UnOfficial MyHD MDP-120/DVI card thread - part 2 - Page 15

Allen,

How old is your card? At some point MIT had to switch from Samsung SDRAM to Hynic SDRAM because Samsung stopped making the memory chips. The new memory chips had the same timing specs as the Samsung chips and that turned out not to be correct. MIT made timing corrections in the .16 driver to stop crashes with the new chips.

"Does anybody know if MIT will ever release a version of the software where we can do the timeshift thingy?"

If it is possible I'm sure they will.

Without going home to see the receipt I think I got it in the first part of Jan.

It's likely that you have the new SDRAM chips and that is why MIT posted the .16 driver to the released and supported download.

I just received my HD120. If I want to run my desktop as well as hd from my tv, I'll need the bybass cable setup? Can someone outline the pro's and con's of running the desktop? Is it possible to do all the recording, scheduling, and watching, just from the remote, or will the desktop be needed for viable functionality?

TIA,
Dan

I do not run the desktop on the TV. I do all my scheduling from the PC and then do all the playing from the TV using the remote which is attached to a room hopper. I'm pretty sure you can record using the remote along with many other functions. I'm a pretty simple user compared to others as you may quicky see.

But is way cool to have the forward skip set to 175 seconds and watch commercials disappear.

Allen In So Cal

Thanks Allen,

I have a stb to watch one show while recording, so don't believe I would be looking for a playback alternative outside of MyHd prog. So generally, unless I wanted to run programs outside the MyHd set, I shouldn't need the desktop functionality. My thinking is if I don't need the desktop, I wouldn't need a transcoder, just run component to TV and digital cable to receiver and good to go. I'm looking forward to trying many of this cards capabilities.

Raven_13, setting up program captures without using the HTPC desktop is still problematic for MyHD software. For example, there's no way to type in a file name and you cannot access the TitanTV logs on the HD screen.

And then there is the world of playing DVDs thru MYHD. I haven't tried it yet as my DVD player is driven thru an external line doubler. But others here give it great raves.

I forgot to add that using the TitanTV interface makes recording as snap. But others have their own preferences. Good luck.

But I should be able to do that with my computer monitor in the basement, right? (Just wouldn't be as convienient)

Do you need the desktop and overlay to play DVD's? Maybe I mistakenly thought that was accomplished thru the hd picture.

Yes, I misunderstood your intention--thought you would have no desktop available, rather than one on a separate monitor. You should be in good shape then.

Thanks TP,

How about the DVD thing then?

DVDs play as HD content, but you need 3d-party software (e.g., AnyDVD) to play copy-protected disks. (Search the Forum for AnyDVD and DVDIdle for more than you wanted to know about this subject)

As I said I don't play DVDs thru MYHD. I was following a thread on the subject and most participants seemd very pleased with the picture quality as compared to their DVD player. I'd be interested to read the instructions for playing DVDs.

It's true that you can't type a file name from the HD OSD, but you can use the PSIP EPG if provided by the digital station OR manual schedule from the OSD using any number of file names also selectable from the full screen OSD.

Great guys! Thanks!!!

I'm looking forward to working with it soon. My plan is just to get hooked to antenna and work on computer first. Then I'll expand out to full capabilities on upstairs HD Tv. I most definately wanted to try the DVD upconversion. My set upconverts to 1080i as natural resolution. Have never been sure if that applies to a DVD or just HD ASTC signals. A comparison is definately in the future.

Dan

But is way cool to have the forward skip set to 175 seconds and watch commercials disappear.

Allen,

Do you know that you can also use number buttons 1 - 6 to change the FF/REW times set in MyHD Config Panel?

For REW buttons 1 = 1x the time set and 4 = 2x

For FF Buttons 2 = 1x, 3 = 2x, 5 = 4x, and 6 = 8x

I have been able to play DVDs that I copied to the hard drive with DVDDecrypter from http://www.doom9.org/ . Unfortunately, after doing that I was not able to play an encrypted DVD in my software player. It said that the disc is not formatted for my region. Uninstalling and reinstalling MyHD and the software DVD player fixed the problem. This was with the 1.62.2 release version. I have not tried the other two solutions to get around the copy protection.

Brian

Do now. Also know that I need to proof read my entries closer.

I don't want to change the FF time because it works perfectly most of the time. Maybe I'll play around with the REW time because sometimes the need for that is variable when 175 runs too far ahead.

For me, the magic numbers are 37 for FF and 15 for REW.
8xFF [6] skips the comercials, and I can do little adjustments with one FF[2] or REW[1].

M.-

"Uninstalling and reinstalling MyHD and the software DVD player fixed the problem. This was with the 1.62.2 release version."

So you are telling us that you have no idea which reinstalled software fixed the problem or why DVDDecrypter broke it in the first place.

I reported that behaviour in this post:
But I got into an endless loop where where a new error dialog would pop-up every time I dismissed the old dialog. The error was something about not allowing an empty field or something (something I did not attempt to do). The only way out was to kill MyHD, and that resulted in a BSOD. So a few things need to be addressed (whenever the time to address such things arises): 1) allow MyHD to be killed without a BSOD, and 2) isolate/fix this endeless loop problem.


It's happened to me only one time since this original instance, and again I did a poor job of documenting what was going on at the time.

--Dale--

Dale,

The best way to address this issue is if the digital stations learn how to setup and properly operate their digital transmitting equipment.

You get an endless loop or BSOD on a computer where an STB just locks up.

Dan, I'll give my my $0.02. One option (the one I'm using) is to run two wires to the TV, and use the TV to switch between the two. In this case, you don't use the loopback (you can just connect a regular monitor in case your resolution gets whacked, or use VNC - more on that later).

The HD-out goes to one of the component inputs on the TV. When I leave the TV, I leave that input selected. This way, the less sophisticated users ;-) can just hit the power buttons on both the TV and the MyHD remote, and begin surfing channels. That works fine until MyHD is busy recording something when they walk up. In that case, the MyHD remote seems "broken", and the sound doesn't work (hey, I'm quoting here, that's not me talking). The backup plan for the uninitiated is to use the TV's analog tuner. The back up plan for me is to select the computer desktop by changing the TV's input to the DVI input and shop around the hard drive for something I've already recorded, and play it back with VLC (that's another thread ). I digress.

You can do a lot with just the remote, but, as others have indicated, you won't be able to schedule recordings through TitanTV, which I kinda like. The data in the guide is not worth a crap in my area. You won't be able to know if you have space enough to record without going to the desktop. You won't have concurrent (play while recording) capabilities without a desktop. You won't be able to write AVS forum posts while you listen to the news (and pop over for a peek if you think they have a visual worth a look). As you can tell, I'm biased toward having the desktop on the tube (or panel, or whatever you have nowadays)!

--Dale--

Hi Dale,

Another advantage provided by your setup is that you have no problem getting back to the desktop if MyHD crashes.

I have mine hooked up the same way, except that I use DVI for MyHD, and I use component from an ATI 8500 AIW using the purple dongle. I find that I can't see much difference between component and DVI from the 8500, but I see a noticeable difference from MyHD. Of course, you need to spend $90 more the the MyHD DVI card, so it might not be worth the expense.

By the way, if you turn off the VGA overlay, use the MyHD SPDIF output (and select between your PC and MyHD using your receiver), and uncheck the background recording box, then you won't lose sound when the recording starts, which is handy if one family member wants to watch a program while you are taping the same program for someone else. Under these circumstances, I don't think there is any advantage provided by background recording.

-Dave

Interesting. Although I wonder if you have a typo there. Having used a ReplayTV for years, I find the most common ad break is 3.5 min. Next is 3.0 min. I am almost paranoid about not watching commercials.

Playing around with the settings, I'm now using +23 -15 and that works pretty well. What would really be nice is a real scrolling FF with a small rewind at the end like Replay does.

grittree,

Yes, my bad. It is +27 and -15.

M.-

Dale,

For the case I reported this morning, I agree with Cliff. It was something the station did to cause the problem, so they should be the one to apply a fix.

While the problem was occuring, this is how I dealt with it:

The error window could be dismissed by simply hitting "enter" on the keyboard. I would do that with one hand and in the few seconds that would pass until the next window would come up, I moved the mouse with my other hand and clicked on the control panel. That didn't require killing the app or rebooting. This workaround was a PITA, but it allowed me to return the computer to a good state.

akula

BTW, I suspect it wasn't an endless loop, but MyHD repeatedly reacting to improper PSIP data, which was itself repeating.

I was unclear on what was causing the problem, and now I am not able to reproduce it. It must have been something else that was strange on my system, but I incorrectly associated the DVD region problem with MyHD. Whatever caused the original problem is no longer an issue, so I retract my earlier statement about reinstalling MyHD.

The option in the MyHD installation program created an association with .IFO files. After ripping the DVD to the hard drive with DVDDecrypter, simply double-click on the file VIDEO_TS.IFO to launch MyHD in DVD mode. The picture quality in MyHD DVD mode is better than what I was getting with the software DVD player.

Brian

Is it possible to take the video saved by the myhd card and convert it to DVD's? Is so what are the steps to take?