HD-PVR lock-up roll call

[MeInMaui]

Originally Posted by HelenWeathers

I would like to hear from users not having problems on what they are using to change channels: USB-UIRT, Haup Blaster, Firewire or serial cable. Users with single HDPVR and Multiple HDPVRs.

I'm using firewire for channel changing (two STB's, but only one with an HD-PVR). I have my STB output set to native passthrough.

[HelenWeathers]

Thanks for your response MeInMaui.

SageTV RC 6.4.7 is out. Has some changes for the HD PVR. Will install it later tonight and give it a spin.

[sleonard]

I'm using a USB-UIRT to change channels on my 3 SA 3250HD cable boxes. I am going to try firewire as soon as the rest of these issues are sorted out.

Today I must have had a power outage. When I came home from work the server had been rebooted, all the STB's were off, and Device Manager had all 3 HD-PVR's listed as unknown devices. I had to power cycle them before DM would recognize them.

S

[MeInMaui]

Well, I should have kept my mouth shut.

I got a few lockups over the last couple of days. I just didn't notice it until I went to watch the shows and they were all black. I restarted the HD-PVR last night and it seems fine again for the moment.

Aloha,
Mike

[HelenWeathers]

If you are using one HD PVR don't be afraid of Sage RC 6.4.7 Beta. I am now testing with one PVR and have been recording back2back for over 4hrs now with no problems. The rec light still does not come on for me but I don't care right now.

After my last recording completes, I'll power down, hook up HDPVR2 and report back on that later.

[neuron2]

I got my C2 unit and experienced artifacting. As a digital video engineer, I immediately suspected overheating. I opened the unit and saw a small fan that was not running, and which was right up against the case with no holes for airflow ANYWHERE in the case.

The first thing I discovered is that if you disable the bling LEDs in the dialog box, you also disable the fan! I also discovered that the fan runs only during capture, but that is crazy because even when previewing the encoder is working.

My solution was to cut a 3-inch hole in the top, mount a 12V fan, and drill a row of 9 3/8-inch holes in each side of the case for exhaust. The fan is powered by a cheap Radio Shack AC adapter.

Now I have no artifacts and I sleep better knowing that the chips are cool.

It's really disgusting that they could release something in this state. Maybe they have a lot of cases in inventory and don't want to embark on a re-design just yet.

[HelenWeathers]

WELL!! SageTV RC 6.4.7 Beta works like a charm. The record light now works on both units and is triggered while recording AND WHILE WATCHING LIVE TV. Unlike neuron2 I like the lights. To each his own. EDIT: I am having some issues with the second unit but not sure if that's the unit, the drivers or Sage. Works for first few recordings on both units then second unit fails. Will run second unit byitself tomorrow and see if unit is working.

I can't tell you how gratefull I am for the people on this board for continuing to provide information, AND especially the people at Sage for working to deliver such a great product and working so hard to make Sage work with the HD PVRs.

Originally Posted by neuron2

It's really disgusting that they could release something in this state. Maybe they have a lot of cases in inventory and don't want to embark on a re-design just yet.

Hauppauge has really dropped the ball on this one. The Analog Devices chip (ADV 7401) is in desperate need of a heat sink. And the case fan is a joke. It is mounted so flat against the wall that it cavitates and moves NO air. I took a heat sink from an old Compaq evo and mounted it on the ADV chip, added an always on 12v fan over a hole I cut in the top of the case. Drilled some holes like neuron2 but in the rear of the case top. All is well in Weatherville.

[HelenWeathers]

Well, my Vista system recorded on both HD PVRs with SageTV 6.4.7 for about 5 hrs today with channel switching on both PVRs at 1/2 to 1 hr intervals. Everything recorded perfectly. I have no black screens. I do have all media center services turned off (services.msc) on the Vista machine.

I'll turn off media services on the XP machine and give that a try again. I forgot I had done a rollback and the services were turned back on before my test yesterday.

To sum up: 1 HD PVR works for me on Vista and XP MCE with 6.4.7
2 HD PVRs work for me in Vista.

[sleonard]

Came home from work and #1 was recording Top Gear but had no recording light and the no signal message in Sage. I turned off all power management last week so it's not a sleep issue.

I power cycled it using the front power button and it started working again so I think it's time to call Hauppage. I hope I don't have to RMA these yet again, the cost for shipping them back is getting ridiculous.

S

[HelenWeathers]

I can't get XP MCE to record consistently. On the other hand I can't get XP MCE to fail consistently either. I cold boot my system 15 minutes before recording start time, wait five minutes and load sage. Recording starts on time and both units record lights come on.

Sometimes PVR2 fails 15-90 minutes after recordings start.

Other times, with the same cold boot/Sage startup process, I get 4 hours of recordings from both tuners.

sleonard, have you tried using the unit with arcsoft/win tv scheduler? I set up 8 hours of recordings on each of my PVRs (with only one PVR attached to the computer during each 8 hour period time - then repeated with the other PVR). Neither of my PVRs failed during those tests. It's only when I have two units hooked up that I have problems. And so far, only with XP MCE. I have all MCE services turned off.

I know both of my units are OK. I think it's a driver issue with the XP drivers from Hauppauge when you use two PVRs.

Everything I've done for the last two days was with SageTV RC 6.4.7 beta.

[HelenWeathers]

In a follow-up to my bug report to Sage (outlining my successes and failures) I received the following email from Sage support:

"Helen, Yes, we are waiting for a driver update from Hauppauge to help with multiple HD-PVR's. I'm not sure if I have any tips for better performance. It should just work."

[bcjenkins]

Helen,

Would you mind posting the snippet from your log which at the start of a recording event?

Thanks,

B

[HelenWeathers]

bcjenkins: Here is a successful 4-5hr log. It's from Vista though. Can't get to my XP machine until lunchtime. Let me know if you want the log from XP and I'll see if I still have it.

You can search for "Detected capture input resolution lines=720" to get to the start of each recording for either unit.

[bcjenkins]

I was hoping for failed captures. I am troubleshooting one right now, wanted to look for commonalities

B

[HelenWeathers]

Here is a failed log from XP that I sent to Sage last week. It's with Sage RC 6.4.6 though. Hope it helps.

Here's where the recordings went blank: 10:25:00.001 SEEKER HAS DETECTED A HALT IN THE ENCODER...TRYING TO RESET IT.
If you notice though, Sage continued to detect the 720p signal for the next 3 hrs or so and recorded black screen video.

When I get my next failed log for XP I will post it.

[UgaData]

I have had my 1 HD-PVR for just under 3 weeks (received on June 25, 2008) and I am using the Hauppauge IR blaster to change channels and I do use S3 sleep/stand-by.

For the most part it seems to work, changing channels and then recording that channel. However, I have had at least 3 instances where the HD-PVR should have recorded something and didn't. At least once I was waiting for it to happen, the system woke up, the channel changed and then the HD-PVR didn't record turn on and start recording.

I have also experienced recording the wrong show because the channel did not change for whatever reason, but I suspect that is the way things are when using an IR blaster to change channels.

Typically, I have rebooted or shutdown my system, and briefly switched off and on the HD-PVR. Basically,this has worked so far. I believe there maybe an order to rebooting the HD-PVR and the PC it is connected to.

[Opus4]

Originally Posted by HelenWeathers

Here's where the recordings went blank: 10:25:00.001 SEEKER HAS DETECTED A HALT IN THE ENCODER...TRYING TO RESET IT.
If you notice though, Sage continued to detect the 720p signal for the next 3 hrs or so and recorded black screen video.

All that means is that it checks every 5 minutes for the recording file not increasing in size (or whatever the actual check is in the code), notices that the recording isn't doing anything, and tries to restart it. I think I've said before that if you power cycle the HD-PVR & wait, the recording will start again after SageTV's next check. Or, you can use the Record command to make it start again right away.

I also kept wondering whether it was related to multiple HD PVRs, but people are voting that they have locks even with a single unit... unless it comes down to having multiple Hauppauge devices of some sort on the system, not just multiple HD PVRs.

The only change I'm aware of in v6.4.7 is this from the release notes:

1. Disabled fast mux switching and async tuning when using the HD-PVR at the recommendation of Hauppauge

The HD PVR is now essentially completely stopped between separate recordings. (And, no, "stopped" is not the same as "power cycled".)

- Andy

[HelenWeathers]

Referring only to single HD PVR usage here: I have not had any failures with a single HD PVR since 6.4.7 in XP or Vista. I also have stopped using standby and let the computers stay on all of the time while running tests/recordings. With XP, I do notice that more often that not, when the cpu wakes up the connection between the computer and the HD PVR is no longer active. I believe that is a driver issue with XP and Hauppauge.

[HelenWeathers]

bcjenkins: Here's a log from a failed recording with Sage 6.4.7 done today with 2 HD PVRs.

[bcjenkins]

Which one(s) failed?

B