DVICO Fusion 5 HDTV tuner

[tvspy]

If you want to play with Vista and Fusion, there is a thread here dedicated to just that.

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=9675978#post9675978

[jcr74]

Found a new beta on their ftp site last night. Any one tried it yet?

can you point me to the location of this beta file, i can't seem to find it. i have just about had with "multi card support" for my 5lites. most of the times i try to use this functionality (or something as crazy as a capture finihsing), it crashes with an unexpected error, but have been assured that the new 3.6 has no such crashes.

beginning to think these things aren't worth the hammer it would take to smash them.

love myhd.

[bigpoppa206]

can you point me to the location of this beta file
ftp://ftp.dvico.com/Products/FusionHDTV/Down/

But keep a copy of FusionHDTV3.50.01 or FusionHDTV3.50.02 if things screw up.

PS: Comcast customers in the Seattle area, rescan your tuners! They've changed a few channels around again.

[jldet5]

Anybody finding that when running dual recordings with a USB F5 and PCI F5 while playing back a file using MYHD or playback software all at the same time that the hard disk gets fragged? I'm starting to believe that the source of my dual Fusion recording failures is the fragged hard drive.

When dual recordings start, one of the recordings will start blocking and then the whole deal (both recordings) crash.

What does everyone do to keep their hard drive up to speed? Nightly defrags?

[tmozer]

Anyone gotten the POS little remote that comes with the FusionHDTV5 Gold USB box to work? The first one that come with the package never worked (did anything). The second, which SnapStream just sent me will change a few digital (only - not analog) channels but will do nothing else that I can make happen. Is there a trick I am missing??

[Ronnie Ferrell]

What does everyone do to keep their hard drive up to speed? Nightly defrags?

That is exactly what I do for my drives C, E, and T. I schedule this bat to fire at 12:20am:

"C:\Program Files\Diskeeper Corporation\Diskeeper\diskeeper" C
"C:\Program Files\Diskeeper Corporation\Diskeeper\diskeeper" E
"C:\Program Files\Diskeeper Corporation\Diskeeper\diskeeper" T
It would probably be best for me to also schedule a reboot after the defrag but sometimes the defrag takes a while to run and I don't want to kill a recording because of a automated reboot. I do schedule a reboot in my Record_This bat that fires before the defrag bat at 12:05am.

I use the full Diskeeper but the built in "lite" version of diskkeeper will work just as well.

I tried scheduling an auto nightly defrag from within diskkeeper but it would not wake up my HTPC.

I also have 2 hard drives. I capture from the Fusion to one drive and from MyHD to the other. This helps with not writing 2 files to the same hard rive at the same time. Doing that is just asking for a whole lot of file fragmentation.

Ronnie

[sterno3]

I would also suggest formating your hard drive to a sector size of 64K. I have found this reduces significantly the amount of fragmentation when writing big files.

[jldet5]

That is exactly what I do for my drives C, E, and T. I schedule this bat to fire at 12:20am:

"C:\Program Files\Diskeeper Corporation\Diskeeper\diskeeper" C
"C:\Program Files\Diskeeper Corporation\Diskeeper\diskeeper" E
"C:\Program Files\Diskeeper Corporation\Diskeeper\diskeeper" T
It would probably be best for me to also schedule a reboot after the defrag but sometimes the defrag takes a while to run and I don't want to kill a recording because of a automated reboot. I do schedule a reboot in my Record_This bat that fires before the defrag bat at 12:05am.

I use the full Diskeeper but the built in "lite" version of diskkeeper will work just as well.

I tried scheduling an auto nightly defrag from within diskkeeper but it would not wake up my HTPC.

I also have 2 hard drives. I capture from the Fusion to one drive and from MyHD to the other. This helps with not writing 2 files to the same hard rive at the same time. Doing that is just asking for a whole lot of file fragmentation.

Ronnie

Okay, I use diskeeper too. I think its the 8.0 version. Pretty good stuff and their later versions are even better. I've added to my morning bat file so we'll see if that fixes it up. Never had to run a defrag on the HTPC but with 3 tuners I guess its a new deal.

I forget what I did with the latest hard drive but I think I formatted it to the higher cluster.

[Bugs66]

Anyone gotten the POS little remote that comes with the FusionHDTV5 Gold USB box to work? The first one that come with the package never worked (did anything). The second, which SnapStream just sent me will change a few digital (only - not analog) channels but will do nothing else that I can make happen. Is there a trick I am missing??

I am having the same problem with a newly purchased Fusion USB box. The remote is a dog and hardly works.

[bigpoppa206]

New software up tonight! Check the FTP site. I still have stuttering problems when trying to view live tv with this version but love the improvements in the scheduler; using my setup to just record anyway so this works for me.

[TPeterson]

What is your setup?

[Paw Paw]

I see where 3.60 is now available for download. Can anyone tell me what was fixed or improved with version 3.60? Also, is there somewhere on the Dvico web site that I can find the list of versioon changes for future reference?

Thanks

[Jazzy]

What software/player can I use to play the recorded .tp files on my laptop or other desktop. I want to transfer the recorede HD files to the other PC to watch.

Can I play the .tp files on another PC?

[tmozer]

Comments on the last couple posts:

I was going to ask the same question Jazzy just asked. But I looked first. One of the Dvico programs under the Dvico/FusionHDTV program tab is a converter. I used it for the first time last night to convert my first HD .tp file (a PBS Nature show on the Andes) to AVI and created a DVD with it using Studio 10. Nice, easy and the DVD plays great!

As far as the newest beta version I grabbed off the FTP site early this morning (but have not had a change to do anything with) - I too would like to know what it fixes and if it is worth installing over the last version (which seems to be working fairly well)??

Also, do I have to uninstall (from Control Panel) the last version before installing the new? I know if it a good idea, but I have a feeling that this is going to occur on a regular basis (new beta versions) for awhile and I hate to think you have to go through the uninstall everytime!

[bigpoppa206]

What software/player can I use to play the recorded .tp files on my laptop or other desktop. I want to transfer the recorede HD files to the other PC to watch.

Can I play the .tp files on another PC?
As long as you have the right codecs, I just use Media Player Classic AKA Real Alternative. Also look for a file called VideoRedo, allows you to edit out the commercials and save the file as a transport stream (.ts).

[KAXKID]

...

Also, do I have to uninstall (from Control Panel) the last version before installing the new? I know if it a good idea, but I have a feeling that this is going to occur on a regular basis (new beta versions) for awhile and I hate to think you have to go through the uninstall everytime!
yes, each fusion version, you try, has to be installed after previous versions have been completely removed.

[bigpoppa206]

What is your setup?
Old Dell Precision 340 Workstation with a Pentium 2.8 CPU, 512 megs of RAM and a 400g SATA hard drive added with a new controller card and the FusionHDTV5 RT Gold card. Stock nvidia graphics card. Thinking of getting an nvidia 6200 graphics card and possibly doubling the RAM but that would be just about enough for this machine. If SCSI wasn't so darned expensive I'd love to put a couple of Fujitsu 147 gig 15k RPM drives in it, but that would be overkill.

PS: for those talking about defrag programs, have you tried Perfectdisk? I use it every so often and my drives are like brand new.

[hackmeister]

I'm looking to pick one of these cards for my MythTV setup. I want to slap one of this in my server and use it as the primary backend. Any of you Vista masochists want to unload your cards? I'm sure we could work out a fair price.

[Jonmx]

I see where 3.60 is now available for download. Can anyone tell me what was fixed or improved with version 3.60? Also, is there somewhere on the Dvico web site that I can find the list of versioon changes for future reference?

Thanks

I don't know what else it fixes, but the main feature of the 3.60 version is to add support for the upcoming Cliff Watson EPG add-on for MyHD which is due to be released next month.

[tmozer]

Think I'll pass on upgrading until I see something (fixed) that will make my experience better.......

[hdtvincr]

I don't know what else it fixes, but the main feature of the 3.60 version is to add support for the upcoming Cliff Watson EPG add-on for MyHD which is due to be released next month.
We were getting close to releasing CW_EPG Fusion support BEFORE Dvico put out the new betas. We chose to wait on the new release of CW_EPG and make it compatable with the new Fusion release as there are benifits to the new version. You make it sound as if Dvico made this release to support CW_EPG and that's not really true. It's the other way around.

The main benefit from the new release is the ability to select specific tuners in multi-tuner setups. Also, the recorded files are no longer locked while recording, thus one can view files as they are recording using another playback option.

[Jazzy]

I think I found what player to use to play my TP files.
Tried VLC, and can now play my recorded TP files on another PC. HD stuff looks as good if not a wee bit better than playing it with the Fusion player, the SD stuff recored OTA has major jaggies on VLC. So far it works fine, and I'm able to play the files over my network ( wired )

[tmozer]

Where can VLC be found (obtained)?

Also, is there another way to set up future recording besides TitanTV. I tried that once and it trashed my FusionHDTV software (to the point I had to do a complicated removal and reinstall), so I am reluctant to try TitanTV again......

[TPeterson]

tmozer--

Google is your friend for VLC. Look at the Record_This thread here for a cool scheduling option.

[tedmozer]

Apparently the record_this.zip file is no longer available. I am downloading VLC as I type. Thanks.

[TPeterson]

Apparently the record_this.zip file is no longer available.Wrong! (Is this the sort of "thorough attention to detail" that led you to problems with TitanTV, I wonder??)

[tedmozer]

I am old and wise enough to know how much of a dummy I am.....

When I click on the file link in the first message of that thread it says the file is no longer available. I did not see it anywhere else.

If there are "dummy" instructions for using TitanTV, lead me to them please.

[tedmozer]

OK, clicking on the link does not work. You have to right click and open......

[KAXKID]

OK, clicking on the link does not work. You have to right click and open......
when i just tried clicking on the RT link, it works.

btw are you also using the name tmozer?

[tedmozer]

tmozer? That would also be me I guess (unless it is my father or my son, but I highly doubt it!). Could have created two users without realizing.....

[Ronnie Ferrell]

when i just tried clicking on the RT link, it works.

btw are you also using the name tmozer?


I think it depends on what browser you use. On my htpc with ie7, i have to right click the links on avsforum to get them to download. With ie6 or firefox, the links work as they should.

rf

[tmozer]

That's the answer. IE7.

[Mad Mac]

Anyone know if the new release is intended to work with the 5 LITE card?

[openwheelracing]

It should support the Fusion5 Lite card in XP and Vista 32bit.

The Lite card is not supported in Vista 64bit though.

[Mad Mac]

I see.....tried it last night (I'm running XP), came up with an error message (XP45 or something like that), and appeared to have no tuner i.e. no option to scan for channels in the config menu. I went back to 3.50.01, seems to work better than before.

[TPeterson]

Mad Mac--

See my earlier posts about EP45 errors. They mean that you didn't follow the KAXKID Procedure carefully enough when upgrading the software.

[Northville Dave]

I see.....tried it last night (I'm running XP), came up with an error message (XP45 or something like that), and appeared to have no tuner i.e. no option to scan for channels in the config menu. I went back to 3.50.01, seems to work better than before.

It might not be meaningful since I'm running a Fusion 3Gold PCI board (w/ XP), but even though I tried installing 3.60.01 twice using the KAXKID procedure I kept having the exact same problem you described until I installed the "2000" drivers.

After I did that, no more EP45 errors and the scan option appeared just fine.

[hdtvincr]

Anyone know if the new release is intended to work with the 5 LITE card?
5 Lite card is working just peachy for me....

[Mad Mac]

Mad Mac--

See my earlier posts about EP45 errors. They mean that you didn't follow the KAXKID Procedure carefully enough when upgrading the software.

Interesting...I thought I had. I may try again later in the week.

[Mad Mac]

It might not be meaningful since I'm running a Fusion 3Gold PCI board (w/ XP), but even though I tried installing 3.60.01 twice using the KAXKID procedure I kept having the exact same problem you described until I installed the "2000" drivers.

After I did that, no more EP45 errors and the scan option appeared just fine.

How exactly did you do it?

[Northville Dave]

How exactly did you do it?

I don't recall the exact procedure but I think it went something like this:

Don't let the program install the drivers. After you reboot Windows should locate "new hardware" - select the option that allows you to browse to the driver location (x:\Program Files\DVICO\FusionHDTV\Driver\2000) and select the drivers located there.

It worked for me. Good luck.

[Mad Mac]

Thanks! I'll try it later this week.

[tedmozer]

My DVico is capturing great .tp files using my FusionHDTV5 UBS Box and the DVico Fusion converter is creating perfect .avi files. Studio 10 is screwing everything up. The audio is way out of sync in Studio. Can anyone suggest a good (perferably free) program that would edit my converted .avi files (essentially cut and save the parts I want)?

[bigpoppa206]

My DVico is capturing great .tp files using my FusionHDTV5 UBS Box and the DVico Fusion converter is creating perfect .avi files. Studio 10 is screwing everything up. The audio is way out of sync in Studio. Can anyone suggest a good (perferably free) program that would edit my converted .avi files (essentially cut and save the parts I want)?
Have you tried VideoRedo? Works great for me and you can save as an mpeg file and then convert to avi.

[TPeterson]

Ted--

Another approach that may work for you (and avoid the time spent now in Fusion Converter on parts of the TS that you don't want) is to edit in H2M, using its "clips" mode. Then you can run the individual clips through FC and join them afterward in an AVI editor. I think that might have a better chance of preserving the A/V sync.

[tedmozer]

I was thinking of upgrading my aging ATI 64meg All-In-Wonder video card with this one:

BFG GeForce 6600 GT OC / 128MB GDDR3 / AGP 8x / Dual DVI / HDTV / Video Card (OEM)

Any known issues with the FusionHDTV5 USB Box and software?

[TPeterson]

Why would you want another noisy fan inside your HTPC, Ted?

[tedmozer]

The reviews I read said the fan was quiet........

[bigpoppa206]

I asked about video cards earlier in this thread (in relationship to the Fusion card) and ended up getting the PNY VCG62256APB GeForce 6200 256MB 64-bit GDDR2 AGP 4X/8X Video Card from newegg.com. Sure that won't work for ya?

[tedmozer]

It's a question of money, or lack there of. Tiger Direct is selling the BFG GeForce 6600 GT OC card for $60 after rebate. How much did you pay for the PNY card, if I may ask?

[bigpoppa206]

It's a question of money, or lack there of. Tiger Direct is selling the BFG GeForce 6600 GT OC card for $60 after rebate. How much did you pay for the PNY card, if I may ask?
With shipping...$75!

[Mad Mac]

3.60.01 working with a 5 Lite card here after re-install, seems OK so far. Thanks to all who assisted.

[AllenDB]

RT now handles the 3.6 Fusion software.Here (http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=6350329&&#post6350329)

[Gregg2]

I've been fairly happily running 3.30.01 for as long as I can remember now. I understand that it is now possible to playback in-process recordings -- I've been waiting for this enhancement for a long time and would really like to take advantage of this. I'm ready to move to a new version to get "playback while recording", but I would appreciate any recommendations about the stability of the newer releases for strictly OTA use before doing any upgrading. I didn't see a lot of comments about OTA stability, since it appears many of the newer releases were targeted at improving QAM access. Any suggestions about specific software release versions that are at least as stable as 3.30.01 would be greatly appreciated.

[bigpoppa206]

Has anyone tried the Cyberlink PowerCinema software with the FusionHDTV hardware? Just curious as to results, thanks.

[meatwad666]

i apologize in advance if this has allready been covered, but a search through the 100's of pages of posts in this an other threads hasnt revealed anything.

I have 2 fusionhdtv5 lite's in an old PC (athlon 1800+, 7nif2, 5700u) that work just great tuning and recording digital content (ATSC and QAM, SD and HD). I am running s/w v. 3.60.01. when ever i try to tune analog cable however, I get a number of errors: "connecting analog capture to deinterlacer filter failed" or "EP31: Hardware Error, connect pin to filter failed"; i've had this issue with s/w v 3.5 also. can anyone lend some advice?

[KAXKID]

i apologize in advance if this has allready been covered, but a search through the 100's of pages of posts in this an other threads hasnt revealed anything.

I have 2 fusionhdtv5 lite's in an old PC (athlon 1800+, 7nif2, 5700u) that work just great tuning and recording digital content (ATSC and QAM, SD and HD). I am running s/w v. 3.60.01. when ever i try to tune analog cable however, I get a number of errors: "connecting analog capture to deinterlacer filter failed" or "EP31: Hardware Error, connect pin to filter failed"; i've had this issue with s/w v 3.5 also. can anyone lend some advice?
ep31 errors showed up with earlier fusion versions. do a "search forums" to find the relevant posts. there might be some info that relates to your setup.

[meatwad666]

ep31 errors showed up with earlier fusion versions. do a "search forums" to find the relevant posts. there might be some info that relates to your setup.

do you mean earlier fusion hardware or software? i'm running the most up to date software....

[KAXKID]

do you mean earlier fusion hardware or software? i'm running the most up to date software....
i mean use the avs "search forums" function for ep31 and you will find that users first noted ep31 errors showing up in fusionhdtv version 3.41. read thru those related posts and maybe you will find something that you can check in your set-up that will help you fix the problem.

i know i even posted a screen dump of the exact same error you have noted, in those earlier posts

i have not seen that error using 3.60.01

[SFischer1]

i apologize in advance if this has allready been covered, but a search through the 100's of pages of posts in this an other threads hasnt revealed anything.

I have 2 fusionhdtv5 lite's in an old PC (athlon 1800+, 7nif2, 5700u) that work just great tuning and recording digital content (ATSC and QAM, SD and HD). I am running s/w v. 3.60.01. when ever i try to tune analog cable however, I get a number of errors: "connecting analog capture to deinterlacer filter failed" or "EP31: Hardware Error, connect pin to filter failed"; i've had this issue with s/w v 3.5 also. can anyone lend some advice?

Hi,

I see things simular to this quite often with a different HDTV card, the "MyHD" and my Fusion5 RT Gold HDTV card.

The general guidance for the "MyHD" card is to have that cards software as the only software installed on Windows XP SP2 and running at any point in time on a HTPC.

I have not followed that advise and my HTPC is now very unstable at times.

I could list many possible software packages that I think are responsible, both free and Big $$$ packages from long standing software companies.

Until I just upgraded to the latest release (More $$$) of my main Video editing and DVD creation package, when ever I wished to edit Video I needed to restart my HTPC.

If I wanted to go back to recording HDTV, watching it live or play previous captured programs I needed to restart.

If you have not installed and run other software on your HTPC I will be very suprised.

Windows XP SP2 appears to have problematic methods of handling Codecs and there is a memory effect IMHO. One program appears to load codecs that another program does not need but is forced to deal with unless a restart is done. Sometimes the second program is not ready for this and you see problems like you report and I also see.

I sometime have needed to restart several times to clear up this problem as it appears to persist across restarts sometimes.

A Program May Quit Unexpectedly When You Use Non-Microsoft Codecs on Windows XP-Based Computers (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/316688)

Is very unhelpful.

I do not like the general guidance at all, am not following it and I am paying the price every day.

The solution, and it is a drastic one, is to wipe your HD clean, install Windows XP SP2 and minimum software other than the Fusion software.

I have that as a last resort and during the process of moving to Windows "Vista" I am doing exactly that. I may be forced to reinstall Win XP SP2 before I complete the move.

I also am running any Video or Audio software on VPC 2007 so that I can try and keep the Codec problem under control. That and removing other Video and Audio software has improved my HTPC's stability greatly. But then, in the last few days, I am starting to see BSOD's reported to be the "MyHD"'s cause while running VPC 2007.

Nani

[meatwad666]

nani,

the machine is a dedicated recording box, and only has the fusion software on it.

[landofmu]

nani,

the machine is a dedicated recording box, and only has the fusion software on it.


I've run into this a couple of times. In my case (2) F5G's and a MyHD 130. In my case I have a ATI x700 video card in the machine. with the 7.x version drivers I had to set in the F5G's config for video to use other than the Dxva (?) config. Not positive on the way it's described as I'm not home now to look at the setting, but its the one for ATI cards. With the 6.x version of ATI drivers I never had this problem. Hope this helps :p

[Mitch1200]

I've searched this thread and can't seem to find an answer for my symptoms. Sorry if this is tedious.

Using cable I get a good scan of about 150 digital channels in Boston with RCN; however, there's almost no video and very jerky, intermittent sound (if any at all) on any given digital channel. Is this due to signal strength? Signals all read greater than 75%/ in the low 20's db. Analog channels come in okay, though sound is slightly jerky/garbled sometimes.

Could it possibly be decoding? The Fusion card should do that, right? I've got a dual core processor and an 8800 GPU, so regardless, video decoding shouldn't be an issue.

If it is signal strength and not some noob thing I've done with the Fusion software, is there a way for me to improve it (amplifier, for example)?

Should I be adding supplemental power to the Fusion HDTV RT Gold? I didn't fully understand what the manual was saying about this.

I looked for these answers--I really did--and couldn't find any. I'm obviously just beginning to understand this stuff. Any help would be appreciated.

Mitch

[breeze45]

I had jerky sound and pic, I moved the card into a different slot, the problem went away.


Keith

[Mitch1200]

Hi Keith,

Thanks. I tried it. Re-installed drivers. No change.

Mitch

[KAXKID]

I've searched this thread and can't seem to find an answer for my symptoms. Sorry if this is tedious.

Using cable I get a good scan of about 150 digital channels in Boston with RCN; however, there's almost no video and very jerky, intermittent sound (if any at all) on any given digital channel. Is this due to signal strength? Signals all read greater than 75%/ in the low 20's db. Analog channels come in okay, though sound is slightly jerky/garbled sometimes.

Could it possibly be decoding? The Fusion card should do that, right? I've got a dual core processor and an 8800 GPU, so regardless, video decoding shouldn't be an issue.

If it is signal strength and not some noob thing I've done with the Fusion software, is there a way for me to improve it (amplifier, for example)?

Should I be adding supplemental power to the Fusion HDTV RT Gold? I didn't fully understand what the manual was saying about this.

I looked for these answers--I really did--and couldn't find any. I'm obviously just beginning to understand this stuff. Any help would be appreciated.

Mitch
75% signal strength for cable is horrible. you need to fix the cable run. remove splitters etc. you should have in the high 90's for %. get a good signal and your problems should go away.

[Mitch1200]

Thanks. I'll try. There's only one splitter in the run--for the cable modem. Not sure what else I can do. Are amplifiers for digital signals practical?

Thanks,

Mitch

[TPeterson]

Mitch--

Try removing the splitter altogether and see if you're still getting only 75% "signal strength". If so, you need to have your cableco come out to inspect the feed because it's definitely weak. You can put in a distribution amplifier yourself, but the cableco should give you a better signal to start with. (And with such a weak signal the amp may not even help much)

If, OTOH, the SS jumps up without the splitter you've got a bum splitter to replace.

[Mitch1200]

Many thanks. A radio shack amp fixed the problem. Really appreciate your help. Mitch

[Jazzy]

Is it possible to install the software on another PC ( without the tuner card) just
to have the player play a recorded tp file? I want to install Dvico software on my other PC and play the recorded files from the main PC.

Or does the software only install correctly if there is a tuner card in the PC?
I tried installing the sofware, but I get errors. How about installing the software with the tuner card installed, then just taking the card out? Will it work then?

Also with the new 3.6 software, how can I start playback of a file that is currently being recorded. I want to be able to timeshift, but at the end of the show, still have the file on the hard drive. How to do this?

Thanks .....jazzy

[sterno3]

Is it possible to install the software on another PC ( without the tuner card) just
to have the player play a recorded tp file? I want to install Dvico software on my other PC and play the recorded files from the main PC.

Or does the software only install correctly if there is a tuner card in the PC?
I tried installing the sofware, but I get errors. How about installing the software with the tuner card installed, then just taking the card out? Will it work then?

Also with the new 3.6 software, how can I start playback of a file that is currently being recorded. I want to be able to timeshift, but at the end of the show, still have the file on the hard drive. How to do this?

Thanks .....jazzy
I have a USB fusion, and i didn't try to install without the hardware, but if I try and use the software without the USB tuner plugged in, it fails with an error stating that it couldn't find the device.

[TPeterson]

With the 3.6 sw, you can start playback of a currently recording file using any player that's smart enough to open files "read only". That includes MyHD, Theatertek, and the Zensonic Z500. You can also play the file over a LAN with most players if you set up the share to have read-only access.

[Jazzy]

Thanks Tpete, I'll give it a try. So I can't start playing the file back using Dvico software, must use another player?

[TPeterson]

If you have Fusion units on two computers you can play back from the second one while the first records....

[Jazzy]

Must I have the fusion card in the other PC to install and run the sw player?
I only have 1 fusion card, but can I put the card in the other PC, then install software, then remove the pci card and get the software player to play files?

[TPeterson]

Read the Fusion threads (sheesh) and you'll find these questions asked and answered numerous times. (Yes and no, respectively)

In fact, Mike (sterno3) answered you the last time that you asked this same question about four posts up!

[tedmozer]

Windows XP Pro Microsoft updates just offered the following optional update:

Optional hardware updates
Dvico FusionHDTV USB, AVStream Capture (ATSC1)



Dvico - Sound - FusionHDTV USB, AVStream Capture (ATSC1)
Download size: 506 KB , less than 1 minute
Dvico Sound sofware update released in February, 2007 Details...

I am currently running 3.51.05. I did not run the update (having been stung by other hardware updates from Microsoft in the past.

Anyone else seeing this? Kind of supprising since I though we were still dealing with beta software..... Should I try it (the update from Microsoft)??

[TPeterson]

No.

[tedmozer]

No which?

[jldet5]

No which?

Do not update from Microsoft!

[skibum5000]

3.60.01 working with a 5 Lite card here after re-install, seems OK so far. Thanks to all who assisted.

on XP or vista?

i simply can't get the 5 lite card to work with vista.tried everythingunder the sun.the main software fails with "can't connect top InfTee filter" whenit tries to scan digital channels" and under Media Center it is hideously choppy. at this point i now seem to have all but my fancy epson photo printer and HDTV workingunder vista.

[Mad Mac]

Xp.

[tedmozer]

Since I have yet to find a easy to use (for me) working way to schedule the recording function of the FusionHDTV software, I have had to start the recording process manually and allow a long enough file to cover the program I really want. For example, PBS-HD is featuring the "Rolling Stones Rock & Roll Circus" at 2 am tonight (tormorrow morning). If I go to bed at 11 pm, I will have to allow about 5 hours of recording to cover!

Anyway, my question is: Is there any software that will allow editing and cutting of raw .tp files captured by the FusionHDTV 5 USB box. Instead of converting the whole file to something else (live .avi) and then editing it, I would like to cut out the part(s) I want to keep and then convert the much smaller file.....

[TPeterson]

Ted: Google "AVSFORUM H2M"

[bigpoppa206]

Since I have yet to find a easy to use (for me) working way to schedule the recording function of the FusionHDTV software, I have had to start the recording process manually and allow a long enough file to cover the program I really want. For example, PBS-HD is featuring the "Rolling Stones Rock & Roll Circus" at 2 am tonight (tomorrow morning). If I go to bed at 11 pm, I will have to allow about 5 hours of recording to cover!

Anyway, my question is: Is there any software that will allow editing and cutting of raw .tp files captured by the FusionHDTV 5 USB box. Instead of converting the whole file to something else (live .avi) and then editing it, I would like to cut out the part(s) I want to keep and then convert the much smaller file.....
I use VideoRedo as it works with .tp streams just for that purpose. What version of the FusionHDTV software are you using? I will admit, it's not the most elegant of interfaces but I use version 3.60 of the software and its setup for scheduled and one-off recordings and it works just fine.

[TPeterson]

bigp--

H2M is easier to use and free. ;)

[Ungermann]

Hi all, it is fifteen to ten PM right now, so I am not in the mood to search the whole thread, plese excuse me for that. I have a simple question: I got Fusion5 TV USB Gold, I want to watch clear QAM channels from cable. My Panasonic HDTV found them with no problem, but Dvico cannot find anything.

Its RF channel number is limited with 135 and it does not allow to enter subchannels, like 15.1 for PBS (it simply crashes, the software is utter junk but that is another story). Well, if I cannot enter a DTV subchannel I should be able to enter my cable provider channer for PBS, it is 7XX something, in 7-hundred range. But 700 is larger than 135, so this does not work.

Anyone got an advice? Thanks.

The OS is Win200Pro if it makes any difference. Advices to upgrade the OS are not accepted.

[TPeterson]

I want to watch clear QAM channels from cable. My Panasonic HDTV found them with no problem, but Dvico cannot find anything.If you have correctly installed the software (which, BTW, is far from "utter junk") and connect the Fusion's rf input to the very same cable connector as your Panasonic was using to scan successfully for channels, I guarantee that (1) the Fusion will find at least as many channels as the Panny did or (2) your Fusion card is broken.

For more information about the facts that (1) your cable provider's "channel numbers" are meaningless outside of the closed world of the cableco's equipment and (2) that you may or may not see familiar virtual channel numbers, such as "15.1" associated with your cable channels, get some sleep tonight and then tomorrow read the rest of this thread and the Fusion software threads in the HTPC Forum.

[Ungermann]

If you have correctly installed the software (which, BTW, is far from "utter junk") and connect the Fusion's rf input to the very same cable connector as your Panasonic was using to scan successfully for channels, I guarantee that (1) the Fusion will find at least as many channels as the Panny did or (2) your Fusion card is broken.

For more information about the facts that (1) your cable provider's "channel numbers" are meaningless outside of the closed world of the cableco's equipment and (2) that you may or may not see familiar virtual channel numbers, such as "15.1" associated with your cable channels, get some sleep tonight and then tomorrow read the rest of this thread and the Fusion software threads in the HTPC Forum.
The software IS crap. It already blew up with different memory errors, it did not activate channels that it found until I restarted the app, and it totally froze the computer when I pulled USB cable out of my laptop before stopping the Dvico TV viewer. But as I said the quality of the software is another question.

Yes, I know about virtual channels. I know that VHF allows for 12 RF channels, UHF allows for about 68 or so RF channels (13->80 or maybe more). I don't know anything about QAM and its frequency range. Is it some sort of UHF but encrypted? Or is it a different frequency range? What I know that local PBS-HD (KPBS) has 15.1 virtual channel number and has 711 chanell number in Cox Digital lineup whatever that means. Before KPBS jumped to 15.1 (Cox keeps rearranging virtual channels) it was something 79.1 or 75.1 I don't remember exactly, so I don't know how 711 relates to these numbers. I don't know was 79.1 a real RF frequency or a virtual channel as well. My TV does not have a specific option to display RF, so I don't really know what RF my channel is. What I know that all three HD TVs that I had (Panasonic is the third which I kept, other were returned) were able to find unencrypted channels in my cable feed, while Dvico cannot.

I don't know what do you mean by correctly installing the software, the driver seems to be there and I can watch analog channels. BTW, if far less quality that on my Panasonic. I bought Dvico partly because I've heard about its great receiver and so far it haven't delievered. In regards to HD, I don't see ANY channels.

[TPeterson]

I suggest that you return the Fusion and just get a TiVo S3. Then you won't need to know all this stuff that you're evidently not interested in learning (by reading the existing posts that describe it thoroughly).

[midnightman]

Is it possible to use EPG without the remote control? I couldn't find any EPG related thing in the software :confused:

[Fusion 5 Express on Windows Vista, latest software version of Fusion HDTV]

Thanks!

[KAXKID]

Is it possible to use EPG without the remote control? I couldn't find any EPG related thing in the software :confused:

[Fusion 5 Express on Windows Vista, latest software version of Fusion HDTV]

Thanks!
the epg button is on the lower left in the "extended" fusion control panel menu. use the "arrow" next to the clock face in the fusion control panel to "extend" the control panel(assuming the fusion control panel in vista is the same as in winxp).

[midnightman]

the epg button is on the lower left in the "extended" fusion control panel menu. use the "arrow" next to the clock face in the fusion control panel to "extend" the control panel(assuming the fusion control panel in vista is the same as in winxp).
That is it! :) I overlooked the arrow to extend the control panel.
thanks again!

[TPeterson]

You can also type <ctrl>-E to open the EPG window.

[Jazzy]

Is anyone using the HDTV 5 Lite card? Will the lite card turn on
the PC from Hibernate or stanby, to record a scheduled program.
After recording, will it then put the PC back in hibernate or standby?

I know the gold card will do this.

[TPeterson]

Yes. Yes. And yes.

[Jazzy]

Thanks for chiming in Tpete. I'm planing to use the lite in my
remote PC, just to pb tp files and ocassionally record HD when there
are more than 2 shows that I want to save for later.

[Ungermann]

I suggest that you return the Fusion and just get a TiVo S3. Then you won't need to know all this stuff that you're evidently not interested in learning (by reading the existing posts that describe it thoroughly).
I've read about 15 pages so far and found little information relevant to my problem. I would appreciate if you explained which one is the real RF: say 711 in the cable lineup or 39.1 ? I tried to find some info on QAM, but I did not find more that this is a modulation scheme, I found nothing about its frequency range and thus about number of channels possible.

I suppose that 711 is not a real frequency, I cannot imagine a band 6MHz * 700 == 4.2GHz wide, but maybe I am mistaken. In either case, Fusion setup dialog does not allow frequencies larger than 135, thus I cannot enter 711. On the other hand, it does not allow to enter subchannel numbers either (it just blows up with memory corruption error message), so I cannot enter 39.1. Or take The Tube TV, my TV's tuner shows channel 69.3, while it is a channel 199 in Cox Digital Cable lineup.

I would really appreciate some help.

Edit: On htdv.forsandiego.com I found a table with real frequences, I don't know how this helps, they are in hundreds of MHz, like 555MHz for three digital subchannels. Dvico wants RF channel number, so I guess I have to calculate it using base frequency and channel bandwidth (6MHz ?). Which base freq should I use?

[hdtvincr]

711 sounds like where the cable channel maps the channel on their digital box. 39.1 is the local OTA equivalent. These probably mean nothing when it comes to finding them on a QAM tuner. For instance, my NBC is 7.1 OTA and 807 on the cable box. RF channelwise, it sits on cable RF 114.

Did you do a scan??? If you do and search the unencrypted channels it finds, you may be surprised where you find your "711" or "39.1". Better yet, ask on your local thread, I'm sure they will point you right the appropriate RF cable channels.

[TPeterson]

U.S. Television Frequency Table (http://www.csgnetwork.com/tvfreqtable.html)

[Ungermann]

RF channelwise, it sits on cable RF 114.
Right. The problem is I have frequency, I need to convert it to channel number, something like CH# = ((ChFreg-BaseFreq) / ChWidth) + 1. I need to find out the BaseFreq now. It is easy for OTA VHF and UHF since these are standard, but I don't know about cable frequences.
Did you do a scan??? If you do and search the unencrypted channels it finds, you may be surprised where you find your "711" or "39.1". Better yet, ask on your local thread, I'm sure they will point you right the appropriate RF cable channels.
Yep, I did a scan and Dvico found several encrypted channels and none unencrypted. I will search local threads for channel numbers, thanks.

P.S. This is sick when the software cannot find a channel, and does not provide proper manual mode as well. Why cannot I simply enter RF in MHz instead of converting it to channel number? This is lame.

[bigpoppa206]

I suppose that 711 is not a real frequency, I cannot imagine a band 6MHz * 700 == 4.2GHz wide, but maybe I am mistaken. In either case, Fusion setup dialog does not allow frequencies larger than 135, thus I cannot enter 711. On the other hand, it does not allow to enter subchannel numbers either (it just blows up with memory corruption error message), so I cannot enter 39.1. Or take The Tube TV, my TV's tuner shows channel 69.3, while it is a channel 199 in Cox Digital Cable lineup.
Doesn't matter what your cable box shows the channel as, the Fusion card is going to be closer to the example you list for The Tube music video channel, ie., 69.3. Really all you need to do is to scan the channels in, delete the encrypted ones (those are most likely things like TNTHD, etc, that you can't pick up with this card anyway) and you'll be ready to start recording. Your original post said that you scanned the channels and got nothing. In the preferences panel, did you have the antenna set to analog or digital?

[Ungermann]

U.S. Television Frequency Table (http://www.csgnetwork.com/tvfreqtable.html)Thanks, dude! Another question though. The lineup that I got for my cableco made by some avid user, states that say PBS is on frequency 555MHz, along with two other channels. The table you kindly referred me to, has cable channel 79 (553.2500 through 557.7500). I understand that PBS is a subchannel, but how can I set it up or another subchannel, if I cannot enter subchannels into tuning table? I tried 79.1 or 79-1, it does not work. Seems that the only way is to enter 79, and then to "up" channel couple of times to get subchannels? Thanks!

[TPeterson]

I know of no TV set or STB made that uses rf frequency as a user input quantity. Some will report the frequency for reference, but most won't do that even.

See my previous post here, which may help you--after you've done a channel scan. If the channel scan doesn't turn up your QAM channels then no amount of monkeying around with entering stuff manually is going to do you any good anyway.

[Ungermann]

Doesn't matter what your cable box shows the channel as, the Fusion card is going to be closer to the example you list for The Tube music video channel, ie., 69.3. Really all you need to do is to scan the channels in, delete the encrypted ones (those are most likely things like TNTHD, etc, that you can't pick up with this card anyway) and you'll be ready to start recording. Your original post said that you scanned the channels and got nothing. In the preferences panel, did you have the antenna set to analog or digital?
When I was being installing DVico, I was asked "antenna or cable" and answered "antenna". It found nothing (duh, even with ten foot pole I could find at most as two stations simultaneously when I tried to get OTA two months ago, mountains all around). So the next time I tried to rescan, I selected "cable" and then "analog+digital", did not work. Selecting "cable" + "digital" did not make any difference, it was still scanning for analog first. It did found some what it claimed were encrypted channels, but it did not find any clear QAM channels, which I surely have. I will try manually entering the CH# and will report back.

[Ungermann]

See my previous post here, which may help you--after you've done a channel scan.
This one?
If you have correctly installed the software (which, BTW, is far from "utter junk") and connect the Fusion's rf input to the very same cable connector as your Panasonic was using to scan successfully for channels, I guarantee that (1) the Fusion will find at least as many channels as the Panny did or (2) your Fusion card is broken.
I already asked you what do you mean by correctly installing software. It seems to be installed correctly if it finds analog channels, is it? Do I need to have some special drivers for HD? The user manual lists only one driver for Dvico USB for Win2K install, and this driver is there. I will try again when I get home, thanks for helping.

[TPeterson]

The channels listed following the scan, with rare exception, are the ones that exist.

Likely the channel that you seek is in them.

[TPeterson]

This one?No, the one that you found with the table of TV frequencies.I already asked you what do you mean by correctly installing software.Follow the KAXKID Procedure.It seems to be installed correctly if it finds analog channels, is it?Probably.Do I need to have some special drivers for HD?No.

[bigpoppa206]

I already asked you what do you mean by correctly installing software. It seems to be installed correctly if it finds analog channels, is it? Do I need to have some special drivers for HD? The user manual lists only one driver for Dvico USB for Win2K install, and this driver is there. I will try again when I get home, thanks for helping.
Worse case scenario, I would totally uninstall the software (as mentioned, following KAXKID's procedure), TOTALLY clean out your registry (I use Ace Utilities and Tuneup Utilities, YMMV) and reinstall, again following KAXKID's procedure to the letter and you should get something. Unless, as I suspect, there is another as yet unknown variable that we don't know about.

[KAXKID]

...delete the encrypted ones ...
this is a not a good practice. the fusion app does not display the channels it has marked as encrypted, so the practice of deleting the encrypted ones is not needed.

[KAXKID]

Worse case scenario, I would totally uninstall the software (as mentioned, following KAXKID's procedure), TOTALLY clean out your registry (I use Ace Utilities and Tuneup Utilities, YMMV) and reinstall, again following KAXKID's procedure to the letter and you should get something. Unless, as I suspect, there is another as yet unknown variable that we don't know about.
i do not recommend any registry cleaners.

[bigpoppa206]

this is a not a good practice. the fusion app does not display the channels it has marked as encrypted, so the practice of deleting the encrypted ones is not needed.
The version I use does indeed show the encrypted ones in the channel configuration panel; 3.60.01. But since in the bigger scheme of things the encrypted channels are not accessible or usable anyway, I understand why it would not matter.

PS: did not mean to imply that KAXKID used any type of registry cleaner, that is something I do strictly on my own and only with the 2 programs that I know for a fact do not delete anything sensitive from the registry. Some registry cleaners are quite dangerous and could result in having to reinstall Windows.

[KAXKID]

The version I use does indeed show the encrypted ones in the channel configuration panel; 3.60.01. But since in the bigger scheme of things the encrypted channels are not accessible or usable anyway, I understand why it would not matter.

PS: did not mean to imply that KAXKID used any type of registry cleaner, that is something I do strictly on my own and only with the 2 programs that I know for a fact do not delete anything sensitive from the registry. Some registry cleaners are quite dangerous and could result in having to reinstall Windows.
i did not say the encrypted channels are not listed, i said the fusion app will not display them. the fusion app will not allow you to put them in a favorites list, record them or display them. i have found that trying to delete the encrypted channels from the list can sometimes cause other problems, so it is best to leave them alone. the fusion app knows about them if they are left in the list.

i don't recommend registry cleaning because it removes links that can be used to fix failed installs or un-installs.

my recommendations are based on my first hand experiences.

[Jazzy]

What is the main difference recording in tp format vs the mpeg native.
Which one will give a better quality HD recording?

[TPeterson]

"tp" = Transport Stream file
"mpeg" = Program Stream file

TS is compatible with more players. The HD qualities are identical, since the same video data are used.

[Ungermann]

Well, nothing did not work. Drivers have installed on WinXP from the first attempt, but only analog channels were found. On Win2K it took me several hours of installation + deinstallation + manual device troubleshooting to install needed drivers, but no channels found, even analog. To add insult to injury my USB wireless Ethernet adapter stopped working. After I deinstalled DVico softare, the network started working again. So, I will be returning Dvico USB thingy, did not work for me.

Can anyone advice something else? HD is the must, recording is the must (preferably directly in MPEG4 with possible downconvertion to non-HD resolution), the software should not blow up or freeze the machine (DVico freezes with USB cable cable is pulled out of computer, or when after I scanned antenna channels I insert cable from cableco, it just doesn't know what to do with it. Stupid thing).

[obeewaan]

Hi guys

I have just upgraded to 3.60.01 version from 3.50.01. ( on Fusion 5 RT Gold PCI )

The recordings are Great, No complaints about them. ( Recording shows and watching them at a later time, is the ONLY thing that’s been working for me )

However, the same problems I struggled in the past still exist.

When watching Live programs, The Fusion app Stutters so badly on most HD Channels that its Impossible to watch Live programs.

Timeshifting on HD channels also Stutters.

Does anyone know how to fix Stutter ??

My system specs are in the sig. No IRQ Conflicts with Video Card .

I’d appreciate if anyone can help resolve this.

[TPeterson]

Does anyone know how to fix Stutter ??Yeah. Get Nvidia or ATI GPU-based video gear. Even then there can be driver conflicts, but I'd say that your chances for success with any other GPU are a lot slimmer.

[Gregg2]

I recently upgraded from 3.30.01 to 3.60.01 using a Fusion HDTV2 card for OTA reception only. My receive levels appear to have all improved -- is this possible due to the software update, or is it more likely just the weather or multi-path alchemy? So far, the upgrade seems well worth any risks, as the "playback while recordings are in process" feature (using a MyHD for playback) is outstanding. I would recommend this for other OTA users -- I cannot comment on QAM usage.

[TPeterson]

Yes, notwithstanding the few glitches with certain combinations of hw and drivers, there are many reasons to like the 3.60 version. And it will be required for running CW_EPG version 2.0 with Fusion support. (Coming next week, we hope)

[vic4news]

I am still running version 3.30.01 as I only use the fusion5 lite to record OTA. I use
zoomplayer for playback. However, once or twice a week the fusion software will crash
at the end of a recording. The recording has completed successfully, but the crash prevents the computer from shuting down. Has anyone had this problem using 3.50 or 3.60?

regards,
Vic

[Jazzy]

Will there be any problems running 2 dvico cards. I'm currently running the
gold, but can I also run the lite too?

[TPeterson]

I am still running version 3.30.01 as I only use the fusion5 lite to record OTA. I use
zoomplayer for playback. However, once or twice a week the fusion software will crash
at the end of a recording. The recording has completed successfully, but the crash prevents the computer from shuting down. Has anyone had this problem using 3.50 or 3.60? I haven't seen this myself, but it's been reported here a few times for the older sw. I don't recall any reports of it with the 3.60 version (except perhaps for multiple cards and back-to-back recordings?).

[TPeterson]

Will there be any problems running 2 dvico cards. I'm currently running the gold, but can I also run the lite too?There are still some bugs in FusionHDTV regarding multiple captures in the latest 3.60, but it mostly works and there's no problem with mixing Gold and Lite cards (except that if your primary Fusion unit is a Lite, the Fusion Converter refuses to run--installing in the reverse order should fix that for two PCI units, but it means that you can't use FC if you have a Lite PCI and an F5USB on the same PC).

[rooobosmith]

Just got the FusionHDTV Gold and downloaded latest v3.6 software.

With my Athlon 2400 and FX5200 video card running Win2000, the HD OTA video stutters and pauses regularly.

What do I need to upgrade, and to what, to make this work?

[RipperHoss]

First please allow me to apologize if this question has been addressed. I searched the topic, but did not find a direct answer.

I am looking at purchasing the DVICO Fusion 5 Express card and was curious if anyone has used this card with the 64-bit version of Vista (I'm running Ultimate). DVICO's site indicates that this is fully supported, but after getting burned on some less-expensive cards, I was hoping for some insight. Any problems I should be aware of before plunking down the money?

If it's pertinent, my system is an Intel Core 2 Duo E6300 on an Intel DG965WH motherboard with an AMD X1900 video card and 2GB of DDR2-800 memory.

[TPeterson]

Just got the FusionHDTV Gold and downloaded latest v3.6 software.

With my Athlon 2400 and FX5200 video card running Win2000, the HD OTA video stutters and pauses regularly.

What do I need to upgrade, and to what, to make this work?If you're running a 9x.xx version of the Nvidia driver, try using version 84.21 instead.

[TPeterson]

First please allow me to apologize if this question has been addressed. I searched the topic, but did not find a direct answer.

I am looking at purchasing the DVICO Fusion 5 Express card and was curious if anyone has used this card with the 64-bit version of Vista (I'm running Ultimate). DVICO's site indicates that this is fully supported, but after getting burned on some less-expensive cards, I was hoping for some insight. Any problems I should be aware of before plunking down the money?

If it's pertinent, my system is an Intel Core 2 Duo E6300 on an Intel DG965WH motherboard with an AMD X1900 video card and 2GB of DDR2-800 memory.Running WinV today with anything beyond vanilla hw (which rules out all HDTV tuner gear) is a crap shoot. Adding in the complication of a 64-bit OS makes the odds even further against you. Caveat Emptor.

[RipperHoss]

Running WinV today with anything beyond vanilla hw (which rules out all HDTV tuner gear) is a crap shoot. Adding in the complication of a 64-bit OS makes the odds even further against you. Caveat Emptor.
not exactly what I was hoping to hear ... but thanks.

[tencom]

Just got the FusionHDTV Gold and downloaded latest v3.6 software.

With my Athlon 2400 and FX5200 video card running Win2000, the HD OTA video stutters and pauses regularly.

What do I need to upgrade, and to what, to make this work?

The only Nvidia card that seems, to work best for fusion, and has the least probems, is the MX-440 I tried the NVIDA, 5200, 6200, and the 6800 cards and all proved unsatisfactory. I finally settled, on the ATI RADEON 9650, card and have good performance ,the only NVIDIA ,software with the least amount of problems
was the NIVIDIA V84.21 all other version software was unsatisfactory with all except the MX-440

[Entropy1974]

Ripperhoss.....

I am running Vista Ultimate (32 Bit) and it works pretty well. My issues are really with ATI (X1950 Pro) and Vista still being buggy. Vista supports these cards with it's own drivers....but you could also use the Dvico drivers. Using the Fusion 5 PCIe (newest Dvico card).

Vista found and loaded the drivers for the Dvico and Hauppauge card during the OS installation. I only installed the branded drivers for each card due to fixed image issues that were included.

ATI is still having problems with ghosting images and there has yet to be a fix released for Vista drivers (but also an XP issue since 6.4)......we are now on 7.2 if that says anything for ATI.

On a side note, I am having an issue with only 1 HD channel out of 15. The signal is strong (96%) but it stutters the image about ever 5 to 10 seconds.....again, ONLY on that 1 channel. It does it even if I'm not watching it live and record it. I purchased a new antenna and that helped all channel signals but didn't stop the stutter for the 1 channel. Could anyone point me in the right direction for info on this type of a problem? Forum topic......or advise yourself?

Thanks.

[tmozer]

I don't find the ATI Radeon 9650 anywhere. Anyone using the ATI Radeon 9550 256MB DDR AGP 8x Video Card with the FusionHDTV5 USB box? For $80 it is about what I can afford. Also, does the 9550 intregrate well with Vista (if and when I upgrade from XP Pro)?

[bigpoppa206]

The only Nvidia card that seems, to work best for fusion, and has the least probems, is the MX-440 I tried the NVIDA, 5200, 6200, and the 6800 cards and all proved unsatisfactory. I finally settled, on the ATI RADEON 9650, card and have good performance ,the only NVIDIA ,software with the least amount of problems
was the NIVIDIA V84.21 all other version software was unsatisfactory with all except the MX-440
Interesting, I just got a nvidia 6200 and it works fine.

[bigpoppa206]

Can anyone advice something else? HD is the must, recording is the must (preferably directly in MPEG4 with possible downconvertion to non-HD resolution), the software should not blow up or freeze the machine (DVico freezes with USB cable cable is pulled out of computer, or when after I scanned antenna channels I insert cable from cableco, it just doesn't know what to do with it. Stupid thing).
Not sure why you went with the USB version. Can you use the PCI version....have an open slot? There's also the PCI-Express version for those of you with newer systems. I purchased the FusionHDTV5 Gold RT version from Digital Connection and its been fine, save the touchy software.

[TPeterson]

The only Nvidia card that seems, to work best for fusion, and has the least probems, is the MX-440 I tried the NVIDA, 5200, 6200, and the 6800 cards and all proved unsatisfactory. I finally settled, on the ATI RADEON 9650, card and have good performance ,the only NVIDIA ,software with the least amount of problems
was the NIVIDIA V84.21 all other version software was unsatisfactory with all except the MX-440The MX-440 and MX-4000 cards do work very well with FusionHDTV, but they're not the only Nvidia cards that work. Any video card can be made to fail to perform properly with FusionHDTV (or virtually any software-based HDTV renderer) by using a mismatched/buggy driver or imperfect FusionHDTV installation (see KAXKID Procedure). There are, unfortunately, many ways to go wrong.

Besides the 440 and 4000, I've gotten stutter-free play using the 6200 and the built-in 6150 GPU in the Nvidia 430 chipset.

BTW, after you've gotten the 3.60 software to run properly, go check out the newly released CW_EPG 2.0 (http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=659993) that supports intelligent scheduling of FusionHDTV 3.60.

[Entropy1974]

Nforce 2 Chipsets and Dvico tuner cards have known issues with stuttering. I would stay away from the NForce2 chipset. I have worked with others that have had this problem and going with a VIA chipset fixed the issue. It has something to do with busmastering for the PCI slots. Dvico cards (PCI only) are also not capable (gold or lite) of using virtual IRQ's so this causes many issues if you are using too many PCI slots or have multiple Dvico cards. When they used the USB Dvico versus the PCI version, the stuttering and delay was gone. So, as long as you stay away from the PCI versions when using an NForce2 chipset you should be fine.

Overall, Nvidia cards seem to have fewer issues. I like the quality of ATI cards better (hence my X1950 Pro purchase) however for live TV playback there is minor ghosting related to the AVIVO settings and driver version between 6.4 - 7.2 that can not be controlled via the driver. It's really irritating.

[TPeterson]

Entropy1974--

I don't know about the NForce 2 chipset problem that you describe, but the "virtual IRQ" point is humbug. Fusion PCI cards work with modern APIC hardware just fine.

[vic4news]

Well I finally upgraded the fusion software from 3.30.00 to 3.60.01. I was pleasantly surprised
that the install went flawlessly on win xp. Windows found all the drivers without having to prompt. I use OTA and everything seems to be working. However, I was disappointed that the splash screen still pops on when a scheduled recording starts, even though I have silent and minimized selected. I reported this issue to Dvico over a year ago.

Does anyone have a way to prevent the splash screen from popping up when a recording starts?

regards,
Vic

[Dick Kalagher]

The notes on Dvico's site indicate that the new software will scan up to cable channel 135 (860 MHz). Does anyone know if this applies to all fusion cards, like the lite? Does it apply to the USB device? Thanks.

[skibum5000]

Well I finally upgraded the fusion software from 3.30.00 to 3.60.01. I was pleasantly surprised
that the install went flawlessly on win xp. Windows found all the drivers without having to prompt. I use OTA and everything seems to be working. However, I was disappointed that the splash screen still pops on when a scheduled recording starts, even though I have silent and minimized selected. I reported this issue to Dvico over a year ago.

Does anyone have a way to prevent the splash screen from popping up when a recording starts?

regards,
Vic

i can't get 3.60.01 to work on XP or vista. 3.50.01 (?) i think it was is the one that works for me on XP (until eventually after a few weeks to months goes haywire and then i need to re-install, sometimes video drivers and other stuff again too). nothing works on vista with my lite card. eagerly looking into other brand cards. not that any hdtv card seems to have decent software, even this late into the HD game.

[TPeterson]

Does anyone have a way to prevent the splash screen from popping up when a recording starts? IIRC, it pops up on the desktop but behind any open windows, so it's not intrusive.

[TPeterson]

The notes on Dvico's site indicate that the new software will scan up to cable channel 135 (860 MHz). Does anyone know if this applies to all fusion cards, like the lite? Does it apply to the USB device? Thanks.Yes, it applies to all QAM-capable Fusion units.

[TPeterson]

i can't get 3.60.01 to work on XP or vista. 3.50.01 (?) i think it was is the one that works for me on XP (until eventually after a few weeks to months goes haywire and then i need to re-install, sometimes video drivers and other stuff again too). nothing works on vista with my lite card. eagerly looking into other brand cards. not that any hdtv card seems to have decent software, even this late into the HD game.As I said before, it's not "late" in the WinV game, so one shouldn't expect much of HDTV cards in Vista. I have installed 3.60 under both Win2k and WinXP on multiple PCs. If you're unsuccessful with it using those OSes and the KAXKID procedure, you have an unusual or defective setup.

[tencom]

Interesting, I just got a nvidia 6200 and it works fine.
T
Of the Three above mentioned video card video cards the 6200 was the best performer, with the exception of 480I had a white bar accross the bottom of the picture using V84.21 nvidia software the 6800, did not work at all with DXVA, on both AMD computers 5200, gave very little DXVA boost. With the ATI Radeon 9650 I got a DXVA CPU usage rate of on average 19%. which was inline what I got with the MX-440. The FUSION is very selective on video cards in my opinion

[tencom]

I don't find the ATI Radeon 9650 anywhere. Anyone using the ATI Radeon 9550 256MB DDR AGP 8x Video Card with the FusionHDTV5 USB box? For $80 it is about what I can afford. Also, does the 9550 intregrate well with Vista (if and when I upgrade from XP Pro)?

I believe that any inexpensive ATI RADEON card will do the job. I think the FUSION application was set up for ATI-RADEON cards. One of my computers has a AMD athlon 2200+ processor and the FUSION worked well, with either the MX-440 and the ATI card I have no experience with VISTA

[Entropy1974]

TPeterson -

If you don't know about the NForce2 issues, then you haven't read any of the support info on Dvico's website which also talks about the IRQ issues. Not to mention the ACPI issues with Dvico cards. They have complete bios recommendations to specifically deal with these problems and only primary IRQ's are recommended....not virutual IRQ's.

[Bookworm]

I've started having a problem with my Fusion 5 "taking over" my computer. I used to be able to run it and then do anything else with my computer, browsing etc., but now for some reason when it is running nothing else responds to any mouse input other than blinking when I click on it. I'm sure it's something I added but I have no clue when or what it is as I haven't used the Fusion that much lately. I'll add a list of the components in my computer to the end of this message. I know more info. will probably be needed to figure this out but I have to start somewhere. :(




Intel Conroe E6600
MSI 975X Platinum Power Up Edition
Corsair Twin2X2048-6400
Leadtek Win Fast PX7900 GS TDH
WD Caviar SE16 500G SATA (2)
LG GSA-4163B DVD-RAM
LG GCE-8527B CD-RW
Antec Neo HE380

[Entropy1974]

Have you checked the task manager to see what processes are running? Live TV can take some serious CPU power so you may want to check to see what is being used outside of that. Once you elimiate other issues, you can then focus on the Fusion 5.

Are you running the Dvico software or are you running Media Center? What OS are you running? Also, check your available memory to see if you have enough for the tasks and or to see what is potentially using it up. How much memory do you have? Most likely if it did run fine, then it may be something you added as you mentioned. Can you provide a list of possible additions since this problem occured? This may help. Also, what anti-virus software are you running.....if any? You may need to set some exclusions.

[TPeterson]

TPeterson -

If you don't know about the NForce2 issues, then you haven't read any of the support info on Dvico's website which also talks about the IRQ issues. Not to mention the ACPI issues with Dvico cards. They have complete bios recommendations to specifically deal with these problems and only primary IRQ's are recommended....not virutual IRQ's.I probably read it back when NF2 was current and then promptly forgot it since I didn't have any NF2 mobos. I don't think that you have the story right on APIC (not "ACPI"!) IRQs. Can you provide a link to the specific FAQ that you had in mind so that we can all see what you're interpreting?

[Entropy1974]

Nope.....ACPI. "Advanced Configuration and Power Interface"

http://www.fusionhdtv.co.kr/ENG/Support/Default.aspx?act=LTS

I don't currently have a Dvico and NForce2 combo, but I have been working with a couple of friends that do, ABIT and Asus motherboards to be specific. The IRQ issue is not specific to the NForce2 boards, but it is more prevelent in them.....and more of a pain to try and fix........if you ever get it fixed. Some have, some haven't with no reason as to why.

FYI -- My wife just said we are all losers for discussing this on a Saturday night. That said, she is the first to complain if the Media Center is not working correctly. Go figure. :)

[TPeterson]

That link seems to go to the main FAQ list...not very informative.

All of my PCs are configured as ACPI computers and I've never found it necessary to reconfigure any as "standard PC" to work correctly with FusionHDTV. I suspect that there are cases where that may be necessary and maybe the NF2 is such a case, but it's not common with most well-designed mobos. The DViCo FAQ that I found today w.r.t. NF2 (http://www.fusionhdtv.co.kr/ENG/Support/FAQVideo.aspx?act=RD&id=105&pg=0&CATID=12&SCATID=45) said that one needs to have plenty of shared memory assigned to the video RAM and that dual channel DRAM is required. Then they waved their arms unconvincingly about "IRQ conflicts".

BTW, the APIC (Advanced Programmable Interrupt Controller) (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Advanced_Programmable_Interrupt_Controller) is the key circuit on modern mobos that makes IRQ conflicts rarer with well-designed boards.

[Entropy1974]

I posted the information in an effort to try and help the many in this forum that are experiencing issues with Athlon XP CPU's, hence the NForce2 discussion specifically dealing with stuttering. I posted the FAQ that goes directly to the page that deals with recommended Bios settings and IRQ issues. This problem is mainly with NForce2 chipset motherboards, however some others experience this as well and these are the recommended steps to fix the problem. This is the only thing listed on that FAQ page.

UPDATE: When I poseted the link it forces the page to go to the main page. To get to the page I suggested, enter "IRQ" in the search field at the top. This will bring up the FAQ list I mentioned.

http://www.fusionhdtv.co.kr/ENG/Support/Default.aspx?act=LTS

Also, shared memory would also only be needed for integrated video....which most integrated video will not work anyway with HDTV (even modern integrated video). This is what the link you posted is refering to.

Here is another forum where they were successful in getting the Dvico card off of IRQ 16.....which fixed the problem.

http://forums.dvbowners.com/index.php?showtopic=3642&pid=58246&st=0&#entry58246

[obeewaan]

Yeah. Get Nvidia or ATI GPU-based video gear. Even then there can be driver conflicts, but I'd say that your chances for success with any other GPU are a lot slimmer.

thanks
I do have a Geforce 5900 FX.
I replaced 9xxxx driver with 84.21 version but that didnt work.

I notice that my video card and sound cards are on the same IRQ.
Windows XP wont let me change IRQ and by changing PCI slots didnt work either.

anythingelse I should try ?

[jldet5]

thanks
I do have a Geforce 5900 FX.
I replaced 9xxxx driver with 84.21 version but that didnt work.

I notice that my video card and sound cards are on the same IRQ.
Windows XP wont let me change IRQ and by changing PCI slots didnt work either.

anythingelse I should try ?

I would try a Radeon so that you can use the DxVA setting. If you had a PCIE slot which I take you don't I would get a high powered passive cooled XFX 7950 nvidia card. Not that I really know that it will fix it. I also had to use the fusion drivers out of the 2000 folder for version 3.6 to get a stable picture. I'm still trying to get my HTPC completely stable with 3.6 but I think I'm close using a passive cooled Radeon 9550.

[Entropy1974]

For those that want to learn the differences and potential fixes for ACPI and APIC you can read below. If you are not having issues with choppy or jittery images with your Dvico cards, you can skip this information.......and my previous posts.

Also when windows loads, it doesn't always correctly detect if you system is ACPI compliant. This is also documented with Microsoft, but here is a quick guide from another formum on how to ensure during the OS load that it detects your system correctly.

http://www.madshrimps.be/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=286

Beware of the difference between ACPI and APIC
ACPI is Advanced Configuration and Power Interface (provided by the bios)
APIC is the Advanced Programmable Interrupt Controller, a part of the mainboard’s chipset

ACPI - Microsoft Articles

http://www.microsoft.com/resources/documentation/windows/xp/all/proddocs/en-us/pwrmn_acpi_overview.mspx?mfr=true - ACPI Overview

APIC - Wikipedia Article

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intel_APIC_Architecture

[obeewaan]

I would try a Radeon so that you can use the DxVA setting. If you had a PCIE slot which I take you don't I would get a high powered passive cooled XFX 7950 nvidia card. Not that I really know that it will fix it. I also had to use the fusion drivers out of the 2000 folder for version 3.6 to get a stable picture. I'm still trying to get my HTPC completely stable with 3.6 but I think I'm close using a passive cooled Radeon 9550.

thanks. by the way,
what is " fusion drivers out of the 2000 folder " ?
Are you able to watch live programs without Stutter ?

if yes, what is your HTPC setup ?

I might just upgrade my PC to a PCIe board setup.

[Entropy1974]

Obeewaan -

Try this....

1 Uninstall all drivers for the sound card and video.
2 Shut down
3 Remove all of the cards you have except for the video card.
4 Before you boot back into Windows go into the bios and ensure that ECSD is set to enabled. This will reset the IRQ assignments upon startup........it will revert back to auto after the first bootup which it's suppose to do.
5 If you can see the post messages watch for the IRQ assigments and take note of what is used. Typically, your sound card will be on 5, and your video will be on 9 or 11. So see if these are being used.
6 After boot up, install the video drivers, and then shut down.
7 Install the sound card, and boot up to install the drivers.
8 Check the IRQ's and if all is good, you can then install whatever other cards you have.

[jldet5]

thanks. by the way,
what is " fusion drivers out of the 2000 folder " ?
Are you able to watch live programs without Stutter ?

if yes, what is your HTPC setup ?

I might just upgrade my PC to a PCIe board setup.

I can watch the PCI Fusion 5 and MYHD without stutter. For 3.6 I had stutter on the Fusion so I uninstalled the Fusion driver using add/remove programs. Reboot, on found new hardware use the driveres found in something like...program files/dvico/drivers/2000...I did this from memory so it is something like as I did not look up the exact path.

The HTPC setup is GA6CX mboard, 256 RDram, P3 1000, Xctasy Radeon 9550, SIIG PCI Sata contoller, WD 500G KS hard drive (WD5000KS), 5.1 sound card, PCI Fusion 5 Gold, MYHD card.

I had a USB Fusion and USB 2.0 card but I could not get the USB Fusion to work right so I moved it to my P4 Vista Machine which is not the HTPC. Works great there with a 7900 GTX.

I've got a Fusion 5 GOLD RT ready to go into the slot the USB 2.0 was taking. Just waiting for the machine to prove itself stable, messing with USB like adding 2.0 hubs etc takes delicate balancing it seems. After adding a Front USB 2.0 hub to my mboard 1.1 connector the linksys wireless USB attached to the rear 1.1 kept crashing the system. Adding another USB 2.0 hub to the rear and attaching the linksys to that seems to be perfect again. So I guess mixing 1.1 and 2.0 on the same root hub can be bad. Anyways, this mboard seeems a bit picky on USB.

[midnightman]

Is it possible to rename/label the QAM channels?
It's really difficult to remember which network on which channel given just D870, D8214...

[KAXKID]

Is it possible to rename/label the QAM channels?
It's really difficult to remember which network on which channel given just D870, D8214...
no, for stations that have no psip, the fusion app assigns the virtual channel number.

[Bookworm]

Have you checked the task manager to see what processes are running? Live TV can take some serious CPU power so you may want to check to see what is being used outside of that. Once you elimiate other issues, you can then focus on the Fusion 5.

Are you running the Dvico software or are you running Media Center? What OS are you running? Also, check your available memory to see if you have enough for the tasks and or to see what is potentially using it up. How much memory do you have? Most likely if it did run fine, then it may be something you added as you mentioned. Can you provide a list of possible additions since this problem occured? This may help. Also, what anti-virus software are you running.....if any? You may need to set some exclusions.
I realized what a time consuming chore all this troubleshooting would be so I decided to do a system restore. I had been noticing that things weren't running as quickly as they should for a week or so so I decided to go back three weeks. The first several attempts at a restore failed so I went googling to find out why and did as was suggested at one link I visited and restarted in safe mode and the restore was successful. Fusion TV is now back to it's old cooperative self. Evidently something I did in the last three weeks was detrimental to my computer's health. :)

[Dan Bither]

Does anyone have the Fusion 5 USB working with an Nvidia 8800 card and Vista? I'm running the latest Nvidia Vista drivers and the latest 3.60.01 DVICO drivers. The Dvico software would immediatly freeze if I had anything other than the Microsoft codec selected. With Microsoft's codec selected, within 5 minutes the screen freezes.


I'm running an Asus n32-sli deluxe MB (also Nvidia chipset) but I'm fairly sure the issue is with the Nvidia 8800 drivers. I'm, about to throw in the towel and get an ATI card.

[Entropy1974]

Dan -

What codecs have you tried? Divx and Xvid are not fully supported just yet. I had similar issues, but mine started with the video library crashing every time I tried to open it. To fix this, I uninstalled all of the extra codecs, restarted and then installed Nero (latest version) and then followed up with the Dvix codec. I haven't been able to do the research on this as to why this works (I found this info in another forum) but it does work.

One thing to work is that in Vista, accounts that are not administrators do not have the same rights as they did in Windows XP. When running applications, its best to right click on them and select "run as administrator" which then gives it sufficient privileges even if your current account is an administrator.

[rooobosmith]

Quote:
Originally Posted by rooobosmith
Just got the FusionHDTV Gold and downloaded latest v3.6 software.

With my Athlon 2400 and FX5200 video card running Win2000, the HD OTA video stutters and pauses regularly.

What do I need to upgrade, and to what, to make this work?


If you're running a 9x.xx version of the Nvidia driver, try using version 84.21 instead.

I did have the latest NVIDIA 93.xx driver installed.

Replaced it with v84.21 and am still having problems with stuttering and pausing of the video.

What to do to make this work right?

[tvspy]

Swap the Fusion card to a different PCI slot. That worked for me and others here. It takes care of possible IRQ conflicts.

[jldet5]

Quote:
Originally Posted by rooobosmith
Just got the FusionHDTV Gold and downloaded latest v3.6 software.

With my Athlon 2400 and FX5200 video card running Win2000, the HD OTA video stutters and pauses regularly.

What do I need to upgrade, and to what, to make this work?




I did have the latest NVIDIA 93.xx driver installed.

Replaced it with v84.21 and am still having problems with stuttering and pausing of the video.

What to do to make this work right?

It could be a conflict as TVSPY suggested. I had to pull the USB Fusion out of my system because it was acting up to include stuttering when a MYHD card was active. Of course my mboard is a bit more dated.

Does anybody see where Radeon video cards seem to have a better shot?

[TPeterson]

The "best shot", as has been noted in the Fusion threads before, is with Nvidia MX 440 or 4000. The DViCo DxVA code was originally optimized on these it seems. They've paid a lot of attention to Radeon cards in recent years too, but there are still ATI drivers and cards that work poorly, just as with the others.

[tmozer]

So, this would be a good FusionHDTV match: MSI MX4000-T128 nvidia MX4000 128MB AGP Card? A quick search finds them for around $30.....

[TPeterson]

Yes, as long as you don't need DVI output at 1920x1200, because the MX-4000 chip doesn't handle that properly. If you're going to be using VGA 1920x1200 (or less) or lower rez DVI, it's fine.

[Dan Bither]

Dan -

What codecs have you tried? Divx and Xvid are not fully supported just yet. I had similar issues, but mine started with the video library crashing every time I tried to open it. To fix this, I uninstalled all of the extra codecs, restarted and then installed Nero (latest version) and then followed up with the Dvix codec. I haven't been able to do the research on this as to why this works (I found this info in another forum) but it does work.

One thing to work is that in Vista, accounts that are not administrators do not have the same rights as they did in Windows XP. When running applications, its best to right click on them and select "run as administrator" which then gives it sufficient privileges even if your current account is an administrator.


I forgot to mention that the video driver I had installed was 101.41. I do have Divx installed, but that's the only other Codec I have installed(That I know of).

I rolled back my drivers from the 101.41 to 100.65 and it fixed the system freezing. I still can only use the microsoft codec though. If I select any of the Zulu options or the VMR renderer, I get an error to the effect of "Cannot connectthe codec to the renderer." Is that symptomatic to the issue you had? I did uninstall Divx and reinstalled it after I installed the older Nvidia Drivers, but that didn't seem to help.

[Outflying]

Hello All,

I just picked up a dvi hd card today. Could someone point me to a good site that lists what the cox hd channels are here in Las Vegas? I can't find cbs hd. I've got fox, abc, and nbc in hd.

What is RF?
What is Modul?

Why can the same rf have different Modul????

I.E.

rf = 102 Modul = 1
rf = 102 Modul = 2
rf = 102 Modul = 3
rf = 102 Modul = 4
rf = 102 Modul = 5

Can you expand on the service section? What is D2_4_NB? I realize nb is short for nbc. What is the rest?

Thanks!

[NautikaL]

When I record with the FusionHDTV software and try to play the file back, there is no audio? I tried recording as mpeg and as ".ts" with both having no audio.

[rooobosmith]

The "best shot", as has been noted in the Fusion threads before, is with Nvidia MX 440 or 4000. The DViCo DxVA code was originally optimized on these it seems. They've paid a lot of attention to Radeon cards in recent years too, but there are still ATI drivers and cards that work poorly, just as with the others.

I put my old MX440 card back in and while the pausing is less, when I enable full screen for the TV (need that to see video there) the top half of the video window on both monitor and TV are all distortion.

[TPeterson]

Unless your video card is defective or lacks 32 MB of RAM, it's not the bad actor. Many have successfully used the 440 with FusionHDTV.

[KAXKID]

Hello All,

I just picked up a dvi hd card today. Could someone point me to a good site that lists what the cox hd channels are here in Las Vegas? I can't find cbs hd. I've got fox, abc, and nbc in hd.

What is RF?
What is Modul?

Why can the same rf have different Modul????

I.E.

rf = 102 Modul = 1
rf = 102 Modul = 2
rf = 102 Modul = 3
rf = 102 Modul = 4
rf = 102 Modul = 5

Can you expand on the service section? What is D2_4_NB? I realize nb is short for nbc. What is the rest?

Thanks!
the modul is how the fusion app tunes to the correct sub-channel on the main rf channel, it is referred to as the "program number" in RT.

are you sure you have expanded the service column enough to see the whole name for nbc? this is info that cox is sending out, it may contain psip or not.

avs has a forum for checking the local info here:
http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/forumdisplay.php?s=&daysprune=7&f=45

[rooobosmith]

Unless your video card is defective or lacks 32 MB of RAM, it's not the bad actor. Many have successfully used the 440 with FusionHDTV.
It is not defective in any other way. Has 128MB of ram.

:confused:

[TPeterson]

What video card driver is installed?

[rooobosmith]

What video card driver is installed?

v84.21

I did not change anything else when I took out the FX5200 and put in the MX 440.

[TPeterson]

But you did reinstall* the video driver, right? And you're using the DxVA setting in FusionHDTV?


*NB: Sometimes (?) you need to uninstall the NVidia driver and then reinstall for it to be successful.

[rooobosmith]

But you did reinstall* the video driver, right? And you're using the DxVA setting in FusionHDTV?


*NB: Sometimes (?) you need to uninstall the NVidia driver and then reinstall for it to be successful.

I did not reinstall, but the system detected the new card and rebooted.

I will try reinstalling.

What is the DxVA setting?

[TPeterson]

Look on the Video/decoder tab in FusionHDTV setup.

[rooobosmith]

Look on the Video/decoder tab in FusionHDTV setup.

That was already set.

After futzing around, I got the video to display full screen on the TV and it's now blank on the monitor.

That's OK, but the video is not smooth like it is from the TV tuner.

It is a little jerky. Noticeable pauses in motion.

What do I need to fix this?

[TPeterson]

"A little jerky" may mean that your Athlon 2400 isn't quite up to full HDTV rendering. Try setting your desktop resolution downward a bit and see if the smoothness increases.

Also, check the CPU use % reported by Task Manager. Is that over 70-80%?

[rooobosmith]

"A little jerky" may mean that your Athlon 2400 isn't quite up to full HDTV rendering. Try setting your desktop resolution downward a bit and see if the smoothness increases.

Also, check the CPU use % reported by Task Manager. Is that over 70-80%?

Strangely when I powered up this evening, everything is working AOK.

CPU usage is 100% but the jerkyness is gone.

Can even see the video on the monitor.

:confused:

[sugna]

I've recently purchased a DVICO FusionHDTV Hybrid/Pro. Installation was trouble-free, and for the most part the card functions well . . . except for when it crashes my computer. Sometimes it happens after hours of perfect functioning, and sometimes after just a few minutes. Each time I get a 'blue screen of death', usually with an error message along the lines of "IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL". Occasionally it has mentioned a driver such as nv4_disp, nv4_mini.sys or zl88avs.sys, but usually it's just the IRQ message.

My system (or at least what I assume are the important bits of it) is as follows:
Windows XP Home, version 2002, SP2
Intel Core 2 Duo 1.8 GHz, 2GB RAM
MSI P965 Neo Motherboard
DirectX 9.0c
NVIDIA GeForce 6200 TurboCache PCI Express
PowerDVD 6.0

After poking around some forums and the Dvico website, I understand that such crashes are not unusual with Dvico cards. The first remedy prescribed is usually to switch the PCI slot of the Dvico card to minimise IRQ conflicts. I've tried the card in each of the three available slots on my MB now and this has not solved the problem. The only other PCI device is the PCI Express video card.

I'm using the latest drivers and software (3.60.01) for the Dvico card. I've also tried using both the latest (93.71) as well as some older (84.21) Nvidia 'Forceware' drivers, but that didn't fix things either.

I've installed the latest chipset drivers from MSI. I *think* that my BIOS is up to date, though I'm not real keen on flashing the BIOS anyway until I've ruled other things out first. As far as I know, I haven't enabled any BIOS settings that might cause problems.

The other solution suggested on the Dvico website is to set up my system as a 'Standard PC' instead of ACPI, so that IRQs can be manually assigned. I'm not at all keen on this option, as I don't see why I should have to forego all the benefits of ACPI functionality just to get my tuner card working.

Has anyone else using the same or similar hardware as me encountered or overcome these problems? It is incredibly frustrating, and I will be very disappointed if I can't get it to work. Random system crashes are not a price I should have to pay for the privilege of watching TV on my PC.

Any help or suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

[TPeterson]

BSOD crashes on an otherwise well-behaved PC with FusionHDTV, in my experience, are extremely rare these days. I suspect that your "IRQL..." stops are caused by corrupted drivers for something, not necessarily for DViCo's gear.

As I wrote very recently in this thread, I've never changed any of my HTPCs away from ACPI.

[rooobosmith]

But you did reinstall* the video driver, right? And you're using the DxVA setting in FusionHDTV?


*NB: Sometimes (?) you need to uninstall the NVidia driver and then reinstall for it to be successful.

I have found that with the DxVA setting, the top half of the video is all distortion.

The way I was able to get this to work is by choosing the non-VxDA mode.

[TPeterson]

That explains your 100% CPU usage.

[KAXKID]

I have found that with the DxVA setting, the top half of the video is all distortion.

The way I was able to get this to work is by choosing the non-VxDA mode.
sounds like you're not using all the memory on the video card. dirty card connection? wrong setting in the mb bios?

[TPeterson]

Rather than not using it all, I suspect that there's a weak DRAM chip on it that's not keeping up with the mobo AGP or video card's GPU timings. Perhaps there's a way to back off on some clocks (e.g., using Powerstrip) to improve the display?

[tencom]

"A little jerky" may mean that your Athlon 2400 isn't quite up to full HDTV rendering. Try setting your desktop resolution downward a bit and see if the smoothness increases.

Also, check the CPU use % reported by Task Manager. Is that over 70-80%?
I use a Athlon 2200+ with a CPU rate, less then 40% with the right video card!

[TPeterson]

The right video card and DxVA mode, yes. Rooobo is using sw rendering to saturate his CPU.

[Ungermann]

I am ashamed to report that my DVico USB box was not defective. I tried another coax cable and oh, miracle, everything worked. Who might have thought about bad cable :) The software still does not seem superstable and its functionality does not reach even good old VHS standars (like I cannot pause the recording process, then resume; or pause, scroll back-forward in "record pause" mode and then resume recording), but at least it works.

Installation on WinXP was not totally flawless, required five or so reboots, and the driver could not be installed properly from the first time, and the main app was throwing memory access errors, but after about an hour if tinkering and downloading of an update from DVico website, it works. Installation on Win2K went worse, I still cannot resolve issue with my wireless Ethernet USB card, which stopped working after I installed DVico drivers. But I hope I will fix that later too.

Now I will go through this thread from the page I stopped reading, maybe I will find some helpful links for better recording software that works with DVico. Sorry for prior disturbance.

[Maruuk]

Happy with my new X1300, Lite card and 3.6 at 1650X1050 but now after 2 hours of recording, the video on playback always freezes badly and is basically unwatchable. Curiously the first two hours of the recording are always fine. With the old rev and my old Mx4000 at 1200X1024 (roughly) I never had a problem with length of recordings. I have about 70 gigs left on my HD which isn't much, but I'm only using about 30 gigs for these 3 hour+ recordings. Do I need to add a big HD to give myself a ton of headroom or what? Anybody had a length-of-recording problem in here?

[bigpoppa206]

Happy with my new X1300, Lite card and 3.6 at 1650X1050 but now after 2 hours of recording, the video on playback always freezes badly and is basically unwatchable. Curiously the first two hours of the recording are always fine. With the old rev an