Problems with configuration

[kpaske]

Hello all. I recently built a new system with the intention of creating a multimedia server linked to my home audio/video system. My new system includes a P4/800HT processor, a 160 GB HDD, a DVD Burner, and an ATI All-In-Wonder 9600 Pro video card/TV tuner. Thus far I've been fairly disappointed with my ATI card, mostly because it's software is just not compatible with digital cable, so many of the advertised features are either unavailable, or complicated to implement. Then I learned about SageTV and the Motorola plug-in, and my AIW card's future is looking much brighter!!

Anyhow, enough chit-chat... I've got some configuration problems I'm hoping the experts here can help me with. I've installed the demo version of SageTV 1.4.10, and the Motorola plug-in. The plug-in seems to be working correctly (it changes the channel on my cable box), but I can't seem to get a picture. The ATI software works, so I'm certain it's not an installation issue. Whenever I go to watch LiveTV, I get the following error:

The was a problem utilizing the specific capture configuration. Unable to configure audio capture portion of the filter graph. ErrCode=0x80004005

In addition, whenever I try to change the channel, the cable box changes channels, and the display at the top changes, but still no video, and I also get the following error:

There was a problem with time control in DirectShow. Failed seeking the DirectShow filter graph after switch files. ErrCode=0x80004001

I'm using an ATI AIW 9600 Pro video/tv tuner card, my motherboard's built-in soundcard, and a Motorola digital cable box. I would appreciate any help with these problems, as this software really looks promissing. Thanks in advance!

[stanger89]

ATI AIW is not supportted by SageTV, you need one of the cards listed on this page:
http://www.sage.tv/requirements.html

I'd recomend a WinTV PVR 250, a lot of people running Sage have them and they work great.

[kpaske]

Hmm... I find it hard to believe that one of the most popular brands of video/tuner cards is unsupported; can someone tell me why this is? Regardless, I've noted that at least a handful of folks on this forum said they were using ATI cards so they must work. Is there someone here who could offer me some suggestions?

[ErsatzTom]

Many people use ATI cards as a display adapter but Sage does not support capturing video through the AIW cards because they don't have a hardware mpeg encoder. Sage does not (wisely, imho) support software encoding.

t

[nielm]

I fought with an ATI card for months (using various software including ATI's own efforts) before giving up... a Hauppage PVR-250 (and I guess any other card with a hardware MPEG encoder) is a world of difference in recording and picture quality, and the fact that it uses virtually no CPU when recording means no dropped frames, ever!.

[kpaske]

Well I must say that I'm very disappointed. I read quite a few reviews on Media Center PC's, and most of them used ATI AIW cards. None of them mentioned the incompatibilities with cable boxes. Without the ability to change channels, prescheduled recording is virtually useless. I was hoping SageTV could solve the problem for me. Purchasing a second video capture card is one option, but then the ATI software won't support it. At least if I were to purchase a second ATI card I could use picture-in-picture features or watch a different channel than I am recording on.