Xcard plugin (alpha 0.0.8 - Jan 16)

[naln]

Originally Posted by RoosterX

This Xcard plugin, what does it support, everything the xcard supports, divx/xvid/mpeg2+1 and so on, and the menu's are showing in ok quality, just curious.. cause i would like alittle better picture quality on my SDTV from my Ati 9550 card with overlay.. and also maybe my PC wouldnt get so hot.. (since there wouldn't be so much CPU activity?

Oh and i use a Hauppage PVR 250, Athlon XP 1200@1000MHz(yes downclocked), 512 Mb CL 2 SD ram, 160 Gb Seagate P-ATA disk.
TIA

In my limited experience I have had it play mpeg2 and mpeg1 well. HD recordings are ok- but liable to freezes/ blank screens and .avi are notoriously unstable. After playing one of the avi files- switching to mpeg2 or other formats is unstable. All said and done- i have only had this setup running for the last 2-3 days!!

The real catch with the Xcard plugin is its ability to render the video and display an OSD/ UI without a VGA card/ VIP pin connection (since most Xcards now do not have the required digi-out pins).

naln.

[ErsatzTom]

Currently only mpeg2 is supported.

t

[nox71]

Can't get the plugin to work, made every modification in sage.properties activate de log file and there is no log file that appear no error. I am using Tvedia with my Xcard and it's working.

Any idea ?

[Opus4]

Are you using SageTV in service mode? If so, I believe you'll have to change sageclient.properties instead.

Edit: oh, and make sure nothing else is using the Xcard at the same time.

- Andy

[naln]

Originally Posted by nox71

Can't get the plugin to work, made every modification in sage.properties activate de log file and there is no log file that appear no error. I am using Tvedia with my Xcard and it's working.

Any idea ?

Do you have the latest drivers for the Xcard installed? If not check the driver version you have and the one on the Sigma website.

naln

[nox71]

Thanks Opus4, yes i was uing Sage in service mode so i configure the sageclient properties file and now it work. One more question when trying to playback divx files it don't seem to work do i have something special to do ?

[naln]

Originally Posted by nox71

Thanks Opus4, yes i was uing Sage in service mode so i configure the sageclient properties file and now it work. One more question when trying to playback divx files it don't seem to work do i have something special to do ?

Only mpeg2 is supported by the plugin. I find that anything else either will not play or the system becomes unstable after an attempt to play an unsupported file format.

Also, you might want to switch out the original background in sage folder with the one supplied with the plugin and do the " translucent rendering" turned off- both discussed earlier in this thread- I find a very great improvement in plugin response time with this.

naln.

[jrronimo]

Forgive me if this is a question that's been answered a lot of times already, but the first post isn't very informatvie in this regard, and I don't have the time to dig through 13 pages of posts (sorry!).

BUT! Am I to understand that this plugin would allow me (if I had SageTV) to use my XCard as the sole interface for Sage? Does it support the XCard remote?

I have a DVB-T card that I'd like to use to watch TV. Could I use this plugin to let me watch TV through the XCard? (I don't have any other source for video out at the moment). Could I record TV while using this?

Does this plugin route all audio through the XCard's SPDIF (Coax)?

Sorry for all of the questions... just trying to find out if this will do everything I want.

Edit:// Sorry, but is DVD playback functional? SageTV says that it has "Local DVD Playback", but the early posts for this plugin say that it's not working. Which is true?

[naln]

Originally Posted by jrronimo

BUT! Am I to understand that this plugin would allow me (if I had SageTV) to use my XCard as the sole interface for Sage?

Yes!

Originally Posted by jrronimo

Does it support the XCard remote?

Not as far as I know.

Originally Posted by jrronimo

I have a DVB-T card that I'd like to use to watch TV. Could I use this plugin to let me watch TV through the XCard? (I don't have any other source for video out at the moment). Could I record TV while using this?

Yes you could watch TV via X'card. Note:- Only MPEG2 though (no mpg1,HD, divX etc).
You can record while you watch- no problem. DVB records and X'card outputs to TV- either live or recorded.....

Originally Posted by jrronimo

Does this plugin route all audio through the XCard's SPDIF (Coax)?

Yes. Thats what I found-

Originally Posted by jrronimo

Edit:// Sorry, but is DVD playback functional?

Never tried it actually.

I have now started using Matrox450 dual head for video out. I loved the X-card, just switched since I had PCI/ IRQ errors using the X-card with a SATA controller. So SATA controller took precedence- HD .

[nicksteel]

Am trying to capture an animated screensaver to file. All screen capture programs I've tried (Fraps, CamStudio,etc.) are too slow and end up with jerky captures. I need something to transmit the screen to a capture card. My computers both have onboard intel graphics and capture cards, but no tv output.

Ran across mention of xcard and remembered that I had purchased one when it was first released, then never opened the box since. Tried to install it with the cd and ended up with a pink, blurred screen on my monitor. Removed the card! Saw today that there are some 2003 drivers available (downloaded them). Will try installing the xcard again with the new drivers. The s-video plug is very loose in the jack and I don't know if this is causing the weird screen.

Question:

Is there anyway to send the screen through the xcard's s-video port to my Hauppage pvr-150 card?

[gplasky]

Originally Posted by nicksteel

Am trying to capture an animated screensaver to file. All screen capture programs I've tried (Fraps, CamStudio,etc.) are too slow and end up with jerky captures. I need something to transmit the screen to a capture card. My computers both have onboard intel graphics and capture cards, but no tv output.

Ran across mention of xcard and remembered that I had purchased one when it was first released, then never opened the box since. Tried to install it with the cd and ended up with a pink, blurred screen on my monitor. Removed the card! Saw today that there are some 2003 drivers available (downloaded them). Will try installing the xcard again with the new drivers. The s-video plug is very loose in the jack and I don't know if this is causing the weird screen.

Question:

Is there anyway to send the screen through the xcard's s-video port to my Hauppage pvr-150 card?

Your PC may be too slow. Try this:
Capture Professional 6This will capture directly from a DirectX surface so any games or probably your screensaver will capture fine.

Gerry

[naln]

Originally Posted by nicksteel

Question:

Is there anyway to send the screen through the xcard's s-video port to my Hauppage pvr-150 card?

Not sure if the Xcard can display screensaver on the TV out. I think the sage screensaver showed up on the Xcard video out using the Xcard Plugin. Don't use the Xcard anymore- so can't check...

[sward]

I have downloaded and installed the XCard plugin from the forums, however I am only getting audio, no video. I have selected Xcard as my MPEG decoder and "overlay" as the rendering method within SageTV, and I made the required changes to my Sage client properties file. I believe the modifications need to be made to the client file if I am using SageTV as a service. Please let me know if that isn't the case. I also know that my XCard is working because I am able to view DVDs with almost no CPU usage. What can I do to try and get this working?

[Opus4]

You've followed all the instructions in the Xcard plugin thread?

In SageTV, there is no need to select the Xcard as the mpeg decoder; the plugin handles all of the output.

Make sure the Xcard's software is not running when you start SageTV -- only one or the other can use the Xcard at one time.

- Andy

[sward]

Yes, I did follow all the instructions. They mention adding lines to the properties file. I added these lines to the Sage client properties file b/c I am running SageTV in service mode. Is this correct? Most of the lines were already populated in the sage client properties file, so I think this is correct.

I'm assuming there is no harm in selecting XCard as the MPEG decoder within SageTV. If that's not the case, please let me know.

How can I tell if something else is accessing the XCard, thereby preventing SageTV from displaying video?

[Opus4]

It has been a _long_ time since I configured that plugin. When you edited sageclient.properties, had you first exited the SageTV UI? If not, the properties file edits won't work. Check to make sure they are still in the file -- speciafically the two xxxxx_plugin_class properties.

I'm merging these posts into this thread, so that maybe someone else using the plugin will remember something else to check.

- Andy