HD-PVR 2

[SHS]

Originally Posted by MilkmanCDN

Purchased a couple of these to give them a try. Couldn't resist tearing one of them apart (and putting it back together of course) to see how they're made. I found the plastics construction ingenious, with reassembly taking very few steps. Only 4 screws hold the device together. Plastic clips integrated into the molding holds everything else together.

What I found disappointing was that the board was placed upside-down inside the chassis. That wouldn't be a bad thing, except for the Magnum DX6215 chip (with large heat-sink) in the center of the PCB. Heat will conduct up and wick through entire board. Looks like the designers wanted to minimize component count/assembly steps. The main power switch was placed on top of the device (and bottom of the PCB), which makes for a cheaper design, as opposed to a side-mounted switch. Also noticed that they used a thermal pad between the DX6215 and heatsink (which I promptly replaced with AS5). The bottom of the device features numerous holes in the chassis. I suspect that the device would stay cooler if operated upside-down.

For those of you that are interested in the electronic components and their associated connections, I've attached a block-diagram of the internals.

Comments/Questions are welcome.

Yup agree I didn't like way they did motherboard upside down in the case in fact I flip mine over and yes the device dose stay cooler if operated upside-down.
That not a power switch that a record launch button for showbiz to rec and stop rec just so you know.

[redbaron73]

Originally Posted by SHS

Just an up date so far no problem what so ever after 36 hour of back to back 30 min recoding+channel changing and still strong ho may I think we have a real winner but there still 12 hours to go.

I removed my 2 colossus cards and setup 2 new HD-PVR2 in my sage system. I am using Component video + analog audio, but the video is real jerky with lots of pauses. This was a problem I was having with colossus after 2-3 days, but now this happens on a fresh boot with HD-PVR2. I am using driver version 1.2.30311. Is this driver a problem? Should I go with a different version?

The process I ran was: remove colossus, hwclear, install hdpvr2 with v1.2.30311, run the patches (64bit) setup tuner, change to H264 Great, and reboot.

I appreciate any advise.

[SHS]

redbaron73 be sure to try just one HD-PVR 2

[redbaron73]

So i removed the 2nd tuner from sage, shutdown the pc and disconnected the second hdpvr2. For good measure I rebooted the first hdpvr2. Same result.

This may be a chipset issue because I have noticed that if I use 'certain' usb ports on my mobo, the system thinks there is a ghost mouse, and just randomly moves around clicking, etc. This only happens with hauppage drivers being installed when they are in the primary usb ports.

I have researched the issue, and no one seems to experience this, but I am on my third mobo, but all have had the P55 chipset.

If the latest drivers are not the issue, then I should be considering just replacing the whole machine.

[SHS]

I did some researched on that issue with P55 and from look of it the P55 Chipset is well know for have problem with USB
Well if you can I say change out the motherboard to Z77 Motherboard that if system is home build

[BobPhoenix]

Or buy an NEC based USB card.

[redbaron73]

Wow..good to know! I am going to Fry's now, and will post an update

[redbaron73]

I have a Renesas USB 3.0 card in this machine now, and it too is causing the problems. Should I attempt to locate an NEC chipset, or do you think mobo is better solution?

[SHS]

Originally Posted by redbaron73

I have a Renesas USB 3.0 card in this machine now, and it too is causing the problems. Should I attempt to locate an NEC chipset, or do you think mobo is better solution?

That is an NEC Controller
Say redbaron where are from sound like your in Dallas, Texas? wow if so you to far from me I'm about 100miles north of you in OK.
I was just wonder redbaron do the video clip also playback like that in Windows Media Player?.

[BobPhoenix]

Not sure how Hauppauge drivers are but I had a problem with a USB3.0 external encloser plugged into a USB2.0 port - just didn't work. Switched to USB2.0 cable and worked fine. Maybe the HD-PVR2 has similar problem but in reverse - going to USB3.0 port? You might try a USB2.0 NEC card and cable if SHS can't get you working.

[redbaron73]

I am in Fort Worth. The culprit has to be the mobo and CPU combo as I plugged into a p4 and it is outperforming my i5 p55 setup.

I went to frys but didn't find a decent z77 setup so I ordered from amazon. Wouldn't you know it, prime next day didn't deliver Due to "an exception with our shipper". Hopefully I get it to tomorrow or I am going to settle with what frys has.

I could not find an nec usb2 controller as a pcie when I looked but maybe best buy.

I appreciate all the help!

[redbaron73]

Originally Posted by SHS

That is an NEC Controller
I was just wonder redbaron do the video clip also playback like that in Windows Media Player?.

Yes. And the whole machine is just dragging, as if I were compiling the entire os for debug build! Has to be hardware conflict.

[BobPhoenix]

Originally Posted by redbaron73

I could not find an nec usb2 controller as a pcie when I looked but maybe best buy.

FYI If you choose to go this way: Here is the one I got. It appears to be working well for me so far. Got it in April been using it off and on since. About 3 months straight now.

[SHS]

BobPhoenix the problem is in the chipset it self I think it was a was design problem, any way from what read on matter it didn't make any diff when other try to add in a stand along USB card.

[phelme]

So I'm having trouble telling from this thread, are people having success with this Gaming Edition HD-PVR?

One of my older HD-PVR's is having serious audio sync issues of late. Especially on the FX Network for some reason. I think it must be the box itself as it worked fine until 5 months ago and this and stuttering started to happen. I've quelled the stuttering by replacing the power adapter and taking the cover off the case (for heat). But the audio sync thing still happens on occasion. I've even stopped using the digital optical connection and went to the RCA stereo analog pair and the audio still can go out of sync. Happened just last night with the Sons of Anarchy finale in fact.

Anyway, at this point I don't care if the Gaming Edition doesn't have the optical 5.1 input, I just want a box this stays in sync. My other HD-PVR has no issues with audio, optical input and all, so I figure it must be that particular box.

[Evil_Attorney]

Originally Posted by phelme

So I'm having trouble telling from this thread, are people having success with this Gaming Edition HD-PVR?
One of my older HD-PVR's is having serious audio sync issues of late. .

Phelme, I've been having tons of audio problems with my two, original HDPVRs lately, after many, many months of them working perfectly with optical 5.1 sound. By any chance, are you using Directv? I suspect that they are causing my problems, but am not positive (troubleshooting has been a pain).

Right now 5.1 optical out from either Directv receiver gives periodic interruptions of 3-4 seconds (the HDPVR stops and starts) and occasional audio sync issues. PCM over optical is better, stays in sync but the sound will cut out periodically for about 1 second. Finally the sound is ALWAYS out of sync by about 1 second when using RCA and I still notice sound gaps of a fraction of a second periodically. I tried new optical cables and a new PCIe usb 3.0 board, but nothing helped.

Was thinking of picking up an HDPVR 2 to see if it could handle these issues any better (especially with the HDMI in).

[wayner]

@Evil_Attorney - have you tried new power adapters? I have two original HD-PVRs and they both started acting flaky which was fixed by replacing the power adapters.

[Evil_Attorney]

No Wayner, I haven't. Can I order these power supplies somewhere?

[wayner]

I think you can buy them from Hauppauge or you may have one that will work sitting around from an old router.

Check out this thread (http://forums.sagetv.com/forums/showthread.php?t=57322) as it has suggestions from others who have replaced the adapter - the problem is due to 'capacitor plague' caused by poor quality capacitors and has affected all sorts of electronics over the last decade or so.

[Evil_Attorney]

Thanks. Looking at these posts, it all makes sense now. Not sure how I overlooked this issue before. I'm going to order two up today and hopefully it fixed my issues.