Hauppauge HD-PVR support

[ZetaVu]

My suggestions:

Use driver 1.053 (or newer, that one works for me perfectly so I don't change)
BTV 4.9.x (I'm on 4.9.2)
No USB extenders, preferably directly on the MB
Lock stb output, I use 1080i regardless of source.
Use the default recording settings, I had issues when I changed them a few builds back, since it is reliable I don't mess with them.
tape the IR port on teh HD PVR - keep IR noise at a minimum.
If you're using your stb HDMI out to a tv, try to avoid accessing it during recordings, causes an output blip that can mess up recordings.
Be wary of heat!
I Never tried the blast, I use serial channel changing, takes the HD PVR channel changing out of the equation.
Some people have issues with SPDIF audio in, mine works like a charm, I just make sure I have dolby output enabled on my stb.
Install TME to get the arcsoft decoder, in order to enable hardware acceleration in playback.

[Zogg]

My BTV server recently died 2 days before I was going on vacation for 2 weeks, so I had to grab my daughter's computer and do an emergency install of BTV and get it set up to record our shows. Since this was the third time I have installed the HD-PVR software I had a better idea of what I needed to do. Hopefully I will get this right.

1. Install software from the HD-PVR CD. For some reason it doesn't install everything and I have to manually find the TME folder and install it. The drivers usually install okay though.

2. Update the drivers. I am on 1.0.5.3 which is not the newest but is working very well for me. I've seen some reports of problems with the newer drivers so I'm staying on 1.0.5.3 for now.

3. Connect the HD-PVR and let Windows do it's thing to set it up. Connect it to the STB if you haven't already.

4. Start up TME and go into Record. Select the HD-PVR and make sure you can see and hear the source. Go into Settings and select the Audio Boost if you need to.

5. Now go find it in the BTV Setup Wizard and add the device. Change the lineup if you need to.

It's really pretty straight forward. You need to install from the CD to get the ArcSoft codec. There are some TME updates but I haven't installed the latest one since it says you must update the driver as well.

EDIT: Zeta has some extra good points above. And I just installed my 2nd HD-PVR, and plugged it into another back panel USB port. Hard to tell if they are on different USB internal hubs or not, but they seem to be working well.

And agreed on the heat. I am now tempting fate by putting them into my hotter than normal computer closet, but I have them sitting on a laptop cooler so hopefully that will help.

Also, as Zeta indicated don't use the blaster if you don't have to. The setup of it is very flaky anyway. Use external tuning if at all possible.

[tmar89]

Thanks, these are some good posts. Maybe we can have another sticky or knowledge base article on the most reliable way to set up an HD-PVR so people don't have to trek through 30+ pages to find this info? Any SS admins here that can do this?

[ZetaVu]

I remember that some version of TME do not make the arcsoft decoder available for btv to find, and there are some manual workarounds for this. (not sure exactly where) I haven't opened or updated TME and have one fo the original disks, so hopefully the disk that comes with your HD PVR installs correctly.

Yes, there really should be a sticky. I also have another survey seeing who is having issues or not, surprisingly most people are fine but there haven't been that many replies yet. (post 489 above has a link) 23 work at least 1 week without issues, 3 have issues (and one had two units, one worked, one did not)

[tmar89]

If the Arcsoft decoder is available, is that the best one to use in general then?

[ZetaVu]

I use it. I think I've tried the cyberlink as well, not the Core.

[Zogg]

On my ATI boards I have the best playback experience with the ArcSoft decoder. I've installed TME from the HD-PVR installation CD on my Link box just to get the codec.

It's the only one that gives me GPU H/W accelerated decoding of the HD-PVR recordings, and when you skip the video almost always stays in sync with no weird green effects.

[Savage1701]

Update on "spicy" PVR vs. BTV.

No breaks or faults since my last post. I still can't make it fail. My one disadvantage is that I cannot control the output of my STB, but I can use the 4000ms delay feature. My STB output is whatever is being tossed at it by Charter. So, maybe that's it, but I still can't believe it's all Hauppauge's fault.

And that still fails to address the BTV Network Service burning up my CPU all the time, and all the other weirder and weirder things that happen with each "improved" version of BTV.

Right or wrong, I'm still of the opinion that SS wants to support its enterprise stuff and the retail user will be hung out to dry. And I'm a years-long BTV user who also thinks that BTV has some real strengths its competition lacks. But at the end of the day, it's recording stability that matters, and BTV no longer has that, either with the HD-PVR or even down to the ATSC tuners I have used with it for a couple of years now.

[koan00]

In case anyone has lost there CD (or simply wants the latest one):

ftp://ftp.shspvr.com/download/wintv-...d-pvr-v22f.zip
HD-PVR Driver 1.0.5.6 whql
WinTV IR32 2.63.26309
WinTV IRBlaster 7.1.27161
HDPVR Scheduler 1.1.27161
Arcsoft Total Media Extreme 1.0.9.7

[koan00]

Also interesting from the MythTV page:

Updates
The HD-PVR previously had problems gracefully dealing with resolution changes but those issues have been fixed. You can now allow your receiver to float between 480i, 480p, 720p and 1080i without causing the HD-PVR or MythTV to hang.

[ZetaVu]

I'd be interested if this fix was made in mythtv or the Hauppauge driver (in this case a linux driver), can you get any additional info on it? I was actually going to start playing around with myth a bit as soon as they include the Nvidia VDPAU support in it (next version .22 should have it, although there is a workaround to get .21 to work - http://avenard.com/media/MythTV_&_VD...V_&_VDPAU.html ). That enables hardware acceleration, which for me has never worked with any of the linux media players. THere are supposedly fixes for MPlayer and VLC to enable this, Mplayer seems the most advanced. I have yet to play with these, but once hardware acceleration is fixed in linux, its just a matter of a good guide service in my opinion.

[koan00]

I'm not sure whre the fix was made, it's all directly from the mythtv wiki: Hauppauge HD-PVR - MythTV

Also of note, I believe there was a debte earlier about firmwares in drivers. These comment from MythTV seems to indicate the drivers do load a firmware to the devices when they are installed.

Note: If you are running a firmware earlier than 1.5.6, you should update the firmware as soon as possible. Hauppauge has fixed a bug that can under certain conditions cause the HD-PVR to become inoperable.
.....
Currently, firmware loading is unimplemented in the driver. As a result, if you have a "rev c1" unit you must install the HD-PVR at least once on a Windows machine to load the firmware into it. If you have a Revision 2 unit (including a sticker marked "rev c2" on the bottom of the unit) then it will come loaded with a firmware.

I still think its pretty lame you get more information and better support from a free DVR app that the one I pay for....

[ZetaVu]

Well, have you put in a support request ticket to SS? They don't answer the forums often.

Interesting that you have to update firmware in Windows, so the linux drivers do not update firmare. I also assume the firmware number is different than the driver, I assume you can read the firmware number under devices.

[cat6man]

Originally Posted by koan00

Also interesting from the MythTV page:

Updates
The HD-PVR previously had problems gracefully dealing with resolution changes but those issues have been fixed. You can now allow your receiver to float between 480i, 480p, 720p and 1080i without causing the HD-PVR or MythTV to hang.

do you know if they have a 'wait N seconds' parameter before recording?
sage has this and it seems to let the hdpvr settle into its new channel or resolution or whatever............presumably letting things stabilize on the new channel is important......................really wish btv would get on this one

be interesting to know if that was part of myth's approach

[koan00]

Originally Posted by ZetaVu

Well, have you put in a support request ticket to SS? They don't answer the forums often.

Of course. I get the standard "It's unsupported" for help tickets. Most of the beta bug reports get ignored or a single response and then no follow up.

Originally Posted by cat6man

do you know if they have a 'wait N seconds' parameter before recording?

I don't know you could ask on their mailing list or forums. I really only stumbled onto the myth stuff. I was on the hauppauge page of supported software and noticed a free software supported HD-PVR, so I decided to check it out.