STB Firewire (IEEE-1394) Support

[krazie-t]

wow...problem after another...lol Ok I got the SBDARecorderDump to show up, apparently I had an old version of: Dump.ax. Well I added the tuner device, and SBDARecorderDump to the graph, and when I go to link them, I get this error message: "These filters cannot agree on a connection. Verify type compatibility of input pin and output pin. No combination of intermediate filters could be found to make the connection. (Return Code: 0x80040217)

[ke6guj]

Not sure what to tell you but to start from scratch with either the pdf I linked to, or the newer one that evilpenquin linked to.

I just rebuilt my box on Sunday using my linked pdf and a 6200 and got it back working without any problems.

[zetronboy]

The Dump filter was the hardest part for me to get right when first working with Firewire. I tested all the ones I could fine. Some worked, some did not, some gave poor performance or video problems. I settled on Moonlight Xmuxer Pro trial directshow filters for the Muxer and Dump filters. The filter puts a limit on the MPEG decoder in this package but you can use the Mux and dump filter forever w/o $. They no loger sell this but you may find it online.
My graph looks like this:
Moto 6200 AV/C Tuner->NVidia TS Info Parser (PureVideo package)->Mpeg2 Demuxer (generic)->Moonlight M71 Muxer->Moonlight Dump Pos filter.
Add all the filters to you graph first, then connect pins from source device working toward dump filter. You must configure the Muxer before connecting the pins.I configured Input 0 for AC3 audio and Input 1 for Mpeg2 video. Then connect the pins from the Demux to the Mux.
I did some testing with going directly from the M6200 to Dump filter but this did not prove reliable for me.

[thomaszoo]

Originally Posted by zetronboy

...
My graph looks like this:
Moto 6200 AV/C Tuner->NVidia TS Info Parser (PureVideo package)->Mpeg2 Demuxer (generic)->Moonlight M71 Muxer->Moonlight Dump Pos filter.
...
I did some testing with going directly from the M6200 to Dump filter but this did not prove reliable for me.

Mine was reliable when going from the M6200 to the Dump filter, but I could not watch what I was recording. I changed my graph to look like yours and now I can watch what I am recording. Thanks.

Wayne

[Protoman]

One thing to add to the install directions should be the following information:

Originally Posted by Snuffy2

So I've actually gotten it fixed.

For anyone else who is getting the error:

0x800705aa (800705aa) - Insufficient System Resources exist to complete the requested service.

In this case it related to some XP SP2 error relating to Firewire. This Microsoft patch will fix it and all will be well.

http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=885222

Hopefully this will be able to help someone else in the future.

This is from another thread, but this issue was not allowing me to record anything. I tried before this patch and it did not work, and after I patched and rebooted my computer I was able to record flawlessly several different changes both SD and HD.

Thanks,
Protoman

[salsbst]

Originally Posted by Protoman

One thing to add to the install directions should be the following information:



This is from another thread, but this issue was not allowing me to record anything. I tried before this patch and it did not work, and after I patched and rebooted my computer I was able to record flawlessly several different changes both SD and HD.

Thanks,
Protoman

I got that error in Win2k3 Server and solved it with a restart (no patch), so be aware that that error might come from something other than the XP2 problem that the patch addresses.

[davey_fl]

redoing my htpc but using vista instead of xp. I have searched the thread but couldn't find setup procedures or drivers to do this under vista. Can someone point me in the right direction? I assume I'll need a different driver under vista...

Thx

[ke6guj]

Timmoore's firestb driver does have Vista support (at least Vista RC1). He stopped updating it around sept. 06, so I don't know how Vista RTM suppoort is. I also recall there being somebody else picking up the reins and updating the package to support newer STBs, but I don't know if the OS part of the driver got updated.

Personally, there's no way I'd set up my Sage server up as a vista box right now, no need to (and I have 4 unused Vista licenses). My daily PC has been Vista since the beta days, so I like Vista, I just know that I don't want to deal with Vista on my PVR for now.

[sleonard]

I'm currently controlling 3 SA 3250HD cable STB's with a USB-UIRT but am interested in investigating other possibilities especially with the upcoming release of the Hauppage component capture device. The USB-UIRT has been perfectly reliable but the cable boxes are not. Occasionally Cox will perform a SW update and power off the boxes. Since a USB-UIRT can't tell the power state there is the potential of recording just black screen instead of Favorites.

Using Firewire for channel changing is it possible to:
a) get the power status of the box and
b) power the boxes on and off as needed?

Is any of the above working now?

TIA Scott

[grauchy]

How do I change channels by firewire but record by S-Video?

I followed the instructions to change channels at the command prompt by using channel.exe & channelw.exe and it works great, no problems there.

But what I can't figure out is how to get SageTV to use channel.exe or channelw.exe to change channels for my S-Video recording. I don't want to record firewire.

(The reason for this configuration is that I want to control another STB but my USB-UIRT blaster is not going to be able to distinguish between them)

Or maybe someone knows a way to control two identical STB with USB-UIRT?

[ke6guj]

Originally Posted by grauchy

How do I change channels by firewire but record by S-Video?

I followed the instructions to change channels at the command prompt by using channel.exe & channelw.exe and it works great, no problems there.

But what I can't figure out is how to get SageTV to use channel.exe or channelw.exe to change channels for my S-Video recording. I don't want to record firewire.

This thread is mainly for firewire recordings. But there is info for what you want to do here, http://forums.sagetv.com/forums/down...do=file&id=157

(The reason for this configuration is that I want to control another STB but my USB-UIRT blaster is not going to be able to distinguish between them)

Or maybe someone knows a way to control two identical STB with USB-UIRT?

If you want to go this way, then you need to set up zones in your UIRT and run IR blaster cables to each STB. http://forums.sagetv.com/forums/show...ght=uirt+zones

[grauchy]

Thanks.

Those links are exactly what I needed and I got it working.

[grauchy]

Originally Posted by ke6guj

This thread is mainly for firewire recordings. But there is info for what you want to do here,

Ok then. Now that I have channel changing working I'd like to add firewire recording now. But I have a question about STB/S-Video/Firewire conflicts.

I have FIOS and most of the channels are 5C. I don't need to record my locals over firewire since I have them OTA no problem. But DiscoveryHD is available and I'd like to get it in HD rather than S-Video. (I'm awaiting Hauppauge to deliver the holy grail)

My question is. If I add recording over firewire for DiscoveryHD how do I let SageTV know that it's sharing the STB with another tuner hooked to that STB by S-Video?

What I anticipate happening is SageTV trying to use the same STB for two different events and getting conflicted.

[EDIT]
After browsing this and other threads extensively it looks like there's no way to do this.
But if anyone can think of a creative way to work around this let me know.

[mikesm]

Originally Posted by grauchy

Ok then. Now that I have channel changing working I'd like to add firewire recording now. But I have a question about STB/S-Video/Firewire conflicts.

I have FIOS and most of the channels are 5C. I don't need to record my locals over firewire since I have them OTA no problem. But DiscoveryHD is available and I'd like to get it in HD rather than S-Video. (I'm awaiting Hauppauge to deliver the holy grail)

My question is. If I add recording over firewire for DiscoveryHD how do I let SageTV know that it's sharing the STB with another tuner hooked to that STB by S-Video?

What I anticipate happening is SageTV trying to use the same STB for two different events and getting conflicted.





[EDIT]
After browsing this and other threads extensively it looks like there's no way to do this.
But if anyone can think of a creative way to work around this let me know.

Yeah, you really can't share a box like that. But it's a good reason to get a 2nd box...

[gjvrieze]

Is anyone here, running a 1394 STB on Windows x64?? I am wondering if the device drivers in question will work..?? I want to use DCT6200 on my Windows Server 2003 Enterprise R2 x64 machine.....

[bonoman]

I tried it on xp x64 and Vista and finally ended up reverting back to plain 'ol regular 32-bit XP.

[bonoman]

So I still love this way of reading the digital video straight from my cable box. I have a bit of a weird issue that I can't seem to fix (maybe its unfixable?).

My HD stuff looks GREAT through the box, but all the SD channels that are recorded at 480i over firewire seems, uh, pixelly or "blocky", for lack of a better term. Its not choppy for motion, but looks like that on every frame. Spent about 4 hours today searching the boards trying to find someone else with the same issue and no luck. I'm attaching an example picture. Its certainly noticeable in the Discovery channel logo, the top of the microscope and around the guy's neckline and the top left of the skull.

I've tried different resolutions, different decoders, etc. I'm running sgraphrecorder with the dump straight to file as well, latest version of Sage, Vizio 50" plasma and Nvidea GeForce 7600GT.

I have a 5MB original, but it did lose some detail in knocking it down for attachment to this forum. If someone could would need to look at the original to help me out, I'd have no problem e-mailing it. I'm not sure if this is a STG/Sgraph whatever issue, but I figured I'd start here. TIA to anyone who can help!

[evilpenguin]

Originally Posted by bonoman

My HD stuff looks GREAT through the box, but all the SD channels that are recorded at 480i over firewire seems, uh, pixelly or "blocky", for lack of a better term.

Unfortunately, the poor quality you're seeing is due the the cable companies over compressing their SDTV streams when they pack them into digital channels. So, essentially, what you're seeing is what they're sending so there's nothing you can do about it except call them up and complain.

[bonoman]

Originally Posted by evilpenguin

Unfortunately, the poor quality you're seeing is due the the cable companies over compressing their SDTV streams when they pack them into digital channels. So, essentially, what you're seeing is what they're sending so there's nothing you can do about it except call them up and complain.

That's what I'm wondering if its a quality issue or I have something misconfigured. The one thing I forgot to mention is the picture I think looks slightly better when it comes off the cable box with component hookup. That's the part that baffles me - an analog signal from the box looks better than firewire from it that's then pushed through HDMI from the PC? Something about the analog picture just looks.....smoother.

Maybe I'll have to try hooking up HDMI from the box directly to the TV to see what those channels look like.

[frontlinegeek]

A couple of things...

First, check the file sizes of the SDTV recordings. If they are not up around about 1.5 GB per hour, then for sure, your cable CO is compressing the crap out of the stream.

The next thing is that even if there is not a lot of compression, a digital display of low quality SDTV will never "look" as good as when it is displayed via analog outputs. Analog tends to blur edges so you will not see the blockiness as easily.

And lastly, the BEST SDTV out there is a well mastered DVD. They use up nearly 4 GB per hour for audio and video so even if you are getting file sizes of ~1.5 GB per hour (What I usually get), it is just never going to be as good and will not upscale onto 720p or 1080p displays very well.

I watch a lot of SDTV from my firewire setup on a 32" HDTV and I notice the blockiness fairly frequently.