Dual Tuner Colossus

Help with tuners from ATI, Hauppauge, AverMedia and more.
danny6869

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#21

Post by danny6869 » Fri Apr 26, 2013 3:35 am

Oh my God!!! Thank you SlowLeak! I don't know how I missed that, but "VideoSource" was the key. I now have MCE working with two colossus cards! Awesome!

Thanks to everyone who posted their findings along the way

barnabas1969

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#22

Post by barnabas1969 » Fri Apr 26, 2013 3:45 am

Everything works if you let it.

SlowLeak

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#23

Post by SlowLeak » Fri Apr 26, 2013 3:37 pm

I'm glad I could help.

Could you do me a favor and send me (or post) your values for FlushOnChannelChange, PauseOnChannelChange and TunerLockDelay? I've been messing with those and I never wrote down the original values.

barnabas1969

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#24

Post by barnabas1969 » Fri Apr 26, 2013 5:24 pm

@SlowLeak: Would you be willing to write a wiki on this subject with full instructions on how to get this working? This is a frequently asked question here on this site.

danny6869

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#25

Post by danny6869 » Thu May 02, 2013 2:22 pm

SlowLeak, where do I find the info you talked about? I searched my registry for thoses, and nothing came up!?

Barnabas1969, I have thrown together all of my "findings" in directory on my computer (which I could send you). I would do a proper write-up, but there are a few spots where I did a few different things, and I'm not sure which actually made the difference. (and I am not able/willing to clear my media center setup to do it all again)

The key things done were...

- Setup IR Server Suite using these instructions --- http://www.techlifeweb.com/2010/12/27/h ... ia-center/
- Setting the "limittosingle" key was the next tricky part, as some of the instructions I found were not correct for my Windows 7 64bit (and latest hauppauge version) setup. Here's what I needed (Save as limittosingle.reg and import using regedit.exe)...

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Wow6432Node\Hauppauge\HcwDevCentral\Configuration]
"limittosingle"=dword:00000000

...and once that was in there the hauppauge configuration software worked perfectly. Allowing all configuration I needed.

- The last bit was setting up IRSS to use the standard microsoft MCE IR blaster. The missing option was the "-port" one to direct the blasting to one IR port or the other...here's my options I use. (Port_1 and Port_2 obviously)

-host localhost -pad 3 -port Port_2 -delay 250 -channel %c

I really hope this helps someone. I had a bit of an argument going on the facebook hauppauge page, where they were telling me this was a MICROSOFT problem, and in the end, it is clearly a HAUPPAUGE problem. They did not FINISH their software...plain and simple.

SlowLeak

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#26

Post by SlowLeak » Fri May 03, 2013 2:55 pm

I'll see if I can write something up. I'm currently working on setting up an ESXi server with a Win7 MCE instance and WHS instance on the same physical box. Should be interesting. I won't be able to help with the IR blaster since I'm using IP control of the DirecTV boxes.

The registry entries I was looking for are under
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Wow6432Node\Hauppauge\HcwDevCentral\Devices\{2974da53-4df5-4c44-914e-725ebb6bee18}\Application Data\HcwMCESvc
The GUID there may be different for you and there are separate entries for each card.

The problem I'm running into (and this may be something I did when I set it up) is that subsequent recordings using the same tuner have a large audio sync problem (~5 second video delay) unless the channel is changed. So if I record a channel on a tuner and then later use the same tuner to record something on the same channel then it is messed up. If the channel changes between recordings or it uses the other tuner (assuming the other tuner changes channels) then it is fine.

seanfi

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#27

Post by seanfi » Sun May 05, 2013 2:43 pm

Does anyone have the referenced batch files? The linked dropbox appears to be empty. Thanks.

Pir8Man

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#28

Post by Pir8Man » Thu May 09, 2013 5:18 pm

can anyone recommend a dual IR blaster to work with a dual colossus setup? I can't seem to find any, just single IR models.

wpjonesnh

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#29

Post by wpjonesnh » Mon Dec 09, 2013 6:16 pm

Good day. I am new to the forum and Windows Media Center. Used to use Mediaportal but it's support for cablecards is small and does not support DRM channels so I swtiched to Windows Media center. I have been trying to get my two colossus cards working with WMC as well and I even went as far as to email Hauppauge. Unfortunately their reply was less than satisfying. I was wondering if anyone on the forum had this alpha fix that they are referring to?:
Hello,
I apologize that you did not get my response from 11/25 regarding this matter. This was an experimental alpha fix that our engineering staff sent to a few people but was abandoned due to issues getting multiple IR blaster support to work correctly. This fix was abandoned by our engineering staff and is not supported.

Regards,

Technical Support
Hauppauge Computer Works
New York
http://www.hauppauge.com

Please include previous correspondence when replying.


From: Wendell Jones [mailto:wjones@wpjones.com]
Sent: Saturday, November 30, 2013 5:44 PM
To: Support1
Subject: Ticket: 31326-103220 Product: Colossus (131xxx) OS: windows764bit App: mc Country: usa [phishing][sls][spam-bayes]

To Whom It May Concern,

I sent this reply back when I received a response to my initial question on how to enable two colossus cards in Windows Media Center. But I never received a response back to my inquiry. Could someone please respond to my request. I included the post I read that your support helped someone else accomplish this.
Thank you and Regards,

-Wendell Jones

The reason why I sent this email is because I read in "The Green Button" forum
that Hauppauge support helped someone to get two of them working:

Regards,

-Wendell Jones


Hello,



Our support for the Colossus in Media Center only allows for the use of a
single Colossus.



Regards,


From: wpjones@maine.rr.com [wpjones@maine.rr.com]
Sent: Friday, November 22, 2013 8:11 AM
To: Danger1
Subject: Ticket: 31326-103220 Product: Colossus (131xxx) OS: windows764bit
App: mc Country: usa [phishing]



Name: Wendell Jones
Email: wpjones@maine.rr.com
Product: Colossus (131xxx)
Application: mc
OS: windows764bit
Country: usa

Problem description: I switched from Mediaportal to Windows Media Center.

HOw do I update my system to allow for multiple devices as I have 3 Colossus
cards installed and would like to use at least 2 of them.

Thank you in Advance and Regards,

-Wendell Jones
I then emailed them back with the following reply (hoping for a response back) but got no answer:
Wow. That’s a shame. I had an external blaster for channel changing all set up. Oh well. It’s a shame that the ir blaster is hurting you guys so much. Looks like I’ll have to find a different product to use since I need more than one card to accommodate the household. Switching back to Mediaportal isn’t an option for me now.

Thanks anyway and Regards,

-Wendell Jones
Has to make you wonder how closely integrated their ir blaster is even when you don't want to use it. You would think they would want to keep their customer base happy but I guess not. :cry:

Thanks in advance and Regards.

barnabas1969

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#30

Post by barnabas1969 » Mon Dec 09, 2013 6:51 pm

Wendell,

As has been recommended to others on this site, buy a CableCARD tuner and ditch the cable box and Colossus. It will save you money in the long run, because renting a CableCARD is cheaper than renting a cable box. It will also give you 2,3,4, or 6 tuners in a single device (depending on the model you choose) using a single CableCARD. Then, you can sell your Colossus and recoup some of the cost.

The downside to doing it this way is that you may have copy-protected channels using CableCARD, depending on your cable provider. If you have copy-protected channels, then you will only be able to watch your recordings on the PC where they were originally recorded or with an extender for Windows Media Center (e.g. Microsoft XBox360, HP X280N, Linksys DMA-2100/DMA-2200, or Ceton Echo).

Available CableCARD tuners include:

SiliconDust HD HomeRun PRIME (3 tuners, network connected)
Ceton InfiniTV4-PCIe (4 tuners, internal PCIe)
Ceton InfiniTV6-PCIe (6 tuners, internal PCIe)
Ceton InfiniTV6-ETH (6 tuners, network-connected)
Ceton InfiniTV4-USB (4 tuners, USB external)
Hauppauge DCR-2650 (2 tuners, USB external)

I listed the USB tuners last, because they are the most problematic due to variations in USB implementations. The HD HomeRun PRIME is my personal favorite.

wpjonesnh

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#31

Post by wpjonesnh » Mon Dec 09, 2013 10:42 pm

barnabas1969,
You hit the nail right on the head for what I am trying to accomplish. The only reason I was looking to still use my colossus cards was so that I could run the shows through MCEBuddy to shrink them down to a decent size to save on disk space. I have extenders in the two main rooms of the house that my wife and I watch TV on so the DRM part isn't really relevant to me except for diskspace. MCEBuddy is doing a very good job for me by shrink and avg. 5GB file down to 1.5GB-2.0GB and I am using showanalyzer to generate the skip file. I just haven't been able to find a converter that doesn't rely on Windows Media Player to get the job done. :oops:

Sounds like it's time to pack it in and just deal with the size issue though. :cry:

On another note, I have to say that I am extremely glad I found this forum and have yet to find a reason to regret moving away from Mediaportal. Overall I am quite happy with WMC! :clap:

seanfi

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#32

Post by seanfi » Mon Dec 09, 2013 11:18 pm

I'd really like this alpha fix as well if anyone has it. No cable so I'm stuck with DirecTV. I bought 2 of the HD PVR but only ever got one to work even using the network to change channels.

barnabas1969

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#33

Post by barnabas1969 » Tue Dec 10, 2013 2:15 am

@seanfi: Search around for a user who goes by Venom51. He uses DirecTV and has three HD PVR's connected to three receivers, using Ethernet to change channels. He has posted several times answering other people's questions on this setup.

barnabas1969

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#34

Post by barnabas1969 » Tue Dec 10, 2013 2:17 am

Wendell,

Depending on your cable company, you may not have to deal with any DRM. Verizon FIOS doesn't copy-protected most of their channels (I think they only copy-protect premium channels like HBO and Showtime). Some people report that Comcast doesn't either.

Disk space is cheap. The main drawback to copy-protection is the lack of portability of your recordings.

wpjonesnh

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#35

Post by wpjonesnh » Tue Dec 10, 2013 11:22 am

Barnabas1969,

This is true. Diskspace is cheap. But it's hard to come by when you have a cheap wife :shh: :silent: :D . In any event I tried one more google search before giving up and I cam across this post:
http://experts.windows.com/frms/windows ... 03542.aspx

which said to run this command:
"C:\Program Files (x86)\Hauppauge\MediaCenterService\devcon.exe" install_hcw49swt "C:\Program Files (x86)\Hauppauge\MediaCenterService\hcw49s64.inf" HCW49SWT
which then gave me what I wanted(Though I had to rebuild my TVGuide stations after rerunning the Signal setup). I have Time Warner Cable who DRM's everything except channels which are also "Over the Air" stations. AT least I can move the recordings to my main media server library for rerun purposes. :clap:

Thanks for the feedback though. I still found it quite valuable!

Regards,

-Wendell

barnabas1969

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#36

Post by barnabas1969 » Tue Dec 10, 2013 7:09 pm

Wendell,

Sell it to your wife by telling her that you'll be saving the difference between the cost of renting the cable boxes vs. renting a cable card. I'm on Brighthouse Networks in Central Florida. Our pricing goes like this:

An HD cable box (non-DVR) costs $8/month.
An HD DVR costs $9.98/month, plus if you have the DVR, then you also have to pay for the "DVR service", which is another $9.98/month.
A CableCARD costs $2.95/month, and no "DVR service" fee.
A Tuning Adapter is free (required for CableCARD tuners if you have SDV in your area).

So...

If I had two HD cable boxes (non-DVR), I'd be paying $16/month.
If I had two HD DVR's, I'd be paying $29.94/month ((2 * 9.98) + 9.98 for the "service").
The CableCARD only costs me $2.95/month.

Let's assume you pay the same prices I do, and that you have the cheapest STB solution, which is two HD cable boxes (non-DVR). If you switch to a CableCARD tuner, you'll save $13.05/month (plus tax). That will pay for a new 4TB HDD in about 12 months.

Then, you can sell your Colossus cards for about $70/each on e-bay (that's the avg "sold" price for a used Colossus), which will just about pay for a new HD HomeRun PRIME tuner ($149.99 at Newegg.com).

So, you can tell your wife that you're going to break even in just a little more than a year, and you'll have PLENTY of storage space for her to record every episode of "Real Housewives of <fill-in-the-blank>", "Bethany <you-name-it>", The Kardashians, and all those other shows that most women can't get enough of.

wpjonesnh

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#37

Post by wpjonesnh » Tue Dec 10, 2013 7:28 pm

Barnabas1969,
So, you can tell your wife that you're going to break even in just a little more than a year, and you'll have PLENTY of storage space for her to record every episode of "Real Housewives of <fill-in-the-blank>", "Bethany <you-name-it>", The Kardashians, and all those other shows that most women can't get enough of.

:lol: OK. Now you got me cracking up here(Though That is a VERY GOOD explanation that I am going to print off and show my wife).

Thanks!

barnabas1969

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#38

Post by barnabas1969 » Tue Dec 10, 2013 7:35 pm

Not to mention the headaches that you will be preventing by getting rid of the IR blaster setup. Those are well known for problems, even after you get them setup and working.

seanfi

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#39

Post by seanfi » Thu Dec 12, 2013 4:20 pm

Thanks everyone, using the linked "how to" I was able to get dual HD pvrs working. Finally!

wpjonesnh

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#40

Post by wpjonesnh » Wed Dec 18, 2013 12:15 pm

@seanfi - While I have my wife giving Barnabas1969's explanation due consideration, I found that I cannot get my IR Server Suite configuration to work properly with WMC. IS this what you are using and if so could you post or PM me your configuration on how you got yours working correctly?

Thanks and Regards

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