Hauppauge HD-PVR support

[risk1994]

Ive been keeping up with this thread for quite a while in anticipation of getting an HD-PVR (and having lots of problems)

In preparation I upgraded BTV to latest 4.9.2, upgraded the driver on my 9500GT, took a ghost image, crossed my fingers and did the following...

• disabled my pvr-250 and hvr-1600 in device manager, installed software for HD-PVR, then connected device and installed drivers (latest version on Hauppauges website).

• started TME and verified I could record from the device.

• ran SS setup wizard and configured device.

Heres where I ran into first problem...ir blaster on HD-PVR wouldnt work. I had to do a HWCLEAR and re-install drivers to get blaster to work. Then re-ran btv setup wizard. Started BTV and it worked!

• re-enabled devices in device manager and installed drivers.

This broke HD-PVR.

• ran HWCLEAR and installed drivers for HD-PVR (and got blaster working), rebooted then installed drivers for 250 and 1600.

• ran btv setup wizard, deleted all tuners, exited, re-ran setup and set them all up again.

It works! I did miss some recordings one night so Ive started a routine of powering device off and on again before bed and its been totally stable since then. Ive recorded 6 straight hours of back to back shows no problem. I never set my STB to 720p or 1080i like is recomended here, it just puts out whatever resolution is broadcast and no problems at all, I didnt even tape over IR port. All of the playback decoders shot my CPU to over 60% when playing files. I finally got arcsoft installed so BTV would see it..(that was NOT easy) now playback is below 10% cpu. Heat didnt appear to be too much of an issue but I have it upside down in my cabinet to let heat out through the small vents on the underside, but it doesnt get too hot.

Conclusion, Im LOVING it! It looks fantastic! I can cycle back and forth using the passthrough between STB and BTV and can hardly tell the difference on my 50" plasma. My wife is loving Mad Men in HD. I've achieved just about everything I've wanted for my homebrew PVR..

• I can record everything my STB can deliver in HD (sci-fi/science/history/military channel in HD FINALLY!)

• I can record 2 other HD channels of unencrypted QAM using HomeRun

• I can record 2 other channels of SD of straight from wall cable

All of it simultaneously, unencryped and with outstanding quality! All this with stability (cross my fingers) on a low power system and very high WAF! I am very happy. Good thing too, looks like BTV is finished trying to improve HD-PVR compatability.

[FFSmasher]

I am having problems setting up the IR blaster. I have all of the latest drivers installed, however I'm unable to get the PVR to change the channel on my set top box. I have a Motorola DCH3200. I tried to search for the code through the application to no avail. I also found threads online of people reporting success with 0810, however that also did not work. I have the IR positioned directly above the channel changing buttons on the box. From what I've read this is where the IR receiver is located. I also tried to use the 'learn' feature. This seemed to work, how ever when I try to send the channel change command it does not work.

All other features are working great, however not being able to have it automatically change the channel is a very big nuisance.

[Savage1701]

If you have more than one Hauppauge IR capable device they will fight it out. Your HD-PVR and your sanity will probably be the losers in this battle. Hauppauge can only handle one IR blaster channel.

Watch out for Hauppauge sub-models of each product. Some have IR capabilities and some don't. They make white box versions for system builders, retail versions, MCE versions of the same item. It can be VERY hard to differentiate them, and I have yet to find anything that matters for the purposes of Sage or SS controlling them other than the IR issue. Drivers are the same, etc.

Get a USB-UIRT 3-channel IR learner/blaster for $50-$60. I use SS and Sage. Now mostly Sage. USB-UIRT is the easiest, most chimp-simple way to control the STB with the HD-PVR. I have literally had one channel change failure in 3 months with my USB-UIRT.

Probably the only scenario this won't happen under is if your HD-PVR is the ONLY Hauppauge branded product, and any other tuner cards or USB sticks are other brands, such as DVICO, etc. HWCLEAR won't solve your problems most of the time. I have seen exotic registry fixes that claim success under some circumstances. I personally think if I have the coin invested in a system capable of handling H.264 video from the HD-PVR then $50 more is probably an additional 5% max of the cost of the HTPC/server I put together.

USB-UIRT is one of those precious few products that has an astronomically positive cost/benefit ratio.

By the way, it's not uncommon that as you add Hauppauge products you gain and lose control of your HD-PVR. But ultimately you will probably lose.

[LionRed]

Anyone else ever seen this kind of problem with a HDPVR?



This does not happen all the time....but it can happen about 2-5% of my HD recordings. Then weeks upon weeks it will not happen (fan blowing over unit). I think it is a heat issue...fan on...no problems...fan off- this green shit comes around.

I have decided to try and migrate my HDPVR over with my SD recording tuners. This could turn into a nightmare if the wife's tv shows happen to get recorded on the HDPVR and look like the above picture.

[RiderFan]

I have never seen this on any recordings of mine.