Can't get PureVideo set as default for some reason?

[popechild]

Hi guys,
Brand new install, so everything's clean as can be. Installed Hauppauge 1600 and Avermedia a180. Then installed Purevideo decoder. Everything installed great. DECCHECK shows Purevideo as the default decoder. Also used RadLight Filter to bump up priority to "preferred." Still, when I playback video I don't get the purevideo icon in the system tray.

I would assume it's just the icon missing and not a reflection of purevideo not being used, but then when I select the nvidia decoder specifically in sage, playback is noticeably smoother. Selecting 'default' is okay, but has more stutter and not as clean colors.

Also tried playing back a dvd with WMP11. I don't get the nvidia icon by doing this either. So it looks like nvidia is NOT getting used by default, but it's showing as the preferred decoder w/ DECCHECK, so I'm not sure how else to force it to be used. Actually though, even when I select to specifically use the nvidia decoder, and it does playback smooth, I still don't get the icon in the tray.

Any suggestions for me?? Thanks in advance!!

[bialio]

The icon never shows up when you are in Sage - so don't worry about that.

If your picture quality is good when you select it speficially, then just do that.

btl.

[popechild]

Originally Posted by bialio

The icon never shows up when you are in Sage - so don't worry about that.

If your picture quality is good when you select it speficially, then just do that.

btl.

You sure about that? I've always had it show up whenever I was using nvidia as the 'default' in sage, but not when it was chosen directly. It's only stopped showing up since I wiped the system and started fresh.

On top of that, I seem to get noticeably better results when choosing nvidia specifically within sage than when I choose 'default' in sage, which also makes me think it's not being used as the default...

[doc]

Do you have the decoder in sage set to 'default'? so that it picks up the system default?

I remember reading that if you select the decoder by name in Sage that it doesn't always pop up the icon. scratches head now, I moved to mvp's a long time ago and the grey matter's not what it used to be.

EDIT. There should be some old threads in the forum somewhere where people have had the same problem.....

[popechild]

Originally Posted by doc

Do you have the decoder in sage set to 'default'? so that it picks up the system default?

I remember reading that if you select the decoder by name in Sage that it doesn't always pop up the icon. scratches head now, I moved to mvp's a long time ago and the grey matter's not what it used to be.

EDIT. There should be some old threads in the forum somewhere where people have had the same problem.....

Yeah, maybe I haven't been clear enough.

1) If I select 'nvidia' directly in the video/audio settings within sage, I get great playback but no icon.

2) If I select 'default' in the video/audio settings within sage, I get no-so-great playback and STILL no icon.

3) If I playback a dvd within WMP11 I still get no icon.

4) If I look at DECCHECK, it shows nvidia as the preferred decoder though...

[doc]

You're doing things correctly.

I found this thread, I don't know if theres anything in there that might help.

http://forums.sagetv.com/forums/showthread.php?t=23895

[popechild]

Originally Posted by doc

You're doing things correctly.

I found this thread, I don't know if theres anything in there that might help.

http://forums.sagetv.com/forums/showthread.php?t=23895

Thanks for the link. It didn't help me fix the problem, but it did help me find some more info...

1) Like 'InTheFlow' experienced in that thread, I AM able to get the icon to show up by doing all three (has to be all three) of the following:
- swtich video decoder to nvidia (explicitly - can't be 'default')
- switch audio decoder to anything BUT default
- switch audio renderer to anything BUT default

This helps me see that it's working (though I can't get into the settings, as you never can if you're not using it in sage as 'default'). I had pretty much known it was working when I selected it directly however, simply due to the better playback. Doesn't help me if I can't get in and change the settings though.

2) More importantly, there was a mention in that thread of using 'dvdupgrd /detect' from the command line to see which dvd decoder is being used. Sure enough, when I run this command I get a window telling me that my decoder is 'MainConcept AG' - I think this is what was automatically installed with the Hauppauge, which I didn't have before this clean install.

So it looks like that's being used for some reason, even though DECCHECK says the purevideo decoder is the default. I'm going to try to remove that decoder and see if it helps, since I can't figure out a way to just "lower it" in the priority anymore than it already is...

[popechild]

Okay, so I see (HERE that it's not actually the Hauppauge decoder that's getting 'stuck' - it's the Sage decoder. In that same thread, the other person who's had this problem said support just told him to uninstall-reinstall Sage. Not exactly what I was hoping for, seeing as how this is a brand new installation to begin with.

Unless I can figure something else out though that may be the only option I can think of right now.

[popechild]

Okay, so I finally got the video side of this figured out. Looks like it was the Hauppage driver after all that was 'sticking' and not wanting to let go. Not sure why, but I was finally able to use RadLight to set it to not use the Hauppauge decoder and use nvidia instead. Got the icon and everything!

Now to the not quite there part: Audio.

I set the 'prefer other decoder' setting in WMP, which lets me use nvidia for audio. When I playback a file in WMP, then go into the nvidia settings through the icon, I get the audio tab and can adjust the audio settings. However, when I use either default or 'nvidia' through Sage, the audio tab is no longer seen on the nvidia properties popup. So I can't even tell for sure if it's using nvidia as the default. I'd guess it is since it's being used in WMP, but in WMP it shows the nvidia audio tab, whereas in sage it does not.

Any ideas on this one?? :-)

[Taddeusz]

What is your audio setup? Are you using SPDIF to a receiver or using analog out? I personally never had much luck with the Nvidia audio decoder. Particularly for SPDIF output. I ended up configuring and using the latest AC3Filter for that. Worked out much better than the Nvidia audio decoder ever did.

Edit: I now have an MVP on my TV instead of a media PC so I no longer need all that extra baggage. Although I still use AC3Filter on my client machine for audio duties.

[popechild]

Originally Posted by Taddeusz

What is your audio setup? Are you using SPDIF to a receiver or using analog out? I personally never had much luck with the Nvidia audio decoder. Particularly for SPDIF output. I ended up configuring and using the latest AC3Filter for that. Worked out much better than the Nvidia audio decoder ever did.

Edit: I now have an MVP on my TV instead of a media PC so I no longer need all that extra baggage. Although I still use AC3Filter on my client machine for audio duties.

SPDIF to receiver. By going in and changing the audio settings in WMP, I was able to determine that Sage IS actually using nvidia as the default audio decoder. Just strange that the audio settings tab is not present in the nvidia options while using Sage.

Kind of a pain that I'll have to open up WMP to get access to the nvidia options if I ever need to change anything on the audio side, but not the end of the world I guess.