Installed trial version of BTV, have a few questions

[CBragg]

I recently installed the trial version of Beyond TV and have a few questions and problems that I'd like to resolve before going though with my purchase.

If it'll help, here are some quick system specs: 1.6Ghz P4, 2 Hauppauge 150 tuners, 1 160GB WDC drive, & an ATI Radeon 7000 64mb PCI card for my S-Video out. I only record in standard def, also.

1) My shows, especially when two are recording simultaneously, become EXTREEMLY fragmented. I'm talking in excess of 2,000 fragments. I know that this is something that I cannot completely avoid, but I was wondering if changing my NTFS unit size to 64K would help.

If so, how can I go about doing this with a fresh XP install? The XP installer doesn't allow you to change the unit size, so does anyone know how I can set the partition up for this?

2) One of my tuners (and I'm unable to distinguish which) is EXTREEMLY quiet, while the other is of normal volume. The volume on that one tuner is so low that I have to turn BTV to 100% and then turn my TV to about 80% volume just to reach "normal volume." Does anyone know how I can correct this?

3) This last question really isn't a problem, but just something I think would help. Is there any way that I can add a show that I know will air some time in the future that isn't in the guide at that time. When I search for it, obviously it isn't there. Is there any way to record according to a search? Perhaps a plug-in would solve this.

Thanks in advance.

[tscales]

Response in-line

Originally Posted by CBragg

I recently installed the trial version of Beyond TV and have a few questions and problems that I'd like to resolve before going though with my purchase.

If it'll help, here are some quick system specs: 1.6Ghz P4, 2 Hauppauge 150 tuners, 1 160GB WDC drive, & an ATI Radeon 7000 64mb PCI card for my S-Video out. I only record in standard def, also.

1) My shows, especially when two are recording simultaneously, become EXTREEMLY fragmented. I'm talking in excess of 2,000 fragments. I know that this is something that I cannot completely avoid, but I was wondering if changing my NTFS unit size to 64K would help.

If so, how can I go about doing this with a fresh XP install? The XP installer doesn't allow you to change the unit size, so does anyone know how I can set the partition up for this?

--- You could setup a new partition with something like PartitionMagic, but why bother? As long as the recordings don't stutter, its not hurting anything

2) One of my tuners (and I'm unable to distinguish which) is EXTREEMLY quiet, while the other is of normal volume. The volume on that one tuner is so low that I have to turn BTV to 100% and then turn my TV to about 80% volume just to reach "normal volume." Does anyone know how I can correct this?

--- Nothing to help here. All my tuners are the same level

3) This last question really isn't a problem, but just something I think would help. Is there any way that I can add a show that I know will air some time in the future that isn't in the guide at that time. When I search for it, obviously it isn't there. Is there any way to record according to a search? Perhaps a plug-in would solve this.

--- Not that I've ever found. I've wanted this too.

--- One more comment. The Radeon 7000 is really underpowered. You'll be surprised at the improvement in picture quality with a better card. I just upgraded to an nVidia 6600 and was shocked.

Thanks in advance.

[StephaneM]

Originally Posted by CBragg

2) One of my tuners (and I'm unable to distinguish which) is EXTREEMLY quiet, while the other is of normal volume. The volume on that one tuner is so low that I have to turn BTV to 100% and then turn my TV to about 80% volume just to reach "normal volume." Does anyone know how I can correct this?

You can try to go to the "Tips & Tricks" section on http://www.shspvr.com, and you'll find some reg tweaks to change volume settings on the PVR150 (and even a tweak tool). You may also have to use another driver version to make it worK (I personally use the drivers offered by SnapStream and all is working well)

3) This last question really isn't a problem, but just something I think would help. Is there any way that I can add a show that I know will air some time in the future that isn't in the guide at that time. When I search for it, obviously it isn't there. Is there any way to record according to a search? Perhaps a plug-in would solve this.

If you are running Windows XP Pro and do not mind to schedule those recordings through your web browser, then you can use my Web Guide (see signature) to set up a filter that will either record the show or send you an e-mail when it will finally be aired.

Regards,
Stéphane.