My HD-PVR success story.

[EmuZombie]

I managed to get my HD-PVR working 100% everytime. Here's my setup and the steps I took. Hopefully it can help some of you out.

I have a rev d. I started out having the same lockup issues everyone else was having.

My setup is as follows.
AMD X2 6000+ 2GB RAM
On board Radeon 2100.
Windows XP SP3
Hauppauge PVR-500, 1600, and of course, HD-PVR.

This is the order I went. Based on my research, it would seem that the order is very important.
-I started with a clean install, all XP hotfixes and updates installed.
-Installed most recent drivers for the PVR-500, rebooted, then drivers for 1600, rebooted again.
-Connected the HD-PVR, installed 1.1 drivers, rebooted.
-Installed all codecs needed. I installed, ffdshow, Arcsoft h.264, and DivX h.264 beta 3 (sorry, I cannot provide a link to the DivX h.264 codec, I actually am a member of the beta test and I'm not getting kicked out )
-Installed SageTV, configured all tuners.
-Shutdown SageTV, and edited Sage.properties files changing the following lines:
videoframe/h264_video_decoder_filter=DivX H264 Decoder Filter
delay_to_wait_after_tuning=5000 (this is important for my cable box, it takes on average 3-4 seconds to tune, and it seemed to be causing some of the HD-PVR lockups, this wasn't due to a resolution change either, I have it locked to 720p).

To those wondering, I chose the DivX h.264 codec because it has given me near perfect framerate (dropping less then 10 frames an hour) and lowest cpu usage (under 40%)

After all those steps it seemed to be working great. However after a day the dreaded lock ups started again. Using the tried and true method of unplugging, plugging back in would fix it and it would be fine for a few more days. I could prevent it from locking up by power cycling it once a day when it wasn't recording. That wasn't cutting it though, it became a task I would often forget. That led me to find the "cure all" solution.

I went to the local Walgreens and picked up a digital timer. One mainly intended for turning on and off Christmas lights. I set it up to turn on at 4:11am and off at 4:10am. So for 1 minute everyday the HD-PVR has no power running to it and is basically the same as power cycling it manually. The digital timer is the key as most of the manual kind you can only set by hour, not minute.

It would seem that at least for me, a daily power cycle is all it takes to get good stability and I have not had any problems for over a week now.

Hope this helps some of you out there.

[jriskin]

Does the box itself actually need a power cycle? Or would unplugging the USB do the same thing? If so, then maybe just setting windows up to restart at a specific time could achieve the same results without needing any hardware...

At least until they fix the drivers...

Personally I've just been hitting the power button on the front of the HDPVR when i remember to...

[EmuZombie]

My experience is the box itself needs a power cycle. When the problem first happened to me I wasn't aware of the lockup problem and my first thought was to restart and I did. When that didn't work I tried to unplug the usb cable and plug it back in. I could never get it to work again without power cycling it.

[wammer23]

I have a revision c2 and have experienced some lockups, should I try this as well?

[HelenWeathers]

Originally Posted by wammer23

I have a revision c2 and have experienced some lockups, should I try this as well?

Every one who is still having problems with the HD PVR should try this. I do the same thing to the extreme. My whole system shuts down for a few hours each day and I've not had problem 1 since. Try just the HD PVRs, if that doesn't work, do the entire system.

[jriskin]

Originally Posted by EmuZombie

My experience is the box itself needs a power cycle. When the problem first happened to me I wasn't aware of the lockup problem and my first thought was to restart and I did. When that didn't work I tried to unplug the usb cable and plug it back in. I could never get it to work again without power cycling it.

That's too bad, was hoping for an easy fix
I'll just keep hitting the front/power button until they put out a new driver.

[EmuZombie]

Originally Posted by jriskin

That's too bad, was hoping for an easy fix
I'll just keep hitting the front/power button until they put out a new driver.

$5 plus a trip to Walgreens, Home Depot, or probably any home / hardware store, is an easy fix