Firewire Recording not working

[digitalgm]

First, let me apologize for not posting this in the Firewire STB thread but that place is BEYOND cluttered and its only ONE thread. There should be a whole section for this. Anyways....

I am not sure what I am doing wrong but I cant get VLC to show the stream for the life of me.

I am using a SA3250HD connected to my laptop over firewire. I have loaded up the drivers from thegreenbutton site and everything installs fine. For some reason though, when I use VLC to attempt to view the stream all I get is a blank screen. VLC never expands to show the video like it is supposed to but sometimes I catch the timer on the bottom starting as if it is playing video. I have tried this on my SD & HD locals as well as other HD and SD channels with no success. Please help.

I have verified that the firewire port is active though because my TV has a firewire connection and I can view the video just fine over that.

PLEASE HELP!

[polen]

I skipped the VLC test and went right to the GraphEdit test. Make your graph and test it like in here

If that doesn't work, try the channelw.exe in the firewire changing channel section of the previos doc. If that doesn't work then your firewire driver may not be working right.

-Polen

[digitalgm]

Thanks for your reply. I have tried this with my laptop and it started to record a file which quickly rose to around 20MB. However, when I attempted to play this file I got nothing. Windows media player appeared unaware at how to handle the file. I then did some searching and downloaded HDTV Pump which is apparently a filter made just for these types of uses. After downloading this, I played the file and got nothing. The player would indicate "PLaying" for about 2 seconds and then stop.

Thank you
AdamR

[BobPhoenix]

Have you checked to see if the channel(s) you are viewing are 5C'd. It is possible that your TV would play them because it defines itself to the STB as a TV so then they are playable but the recorder would not look like a TV to the STB so it would 5C the channel. Just a guess but thought it might be something to look at. I do not know how to check for 5C on a SA3250HD but instructions are around.

BobP.

[digitalgm]

BobPhoenix : I had been wondering the same thing myself however I had no idea what to look for if it was 5C'd.

After some searching I found this :

There are 2 types of SA3250HD, to check whether 5C is enabled for a channel depends on the type (try the instructions for one type and if it doesn’t work try the other).

For a SA3250HD with SARA software:

· On the box itself (not using the remote), press and hold the "+" button for a few seconds, the "envelope" light will come on blinking. (the + button is the "bulls-eye" in the middle of the 4 "arrow" keys).

· Press the "info" key next

· 19 pages of data are available. Use the left / right navigation keys to move thru pages. Firewire port status is last or second to last page. SA will show CCI/EMI state rather than use the "5c" nomenclature. This is shown channel by channel so you must change channels to check state of the channel of interest

· Quit by pressing the "exit" key on the front panel.



For a SA3205HD with Passport software:

· Go to your diagnostic channel (try 996)

· Press "exit" on the STB, a new screen opens

· Scroll down to 1394, it will display info for the last channel you tuned to



If 5C is enabled then firewire recording will not work for that channel.

Excerpted from http://72.14.209.104/search?q=cache:...ient=firefox-a

Im going to try this as soon as I get home today.

[digitalgm]

I tried what it said above and got the following results (attached)

[digitalgm]

Since then I have tried a local that was in HD and the screen showed "free" instead of "once" and it appears that I was able to record a stream. Playing back the stream on my HTPC results in a crash but the transport slider does move Playing in VLC gives me about 10seconds of nothing and then some garbled (bottom half of screen only) video and then nothing.

Edit: Just tried my other desktop and it plays immediately but is garbled on the lower half of the screen. If someone has a place where I can upload this file (5MB) and can take a look at it I would be VERY appreciative.

Originally Posted by digitalgm

I tried what it said above and got the following results (attached)

[BobPhoenix]

Originally Posted by digitalgm

I tried what it said above and got the following results (attached)

The "once" on the 1394 screen makes me think it might be but it sure is easier to determine on my motorola STB. Hopefully you or anyone else that actually "Knows" what they are looking at can take a look and give a correct answer. Because I sure can't.

BobP.

Edit: Well based on your other post I would say that free means that it isn't 5C'd and once means that it is. But once again I am not an expert.

[digitalgm]

Bob : The HD channels like HBO, SHO, etc all say "once" in that area HOWEVER the locals say "free" which leads me to believe that the premiums are locked down but the locals are available (makes sense to me)

Would you be able to take a look at this capture that I made and let me know if you can play it?

Thanks,
AdamR

[BobPhoenix]

Originally Posted by digitalgm

Bob : The HD channels like HBO, SHO, etc all say "once" in that area HOWEVER the locals say "free" which leads me to believe that the premiums are locked down but the locals are available (makes sense to me)

Would you be able to take a look at this capture that I made and let me know if you can play it?

Thanks,
AdamR

I can try. I will PM you my email address.

BobP.

[digitalgm]

Originally Posted by BobPhoenix

I can try. I will PM you my email address.

BobP.

Check your email - I sent a 5MB clip

[BobPhoenix]

Nope I can't play it either as you sent it. I was able to run it through VideoRedo and "Quickstream fix" it and then it is playable. But most of the image is gone like you mentioned. VideoRedo cannot fix that. I'm sorry but I'm afraid that I am at the limit of my helpfulness on this. I don't use Firewire because all the channels I'm interested in recording are 5C'd. I think you are going to need someone else that actually has Firewire working on a SA3250HD to help you further - sorry.

BobP.

[digitalgm]

Thanks for trying, I really do appreciate it.

Can anyone else help?