new anomoly with 7.1.7 and Colossus

[tvmaster2]

The audio cancellation problem seems to be gone with the latest release.
Yeah Sage!
But....
Now, pre-programmed recordings are now replacing video with a blue screen. NOT a Windows blue screen, just full-raster blue replacing video.
Audio is uneffected, ironically.

anyone else having this problem? I also have an HD-PVR, and it may be this happens when a HD-PVR recording is in progress.

PS... the only way to restore video on the Colossus is to stop the recording and change the channel.

OK, I have done more testing . . . the only thing that seems to reproduce the problem is when BOTH the HD-PVR and Colossus begin recordings at exactly the same time, which happens quite often.

[KeithAbbott]

I've seen the blue screen a couple of times on my test system, and I don't have my hdpvr connected to it, or the drivers installed. Only had the Colossus connected.

[tvmaster2]

Originally Posted by KeithAbbott

I've seen the blue screen a couple of times on my test system, and I don't have my hdpvr connected to it, or the drivers installed. Only had the Colossus connected.

ah, ok. Thanks. That would indicate a new problem with the 7.1.7 drivers then. Keep posting if you keep seeing it, as it is a hard problem to duplicate.

[gambitpvr]

I've seen this a couple of times as well since updating to the newest Colossus drivers. It happened once with Sage v7.1.5 and once with Sage v7.1.7. My HD-PVR was not recording a show at either time.

I have Sage set to run as a service on my machine. I've found that a stop/start of the Sage service will also fix this problem.

[tvmaster2]

Originally Posted by gambitpvr

I've seen this a couple of times as well since updating to the newest Colossus drivers. It happened once with Sage v7.1.5 and once with Sage v7.1.7. My HD-PVR was not recording a show at either time.

I have Sage set to run as a service on my machine. I've found that a stop/start of the Sage service will also fix this problem.

hmmm - so not until updating the Colossus drivers from Hauppauge? Come to think of it, that may be the case with me as well.
I have now been trying to recreate the problem scientifically and am not getting very far. It just seems to be a random thing. I have turned off auto-updates in Windows 7, because maybe that was causing a problem.
My receiver output is fixed to "source", so that it outputs whatever the channel broadcasts originally.

[gambitpvr]

The blue screen didn't start until I updated my Colossus drivers.

However, with the old drivers, I would sometimes get a mostly-green screen. I could still see the program playing but, it looked like it had a thick green filter on it... and it happened more often.

[tvmaster2]

Originally Posted by gambitpvr

The blue screen didn't start until I updated my Colossus drivers.

However, with the old drivers, I would sometimes get a mostly-green screen. I could still see the program playing but, it looked like it had a thick green filter on it... and it happened more often.

ah, I had that as well, except ONLY when a HD PVR recording triggered in the background. And only on SD channels as well I believe.
That went away with the "hdpvr_magic" setting in Sage.properties.

let us know if you can trigger it with specific measures - I will do the same

[tvmaster2]

Originally Posted by gambitpvr

The blue screen didn't start until I updated my Colossus drivers.

However, with the old drivers, I would sometimes get a mostly-green screen. I could still see the program playing but, it looked like it had a thick green filter on it... and it happened more often.

I have been able to recreate the problem by switching from a HD channel source to a SD channel and visa versa.
It doesn't happen every time, but that DOES seem to be the trigger. It may have something to do with excessive video levels as well, since the SD channel that went "blue" seemed to be outputting illegal white (video) levels. MSNBC is crankin' the whites on my satellite service (Shaw Direct).

The other thought is that the jump in resolution from my receiver's output (I leave it in the source-select mode, as opposed to fixing it) is freaking out the Colossus somehow.

See if you can create the blue screen by jumping back and forth between SD and HD channels

[Tiki]

Originally Posted by tvmaster2

I have been able to recreate the problem by switching from a HD channel source to a SD channel and visa versa.
It doesn't happen every time, but that DOES seem to be the trigger. It may have something to do with excessive video levels as well, since the SD channel that went "blue" seemed to be outputting illegal white (video) levels. MSNBC is crankin' the whites on my satellite service (Shaw Direct).

The other thought is that the jump in resolution from my receiver's output (I leave it in the source-select mode, as opposed to fixing it) is freaking out the Colossus somehow.

See if you can create the blue screen by jumping back and forth between SD and HD channels

If that is the case, you may be able to work around this problem by forcing your cable box to always output a fixed resolution (say 720p or 1080i).

I know a lot of people reported problems with the HD-PVR during resolution changes (personally, my HD-PVR never seemed to have a problem with this, but others have posted that they did).

[tvmaster2]

Originally Posted by Tiki

If that is the case, you may be able to work around this problem by forcing your cable box to always output a fixed resolution (say 720p or 1080i).

I know a lot of people reported problems with the HD-PVR during resolution changes (personally, my HD-PVR never seemed to have a problem with this, but others have posted that they did).

Thanks - the idea of fixing a resolution is my last resort, as I think when a device is advertised as working with many, it SHOULD!

[gambitpvr]

See if you can create the blue screen by jumping back and forth between SD and HD channels

I did some more testing today.

I was able to trigger the blue screen on my Colossus by recording back-to-back-to-back recording of SD - HD - SD channels. On the second SD recording, the screen went blue. When I stopped the blue recording and changed to another channel, the picture went back to normal.

I haven't tried locking the resolution on my cable boxes. I'll have to dig thru the box options to see if that is available (some boxes don't have it). I upgraded to new cable boxes over the last few months and haven't looked for that setting, since I never needed to use it before on my HD-PVR.

[Rico66]

Are you really seeing this issue only now (with this beta version)? This has been around for a long time for the hd pvr, if you use different input resolutions.

One thing that may be worth trying is to increase delay_to_wait_after_tuning, though I'm not 100% sure if that would really delay the start of the recording enough to avoid this problem.

Also, if you try to playback such a recording outside of Sage, it might look completely broken (e.g. plays only in a small frame at the top right Corner if you switch from HD to SD).

[gambitpvr]

Are you really seeing this issue only now (with this beta version)?

I switched over to sage about 8 months ago. My HD-PVR never had this problem...still doesn't. Only see it on the Colossus card.

[tvmaster2]

Originally Posted by Rico66

Are you really seeing this issue only now (with this beta version)? This has been around for a long time for the hd pvr, if you use different input resolutions.

One thing that may be worth trying is to increase delay_to_wait_after_tuning, though I'm not 100% sure if that would really delay the start of the recording enough to avoid this problem.

Also, if you try to playback such a recording outside of Sage, it might look completely broken (e.g. plays only in a small frame at the top right Corner if you switch from HD to SD).

never happened to me with the HD-PVR I've used for the last 18 months - same sat. receiver that is NOW hooked up to the Colossus, and I only use different resolutions, aks 'source' mode. Audio is unaffected

[tvmaster2]

Originally Posted by gambitpvr

I switched over to sage about 8 months ago. My HD-PVR never had this problem...still doesn't. Only see it on the Colossus card.

ditto. Glad you could produce the same fault I did. Now, who do we tell - the Sage 7.1.7 people or the Hauppauge Colossus 29111 people?

[Rico66]

Originally Posted by tvmaster2

never happened to me with the HD-PVR I've used for the last 18 months - same sat. receiver that is NOW hooked up to the Colossus, and I only use different resolutions, aks 'source' mode. Audio is unaffected

Well I've seen this (not 100% sure though) since the beginning of v7. Channel changing in v6 was even less smooth. And I think we have the same sat receiver. Did you play with the delay times? Hd pvr and colossus might have slightly different requirements, how long it takes them to tune to a channel, which is why you only see this now.
Another workaround is to put the receiver already on the right channel beforehand (though that's obviously not always possible, if multiple recordings are outstanding).

[gambitpvr]

I haven't played with the 'delay_to_wait_after_tuning' setting yet. I'll give that a try this weekend.

I guess, as a last resort workaround, I could disable the SD channels on my Colossus lineup and only record them on my HD-PVR. There's only a few of them that I record (G4, Nick, Cartoon Network & HUB). I just hate to waste a tuner to work around a bug issue.

[tvmaster2]

Originally Posted by gambitpvr

I haven't played with the 'delay_to_wait_after_tuning' setting yet. I'll give that a try this weekend.

I guess, as a last resort workaround, I could disable the SD channels on my Colossus lineup and only record them on my HD-PVR. There's only a few of them that I record (G4, Nick, Cartoon Network & HUB). I just hate to waste a tuner to work around a bug issue.

but then the unit is obviously malfunctioning. It's advertised as working with multiple resolutions. Is the "delay" feature in Sage, or the Hauppauge blaster config?

[sleonard]

The "delay' setting is in the sage.properties file. It was introduced several years ago as a workaround to problems with the HD-PVR.

Although both the HD-PVR and the Colossus are advertised as working with multiple resolutions the HD-PVR and, I suspect, the Colossus do not seem to handle changes in resolution mid-stream. At least, not very well. Thus the "delay" setting that gives some time to your cable box to finish the channel change and begin outputting a stable resolution before the Hauppauge hardware starts the capture.

S

[tvmaster2]

Originally Posted by sleonard

The "delay' setting is in the sage.properties file. It was introduced several years ago as a workaround to problems with the HD-PVR.

Although both the HD-PVR and the Colossus are advertised as working with multiple resolutions the HD-PVR and, I suspect, the Colossus do not seem to handle changes in resolution mid-stream. At least, not very well. Thus the "delay" setting that gives some time to your cable box to finish the channel change and begin outputting a stable resolution before the Hauppauge hardware starts the capture.

S

ok, cool. thanks for that. There is also a delay setting in the Hauppauge blaster config, which I use for the Colossus.
What do you recommend as a setting number for the Sage.properties line?