Windows 7 and Beyond TV Compatability

[koan00]

Originally Posted by MarcP

NX is not exclusive to 64bit. And Microsoft has a weird way of supporting ASLR for compatibility purposes.

The Security Development Lifecycle : MS08-078 and the SDL

That doesn't give me a "greater security" feeling, but that's off topic.

Sorry, I meant hardware based NX support.

Also, The post you reference states that if they had been running the current version of IE (v.8) or running 7 in the optional mode that enables ASLR/NX protection, then bug would not effect the browser. I think that is good support for those protections, not an argument against them.

My point was running the 64 bit vista gives you more than just 4GB memory support. There are additional security benefits if that matters to you. For me, I run no AV/Spyware scanners, so if there is a bit of extra penalty-free OS protections built in, I will use them.

Protecting computers is not limited anymore by relying to antivirus and firewall. You are also no longer limited to protecting your PC by adding or modifying settings or group policy in Windows. Microsoft has enhanced security in Windows 64-bit that is not available in 32-bit:

- Hardware-based Data Execution Prevention (DEP): Modern CPUs are now supporting hardware-based DEP but only 64-bit of Windows supports hardware-based DEP. More information DEP here.

- Driver Signing: 64-bit of Windows will only allow installation of device drivers that is digitally signed by its developer. With Windows 32-bit, unsigned drivers is allowed to be installed which most beta-testers require for they cannot continue testing if the program they want to test is still holding a digitally signed drivers.

- Kernel Patch Protection (PatchGuard): One type of malware is called Rootkit. If you have 64-bit edition of Windows, you can enjoy protection against kernel-based rootkits. You can also avoid BSOD if you have 64-bit edition of Windows because PatchGuard does not allow any drivers to modify the kernel in Windows. Most bad driver or drivers that will modify kernel in Windows was seen the cause of BSOD or instability in Windows.

[MarcP]

PatchGuard is far from secure...

Microsoft Decries Vista PatchGuard Hack
Subverting PatchGuard Version 2
Uninformed - vol 8 article 5

[koan00]

I read the articles and I don't really see your point. Microsoft patches any problems found with patch guard. Once patched, hackers work to bypass additional protections. Cycle repeats. This is how the security industry works. No product or protection is unbreakable; it’s just a viscous circle of one-upsmanship.

This is why all good security comes as a layered approach. While nothing is 100% effective, having various layers of security makes the attack vector more difficult to exploit. Pretty much every decent OS works this way.

That being said, I’d rather have the additionally security provided rather than none at all. I don't think you can honestly argue the point that no additional security is provided.

[twern]

Is anyone successfully running btv, Windows 7, with HDHOMERUN?

The homerun viewer is working perfectly.

On btv I get the "failed to build live TV graph" message on the TEST window in setup.

Ideas?

[koan00]

Note sure when this happened, but Snapsteam now officially lists the 32Bit version of Windows 7 as a supported operating system: System Requirements

Operating System
Microsoft Windows XP Home
Microsoft Windows XP Professional
Microsoft Windows XP Media Center Edition (5) or
Microsoft Windows Vista
Microsoft Windows 7 (Beyond TV does not support any Windows 64-bit operating system, only x86 32-bit.)

[tscales]

Well, may not be officially supported, but Link works fine on Windows 7 x64

[CrunchyDoodle]

Yes, I have W7 RTM 32-bit with two HDHR boxes. They work flawlessly with BTV 4.9.2 as well as with MC7. I have fairly new nVidia video cards, which may help.

If that were me, I'd blow away the drive and start fresh. I'd use the BTV backup to save all the settings first.

Bye.

Originally Posted by twern

Is anyone successfully running btv, Windows 7, with HDHOMERUN?

The homerun viewer is working perfectly.

On btv I get the "failed to build live TV graph" message on the TEST window in setup.

Ideas?

[JacobHaley]

BTV 4.9.2 running on W7 RTM 32 here as well. Works perfectly.

I upgraded from XP Professional, so now I can have some fun integrating MC7 and BTV.

[JTAnderson]

Once I got S/PDIF to work, I'm left with the minor problem that after watching any video, there are no longer sounds in the menus until I restart Viewscape.

I actually had this problem on my previous HTPC (using XP). When I upgraded to a new motherboard, with a different SoundMAX audio device, the problem went away under XP. But now, having installed Win7 on the same hardware, the problem has returned.

SnapStream was aware of the original problem, under XP, but did not seem interested in fixing it. It's just a minor annoyance though.

[CABS]

Originally Posted by JTAnderson

Once I got S/PDIF to work, I'm left with the minor problem that after watching any video, there are no longer sounds in the menus until I restart Viewscape.

I actually had this problem on my previous HTPC (using XP). When I upgraded to a new motherboard, with a different SoundMAX audio device, the problem went away under XP. But now, having installed Win7 on the same hardware, the problem has returned.

SnapStream was aware of the original problem, under XP, but did not seem interested in fixing it. It's just a minor annoyance though.

I had exactly the same problem using Vista. Open Viewscape and menu sounds were present. Watch a TV show and the menu sounds are gone until I close and reopen viewscape. I thought it had something to do with my Logitech USB powered speakers. I upgraded Vista to Windows 7 and the disappearing sound problem is Gone. Strange behavior.

[TomXP411]

Originally Posted by JTAnderson

Once I got S/PDIF to work, I'm left with the minor problem that after watching any video, there are no longer sounds in the menus until I restart Viewscape.

The problem is actually pretty common. What's happening is that BTV is switching the sound card's ouptut to "bistream passthrough", so your receiver can decode the 5.1 audio data. But there's a bug in your sound card's drivers (or in BTV - not sure which) that's not resetting the output to PCM mode after your video playback finishes.

I have the same problem with both of the audio outputs on my computer - the built-in output and a PCI card that I installed.

My final solution? Play TV (including BTV) from the sound card's analog output and DVD's using the digital output. I created a macro in EventGhost to send a command switch my home theater receiver to SP-DIF mode when I play a DVD. When I close the DVD app, my receiver switches back to the analog input.

[koan00]

I can also say Window 7 Ultimate x86 seems to be working fine as my backend system (no playback). Monday's are one of my most demanding recording days, and it seemed to handle last night with no problems.

[andyl1980]

Win 7 Pro x64 is working fine for me. I am using a HDHR and 2 - 2250s.

[dspecgsx]

Same here....Win 7 64 bit works for my server and my link machine.

[tim_d_wagner]

There are a few items that have to come together with a 64 bit system, and several of them revolve around drivers. I am not holding hope my HVR 250's will ever get 64 bit drivers, but all my other hardware should have happy 64 bit drivers. While the ability to address more ram is a key benefit, there are speed benefits for applications with appropriate coding, and the removal of older 16 bit support and kernel changes should make a 64 bit OS more secure.

The benefits of upgrading to a new OS are partially tied to hardware. While we could look at support for features added to the CPU, caching, enhancement of resource management, GUI enhancements, and potently better security as reasons to upgrade an OS let's just look at power management. The newer the OS the better and more feature rich the power management you have available with compatible hardware. Vista (APCI 3 support) builds on what XP (APCI 2 support) had to offer, and Windows 7 builds on what Vista had. Saving noise and power can be useful in an HTPC.

My i5 CPU will not shine without Windows 7, but it will work just fine with XP for now. If I want to keep my tunders I may have to stay 32 bit.

If you are happy with XP, then keep being happy. Based on my experience when XP came out it was not until sp2 was released that it saw wide spread adoption replacing Windows 2000. I am liking Win 7 so far.