Multiple HD recording issue

[ptaylor]

I recently reloaded Windows on my Sage machine. I think since this has been done, I have been unable to get two simultaneous HD recordings.

The problem started out last week when two shows were supposed to start recording in HD at 8PM. One failed. After some troubleshooting, it seemed as though nothing I did with my HD Wonder card resulted in any show being recorded. My ATI 650 kept on chugging away...

So, I removed the HD Wonder and figured it was giving up the ghost, being my oldest HD card.

Tonight, I picked up a HVR-1600... ($99 at CompUSA w/ a $10 MIR, bringing the total down to $89... Not too bad for a dual tuner card) I removed my PVR-250 and my HD Wonder, leaving only the ATI 650 and the HVR-1600. Installed the drivers from their website, added the tuner to Sage, and all was good.. (Except Sage only wanted to let me use either the HD or the SD tuner at once, not both - But I've read elsewhere this is fixed in the latest beta.) Anyhow, I tried two HD recordings at the same time... The HVR-1600's show recorded fine, but the ATU 650 didn't - Same problem as the HD Wonder had, oddly enough... Since both cards could independently record in HD, I thought that perhaps I had an issue with IRQs, perhaps, so I jockeyed the cards around. Same result. At this point, I boxed the HVR-1600 up.. I figured if it caused problems with my ATI 650, I didn't want it. I put my PVR-250, ATI 650, and HD Wonder all back in their original slots...

Then, I popped in the Acronis True Image CD, booted up, and restored my OS drive back to the point just before I shut down the system to install the HVR-1600. I have rarely had to restore an entire drive. Truth be told, I probably could have done without it here too, but I'm trying to do what I can to keep this installation "clean" since I just rebuilt the machine. That'll probably last a few months, if I'm lucky. Anyhow, Acronis came through and my machine rebooted, launched Sage and I was back with my two active cards in Sage (with my HD Wonder being an outcast.)

Since I had the same problem with the ATI 650 that I had with the HD Wonder, I thought that I should try the HD Wonder again... Added it back to Sage... When selecting the Digital Tuner, I saw HD video, while adding the card back to Sage.. Good... Started two recordings, and BAM, the one recorded by the HD Wonder showed "No Signal" when I tried to play it... Other recorded fine... So, this symptom moved back to the HD Wonder... Both the ATI 650 and HD Wonder could record in HD, as long as they weren't both trying to at the same time...

So I thought a bit.. Both cards are obviously working properly, as long as they are not both in use at the same time... I am also pretty sure that both had not successfully recorded simultaneously since I reloaded Windows. What was different with this Windows install than my previous install?... Then it hit me -- DRIVERS!... When I reinstalled, I downloaded the latest drivers for both the ATI 650 and HD Wonder. I found the HD Wonder driver package again and reinstalled the HD Wonder drivers, rebooted, then started two HD recordings again. Now, both are recording properly again! Problem solved... (I think) There must be a slight problem where some component of the driver installation from the ATI 650 conflicting with the HD Wonder. Perhaps I installed the ATI 650 last and a portion of that driver package contained a newer version of a file also used by the HD Wonder...

Whatever the case, I don't care.. It appears to be working.. I just wanted to share my experience with everyone in case anyone else had ran across (or does so in the future) something similar.

So, I'll be off to CompUSA in the morning to return this HVR-1600, as I don't appear to need it...