- I am currently using a Hauppauge WinTV HVR-1850 tuner which receives a signal from a set-top cable box. This has been my hardware setup for the past few years, with no changes.
The driver I had been using for the tuner was approximately a year old, and had not been changed prior to this failure. I did try updating to the most current driver, but this did not fix the problem.
There were no Windows updates installed between the time that the signal was being received and when it stopped. I do not allow automatic updates, and every update is controlled manually, so I can absolutely confirm that there were no updates.
Comcast is my cable provider.
If I open the WinTV program, I can view TV just fine, so I know that the tuner is receiving a signal; it's just WMC that has a problem with it.
Now that the guide issue has been fixed, I am able to download the guide information during TV setup, but when it gets to signal detection, I receive this message: "Windows Media Center is unable to determine your signal configuration. Make sure a live TV signal is connected to the computer, then try again."
At one point, through a combination of system restore, disabling and re-enabling WMC, clearing the eHome folder, and one or two other changes, I was able to get the TV signal to configure properly. The guide was working, the TV signal was working, I could view TV and browse the schedule. However, after setting up the TV signal, PlayReady was unable to update. At this point, I ran Windows Update and installed a few critical updates, but after a reboot, the TV signal stopped working again. I have since restored my system to a point prior to the updates, and repeated all the steps that led to a successful TV setup previously multiple times, but WMC remains unable to detect my signal (it still works in WinTV though).
The only other detail I can think to include is that a few days prior to these changes, I received a message from Comcast that my modem needed to be upgraded in order to take advantage of higher available speeds. I didn't think anything of this at the time, as about a year ago I got similar messages as they were trying to sell me new equipment. However, I did read that listing changes and speed upgrades in some cities was believed to be the cause of some guide setup problems (which led me to the fix of the hosts file I used above). I haven't seen any mention that these same changes are causing issues with TV signal detection, but the timing is suspicious.
Could this be something I need to take up with Comcast? If so, does anyone who has had experience working with their support have any suggestions on how best to get a knowledgeable and useful response? I hate going through the usual runaround with tier 1 support, and this seems like an issue that would probably confound most of the front-line techs.
I would prefer not to do a full reinstall of Windows 7 if it can be avoided, as I have a lot of "copy once" programming recorded that I could lose access to. If I was certain that a reinstall would fix the problem, I'd do it, but I would hate to go through the trouble of a clean installation, only to still have the same problem while also losing my recordings.
Any help or suggestions would be greatly appreciated; I feel like I'm just a few steps away from resorting to the "sledge hammer solution" out of sheer frustration!