BTV & Vista 64bit version

[usindians]

i am desperatly waiting for a official version of beyond tv that would work with vista 64 bit. Obviously my intent is to exploit 64 bits memory handling capabilities.

Can anyone from Snapstream confirm that their forthcoming version would support vista 64 bit?

Currently I have beyond tv running on xp prof sp3

thanks

[TomXP411]

You're not alone. It's far past time for SS to support Vista x64

[tscales]

Why? When Vista 64 hits 30% of installs, I'll be on board. Until then, I'd rather they spent their development dollars on new function.

[TomXP411]

You're kidding, right? If a new user with a new computer were to come in here right now, and you told him to install XP to run BTV, he'd go get Liquid TV. XP's on life support, and the only thing keeping it alive is the sheer number of systems out there that haven't been replaced yet.

Vista is already on every computer you see on the shelf at a retail store. Yes, you can downgrade to XP. Yes, you can order a Dell (and spend an extra $120) with XP, and yes - those of us who hand-build our PC's will still install XP for a while yet. Despite the fact that nobody wants it, Microsoft is shoving it down our throats.

Think about it: Windows 7 is entering beta this month. MS is looking at a 2009 release. That will put XP 2 generations behind by the end of next year. This time next year, will it make sense to ask people to put XP on their systems to support BTV?

Does it make sense NOW to ask people to put Windows 2000 on their systems?

I work in the software business. You can't think in terms of next week. You have to think a year ahead, because anything major simply takes that long to do. If Snapstream can't claim Vista compatibility, they're going to lose out on sales to anyone with a new PC, which is going to be most people that are considering a software based DVR.

So I ask you this: would you rather see Snapstream spend time fixing Vista-related bugs and officially supporting Vista, or would you rather see them fold for lack of sales?

[tscales]

Wow, are you out of date or what.

Vista is absolutely and completely supported. 32-bit Vista.

Vista 64-bit works, but isn't supported. My point was when64-bit Vista hits 30%, I'll care about 64-bit Vista. Until then, 32-bit support is fine.

[jdgonko]

Hey, I'm with ya!! The 'server' that BTV runs on still uses XP32 but I'd really like to move to Vista 64 because the memory sticks for the board (maxing out at 8GB) are dirt cheap right now.

Please do work towards a Vista 64 version. And, of the same great quality as BTV has always been.

Thanks!
Joe

[jed91080]

I'm using BTV with Vista64 right now. I'm a longtime BTV user and I was trying out Media Center on my new HTPC build. Vista MC was giving me nothing but headaches so I switched over to BTV and I'm very pleased.

If you're able, I would give BTV a test run on Vista64. It might just work for you.

[TomXP411]

Nobody's saying it won't work. What they're saying is that it's not supported.

That means that if you e-mail Snapstream for tech support, they can just say "we don't support Vista 64 yet", and you're basically SOL.

[nevik]

Ignorance is bliss. I'm loving 64bit Vista and 32 Bit BTV so far.

Over the holiday, my 4Yr old BTV server just had a HD>MB>PS meltdown so I was forced to move to a Vista 64 box in a hurry. (Company in the house). Ignorance is bliss as BTV 4.9 installed quite easily and ran very well in my new box. Somehow my new HD homerun lineups matched the old guide channels, what luck! Vista even seems to be better at webserving to my BTV link PCs and it's nice to see orange lights (GigE) on the Linksys.
So far my only issue is no SPDIF passthru and figuring out the registry hack to force Direct Show on the secondary monitor was a pain. (Answer was found on this forum thanks). SPDIF is actually better because now I can get 5.1 where before I was limited to L+R PCM only.

I played a little with the Media Center and it looks very pretty but it seems like you need a Xbox 360 to remote the media. BTV let's me tote a wireless notebook around the house with my teevee on it. That's pretty cool.

Is anyone using both? BTV to serve media and MC to watch DVD's etc..?

[dsmythe]

Originally Posted by nevik

Ignorance is bliss. I'm loving 64bit Vista and 32 Bit BTV so far.

Does it work well on Vista x64 sp1 ? I ask because ASUS chose to OEM x64 Home Premium with the machine I picked up at best buy. Much to my surprise.

I don't really care if it is 64 bit I just want to know if anyone runs it in 32 bit mode and that its at least as solid as a tivo.

TIA!
-d

[TomXP411]

Originally Posted by nevik

I played a little with the Media Center and it looks very pretty but it seems like you need a Xbox 360 to remote the media.

That's something that makes no sense to me. Microsoft has code for media extenders, yet there's no Windows application that implements that code, only hardware devices (like the XBox.)

I find myself really wishing that someone would standardize a remote media control standard, so we could use any media server and any client box for static content and live content.

[GotHim]

Just to clarify the NEED for 64 bit Vista support just as this posting started out with, the main reason is to exploit memory > 3GB. You have to have Vista 64 bit for 4GB and higher. I’m getting my system ready to jump to Intel’s new Core i7 CPU which is perfect for my main Beyond TV system, and my intent is to load it up with 6GB or higher of memory. You have to go to Vista 64 to be able to use that kind of memory. Whether you like it or not, 2009 is the turning point to say goodbye to XP if you’re building a new system, and Vista 32 bit isn’t enough if you’re building a high-end system for something like video processing.

So yes, my expectation is that SS would add 64 bit support in the next release. Kind of silly not to for 2009 and beyond. I'll take the word of those that have tried, and try it myself with V4.9

[rkymaf]

I am a long-time BTV user and have it running on 5-yo Dell box with the original ATI All-in-Wonder card that came with it. I just ordered Dell's Studio XPS 435 to replace it, which has an i7 920 CPU and runs 64-bit Vista. I'm glad to hear that people are successfully running BTV on it even though it is not officially supported!

I need to get a dedicated tuner card for the new box and could use some recommendations from those that have it working regarding cards that do/do not work with 64-bit Vista. I have Verizon FiOS and probably won't be recording any HD in the near-term but an option to record HD in the future would be nice (my understanding is that BeyondTV HD options right now are either OTA, using the HD HomeRun to record clear QAM channels, or using the HD-PVR to have it digitize the analog HD output of a set top box).

Thanks!

[TomXP411]

The HD HomeRun does ClearQAM or ATSC. I don't think it'll do analog recording, so if you plan to do anything other than local channels, it's not the best choice.

Obviously, the HD-PVR is the most hi-def out of all the options. You plug it in to your cable box, and you get the best picture possible, but at the highest price.

The Hauppauge 2250, 1600, 1800, and 1950 are all capable of recording ATSC and ClearQAM digital, analog cable, and standard-def from a cable box. They also have MPEG-2 hardware compression. Do NOT buy anything that doesn't explicitly state "Hardware MPEG-2 Compression" in the specs.
The 2250 is true dual tuner: either input can record digital or analog.
The 1600 is a combo card: you can record one analog and one digital show at the same time, but not 2 digital or analog shows together. (http://www.hauppauge.com/site/suppor...l?tab=5#record)
The 1800 is a hybrid tuner; it can only record one thing at a time, but that one thing can be digital or analog. (It looks like 2 inputs to BTV, but BTV knows that the two inputs are really one tuner.)
The 1950 is an external USB box. It's also a hybrid tuner: one thing at a time.

[rkymaf]

Thanks Tom! I'll probably go with a PCI-e card, so that would narrow it down to the 1800 and 2250 unless there are non-Hauppauge cards that are worth considering as well.

It sounds like Verizon provides local channels in clear QAM in both SD and HD. Would that imply that if I hook the coax out of my SD set top box to the QAM in on the card (or just split the incoming coax and bypass the set top box) that I could record those in HD in BTV? Would I then use the analog S-video connection and rf-blaster to record the remaining channels in SD or would the set top box put those out on the coax?