the driver
as they don't see that it needs updating.

Also noted a couple of review comments about the board in the gaming
edition being installed upside down in the chassis, trapping and wicking heat
from the DX6215 chip and heat sink upwards onto the board. In the 1212
the chip and heat sink are mounted hot-side up. There's at least an inch
space between the heat sink and the top lid, so I can't really see trapped
heat would be a problem unless it builds up because of lacking a fan.
Haven't been able to find an interior view of the gaming edition to confirm
the mounting but is just seems very strange they'd put a heat sink in a
confined cavity between the chip and the exterior case.

Warranties are great but I'd really like to avoid past headaches of
receiving replacement units with the identical problems. Am hoping
re-installs of old units and fresh installs of new units will be enough.
If it still looks like heating and power supply issues, my interest in
messing with hardware mods will be down to just about nil.

[KryptoNyte]

Are you a SageTV user, or are you using some other recording software exclusively?

Additionally, and bear with me here as the posts in this thread have become confused, you seem quite adamant that the missed recordings (with whatever software you may be using) are based on the unit overheating.

[lakehouse]

No, I don't use SageTV, setup is 2 Bell TV 6131 HD satellite receivers connected to 2
HD-PVR 1212s connected to 2 Dell Inspirons. All recording is direct to hard drive with
Total Media Extreme 2.0. Double-checked the Hauppauge FAQ, recording to hard drive or
external drive should make no difference.

I agree, the issues are very confusing. Many of the earlier user reports circa 2009 suggest
overheating as an issue on the 1212 despite a somewhat noisy cooling fan. Not sure when
Hauppauge dropped the fans, or why, but the mounting studs remained on the chassis in
at least some versions. My 2 units from 2010 have no residual studs, I haven't peeled the
tops off the new ones.

If the re-install addresses the problem of random freeze-ups while recording, then my hope
is that it was more related to some recently-evolved issue of broadcasters switching their
signal formats in mid-broadcast as suggested by Hauppauge. Again, it seems strange that
wouldn't be identified by the digital setup of my TV, which only identifies incoming 720 x 480p.
The TV does correctly identify a variety of signals and resolutions from other sources, so maybe
the Bell receivers continue to send the correct signal to the TV but there is a problem in how it
sends the signal via component video to the Hauppauge is there a change in signal format
while recording.

In any event, I may or may not still have to deal with cooling and power adapter issues,
but at least with an updated driver presumably handling the issue of broadcast signals I can
begin to tease these problems apart.

[wbarber69]

they never had fans. I think you are expecting the problem to be overheating when your real problem is using tme to record shows on a scheduled basis. I'd use something else, and as I said before tme's biggest problem is trying to record with the preview window playing at the same time. No one here uses tme for anything else than making sure the hdpvr is working before installing sagetv. These units do get hot, but I have never seen any issues from it. All my hdpvrs were purchased on ebay from previous users, which is about the worst way you can get one, and I have had no problems.

[wbarber69]

one other thing I could suggest is that when you intend to record all day, recording anything to your os drive is a bad idea, I think everyone here is using secondary drives and have them all formatted with 64k clusters to avoid fragmentation. But I assure you your problem is TME.

[lakehouse]

Thanks, your comments are a real eye-opener. Now I'm totally perplexed about
comments re: noisy fans on the early versions of the 1212, it didn't sound like they
were owner mods but now I just wish I'd bookmarked bloody everything. This whole
overheating issue appears to have absolutely no consensus. If you're happy with yours
and confident enough to pick them up used and they suit your needs, then it sounds
like performance may be more about usage patterns as you suggest and not about
hardware design.

I was sitting on the fence about going with Sage but the Google acquisition did nothing
to budge me off the fence. I definitely do NOT record all day, I don't schedule anything
like a VCR or Tivo. I only occasionally use Win TV scheduler to end or start a 2-hour
movie if I'm not around to do it manually. I don't use the IR blaster, I just change the
channel on the satellite with the receiver remote and record and stop manually in TME.
This has satisfied my non-intensive needs pretty well until the past few months. With
both 1212 units, in the first 15 – 18 months of operation, I never lost a single recording
including movies up to 3 hours due to recording freeze-up in TME.

Will be tied up for a few days, but IF this re-install goes without a hitch, I'm starting
to wonder if I should just scrap TME completely and try the Windows 7 Media Center
setup. So long as I can still get a preview on record and I don't have to always use
the TV as a monitor, I'd be happy with that … from what you're saying, it sounds like
the preview in TME may be the major point of instability … if so, I'd just as soon not
use it at all.

Hauppauge FAQ confirms that recording to OS drive shouldn't be a problem, and
as I'm not a power user I'll just go with that. I've never had an issue that looked
fragmentation-related, my hard drives are always less than half full and when
I do run defrag manually it always starts and ends pretty clean. And I do prefer the
simplicity of just recording to the hard drive and only having to move a file once to
whichever archive disk it will reside in. I've just about exhausted the alphabet with
drive letters, don't feel like adding another for dedicated recording if not necessary.

Glad I've got a few days to think some more about all this, your feedback is really
invaluable. I've scoured the web and there is no other forum out there that comes
even close to helping sort out Hauppauge issues the way the Sage community does.
Everyone's experiences added to the mix eventually unravels the complexity.

Would be wonderful if the new 1212s could just stay in their boxes until they are
actually needed, i.e., following a direct lightning strike to the roof or some other
catastrophe that I shouldn't even allow myself to imagine.

[MattHelm]

I have the 1212, and had to add a small fan to keep it working. Until the fan came in, all I did was remove the top, and had a fan blow across the top (not into) of the case. Power supply was fine. The 1212 has a unpopulated fan header on the PCB. The fan I ordered had a fan plug converter cable, which I cut the end off of, and soldered to the correct holes. I then stuck the fan into the clear part of the case and left the "top" off. QED.

[lakehouse]

Thanks for that clarification re: fan headers but no fans on the earlier 1212. Your QED is very
compelling, I read your fan mod description a while back in the mod threads ... some of them
look really nicely made but since I'm not a power user recording around the clock, I was hoping
to get away without having to put one onboard. Now I'm starting to wonder if some units will
require additional cooling even after only moderate use and medium bitrate settings after a
couple of years. Release to market with an unpopulated fan header makes me wonder just what
they were thinking. Plastic case must have passed some benchmark for combustibility, but
this is risky business if you want to keep customers happy. Specialized product aimed at a sort
of niche market, no real nose-to-nose competition re: the product itself, am sure customer
after-sale experience and brand loyalty were not a big part of their business plan.

Meanwhile, just a word of caution re: re-installation of drivers and TME software. If you do this with a
later version of the installation CD than your original installation CD, be prepared for some nasty surprises.
Today I did what looked like a full un-install of all drivers, TME, etc. in advance of attempting to re-install
# 1 of my two original 1212 units on # 1 of my two Inspirons. Used original Hauppauge power adapter,
USB, etc., even put the lid back on the 1212, everything original EXCEPT I intentionally used the
install CD v. 3.1 that shipped with the new units rather that CD v.3.0 that shipped with my older 1212s.
Assumed that would give me a later if not the latest driver, would just update driver further if necessary.
Ended up with a slightly different version of TME 2.0 with new file-type labels on the capture module,
but that's not the worst of it. Post-install, I have lost 16 x 9 aspect ratio for videos played ANYWHERE,
on VLC, Windows Media Player, ArcSoft player in TME. It affects all file-types, FLV, MP4, AVCHD,
16 x 9 is GONE, the one exception being home videos shot in native 1080p on my DXG camera which
still playback in the correct resolution and aspect ratio on the laptop monitor and on my HDTV.

Un-freakin-believable. Subsequent un-install didn't work, driver rollback didn't work, system restore didn't work.

SO ... I am now in the process of unloading everything off Inspiron Blue prior to running system recovery discs,
which I've never had to use in two years of otherwise happy messing around with a fairly bugless system.
When I've re-built Blue folders, programs, etc., will make damn sure to avoid TME like the plague,
will try the Windows 7 Media Center and maybe some other recording programs. Definitely won't be
trying the "newer CD" re-install on Inspiron Red. I may try a test install of a new 1212 on an older
core 2 duo Latitude running XP using the newer CD just to see what it does to the aspect ratio of
videos which normally play fine at 16 x 9.

Un-freakin-believable.

[wayner]

Originally Posted by wbarber69

they never had fans.

I am 99% sure that at least one of my HD-PVRs has a small fan that is about 1.5". I will post a photo when I get a chance.

[lakehouse]

.... such a festive time of year, with all the little bling lights singing,
" Fa-la-la-la-la, we are not FANS " .... 4 of each ripped off 4 lids oughta be
enough to decorate myself a stupid little Blue Christmas tree .... wonder if
they'd scream drowning in a bowl of egg nog ....

[wbarber69]

You only need the original discs to install tme. The latest driver is on the website and it comes from the support page for hdpvr. You do not have to install drivers from the disc to use tme. Just use the tme installer off the disc. Always use hcwclear before any driver updates or rollbacks. After running hcwclear you must restart the computer before installing anymore drivers.

[lakehouse]

I definitely will NOT be re-installing TME or either of my older OR my new Hauppauge 1212s on my system-recovered
Inspiron Blue. For Inspiron Red, I was finally able to restore my 16 x 9 playback for VLC, Windows Media Player, etc.,
but I had to re-install ALL Windows 7 drivers and ALL video apps and drivers and use ONLY the Hauppauge and TME
drivers from Hauppauge HD-PVR install disk ver. 3.0 that came with my older 1212 units. Again, use of drivers on install
disk ver. 3.1 OR use of the latest driver listed at Hauppauge may ELIMINATE 16 x 9 recording ratio in TME and it may
ELIMINATE 16 x 9 playback ratio in all players for videos of ANY previously recorded format. If this has not happened
with your setup, considerate yourself lucky.

I have been through Bell and back trying to get to the bottom of how their HD 6131 receivers handle the incoming satellite
signal. 1080p is not supported, 1080i is only supported for specific sports broadcasts, otherwise Bell satellite's maximum
is normally 720p. Satellite simply transmits signal in whatever format Bell's broadcasters provide to Bell. Sharp Aquos
reports 480p as signal, but this is apparently just a default report when TV is handling different incoming signals .... Sharp
reads 720p incoming from receiver and upconverts to 1080p on screen. 720p incoming from SD channels is obvious as it
shows up as a smaller display on-screen and is not upconverted to fill the screen. Again, it's very strange that Hauppauge
cites this as a possible problem when Bell has done nothing to change its satellite signal - I should have been seeing this
in recording failures two years ago.

So ... I am very reluctant to try the Windows Media Center Setup, as Hauppauge clearly states that the newest driver
( which eliminates 16 x 9 functionality ) must be installed prior to installing the WMC Setup. This driver clearly has
conflicts with other video drivers to the extent of eliminating 16 x 9 functionality in other apps. And I am NOT willing to risk
requiring a full re-install of Windows 7 on Inspiron Red as I had to do for Inspiron Blue. If Hauppauge's "fix" for possible
video "glitches" ( they don't use the term "recording failure" ) due to changes in broadcast signal is to release a driver
which interferes with other apps, they need to go back to the drawing board.

I will no longer use my 1212s to attempt to record 2 different programs from my 2 receivers. I will record the same
program simultaneously on both 1212s, and hope that at least one of them will not freeze up before end of recording.
Success rate in past couple of months is maybe 60 / 40 at best. If a recording freezes, I can try again later on a western
channel thanks to time-shifting.

I cannot speak at all for reliability and performance re: Colossus setup, and in this forum people seem generally
satisfied with it, but the 1212 units paired with TME may or may not give you the following problems:

- power supply - inadequate amperage
- power supply - failure to self-cycle between recordings
- unstable recording while using preview in TME
- overheating - apparently with only moderate use and routine recording at lower bitrates
- problems handling changing broadcast signals, depending on signal source
- driver incompatibility or conflict with other video apps and players

I will not return my 2 new Hauppauge 1212s, will hold onto them as I assume that the older units will eventually crap out
completely. When I have time in the new year, will set up a 1212 on my old Latitude under XP to see if recording is less
failure-prone. The beauty of the 1212 is supposedly in its simplicity of use as a stand-alone unit, portability, etc., but to
have all these issues after barely 18 months of non-intensive use is really annoying. Whenever someone rolls out a
product that actually does what the 1212 is supposed to do, all 4 of my units will go into the recycling bin.

Happy Blue-Bling-Free Holidays to Everyone

[wbarber69]

There is nothing in the hauppauge drivers that dictate what your output resolutionis going to be. Have you tried using hdpvr with sagetv yet. As this is a sagetv forum we can only help you with that respect.