One Chicago Channel displays a Blank Screen and no audio

[Tom_Tom]

Hello everyone.

I am new to “TheGreenButton.tv” forum and I would like to apologize for my long post but information is knowledge.
I’m having an issue with one of my OTA channels displaying in Windows 7 Media Center.
First some background…
I’ve spent a couple of days searching the internet with no success.
Windows 7 and drivers are all up to date as of this posting.
I only use this for the OTA channels, of which I receive 78 of them.
I live in the suburbs of Chicago.
My setup is:
- Computer: Lenovo Laptop G570 (Intel i5-2450M-2.5GHz; 8GB RAM; 500GB HDD; Intel HD Graphics 3000, LG 55” LED LCD TV connected to laptop via HDMI)
- TV Tuner: HD HomeRun Extend Dual (using it only for the ATSC – OTA Channels only) (Connected via hardwire ethernet.)
- Operating System: Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 with all updates having been applied.

The issue I am having is: I have one Chicago station that will not display video nor will it play the audio. I know that the HomeRun tuner picks up the station (all 7 of its channels 22.1 – 22.7) only one I am really interest in 22.7 carrying Retro TV.
Display Channel Digital Channel
22.1 24.1
22.2 24.2
22.3 24.3
22.4 24.4
22.5 24.5
22.6 24.6
22.7 24.7

When I take a look at the EPG the data is correct for the channels and when I click on “Edit Sources” for the channel (Tasks > settings > TV > Guide > Edit Channels > the channel name > Edit Sources); both tuners are selected and both tuners show the “Channel Number:” (RF Digital Channel) as 24.7 which is correct and the “Quality:” is 100%. Note all of the display channels are correctly associated with the correct RF digital channel. So everything appears to be correct, however I get just a blank screen, no “No TV Signal” or “No Service available” messages as you might expect, just a blank screen with no audio.
Now both of my LCD TV’s receive the all the stations just fine. I can also use the HD HomeRun View program on the laptop and view the stations just fine and the HD HomeRun Config program shows that the “Signal Strength” of 100%, “Signal Quality” 72%, and “Symbol Quality” of 100%. I’ve also been able to view the channel using Windows Media Player and VLC Media Player, all from the same laptop. All of this leads me believe that this is an issue with my Windows7 Media Center or one of its data files.
So I’ve tried the following:
- Disable the original 22.x channels through the “Edit Channels” and unchecked the boxes. Then I added the channels manually through the “Add Missing Channels” and that did not work.
- Finally, I reran the “Set Up TV Signal”; after the didn’t work I reran it again using a Milwaukee zip code and then reran it again with my home zip code but the blank screen issue persist.

Is anyone else experiencing this or similar?
Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you in advance,
Tom

[Engineer]

Tom,

I have exactly the same issue! I too have tried MANY things to fix the issue - all with no success.

It is a very frustrating mystery that has become almost a "quest" to solve ....

If I should ever find the solution, I will post.

Good luck,
Will

[Tom_Tom]

Will,

Thank you for your input and good luck on your quest.
I'm still looking for a solution but to no avail.

I too will post any solution I may find but at this point I’m not too hopeful.

Tom

[dmagerl]

Stations transmit something called a PSIP channel, Program and System Information Protocol. It tells the tuner how interpret the transmitted data stream.

If only one channel is affected, and you have good signal strength on that channel, its most likely that the PSIP from the station is wrong. WMC seems to be more sensitive to this than other tuners.

About the only way to fix it is to contact the station engineer and explain the situation and hope he listens to you. He'll be moe likely to listen if several people contact the station with the same issue.

I live in the Chicago area but am too far away to get ch22 so I cant tell you if my WMC setup does the same thing.

[mcewinter]

I'm in Chicago with an OTA setup. I'm quite certain that channel isn't in my guide. If others are going to make the call, I'll join in too.

[Mike88]

I'm in the Chicago suburbs about 20 miles from downtown. I tried channel 22.7 last night & had video & sound. FWIW I'm using a pair of AverMedia Duet tuner cards.

[Engineer]

Mike;

Now you have me scratching my head - again! I am running a pair of HDHomeRun tuners:

HDHR3-US Firmware: 20150604
HDHR4-2US Firmware: 20150826

So, two (slightly) different tuners and no go on any 22.x channel. All other channels are fine. What is REALLY going on? I was convinced that the explanation provided by dmagerl was the issue ...

[Vistaar]

Just a wild guess (I'm not in Chicago): I wonder if Mike88 is the only one of you with PlayReady installed?

[Engineer]

Vistaar;

Good question. However, I have tried with it installed and uninstalled. In fact, just some of the things I have actually tried:

1. WMC - Tasks - Settings - TV - Guide - Edit Channels - Edit Sources
Verified available turners, correct Channel Number (in my area 24.x), Quality 100%
2. WMC - Tasks - Settings - TV - Guide - Add Missing Channels - Add DTV Channel
3. WMC - Tasks - Settings - TV - TV Signal - Digital TV Antenna Signal Strength
I receive 6 Green segments (maximum) on the channels.
4. Tune WMC to 22.7 (Retro TV in Chicago), bring up HDHomeRun Config GUI
Signal Strength % - 98
Signal Quality % - 90
Symbol Quality % - 100
5. Completely remove WMC and reinstall (clean registry and eHome directory)
6. Removed PlayReady
7. I tried using just the HDHR3-US then the HDHR4-2US. No difference. Both tuners work fine on HDHomeRun View and through VLC Media Player when invoked by double-clicking the desired channel on the Digital Antenna tab of the HDHomeRun Setup program.
8. Meticulously rechecked all channel sources. All seem correct. I even disabled all channels but 22.7 to no avail.

[adam1991]

Just covering the bases here:

is it possible the channel is being OVERdriven to the tuner?

Too much signal will cause this. Unnecessary amplifier, etc.

Do this: run that antenna wire to a plain old TV. Set up channels. What happens? Can you tune the channel?

[Engineer]

All TV sets work fine. Remember, on the same machine, HDHomeRun View and VLC Media Player play the problem channels just fine ... The issue only occurs when attempting to view via Windows Media Center ...

[Vistaar]

I'm thinking this almost has to be a SiliconDust issue. When you set up the HDHomeRun, there's a setting for Main Application. The obvious choice is "Media Center," but there is room for some experimentation with due regard for scheduled recordings. Would you believe the "NextPVR" setting was never the best choice for NextPVR users? There used to be a generic "Other: ATSC/QAM" setting that actually worked better, but recent software versions have eliminated that setting. I'm sure you've heard that SiliconDust is developing a program that they hope will be a replacement for Media Center. That means they now have no incentive to ensure trouble-free operation with Media Center or any other PVR software. I wouldn't be surprised if you would get better results using an older version of the HDHomeRun software.

[Mike88]

I don't use PlayReady. If installed I'm not aware of it.

I have all the 22.x channels edited so they do not show up in my guide. I enabled only 22.7 just to check it out & it works.

I don't know how far from downtown Chicago the others are, but I'm about 20 miles LOS using a big old VHF/UHF attic antenna. I'm not familiar with HDHomeRun tuners since the AverMedia tuner cards plug into PCI-e slots. Sorry I can't be more helpful.

[dmagerl]

Just to reiterate:
1. Its not the guide data because manually adding it in still results in black screen.
2. Its not PSIP because others report it works OK
3. Its not signal strength because it works on other tuners

I'm stumped.

[Engineer]

Vistarr;

You are a genius!!! I went to the HDHomeRun Setup and started down the list of choices for "BDA Compatibility Mode". When I got to "J River Media Center", BINGO! I then continued down the rest of the list and things worked on "MediaPortal".

All is now well and such a simple fix.

Thank you so much for pointing me in the correct direction. I am a bit embarrassed that I never tried this on my own - must be slipping in my old age ...

Will

[Vistaar]

Be on the lookout for possible side effects though. The file size of recordings will probably be different, and recordings from specific channels might have playback issues that you didn't have before.

[Engineer]

Vistarr;

Sure, get me all excited that things will work well, then you do this!

I did test recording few channels and, so far, things look good. However, my number one wife is the "Recording Queen". She will be heavily testing, and certain to inform me of any issues (she is so good at letting me know when the computers are not perfect) ...

[Tom_Tom]

Hi Everyone,

I want to thank all of you for your replies.
I think that since it the channels do work on my TV's and the same laptop as WMC; I'm going to try to uninstall WMC and reinstall it. And if that doesn't work I'm going to look at alternatives.

Again thank you all for your input,
Tom