STRANGE! Channel 9 (not other channels?) WHITE BACKGROUND STUTTER (mostly during ads)

[Mikey_M]

Hi All

Kevin you hit the nail on the head. Basically the channel 9 signal is giving one of the chips on the cards a hernia and it's voltage levels are out of whack.
It's been a fun job finding it with next to no info. I've actually stripped all the components off one side of a dual digital 4 card to make it easier to trace the circuit out.
The problem is the same on the dual express card. The problem can be very easily fixed as I've got both cards now working with no stuttering. However I don't want to reveal that as yet for one very good reason. Dvico need to pull their finger out and sort out the drivers for all windows platforms and the cards that use these particular chips.
We've paid our money for a working product and it's about time these manufacturers get their act together, so we as the consumer don't spend more time figuring out hacks then actually using the product. I'll jump off the soap box now
Dvico know now exactly what the problem is, and with all the info I've collected, what needs to be done to fix it.
So let's sit back now and see what happens.

Regards

Mike

[test7875]

I find it UNBELIEVABLE that Dvico could not find or fix the problem with their OWN card.

It took smart enthusists (for lack of a better word guys) to come up with the solution ..

Im sure someone can say the words

Class Action lawsuit?

It will be interesting to see how quick their response is because - if the cards need a mod or firmware it would be unacceptable to for to be without an operational media center.

Comeone Lako/Dvico .. finally please get your act together ..

PS - Some one with a Green button account post the findings there too.

-------------------------------------

Email from Gary just then ..

Hi.
We received some law file and we're trying to replicate it now.
We'll fix it ASAP.
Thanks.

Regards,
Garyahn.
------------------------------------------

????????????????????????????

Sorry for the rant .. i guess we are all just over it too ..

[Mikey_M]

Hi All

Take a chill pill. We're talking about a $200 tv card here, not a $200 million aircraft that's falling out of the sky killing people.
Times like these need constructive input and comments.
Imagine how I feel. I've been chasing this problem for a while now with no technical data.
I've got 2 cards that are effected, which for me owes me around $400 which on a disability pension isn't easy to come by.
I've sacrificed my dual digital 4 card to find the problem. I even asked Dvico if they could send me a replacement card to compensate and all I got from them was a "sorry to hear it".
If nothing happens in a reasonable amount of time, I'll work out a fix for Vista Media Centre even though I don't use it.
Either way it'll be a merry christmas

Regards

Mike

[Mark1]

I guess this is good news.

I'm sure Hasan from Lako Pacific and Gary Ahn from Dvico are following the comments in this thread. I hope they respond soon otherwise I for one will be demanding a fixed replacement when it is released.
I am aware of the avenues I would need to take if required to under consumer law if they don't want to come up with their own solution.


Mikey, with the knowledge you now have of the issue, once the problem has been confirmed, will it be something simple the user can fix 100% themselves (ie. Drivers, Flash) OR will the cards need to be physically rectified/updated/REPAIRED?

One more thing;

ALL HAIL MIKEY_M !!!

yes

MERRY CHRISTMAS TO YOU SIR

[consolefx]

I appologize for delay in my testing as it has been quite hectic here. Ok, on one of my systems running the Dual 4 card under Vista Ultimate I experienced the same issue as discussed in this thread. I left the card running overnight. I did not experience the same issue using the Fusion software so it looks the Fusion card is having an issue with the deocder that Microsoft is using in the MCE software. I have been speaking to Gary Ahn this morning and he is currently downloading some TP streams from our FTP. He will then analyze the streams and hopefully come up with a solution. He will will post his reply to this thread when he has updated info.

[Mikey_M]

Hi All

The issue with the Dual Digital 4 and the Dual Express card is purely a driver/hardware issue. It has nothing whatsoever to do with software, codecs, or the phase of the moon.

Ok here's what you do to get these cards working properly under MCE. The fix is simple and keep in mind it's only a fix. The final solution is a little way off yet so I've come up with this to get the cards working.
First thing you need to do is to edit the channel table within MCE. There should be adequate info on this site to enable you to do this.
Channel 9 transmits on 191.625Mhz = 191625Khz.
You need to reset the channel table in MCE so that the centre frequency is 191.500Mhz = 191500Khz. After you do that rescan all the channels.
I've done some tests on both the cards and shifting the centre frequency to an offset of 125khz is enough to get them working as nature intended.
I've been watching both cards since yesterday morning non stop and both have run faultlessly on channel 9 since then.
Good luck, may the force be with you and after watching pimple ads and ab machine commercials all night my eyeballs are aching. Time for sleep.

Regards to all

Mike.

[Kevmeister]

I am actually more annoyed at having been given the "blow off" by Lako Pacific than the fault itself now. I think it was Hasan that I spoke to, but maybe not, so I'll not blame him directly.

But how come, as a paying customer buying one of its products, was I not offered appropriate assistance in respect of my query (the issue which this thread is about). We did not walk through one single iota of trouble-shooting such as: Have I changed the slot the card is in? Any other cards in the system? Have I tried the DVICO Fusion software instead of MCE? Nothing.

As soon as I said I has integrated video that was the end of the conversion - no further help from me. I'm a fairly passive person so I don't believe in taking such support conversations to the next level where I start going off my nut at the person on the other end of the phone, but since Hasan is following this thread, why don't you try and offer an excuse for how I was treated?

It looks like a classic case of treating your customer like sh*t until they make enough noise and then maybe you'll help. Great business practice, that.

On a separate note, perhaps in DVICO's defence - and really only Mikey_M might offer insight into this, as he is evidently the only one on this forum with hardware-level of the board right now - is it possible that a transport stream is already "too far along" the processing path to pick up a fault relating to eg. the chipset getting overdriven by too-strong a signal?

I guess it's a bit like monitoring a paint-mixing line after the paint has been mixed. All you can see is the final color, not the source colors which went into it. You might see brown but you don't know which input color screwed up. DVICO doesn't actually have a physical Channel 9 broadcast signal to play with, presumably, only a copy of transport stream. Maybe one problem can't be inferred from the other (hence the difficulty in finding this)?

[Mark1]

I knew it had something to do with that dam Middle Frequency of Channel 9;
http://www.dba.org.au/index.asp?reme...ation=Adelaide
It was the only thing that I could see that was different between it and all the other channels.
I just didn't know how to tell Vista to adjust to it so I gave up.

Mike, where can I find details on how to edit the channel table within MCE?
I searched and searched once before and couldn't find a thing.

[Mikey_M]

Hi All

Here's the link for how to modify MCE channel tables:

http://www.xpmediacentre.com.au/comm...3-sbs-fix.html

I knew I'd seen it somewhere.

I don't have the time at the moment to do it, so give it your best shot or ask one of the site guru's for help. Not sure of the protocol here.

I don't use MCE, never have, so I can't provide much help with it.


Regards

Mike

[Mark1]

Yea, I come across that once before too, but looked difficult and wasn't sure if it was what I was looking for. Thought it would be a registry setting. Got as far as opening the psisdecd.dll file and then got a bit overwhelmed by the size and data contained in it, I gave up

Anyway, I just wanted to reiterate what you stated a few posts ago which was that this is only a 'fix', or a 'bandaid' for the problem. I don't want anyone with this issue to give up on forcing Dvico to come up with a resolution of their own. AS THEY BLOODY WELL SHOULD.

I'm not sure I like the idea of having to mess with a Vista system file.

Another question Mike, what would Dvico need to come up with as a 'Final Solution' as you called it?

[Yun]

It is the awesome efforts of people like Mike that keep me coming back to the MC community. He has gone way beyond the call and his efforts will end up helping many (and he doesn't even run Media Centre). Well done Mike

If you haven't already, now would be a good time to hit his thanks button.

Yun

[Mikey_M]

Hi All

Well the curiosity got the better of me, so I've modified the channel table file and I'm watching chanel 9 on Vista MCE on the other computer.
I'm using my Dual Express card at the moment to watch it as my Dual 4 test card is on the workbench for some more test points.
I haven't setup anything flash in MCE, just the screen, speakers and channels and it's running fine, so it should be okie dokie for the Dual 4 card.
I'll let it run a while longer, then I'll package up the mod and original channel files with winrar and post it on here with a few instructions. Vista can be a real pain in the ring when you're replacing system files and the like.

While I remember, Dvico are sending me some more cards in early Jan to test which will be very helpful.
Check back in a couple of hours for the upload and instructions.

Regards

Mike

[Kevmeister]

Well I can't say that I've had the same success as Mikey_M in getting Channel 9 to work "stutter-free".

I actually wrote a small program to patch the psisdecd.dll file (not the original one, a copy) and then went through a whole world of pain replacing the system files. Vista have gone to a whole lot of trouble to improve the security in this regard.

I set Channel 9 to a centre frequency of 191.500 per Mikey_M's suggestions. NOTE: Different areas of Australia I think might need different frequencies for Channel 9? (I am in Melbourne).

I will admit that the stuttering is reduced, but it is still prevalent. If the problem is indeed related to signal strength overdriving the card, then perhaps I have a really really strong signal? (My Antenna is on a 2-storey house with virtually line-of-sight to Mt Dandenong).

Perhaps I need an even bigger "offset"?

Nonetheless, I shall try Mikey_M's files when he posts them.

[Mikey_M]

Hi All

A quick minor update regarding the Dual Express card. I've taken the side cover off the PC which has 2 cooling fans in it to get it nice and hot. It's 34 degrees in here atm so it's running red hot. The Dual Express card running on MCE will stutter very occassionally under these conditions. It does run hotter then the Dual 4 card.That said here's the files and info.

In the zip file is the modified psisdecd.dll and the original file.

You need to do an advanced search on c: drive to find where this file is. There are 2 of them.

Here's how you change the properties of the files so that you can replace them.

You have to take ownership of any protected system files or folders in order
to delete, replace, or modify them.
Right click file/Properties/Security Tab/Advanced Button/Owner Tab/Edit
Button/<Change owner to>(select your account)/OK. Then go back to the
Properties/Security Tab/Edit Button this time, and check to allow yourself
Full control. Then you can do what you want.

Ok. So find the files on your c: drive and change the properties. Copy the modified file and overwrite the original ones. You don't need to be in safe mode to do this either. Once you have done that reboot.
After reboot, start MCE and delete all the channels, then rescan.
****** Note: the first time you scan channels after replacing the file, channel 9 won't be found. You need to save the channels found, then go back into that section and select "scan for more services" and then "scan for more". This second scan finds channel 9 *******
After that do what you normally do with channel lists names EPG etc.
That should be it.

Now I would appreciate any feedback on this regarding any problems you have or if it has worked.
Please include your:

Tv card model. eg Dual 4, Dual Express, DBT-Pro or Single Express.
CPU Type : eg Intel or AMD, single or dual core and clock speed
Motherboard (PCI express or AGP)
Video Card. eg ATI X1300 256mb AGP
Memory amout and speed: eg 1gb 800Mhz DDR II
Room Temp. eg 25c
Exprience: eg it worked no probs, stutters occassionally ( ads or program),

Hope it works for you and happy viewing

Regards

Mike

Mike