DigitalNow Dual Hybrid PCIE S2 Drops Out Of Device Manager after standby

[bigdonk]

can re-produce this issue at will, with the following steps that represent typical HTPC usage

1. turn on display
2. boot up HTPC, from powered down state
3. after boot up and MCE is running, standby to state S3, HTPC using MCE remote or imon remote
4. turn off display
5. an event resumes MCE, such as EPG update or scheduled recording
6. turn on display and device manager reports
The device 'DNTV Live! Dual Hybrid PCIe S2 Capture Device' (PCI\VEN_1131&DEV_7162&SUBSYS_753117DE&REV_01\4&2e 8d881b&0&0010) disappeared from the system without first being prepared for removal.
7. any attempt to access the PCIe S2 capture card then fails, including scheduled recordings from MCE

like others have reported previously in this thread, a hard power cycle is the only way to clear the issue

renura, surely this is enough info, to get a better grip on this issue?

BTW, already using latest mobo BIOS, and BDA drivers from digitalnow, so whats next to resolve this issue ?

i would have posted this in this thread, bit it's already closed

[Keen Bean]

Check out this related thread.

As posted in that thread, I have similar issue, though I can't confirm if it's only related to resumes from standby. Am now testing Vista, have had the same thing occur twice in 1 week.

I noted a thread on same issue at another forum. From memory there was suggestion that one tuner would fall over due to a signal issue, and that providing antennae to both inputs may be worth testing. I have not yet tried this.

Bean.

[renura]

Originally Posted by bigdonk

renura, surely this is enough info, to get a better grip on this issue?

No, it is not. We have reported this issue to the driver developers and they can't find any such issues on their testing platforms. I can't replicate such issue either. So it is either specific to your system or the card is faulty. If it the card is faulty, we can fix it under warranty, contact our support to arrange to return it to us for testing.

[bigdonk]

Originally Posted by renura

No, it is not. We have reported this issue to the driver developers and they can't find any such issues on their testing platforms. I can't replicate such issue either. So it is either specific to your system or the card is faulty. If it the card is faulty, we can fix it under warranty, contact our support to arrange to return it to us for testing.

So how much more specific steps to reproduce the issue do you need then ? I listed 7 simple steps for you to follow, did you at least try them at all ? and also listed the hardware I’m using as well.

yes you may have, in the past reported the issue to Phillips, but have you reported the steps to reproduce the issue i have documented for you as well.

Also my sig lists the other hardware i'm using as well, perhaps you were not using HDMI 1.2 devices for example ?


I myself work in the IT/Telecommunications support industry, and if customer provides specific steps to re-produce an issue, that is perfect to progress the issue towards resolution with the relevant developers, i and others that are looking at this as a pilot, amazed at your response, given a customer has documented specific steps to re-produce the issue for you.

[renura]

I am not sure if you understand what I said, so i will repeat it for you.

No one on our test teams or the driver developers can replicate this "device disappearing issue" you are reporting, on any of our test platforms. I can only conclude that either it is your environment that has a problem or the card. We can easily check if it is the card, if you contact us and arrange to return it for testing under warranty.

[Nomad]

I have similar problems with this card in both a Gigabyte 965 and Intel 945 boards. I have been around in loops with Renura and end up getting ignored when the going gets tough. Whenever I bring the subject up I get shot down by everyone who doesn't suffer from this pain in the ar!@# problem. So I don't want the hear that "mine works fine" I want to hear mine also doesn't work.

In my Gigabyte board the solution so far is to use the second PCI-e x16 video slot. This works perfectly. On my Intel board I just have to put up with it. It looks like you are using the onboard video have you tried the S2 in the x16 PCI-e slot?

rgds Damon

[Mysteron]

Hmm, An interesting problem that has similarities to something I occasionally have.
In my MCE2 system (see specs link below) MCE occasionally reports "No tuner Found". If I check device manager than it has indeed disappeared and only a reboot will bring it back. It doesn't happen often but enough to be annoying.
The other issue I had was when trying to use Vista on this PC, for some reason Vista did not recognise the tuner at all and I had to use downloaded driver, ended up with the stutters so reverted to MCE2005 and all is silky! Strange.
I'll need to try again sometime soon.
Sent Renura an email re this second point a couple of weeks ago but no reply as yet

[renura]

Guys,

I always try and help wherever I can, but to keep repeating the same story, is a waste of everyones time and resources. I have asked a couple of times for a suspect card to be returned to us so we can have a look at it.

Let's put this into context there are several thousand of these card (S1 and S2) around in the market and I have heard from a handful of users having this disappearing issues. (BTW this is not uncommon with many USB devices also). The driver developers have, similarly, heard little or nothing of these incidents and can not replicate them. It is possible that these cards are faulty, please let us check them and if so we will replace them.

Of course if you find that it works in one PCIe slot and not in another, then I doubt the card is faulty it maybe very well be a MB issue. Similarly if it works with an application and not another, it is unlikely to be a hardware issue. The Gigabyte issue for example has been reported to gigabyte as as I understand it they are sorting that out.

Cheers

Renura

[bigdonk]

hm, a brief update on this issue, done some work on the system this weekend

1. tried assigning an unused IRQ to the DigitalNow Dual Hybrid PCIE S2 via device manager, dead end, all grayed out and unable to make any changes

2. tried assigning an unused IRQ to the DigitalNow Dual Hybrid PCIE S2 via m/b bios, dead end, can only assign IRQ manually to legacy PCI devices and not PCIe devices. The PCIe devices always share IRQ 18 in my system, with no administrative control over it

3. tried the other 2 PCIe x 1 slots, no change, DigitalNow Dual Hybrid PCIE S2 still disappears from device manger

4. disconnect the HDMI 1.2 interface and used VGA instead, issue remains

5. complete re-install of all software, no change

6. rolled back m/b bios to release 11 ( n-1 ), clear cmos, reboot, setup cmos, XP MCE re-installs all related drivers ( due to BIOS detection change )

appears that after step 6 i can now reliably resume from S3 standby state without the DigitalNow Dual Hybrid PCIE S2 Droping Out Of Device Manager , but have another new issue i've not seen before

1. schedule 2 x simultaneous recordings to start at same time

2. quit MCE

3. send XP to S3 standy

4. XP resumes at correct time, but one of the recordings always fail due to a tuner failure, and any subsequent attempt to access both digital tuners always fails, a reboot is the only salvation
here is the message logged in event viewer

5/6/2007 1:21:17 PM Media Center Receiver Error None 3 N/A HTPC TV tuner encountered an error. (0x%2) %1
5/6/2007 1:21:08 PM Media Center Receiver Error None 3 N/A HTPC TV tuner encountered an error. (0x%2) %1

not sure if this new issue is related to the original issue, but I’m definitely starting to believe that the tuner card is simply faulty, and or the Digitalnow/Phillips driver has major issues with S3 resume, as there are no other devices in the system having any issues what so ever, including with S3 resume.

simultaneous recordings without resuming from S3 standby work just fine, sounds to more like a tuner driver issue to me.

[renura]

The card could be faulty, but so could your MB. Or it could simply be a compatibility issue with your MB/System.
Have you tried different power states? or only S3?
have you tried a tool such as this? http://www.xs4all.nl/~hveijk/mst/indexe.htm
Have you tried different application software? Or in different PCs
Have you tried other PCIe tuners on your MB?

[Nomad]

As has been said many times the board suffers from 2 seperate faults that maybe related but show up differently.

Fault 1: is the whole device dissapearing from Device Manager.
Fault 2: Is the first Tuner 0 failing to work after Standby.

In my Intel 945 board fault 2 will also show up after a mains failure, and can be fixed by a reboot.

rgds Damon

[bigdonk]

renura,
answers/responses inline

Originally Posted by renura

Have you tried different power states? or only S3?

not yet, but why would i want to use S1 ? S3 is the many referenced to be the preferred standby state

Originally Posted by renura

have you tried a tool such as this? http://www.xs4all.nl/~hveijk/mst/indexe.htm

yes, made zero difference before and after.

Originally Posted by renura

Have you tried different application software? Or in different PCs

not yet, but that’s not my intended application, XP MCE RU2 is the intended OS/application for my dedicated HTPC, is very easy to use and EXTREMELY well integrated, compared to other TV view / record applications

Originally Posted by renura

Have you tried other PCIe tuners on your MB?

no, i don't have any other PCIe tuners to try, unless you send another for me to try, I’ll be more than happy to try it, even send back to you, at my cost, the suspect card for you.

[renura]

I would not want you to use anything other than what you want, as long as it works.
What we are trying to determine is if it is the card, your system or something else.
If you send the card back, as already mentioned, we can test it on systems where we know it should work. If it doesn't work, then the fix is very easy, we will send you another one.
If it works on our systems, then it obviusly is related your environment and the fix may not be available immediately or ever. In which case you can make up your mind whether you want to live with the limitations or pursue alternative options. My understanding is that you have already been given an RMA number for returning the card, I will make sure that I will test it myself.