HD PVR Woes

[Striker:WG]

OK I just got my HD PVR (rev E2 /w driver 1.053) and Shaw HD Cablebox (Motorola DCT 6200) setup and working... sort of...

I'm hoping to get some guidance to get this fully implemented. Here is a summary of the issues I have encountered so far:

1) I have to force my cable box to 720p. If I set it to 1080i the HD PVR will lock up a couple of seconds after starting to show the stream. This happens in SageTV and TME. I have a 1080i television and would like to use 1080i output from the cable box. Does this work for others? If so, why doesn't it work for me? Is this a video decoder/renderer setting I need to adjust?

2) If I tune into a channel with 5.1 Audio the HD PVR will lock up in Sage but work fine in TME. What can I do to prevent the HD PVR from locking up?

3) If I use the passthrough connection on the HD PVR with 5.1 audio (in TME) my DD signal indicator will light up on my amplifier to indicate it is receiving a 5.1 signal. If I use the audio from the HD PVR itself that DD signal indicator will not light up. My HTPC is connected to my amplifier via SPDIF. Does the HD PVR decode to analog signals and I need to run all the analog lines in order to get my surround sound for HD Cable or is it possible to send the DD signal to the amplifier? Is this an audio decoder setting I need to adjust?

4) Through all the HD PVRreboots, driver re-installs, and system reboots i've seen the top portion of the HD PVR illuminate blue. What does this mean and what is it doing when it lights up like this? The documentation that came with the unit its horrible to say the least.

5) When I tune into a channel HD or SD the playpack is choppy unless I rewind about 5 seconds to allow additional buffer time. I just upgraded my HTPC to a Core 2 Quad Q6600, 4GB 1066 RAM, and an ATI HD3870 512MB video card. This hardware should have no issue handling this setup, why does it need the additional buffer time? Is there a setting I need to adjust or do I just need to wait for better HD PVR drivers to be released?

Any information that can be provided would be greatly appreciated.

[Djc208]

Check the settings on your audio/video drivers and make sure your codec is set to passthrough for DD streams. Some of the codecs can't output DD and will downgrade it to stereo.

[TallMomof2]

1. I have to use 720p, 1080i stutters too much. No lockups. If you check out the threads you will see that some users have to use 1080i, others 720p.
2. Haven't tried 5.1 but many people are having problems. Checkout the stickied thread about the drivers at the top of the hardware forum.
4. The top blue ring indicates that you are recording (or watching live TV in Sage). If you want to turn off that light there is an option in the TME software.
5. I've only had a problem with stuttering on channel changes with the latest MpegDemux file and it only affects live viewing, the stuttering is not present on recordings.

IMO, we're waiting on better drivers/software to resolve the problems. The hardware works but the software needs to catch up. Even with all the problems I'm still happy with the current functionality. I still want improvements but at least it's watchable. I've been waiting several years for an HD solution for HTPCs and this is very, very close.

[Taddeusz]

What version of SageTV are you running?

I have my C2 revision HD-PVR recording 480i, 720p and 1080i with 5.1ch and 2ch AC3, for the most part, just fine. About every week or so it needs a hard reset. But it works great most of the time.

[Striker:WG]

I am using the latest live verison of Sage as I just got setup with it about 2 months ago. Version 6.4. I haven't tried the new beta version yet.

-Striker-