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Latest Ceton InfiniTV 4 Info Thread

530K views 5K replies 476 participants last post by  spencers 
#1 ·

Welcome to the Latest AVS Ceton InfiniTV 4 Info Thread

Goal

I noticed there are few threads here and there and in different forums, I hope this thread can help some of the new owners to set up and troubleshoot the tuner if there is a problem.


Brief history

In 2010, after few years of R&D and speculations, a fully working CableCard tuner finally released. This is a great news for the HTPC users in US who want to watch the pay channel programming within Media Center. No more S video, RCA, component or firewire input and IR blaster from cable box to HTPC. Other benefits are HTPC will be able to record the pay channel content such as CNN, ESPN & HBO into our own HDDs instead of the cable box's hard drive. Last but not least, with CableCard tuner, we can send the cable box back to cable provider and save $12/cable box, since our HTPC will be able to do just the cable box does and much more.


Engadget review here .


Price

$199 -> http://cetoncorp.com/buy-now/

Ordering CableCard from your cable provider

Do yourself a favor, if you have not order the CableCard yet, please just tell them you need the dual stream cable card like the one we insert to Tivo. I know Ceton or your dealer will ask you to be very specific such as "Multi-Stream CableCARD M-Card". But most if not all the service operators will have no clue what you about to do and in their system they will not list it that way. According to Comcast rep when I ordered my CableCard, it listed as "dual stream cable card (TiVo)" in their system.

Official manufacture site

Official Setup Guide

http://cetoncorp.com/infinitv_support/  


Set up other than local HDD as a Recorded TV folder

Set up Kensafe iStorage server in the desired storage server and initiate local machine connects to as an iSCSI server using the instruction here .


Follow the direction here if you want to get a free 1 server lisc of Kensafe iStorage server.


Installation

 

PCIe

Official Installation Guide

Official Installation Video

 

Cannon PC installation Video at YouTube  - Video demonstrates steps for a Ceton InfiniTV 4 being installed in a PC.

Report problems to Ceton

Most likely before Ceton support will be able to help you out, you will need to send them the log. Please go to their Diagnostic Tool -> Diagnostic, describe your problem inside the top description box, click "collect information" and this tool will collect all the log. Save the log and email them. Yahoo mail and Gmail will think this is a virus after you attach and not allow you to send such log. You can use different email client or send the log via Ceton support site .


Most common problems
No TV signal

*Check your signal strength and make sure your signal strength is not -15 dBmV and more.

*Make sure you go thru the installation process, above, and activate and pairing your InfiniTV 4 tuner card with the cable provider's cable card.

Signal and Temp

Signal: From what I told by Ceton, we need the signal to be -10 dBmV to 10dBmV (some member using the Motorola signal booster to boost up the incoming signal.


I personally encountered some problems here and at the end, Comcast technician came back redo some of the coaxial wiring, removed the splitter and all fine after that. (from -15 dBmV to -1 to 3 dBmV now)

Temp: 60C to 70C (according to Ceton, anything over 70C we need to watch out) You can refer the signal and temp from their Diagnostic Tool OR you can try InfiniTV Status Media Center Plugin and after installed, it will be in the Extra section in Media Center.

"View or Listening Conflict" Media Center Message

*When you reboot and start your HTPC, this will be most likely the message displaying, about 5 to 10 secs, before the Live TV kicks in.

*According to Ceton, different AV vendors will block different ports/settings and such Windows message will appear. But with Ceton released Network Tuner Wizard, the build in tool will allows tuner to go thru different setting based on your AV software.

*Before the Official Network Tuner Wizard released in beginning of May, 11, there are few tricks to share the tuners. Different tricks or hacks can easily cause such Windows message appears.

"Video Error Files needed to display video are not installed or not working" Media Center Message

Below are what I noticed from different members to sove this problem.

* Disable "Exclusive" in the Properties of the default playback properties

* Change Windows Playback to stereo, 2 channel, and whatever speaker setting you have in Media Center

* Turn off navigation and animations sounds in Media Center

* If none of the above work, please try below and reboot.

Control Panel -> Programs -> Programs and Features -> Turn Windows Features on or off.

Turn off the media features. Reboot. Then follow the same procedure to turn them back on.

Please note that you will have to re-run the Media Center Setup.

Happy Live TV and Record 4 programming at once!
 
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#302 ·

Quote:
Originally Posted by lordhutt /forum/post/20638332


Yes, Digital Cable Advisor is what told me my video card does not support protected content.


How is my card physically connected??? HDMI if that is what you mean... runs through my receiver first... that is to my television

Yes, there is a second display... a touch screen that I use for a jukebox.

Let me guess, VGA cable for the touchscreen. Good chance this is what is burning you.
 
#303 ·

Quote:
Originally Posted by hlkc /forum/post/20637255


lifespeed,


I am not suggesting it will, I am just guessing here since I did not turn off the indexing in any of my SSD since I never turn off my indexing. Please try and share back.


On a side note, I think our SSDs are fast enough for the HTPC use therefore I will just leave it alone.

I just checked and Recorded TV is still indexed, so that isn't the problem. Also, my number of guide days dropped from 11 to 10. Isn't it supposed to download 14 days (two weeks) of guide data?


Something is not right, wish I knew what it was.


Edit: Turns out you have to have "Windows Media Center" indexed in Control Panel/Indexing Options.
 
#304 ·

Quote:
Originally Posted by lifespeed /forum/post/20638684


Edit: Turns out you have to have "Windows Media Center" indexed in Control Panel/Indexing Options.

So just to make sure after you enable "Windows Media Center" indexed in Control Panel/Indexing option, you are now able to search, right?


If so, it works out good for you and you can still disable to whole box indexing as you wished and just enable the indexing for the WMC.


I have only 11 days ahead of the Guide data.
 
#306 ·

Quote:
Originally Posted by hlkc /forum/post/20638748


So just to make sure after you enable "Windows Media Center" indexed in Control Panel/Indexing option, you are now able to search, right?


If so, it works out good for you and you can still disable to whole box indexing as you wished and just enable the indexing for the WMC.


I have only 11 days ahead of the Guide data.

Yes, I was able to search for TV programs within WMC. I only have WMC and Recorded TV indexed, nothing else.


I'll keep an eye on the guide data. I know I told it to "automatically download" during TV setup.
 
#308 ·
Quote:
Originally Posted by DvdJags
I have given them the correct info but it does not activate. I picked up a new card today. I will see how it goes in a minute.
How did it go with the new card?
 
#309 ·

Quote:
Originally Posted by al210 /forum/post/20639646


How did it go with the new card?

Well at first it did not work after it was paired. I was tranferred to a 2nd level tech and she could not get it too work either. They claimed that I had to get a Comast cable box since the card was inside of a PC. Yea right! Sent the results of the Ceton diagnostic tool to Ceton. They responded in like five minutes. The cable card had not been staged by Comcast. Called comcast back and told them the prolem. Within in seconds the Ceton diagnostic tool displayed all green. Checked out media center and all of the channels were comming in. So the problem was the cable card had not been staged. That was the first thing they should have done according to the last Comast agent I spoke to. I am happy now but it should not have taken that long to get my card working.
 
#310 ·
DVDJags, that Comcast experience to the four of which I have personal knowledge. They never explicitly stated that they could not support a CableCARD in a PC, however. If anyone else gets fed that particular line, remind them that the FCC requires them to support all CableCARD devices that are certified by Cable Labs.
 
#311 ·

Quote:
Originally Posted by Aluminum /forum/post/20638573


Let me guess, VGA cable for the touchscreen. Good chance this is what is burning you.

Nope... HDMI cable cable, with HDMI to DVI adapter on computer side.

Monitor turned off when this failed.

I could try just disconnecting all together... but this option can't be final. This is my touch screen jukebox monitor. If one must go it is the tv card :-(

Heading out for a quick beer or 2... will try when I get back.


Well, had a few beers... disconnected the jukebox monitor from the pc and passed the test. Don't know if this is good or bad since as I mentioned previously I am not getting rid of my jukebox.

The next step is to get my m-card activated... I doubt this can be done now as it is 10pm.

So at this point I am assuming everything can work. The big question now is... can I get it to work with both monitors? Can I get around this... the jukebox monitor is an Acer T230H bmidh 23" widescreen Touch Screen.


Ok, second update as I am typing this I went back. Hooked up the touchscreen and ran the test again. It tells me that my system has already been configured to work with digital cable card tuners. So maybe when I get the m-card activated it will work.


Updates to follow....
 
#312 ·
Just two minor issues still going on here, do these happen to anyone else? Nothing major but a bit of a nuisance:


1. Pretty much every time I return from Sleep and press LiveTV I always get the message that tv signal is not available, then I just change the channel and it tunes just fine.


2. On random reboots or returning from sleep, I get the message "Windows Media center has detected a CableCARD, would you like to set it up now?" and again I can just tune a channel shortly after.. Obviously it's already set up..
 
#313 ·

Quote:
Originally Posted by SLAYER6669 /forum/post/20648438


Just two minor issues still going on here, do these happen to anyone else? Nothing major but a bit of a nuisance:


1. Pretty much every time I return from Sleep and press LiveTV I always get the message that tv signal is not available, then I just change the channel and it tunes just fine.


2. On random reboots or returning from sleep, I get the message "Windows Media center has detected a CableCARD, would you like to set it up now?" and again I can just tune a channel shortly after.. Obviously it's already set up..

Regarding #1, yes but long time ago, when before I changed tp Z68 MB. I still remember I just go up 1 channel and down I'll see the channel come in without problem. Did you upgrade your driver and FW lately? Maybe that will help.


Regarding #2, I experienced once with the current build and I just hit cancel and have not seen it for a long while now.


For 1 +2, I had some wake up problems more the line with the remote not responding for few sec after wake up and I want to jump to Recorded TV screen after wake up, with that in mind, I installed slick solutions, and it works beautifully, actually VERY well!
 
#314 ·

Quote:
Originally Posted by lordhutt /forum/post/20643376


Nope... HDMI cable cable, with HDMI to DVI adapter on computer side.

Monitor turned off when this failed.

I could try just disconnecting all together... but this option can't be final. This is my touch screen jukebox monitor. If one must go it is the tv card :-(

Heading out for a quick beer or 2... will try when I get back.


Well, had a few beers... disconnected the jukebox monitor from the pc and passed the test. Don't know if this is good or bad since as I mentioned previously I am not getting rid of my jukebox.

The next step is to get my m-card activated... I doubt this can be done now as it is 10pm.

So at this point I am assuming everything can work. The big question now is... can I get it to work with both monitors? Can I get around this... the jukebox monitor is an Acer T230H bmidh 23" widescreen Touch Screen.


Ok, second update as I am typing this I went back. Hooked up the touchscreen and ran the test again. It tells me that my system has already been configured to work with digital cable card tuners. So maybe when I get the m-card activated it will work.


Updates to follow....

Ah so its not one of those small touchscreens built into a case, thats what I was assuming. Definitely HDCP compliant.


If you still run into problems using it while the touchscreen is plugged you could have a hdcp handshake problem which you might fix with a new cable. A dedicated hdmi to dvi cable w/o a dongle (still cheap) is less likely to have issues.
 
#317 ·

Quote:
Originally Posted by hlkc /forum/post/20649048


Regarding #1, yes but long time ago, when before I changed tp Z68 MB. I still remember I just go up 1 channel and down I'll see the channel come in without problem. Did you upgrade your driver and FW lately? Maybe that will help.


Regarding #2, I experienced once with the current build and I just hit cancel and have not seen it for a long while now.


For 1 +2, I had some wake up problems more the line with the remote not responding for few sec after wake up and I want to jump to Recorded TV screen after wake up, with that in mind, I installed slick solutions, and it works beautifully, actually VERY well!

Yeah I usually just hit no/cancel when it asks if I want to set up the cablecard. Same here, I just need to change the channel after initially pressing Live TV and it works fine on any station after that. Would be nice if just tuned on the first press.


I am using the MCE Standby tool as well and have it set to jump to Recorded TV also. That program is great, it fixed a bunch of my issues returning from sleep.. My remote tends to work for a few seconds after returning from sleep, then stops working for like 5 seconds then works again.. No big deal, all of these are minor issues to me.
 
#318 ·

Quote:
Originally Posted by SLAYER6669 /forum/post/20649992


Yeah I usually just hit no/cancel when it asks if I want to set up the cablecard. Same here, I just need to change the channel after initially pressing Live TV and it works fine on any station after that. Would be nice if just tuned on the first press.


I am using the MCE Standby tool as well and have it set to jump to Recorded TV also. That program is great, it fixed a bunch of my issues returning from sleep.. My remote tends to work for a few seconds after returning from sleep, then stops working for like 5 seconds then works again.. No big deal, all of these are minor issues to me.

Actually MCE Standyby Tool one big help to me is the remote. As you mention, I need to wait few secs before the remote kicks in. But after MCE Standby Tool, my remote works right after resume from sleep.
 
#319 ·
I'm hoping to get a quick update from those who have used the Ceton as a network tuner. Is it working well? I read about some incidents a few pages back concern tuner dropouts and having to reconnect tuners to remote TV clients on the network.


I know I will want to use a network-based tuner solution ultimately so at this point it's a question of whether I can do so with the Ceton, or go with Silicondust's pending HD Homerun Prime products.
 
#320 ·
Hello,


I have a new HTPC that I built, and I purchased a Ceton Infinitv 4. I installed it into my PCI-e slot, and then booted up my computer and installed the drivers/software from Ceton's site.


When I rebooted, In the lower right hand corner a notification popped up and showed the device had been installed, and it said Ceton InifiniTV in the bubble.


I have already run DCA inside Win7 Media Center. Now when I got to tasks to setup TV signal, it says no TV Tuner is connected?!?!?! WTF!!!!!! I've uninstalled, rebooted, reinstalled, tried a different PCI-e slot, I don't get it.


I've also run Ceton Diagnostics, and it says drivers are up to date, but underneath that where it should show my hardware/firmware it just says "searching" and my card never actually shows up!


Any information would help, I am beyond frustrated. Thanks!
 
#321 ·
Well, it turns out the Ceton automatically configures itself as ip address 192.168.200.1 This is the same IP address as my router, so I changed my router IP address, and it seems to be detected now.


So, I go through configuration, and it says the following tuners are available which would you like to use with WMC. It only shows tuner 3, and tuner 4? Where are the other two tuners?
 
#322 ·

Quote:
Originally Posted by elockett /forum/post/20651694


I'm hoping to get a quick update from those who have used the Ceton as a network tuner. Is it working well? I read about some incidents a few pages back concern tuner dropouts and having to reconnect tuners to remote TV clients on the network.


I know I will want to use a network-based tuner solution ultimately so at this point it's a question of whether I can do so with the Ceton, or go with Silicondust's pending HD Homerun Prime products.

It works fine for me, although I did have some trouble getting it to work with a static IP address. There is a link previous that may address the sequence of events to make this happen.


Yes, it does work fine as a network tuner.
 
#324 ·

Quote:
Originally Posted by lifespeed /forum/post/20652534


It works fine for me, although I did have some trouble getting it to work with a static IP address. There is a link previous that may address the sequence of events to make this happen.


Yes, it does work fine as a network tuner.

Thanks for the feedback. I'll look for your prior posts.
 
#326 ·
The only issue I have w/ Ceton network tuner sharing is if I shut down the host machine I'll also have to reboot the client machines in order to use the Ceton tuners.
 
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