Dell XPS 420 "No TV Signal" Ati Digital Tuner Problem

SoonerToucan · 01-23-08, 12:47 PM

I am running the Dell 420 with dual ATI CableCards. I use Cox cable in Oklahoma City. I updated the firmware on my tuners in anticipation for the cable tech. I had a “professional” come out last week to install the cards. While the tech was courteous, he admittedly had never installed a CableCard into a PC before. In some friendly banter while waiting on the install he openly admitted none of the techs get any formal training on installing CableCards. He said he was told to “visit a few websites” for information.

The CableCard install took about 2hrs and when the cable technician left it all appeared to be working properly. Soon thereafter the problems began. Anything from a tuner not being recognized by Vista (an unsupported usb device has been installed) to not getting TV signals on certain channels.

Currently both tuners can tune all channels. They can record SDTV channels 2-30ish and surprisingly most HD channels. Unfortunately, while I can tune to the mid range digital channels whenever I record them, after a three second pause, I get the No TV Signal message. Additionally some HD channels give me the pop up message that I need to contact my cable company to activate the tuner. It seems once I get the “No TV Signal” message on that tuner, I cannot tune any of the "dead zone" channels with that tuner until I unplug it and restart VMC.

Some additional testing with my 360 extender may shed light on the problem as well. If the VMC is tuned to a "dead zone" channel I can tune to that channel from the extender, but once I change the channel from the extender I get a big pop-up message to the tune of "Call your cable company to set up your digital tuner. Then it provides Cox's contact info."

All this leads to me to believe that it is a DRM issue. I think its interesting that when you watch a show in the "*dead zone" you are able to time-shift which means its recording, but once you ask it to truely record and save the show, the tuner wigs out.

Well this is where I am currently at. If you have any info on my situation, help would be much appreciated.

Thanks,
-ST

XPS 420 / Dual ATI digital Tuners / 256MB Radeon ATI HD 2600 XT

SoonerToucan · 01-25-08, 03:00 PM

I called Cox cable out again yesterday and while they tried 7 different CableCards. I am still having the same issues.

BigAl · 01-25-08, 03:42 PM

If you haven't already check thru the vista cablecard thread.

Some things to check:
-Verify you have the latest firmware on each tuner
-Verify that COX correctly paired each individual tuner with the correct cablecard. If they didn't I seem to remember someone posting that they had similar sometimes it works sometimes it doesn't when it was incorrectly paired.

dondu · 01-25-08, 04:25 PM

If you have any 3rd-party software firewalls installed (Norton, or whatever), you should try disabling them. (Personally, I would UNINSTALL them. But maybe that is just me.) If you disable them, be sure to disable them on each of the network interfaces to each of your DCT's.

The DCT's talk to the PC using TCP-IP over the USB connection, and there are reports that some software firewalls will interfere with that communication.

--Don

SoonerToucan · 01-29-08, 11:09 AM

Thanks for the replies guys. Updating the firmware was the first thing I did, and it is a fresh install of the OS from Dell with no anti/virus.

PLUCKYHD · 01-29-08, 11:28 AM

Sooner any luck on this? I am about to jump ship and order a xps 420 for use with cox in okc. I post over @ the greenbutton with you just wondering if you go it working?

catsquisher · 01-29-08, 06:31 PM

Hey SoonerT, at least you are able to get something out of your tuner. WMC does not recognize any TV signal from my recently arrived ATI TV Wonder Digital Cable Tuner on my new Dell XPS 420. I contacted Dell about the problem, who told me to contact AMD. AMD told me Dell is responsible since it shipped OEM as part of a system bondle. What fun!

I have updated to the latest firmware on the DCT, have two happy green lights shining, tried every configuration I can think of (w/ CableCARD and without, coax and RCA connections, cable TV and off-air signals), and still no dice.

Anybody have any thoughts?

catsquisher · 01-29-08, 08:39 PM

I contacted Dell again, after AMD refused to provide support, and they reluctantly agreed to send me another tuner: "... it is actually a retail sale and is not part of the system. ATi should have fully supported this item. I am going to replace it, but in the future you should know this is not covered by us... This item is not an OEM and is supported by the manufacturer."

So, even though Dell lists the product as "TV Wonder Digital Cable Tuner for Sale with XPS 420***ONLY****", they do not usually claim responsibility for the item.

More from the Dell rep: "I'm saying if it still does not work, we will not be able to help you, you will have to contact them. They [AMD/ATI] do not supply us with any support documentation and it is not covered by your system warranty."

My new tuner is supposed to arrive in a few days.

SoonerToucan · 01-30-08, 06:12 PM

catsquisher: Do the tuners show up in your networking tab? When you run the VMC install I am guessing it doesn't pick up either of them?

PLUCKYHD: I honestly don't think it's Cox's fault they seem to have set things up correctly. Unfortunatly mine still freaks out when it tries to record. I am over on TGB board as well. Let me know if you decide to pull the trigger it woudl be nice to have another user to bounce ideas / test with.

leonowski · 01-30-08, 09:47 PM

I'm not sure if this will help you guys, but check out this link:

http://www.microsoft.com/windows/pro...cablecard.mspx

At the bottom of the FAQ are a set of steps to help you troubleshoot problems. The steps guide you through the built in configuration webserver on the ATI tuners. Hopefully, it can guide you to the source of the problem.

-leonowski

leonowski · 01-30-08, 09:51 PM

Another thing I thought of:

I noticed that the ATI tuners use an arbitrary IP address in the 192.168.x.x range. You may want to make sure that these IPs are not part of your current home network's subnet. I'm sure it is unlikely, but, it's worth checking out.

catsquisher · 01-31-08, 02:38 PM

SoonerT: That is what seems strange to me; the tuner shows up as a network device. I can view its status via its web address. I can see the status of the CableCARD in the same manner. The tuner seems happy in every way except that WMC won't play with it.

Under WMC's Digital Tuner Diagnostics, the tuner shows up as "ATI TV Wonder OpenCable Receiver (3928), U", but every item reads as "Unavailable". The U at the end of the tuner ID is probably the beginning of the word unavailable that gets cut off.

leonowski: I have tried all the troubleshooting tips on the Vista and ATI web sites. My tuner shows up in the 192.168.22.x range, cable modem in the 192.168.100.x range, and home network in 192.168.1.x range, so that should not be the problem. But thanks for the offering up other possibilities.

At this point I am hoping the problem is simply a malfunctioning tuner and that the replacement on the way will do the trick.

catsquisher · 01-31-08, 02:45 PM

By the way, in the epic struggle between Dell and AMD regarding who should provide support for the ATI TV Wonder Digital Cable Tuner, there is still no clarity.

Latest word from AMD technical support:
"The TV Wonder DCT is not a retail product. AMD provides firmware updates and presales specifications for this product. We have an agreement with the systems integrator to provide the product as an OEM. Support is done through Dell.

"If [your Dell rep] disagrees with this statement then he can either contact the Dell OEM channel or contact AMD support at 1-877-284-1566."

Neither wants to deal with it.

SoonerToucan · 02-01-08, 11:36 AM

"Under WMC's Digital Tuner Diagnostics, the tuner shows up as "ATI TV Wonder OpenCable Receiver (3928), U", but every item reads as "Unavailable". The U at the end of the tuner ID is probably the beginning of the word unavailable that gets cut off."

Not sure if it stands or Unavailable or not, I think on mine it says "(Unit #1)" and "(Unit #2)". I am at the office so I can't check. Were you ever able to install the tuners w/o the CableCards? Might want to try and take out the cards and test the tuners one at a time with VMC.

Not sure if this will help, but you might want to try completely unregistering OCURs and re-runing TV setup again.
Close Media Center and from elevated command prompt type

net stop ehrecvr
cd \windows\ehome
ehprivjob /OCURUnregister
ehprivjob /OCURDiscovery

Wait for a minute, restart Media Center, go to Settings -> TV -> TV Signal
and select Setup TV Signal.

-ST

catsquisher · 02-01-08, 01:13 PM

ST: The tuner does not work with or w/o the CableCARD. Tried un and reregistering OCUR, per your suggestion, but I still get no signal. Thanks for the suggestions though.

-cs

dondu · 02-01-08, 08:48 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by catsquisher

ST: The tuner does not work with or w/o the CableCARD. Tried un and reregistering OCUR, per your suggestion, but I still get no signal. Thanks for the suggestions though.

-cs

Just from this statement, at a guess, you either have a bad tuner, or poor signal strength.

I have some troubleshooting tips here: http://dondumitru.spaces.live.com/bl...26F8!126.entry

--Don

catsquisher · 02-02-08, 07:16 PM

Don: I just tried a 10 dB on the cable feed, but I still get "A TV signal was not detected." It's looking more and more like it was a "DOA DCT", to use your terminology. On a tangent - you have an attractive house; I like the nice clean lines of the interior.

dondu · 02-02-08, 07:48 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by catsquisher

Don: I just tried a 10 dB on the cable feed, but I still get "A TV signal was not detected." It's looking more and more like it was a "DOA DCT", to use your terminology. On a tangent - you have an attractive house; I like the nice clean lines of the interior.

Of course, they only photographed the "best" scenes of the house. The TV room, for example, is quite a disogranized mess, and there are no pictures of it. ;-) But thank you, we are very happy with the results.

I did have a DOA DCT myself. I was able to isolate it to a DOA DCT, because I had two DCT's, one working, one not - swap the coax cables, the same one keeps working, and the same one keeps not. Ergo, it's not the cabling or the signals, it's the DCT.

--Don

SoonerToucan · 02-04-08, 12:47 PM

I am going to have to agree with dondu, sounds like a bad tuner. I hope you get everything working cat, let us know if the new tuner works.

catsquisher · 02-04-08, 09:23 PM

I should get the replacement this week. Y'all will be the first to hear. Thanks again for all your suggestions.

Happy Mardi Gras!

catsquisher · 02-11-08, 08:13 PM

So the new tuner arrived from Dell this morning, just a few days late. I installed it and became depressed when I couldn't get it to work. Then I remembered (after a couple hours of headaches) to deactivate my firewall during the installation. It works!

But, wouldn't you know it, the CableCARD isn't working. I'm getting some free channels with the card removed, but every channel is restricted when it's inserted. Comcast says they've paired the card to the tuner, but diagnostics show otherwise. A service guy is supposed to come by tonight to fix the problem.

They don't make it easy.

catsquisher · 02-12-08, 01:52 AM

Comcast guy was clueless. Had never seen a DCT. Spent an hour and a half. Was unable to help. Coming back tomorrow. I am not hopeful.

catsquisher · 02-12-08, 10:06 PM

Success!, with help from AustinDeadHead. I get all the channels I'm supposed to and the HD channels look great.

But not before jumping from one problem (a DOA DCT) to another (computer not digital cable ready - http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=958372).

Apparently, there was a short period of time (a couple weeks before and after the New Year) when Dell XPS420 systems shipping with the nVidia GeForce 8800GT graphics card were not properly configured for OCUR devices.

Symptoms of the problem show up in WMC messages such as "Your computer is not digital cable ready. You will not be able to set it up for use with a CableCARD" and "Restricted Content. Restrictions set by the broadcaster or originator of the content prohibit playback of the program on this computer".

AustinDeadHead walked me through a convoluted fix (with many potential pitfalls if you're not careful) that did the trick. While the problem is apparently tied to the BIOS, the solution is not so simple as accessing the BIOS settings with F2 at startup.

To quote him, "Some attempted resolution procedures (posted to AVSForum or theGreenButton) can mask the core problem...without actually fixing anything." So he suggests contacting Dell directly to address this issue (somewhat ironic considering Dell initially refused to provide me support for the item).

If anyone has a similar system configuration and problem, I would highly recommend contacting AustinDeadHead through AVS Forum or The Green Button. He knows what he's doing. He's a saint and a godsend.

dondu · 02-12-08, 10:15 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by catsquisher

Apparently, there was a short period of time (a couple weeks before and after the New Year) when Dell XPS420 systems shipping with the nVidia GeForce 8800GT graphics card were not properly configured for OCUR devices.

Wow. Just, wow.

If I were a QA manager at Dell, I would be proactively calling customers who had bought those machines, and making it right. I wouldn't be letting them wander around out there in the world, bashing their heads against the problem without any support.

--Don

catsquisher · 02-13-08, 12:32 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dondu

Wow. Just, wow.

If I were a QA manager at Dell, I would be proactively calling customers who had bought those machines, and making it right. I wouldn't be letting them wander around out there in the world, bashing their heads against the problem without any support.

--Don

Yes, I had the exact same thought. They knew there was a problem. They should have been able to identify the customers who would encounter it without too much difficulty based on the key variables (XPS420/8800GT/configured around the New Year). So why didn't they contact us? I do not know. Had they done so, they could have easily saved me and many other customers much time, energy and frustration.

catsquisher · 02-27-08, 03:40 PM

Hey SoonerToucan,

Did you ever get your ATI DCT problems fully resolved?

I finally received a functional tuner and set it up, with relative success. But I now have difficulty viewing some channels. The reception freezes up when I change to these chanels and/or I get the message "No TV Signal".

What is strange for me is that the channels I am able to properly view seems to change by the day.

I suspect it is a DRM issue, but the tuner appears to be properly paired, with "Val:V" showing up on the Conditional Access page.

Any thoughts would be appreciated.

Cheers,
catsquisher

catsquisher · 02-28-08, 02:59 PM

I have the cable guy out again right now and it appears that my problem (at least one of them) is with the signal, which is isn't the strongest and is apparently still a bit high on noise.

To test whether signal might be part of the problem he removed the splitter he had placed on the line earlier. As a result I am now able get almost every channel without much problem. He is now replacing all the old coax cable feeding my apartment to try and further improve the signal to noise ratio. The CableCARD is awfully touchy when the signal pressure is less than -6dB and the SNR below 32.

I'm keeping my fingers crossed that this will finally put my tuner problems to rest.

dillinjabreakz · 03-06-08, 01:26 PM

I am having a simlar problem but I purchased a HP Pavillion Elite m9100t with the ATI TV Wonder Digital Cable Tuner. It's Cable Card Certified pc from HP. Cable Card Certified means that it was made to work with the cable company, etc and you can record Premium HD content that comes from a cable card, with other cards you can not do this, this is the first and only one that can do it. I have everything set up properly (Including the registration with the cable card product key, full setup to check all signals and to setup media center, etc) and after the cable company came (comcast) to install the cable card everything seemed to work fine for a about a week. But now, every time I am watching a channel (An HD Premium one/One that is not a basic HD one) that uses the cable card (not standard cable channels) AND HIT THE RECORD BUTTON, It tells me "NO TV SIGNAL" and goes to the blue screen info about the details. It says it can't be recorded and to Reschedule the recording after Verifying the TV signal, etc. If I switch one channel up or down, I get a picture, and then go back to the channel, I can see it again. But as soon as I hit record again - same error

So my friend told me that Premium HD channels have DRM that prevents them from being recorded?!?! So what is the point of having a DVR system if you can only record the basic channels and the Premium channels are OFF LIMITS?

I called HP - Hours/Days on tech support and nothing worked, contacted ATI - They never give you a direct answer and never get back to you and can't get in contact with them Via Phone. And Comcast does not know - They said they would boost the signal and that would fix that issue - WRONG! So now i just don't know what to do

Does anyone know of a way I could fix this or had the same problem? I LOVE my Vista media center and everything works fine other than this.

dondu · 03-06-08, 04:53 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dillinjabreakz

Does anyone know of a way I could fix this or had the same problem?

I'd first suggest that you start with some diagnostics. In Media Center, go to the tuner diagnostics, and try to tune your HD premium channel(s), on each Digital Cable Tuner.

Here's my theory (based only on some small clues in your posting): Your "second" Digital Cable Tuner is not properly paired with the CableCard, or the cable co. is sending the wrong authorization information for the second Digital Cable Tuner. What I think is happening is that when you are watching live TV, VMC prefers to use the first tuner. When you record, VMC prefers to use the second tuner. What I am guessing is that when you are watching live and hit record, VMC was showing using the first tuner but then wants to switch to the second tuner. And the first tuner is authorized to tune the HD premium channel, but the second tuner isn't.

By using the diagnostics page (instead of just "watch live tv"), you can control which tuners it uses, so you can be sure what you are testing.

My theory is that you will be able to tune the HD premium channel(s) with your first tuner, but not with your second. You should then try to tune one or more of your HD local TV stations - if you can tune those with both tuners, then you have good tuners, the problem is with pairing or authorization. If one tuner consistently can't tune anything, I think you have bad tuner hardware.

If the problem is with pairing or authorization, you have to call the cable co. My first step with them would be to get them to read to you, all of the pairing numbers, and you to verify them against the configuration on your VMC. (You don't want to read the numbers to them - you don't know if they are actually checking them or not. You want them to read the numbers to you, to prove that they are actually looking at the numbers.)

So, either you have bad tuner hardware. Or the pairing numbers have an error in them (even a single digit will break the whole thing). Or, the pairing is correct, and the cable co. instead has incorrect account information for the second tuner, where they are not properly authorizing it for all of the premium channels you have.

Or my guess at a theory is wrong.

--Don

catsquisher · 03-08-08, 01:59 AM

Hey dillinjabreakz,

There is a bug related to M-Card CableCARDS only that can make recording HD and premium content a problem. ATI is supposedly working on a patch in the form of a firmware update. For more information see this link: http://dellcommunity.com/supportforu...d=35670#M35670

Until the patch is available, you may be outta luck. Try and get your hands on an S-Card if you can, but they are hard to find these days.

01-23-08, 12:47 PM	#1 \| Link	<a href='http://rev.avsforum.com/phpAdsNew/adclick.php?n=a4ac4393' target='_blank'><img src='http://rev.avsforum.com/phpAdsNew/adview.php?what=zone:30&n=a4ac4393' border='0' alt=''></a>
SoonerToucan New Member Join Date: Sep 2004 Posts: 6	Dell XPS 420 "No TV Signal" Ati Digital Tuner Problem I am running the Dell 420 with dual ATI CableCards. I use Cox cable in Oklahoma City. I updated the firmware on my tuners in anticipation for the cable tech. I had a “professional” come out last week to install the cards. While the tech was courteous, he admittedly had never installed a CableCard into a PC before. In some friendly banter while waiting on the install he openly admitted none of the techs get any formal training on installing CableCards. He said he was told to “visit a few websites” for information. The CableCard install took about 2hrs and when the cable technician left it all appeared to be working properly. Soon thereafter the problems began. Anything from a tuner not being recognized by Vista (an unsupported usb device has been installed) to not getting TV signals on certain channels. Currently both tuners can tune all channels. They can record SDTV channels 2-30ish and surprisingly most HD channels. Unfortunately, while I can tune to the mid range digital channels whenever I record them, after a three second pause, I get the No TV Signal message. Additionally some HD channels give me the pop up message that I need to contact my cable company to activate the tuner. It seems once I get the “No TV Signal” message on that tuner, I cannot tune any of the "dead zone" channels with that tuner until I unplug it and restart VMC. Some additional testing with my 360 extender may shed light on the problem as well. If the VMC is tuned to a "dead zone" channel I can tune to that channel from the extender, but once I change the channel from the extender I get a big pop-up message to the tune of "Call your cable company to set up your digital tuner. Then it provides Cox's contact info." All this leads to me to believe that it is a DRM issue. I think its interesting that when you watch a show in the "*dead zone" you are able to time-shift which means its recording, but once you ask it to truely record and save the show, the tuner wigs out. Well this is where I am currently at. If you have any info on my situation, help would be much appreciated. Thanks, -ST XPS 420 / Dual ATI digital Tuners / 256MB Radeon ATI HD 2600 XT

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SoonerToucan New Member Join Date: Sep 2004 Posts: 6	Thanks for the replies guys. Updating the firmware was the first thing I did, and it is a fresh install of the OS from Dell with no anti/virus.

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leonowski Member Join Date: Feb 2004 Posts: 154	I'm not sure if this will help you guys, but check out this link: http://www.microsoft.com/windows/pro...cablecard.mspx At the bottom of the FAQ are a set of steps to help you troubleshoot problems. The steps guide you through the built in configuration webserver on the ATI tuners. Hopefully, it can guide you to the source of the problem. -leonowski

01-31-08, 02:38 PM	#12 \| Link
catsquisher Member Join Date: Jan 2008 Posts: 15	SoonerT: That is what seems strange to me; the tuner shows up as a network device. I can view its status via its web address. I can see the status of the CableCARD in the same manner. The tuner seems happy in every way except that WMC won't play with it. Under WMC's Digital Tuner Diagnostics, the tuner shows up as "ATI TV Wonder OpenCable Receiver (3928), U", but every item reads as "Unavailable". The U at the end of the tuner ID is probably the beginning of the word unavailable that gets cut off. leonowski: I have tried all the troubleshooting tips on the Vista and ATI web sites. My tuner shows up in the 192.168.22.x range, cable modem in the 192.168.100.x range, and home network in 192.168.1.x range, so that should not be the problem. But thanks for the offering up other possibilities. At this point I am hoping the problem is simply a malfunctioning tuner and that the replacement on the way will do the trick. Last edited by catsquisher; 01-31-08 at 02:39 PM..

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catsquisher Member Join Date: Jan 2008 Posts: 15	ST: The tuner does not work with or w/o the CableCARD. Tried un and reregistering OCUR, per your suggestion, but I still get no signal. Thanks for the suggestions though. -cs

01-25-08, 03:00 PM	#2 \| Link
SoonerToucan New Member Join Date: Sep 2004 Posts: 6	I called Cox cable out again yesterday and while they tried 7 different CableCards. I am still having the same issues.

01-25-08, 03:42 PM	#3 \| Link
BigAl AVS Special Member Join Date: Sep 2001 Location: Omaha, NE Posts: 1,369	If you haven't already check thru the vista cablecard thread. Some things to check: -Verify you have the latest firmware on each tuner -Verify that COX correctly paired each individual tuner with the correct cablecard. If they didn't I seem to remember someone posting that they had similar sometimes it works sometimes it doesn't when it was incorrectly paired.

01-25-08, 04:25 PM	#4 \| Link
dondu Senior Member Join Date: Aug 2007 Posts: 218	If you have any 3rd-party software firewalls installed (Norton, or whatever), you should try disabling them. (Personally, I would UNINSTALL them. But maybe that is just me.) If you disable them, be sure to disable them on each of the network interfaces to each of your DCT's. The DCT's talk to the PC using TCP-IP over the USB connection, and there are reports that some software firewalls will interfere with that communication. --Don

01-29-08, 11:28 AM	#6 \| Link
PLUCKYHD Member Join Date: Jan 2006 Posts: 77	Sooner any luck on this? I am about to jump ship and order a xps 420 for use with cox in okc. I post over @ the greenbutton with you just wondering if you go it working?

01-29-08, 06:31 PM	#7 \| Link
catsquisher Member Join Date: Jan 2008 Posts: 15	Hey SoonerT, at least you are able to get something out of your tuner. WMC does not recognize any TV signal from my recently arrived ATI TV Wonder Digital Cable Tuner on my new Dell XPS 420. I contacted Dell about the problem, who told me to contact AMD. AMD told me Dell is responsible since it shipped OEM as part of a system bondle. What fun! I have updated to the latest firmware on the DCT, have two happy green lights shining, tried every configuration I can think of (w/ CableCARD and without, coax and RCA connections, cable TV and off-air signals), and still no dice. Anybody have any thoughts?

01-29-08, 08:39 PM	#8 \| Link
catsquisher Member Join Date: Jan 2008 Posts: 15	I contacted Dell again, after AMD refused to provide support, and they reluctantly agreed to send me another tuner: "... it is actually a retail sale and is not part of the system. ATi should have fully supported this item. I am going to replace it, but in the future you should know this is not covered by us... This item is not an OEM and is supported by the manufacturer." So, even though Dell lists the product as "TV Wonder Digital Cable Tuner for Sale with XPS 420*ONLY**", they do not usually claim responsibility for the item. More from the Dell rep: "I'm saying if it still does not work, we will not be able to help you, you will have to contact them. They [AMD/ATI] do not supply us with any support documentation and it is not covered by your system warranty." My new tuner is supposed to arrive in a few days.

01-30-08, 06:12 PM	#9 \| Link
SoonerToucan New Member Join Date: Sep 2004 Posts: 6	catsquisher: Do the tuners show up in your networking tab? When you run the VMC install I am guessing it doesn't pick up either of them? PLUCKYHD: I honestly don't think it's Cox's fault they seem to have set things up correctly. Unfortunatly mine still freaks out when it tries to record. I am over on TGB board as well. Let me know if you decide to pull the trigger it woudl be nice to have another user to bounce ideas / test with.

01-30-08, 09:51 PM	#11 \| Link
leonowski Member Join Date: Feb 2004 Posts: 154	Another thing I thought of: I noticed that the ATI tuners use an arbitrary IP address in the 192.168.x.x range. You may want to make sure that these IPs are not part of your current home network's subnet. I'm sure it is unlikely, but, it's worth checking out.

01-31-08, 02:45 PM	#13 \| Link
catsquisher Member Join Date: Jan 2008 Posts: 15	By the way, in the epic struggle between Dell and AMD regarding who should provide support for the ATI TV Wonder Digital Cable Tuner, there is still no clarity. Latest word from AMD technical support: "The TV Wonder DCT is not a retail product. AMD provides firmware updates and presales specifications for this product. We have an agreement with the systems integrator to provide the product as an OEM. Support is done through Dell. "If [your Dell rep] disagrees with this statement then he can either contact the Dell OEM channel or contact AMD support at 1-877-284-1566." Neither wants to deal with it.

02-01-08, 11:36 AM	#14 \| Link
SoonerToucan New Member Join Date: Sep 2004 Posts: 6	"Under WMC's Digital Tuner Diagnostics, the tuner shows up as "ATI TV Wonder OpenCable Receiver (3928), U", but every item reads as "Unavailable". The U at the end of the tuner ID is probably the beginning of the word unavailable that gets cut off." Not sure if it stands or Unavailable or not, I think on mine it says "(Unit #1)" and "(Unit #2)". I am at the office so I can't check. Were you ever able to install the tuners w/o the CableCards? Might want to try and take out the cards and test the tuners one at a time with VMC. Not sure if this will help, but you might want to try completely unregistering OCURs and re-runing TV setup again. Close Media Center and from elevated command prompt type net stop ehrecvr cd \windows\ehome ehprivjob /OCURUnregister ehprivjob /OCURDiscovery Wait for a minute, restart Media Center, go to Settings -> TV -> TV Signal and select Setup TV Signal. -ST

02-02-08, 07:16 PM	#17 \| Link
catsquisher Member Join Date: Jan 2008 Posts: 15	Don: I just tried a 10 dB on the cable feed, but I still get "A TV signal was not detected." It's looking more and more like it was a "DOA DCT", to use your terminology. On a tangent - you have an attractive house; I like the nice clean lines of the interior. Last edited by catsquisher; 02-02-08 at 07:19 PM..

02-04-08, 12:47 PM	#19 \| Link
SoonerToucan New Member Join Date: Sep 2004 Posts: 6	I am going to have to agree with dondu, sounds like a bad tuner. I hope you get everything working cat, let us know if the new tuner works.

02-04-08, 09:23 PM	#20 \| Link
catsquisher Member Join Date: Jan 2008 Posts: 15	I should get the replacement this week. Y'all will be the first to hear. Thanks again for all your suggestions. Happy Mardi Gras!

02-11-08, 08:13 PM	#21 \| Link
catsquisher Member Join Date: Jan 2008 Posts: 15	So the new tuner arrived from Dell this morning, just a few days late. I installed it and became depressed when I couldn't get it to work. Then I remembered (after a couple hours of headaches) to deactivate my firewall during the installation. It works! But, wouldn't you know it, the CableCARD isn't working. I'm getting some free channels with the card removed, but every channel is restricted when it's inserted. Comcast says they've paired the card to the tuner, but diagnostics show otherwise. A service guy is supposed to come by tonight to fix the problem. They don't make it easy. Last edited by catsquisher; 02-11-08 at 09:02 PM..

02-12-08, 01:52 AM	#22 \| Link
catsquisher Member Join Date: Jan 2008 Posts: 15	Comcast guy was clueless. Had never seen a DCT. Spent an hour and a half. Was unable to help. Coming back tomorrow. I am not hopeful.

02-12-08, 10:06 PM	#23 \| Link
catsquisher Member Join Date: Jan 2008 Posts: 15	Success!, with help from AustinDeadHead. I get all the channels I'm supposed to and the HD channels look great. But not before jumping from one problem (a DOA DCT) to another (computer not digital cable ready - http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=958372). Apparently, there was a short period of time (a couple weeks before and after the New Year) when Dell XPS420 systems shipping with the nVidia GeForce 8800GT graphics card were not properly configured for OCUR devices. Symptoms of the problem show up in WMC messages such as "Your computer is not digital cable ready. You will not be able to set it up for use with a CableCARD" and "Restricted Content. Restrictions set by the broadcaster or originator of the content prohibit playback of the program on this computer". AustinDeadHead walked me through a convoluted fix (with many potential pitfalls if you're not careful) that did the trick. While the problem is apparently tied to the BIOS, the solution is not so simple as accessing the BIOS settings with F2 at startup. To quote him, "Some attempted resolution procedures (posted to AVSForum or theGreenButton) can mask the core problem...without actually fixing anything." So he suggests contacting Dell directly to address this issue (somewhat ironic considering Dell initially refused to provide me support for the item). If anyone has a similar system configuration and problem, I would highly recommend contacting AustinDeadHead through AVS Forum or The Green Button. He knows what he's doing. He's a saint and a godsend. Last edited by catsquisher; 02-15-08 at 06:42 PM..

02-27-08, 03:40 PM	#26 \| Link
catsquisher Member Join Date: Jan 2008 Posts: 15	Hey SoonerToucan, Did you ever get your ATI DCT problems fully resolved? I finally received a functional tuner and set it up, with relative success. But I now have difficulty viewing some channels. The reception freezes up when I change to these chanels and/or I get the message "No TV Signal". What is strange for me is that the channels I am able to properly view seems to change by the day. I suspect it is a DRM issue, but the tuner appears to be properly paired, with "Val:V" showing up on the Conditional Access page. Any thoughts would be appreciated. Cheers, catsquisher

02-28-08, 02:59 PM	#27 \| Link
catsquisher Member Join Date: Jan 2008 Posts: 15	I have the cable guy out again right now and it appears that my problem (at least one of them) is with the signal, which is isn't the strongest and is apparently still a bit high on noise. To test whether signal might be part of the problem he removed the splitter he had placed on the line earlier. As a result I am now able get almost every channel without much problem. He is now replacing all the old coax cable feeding my apartment to try and further improve the signal to noise ratio. The CableCARD is awfully touchy when the signal pressure is less than -6dB and the SNR below 32. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that this will finally put my tuner problems to rest.

03-06-08, 01:26 PM	#28 \| Link
dillinjabreakz New Member Join Date: Mar 2008 Posts: 3	I am having a simlar problem but I purchased a HP Pavillion Elite m9100t with the ATI TV Wonder Digital Cable Tuner. It's Cable Card Certified pc from HP. Cable Card Certified means that it was made to work with the cable company, etc and you can record Premium HD content that comes from a cable card, with other cards you can not do this, this is the first and only one that can do it. I have everything set up properly (Including the registration with the cable card product key, full setup to check all signals and to setup media center, etc) and after the cable company came (comcast) to install the cable card everything seemed to work fine for a about a week. But now, every time I am watching a channel (An HD Premium one/One that is not a basic HD one) that uses the cable card (not standard cable channels) AND HIT THE RECORD BUTTON, It tells me "NO TV SIGNAL" and goes to the blue screen info about the details. It says it can't be recorded and to Reschedule the recording after Verifying the TV signal, etc. If I switch one channel up or down, I get a picture, and then go back to the channel, I can see it again. But as soon as I hit record again - same error So my friend told me that Premium HD channels have DRM that prevents them from being recorded?!?! So what is the point of having a DVR system if you can only record the basic channels and the Premium channels are OFF LIMITS? I called HP - Hours/Days on tech support and nothing worked, contacted ATI - They never give you a direct answer and never get back to you and can't get in contact with them Via Phone. And Comcast does not know - They said they would boost the signal and that would fix that issue - WRONG! So now i just don't know what to do Does anyone know of a way I could fix this or had the same problem? I LOVE my Vista media center and everything works fine other than this.

03-08-08, 01:59 AM	#30 \| Link	<a href='http://rev.avsforum.com/phpAdsNew/adclick.php?n=a591f81a' target='_blank'><img src='http://rev.avsforum.com/phpAdsNew/adview.php?what=zone:36&n=a591f81a' border='0' alt=''></a>
catsquisher Member Join Date: Jan 2008 Posts: 15	Hey dillinjabreakz, There is a bug related to M-Card CableCARDS only that can make recording HD and premium content a problem. ATI is supposedly working on a patch in the form of a firmware update. For more information see this link: http://dellcommunity.com/supportforu...d=35670#M35670 Until the patch is available, you may be outta luck. Try and get your hands on an S-Card if you can, but they are hard to find these days.