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

[pawelg]

Originally Posted by Mikey_M

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Hope it works for you and happy viewing
...

Tv card model: Dual Express,
CPU Type : Intel dual core E6750 (2.66GHz)
Motherboard: G/B P35DS4
Video Card: Asus 8600GT
Memory amout and speed: 2GB 800Mhz DDR II
Room Temp: ~21c
Exprience: With your patched file I'm not getting any 9 network channels

I had the same behaviour when I replaced in psisdecd.dll 191625 with 191500 in my first attempt (from 28F76B0B to E00E6A0B).

[Mikey_M]

Hi All

There seems to be a little confusion over editing the psisdecd.dll file.
If you do a "find" to search for a text string look for 191.625mhz which is 28F76B0B. In the file there is only one entry for that frequency. This is the one you change to 191.500mhz which is E00E6A0B.
I have the Dvico testing software here, which has all the frequencies for all the DVB-T stations in the countries that support it. As far as I know from this and other research I have done, channel 9 is the only station to use 191.625
The frequency that channel 9 transmits on in all major capitals is 191.625. You can double check this on http://www.dba.org.au/index.asp?sectionID=22
In some regional areas like the Gold Coast in Qld the frquencies are all on UHF.

The link I provided explaining how to do it, was not on how to change the frequency for our purpose. It was to demonstrate the format of the channel entries and how to convert a frequency into the correct format for the channel table.

Kevmeister, I have done some tests earlier this year regarding signal strength and I did find that an excessively strong signal does upset the cards as does the use of masthead amps and splitter amps. These dual cards have an RF amp already built in right next to the antenna socket. It's the little 8 legged IC.
I used to live in Stalbans out in the west in Melbourne and even with a good quality "analog" antenna, the signal strength out there was more then enough to get any digital or analog card working properly. I'd suggest buying a variable attenuator. Jaycar carry these as well as some fixed attenuators. Another thing you can try is rotate the antenna away from dandenong to try an reduce the signal strength before you cough up the money for the attenuator.
Back to the topic of masthead amps and splitter amps. More often then not if you have poor signal quality these amps do one thing ... they amplify the signal along with all the noise present as well. All this does is messes up the automatic gain on the tuners and the actual signal you're looking for gets lost in the mess.
Nothing beats a good antenna with good quality coax.

I hope this clears up a few things

Regards to all

Mike

[Mikey_M]

Hi All

Me again

I have noticed reading through this thread that some people haven't installed the Dvico software itself.
If you've download the MCE installer from the Dvico website this contains very old card drivers plus the remote software.

Please note that on all the tests I am doing, the computer being used has the entire latest Dvico package installed. The latest package version is FusionHDTV 3.63.01.
You must install this to get the latest drivers for your card.
Please uninstall any and all Dvico software installed. In the device manager uninstall the Dvico card selecting "delete driver files" checkbox as well. Go into program files on the c drive and delete the Dvico directory as well. Reboot the computer and ignore the found new hardware popup. Install the Dvico software package.

A quick note for scanning the tv channels in Vista after replacing the file. I have noticed that scanning for channels the first time won't find channel 9. You need to go back into the section and scan for more channels. Just worked that one out.

Regards

Mike.

[pawelg]

Originally Posted by Mikey_M

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A quick note for scanning the tv channels in Vista after replacing the file. I have noticed that scanning for channels the first time won't find channel 9. You need to go back into the section and scan for more channels. Just worked that one out.
...
Mike.

Didn't work for me
Hope others will have more luck.

Regards,
Pawel

[Mikey_M]

Hi All

Here's the exact procedure I've used for rescanning the channels after replacing the file with the modified one. In Vista and XP MCE there are 2 copies of the original file that need to be replaced, however the locations are slightly different between XP and Vista.


Tasks > Settings > TV > Scan for More Services > Delete All > Start Scan > Next > Finish

Now if channel 9 hasn't appeared do the following:

Tasks > Settings > TV > Scan for More Services > Scan for more > Next > Finish

Channel 9 should have now appeared in the list.

If it hasn't, there's something happening in MCE that I'm not aware of atm and you may need to ask someone who knows MCE a lot better then I do.

Regards

Mike

[Mark1]

Has anyone had any good results with Channel 9 after making the chages to the channel table in Vista?

I'm asking because I'm really not sure this is the solution I am ultimately looking for.

Don't get me wrong, I fully appreciate the efforts Mike has gone to, and believe that its his work that will help Dvico fix the problem.

I guess there will be a bit of a break for Xmas, but I still hope Dvico can come up with the goods.

[gazzar]

I've been having this stutter prob ever since installing the Dvico card.. I'd tried everything to fix it.. I've thought I was going a bit loopy thinking that getting stuttering during the ads - and mainly white ones - was an fault.. I just put it down to dodgy Ch 9

I've done the channel table u/g (using the file supplied) and now no longer getr ch 9 at all - regardless of how many times I scan.. (no loss really as ch9 is fairly ****e anyway !!)

I did notice last night tho whilst watching ch10 that I got a couple of stutters mid-film - which I'd never had before..

Anyway - 'tis xmas day so dont intend to be buggering around with Vista..

Cheerio

[pawelg]

Originally Posted by Mark1

Has anyone had any good results with Channel 9 after making the chages to the channel table in Vista?
...

I'm playing around with frequency overwrites without touching the main frequency table (psisdecd.dll).

Took me a while to sniff the registry and file system activity and some research on the net to get better idea as to how it works.

Main thing - you don't have to hack psisdecd.dll to be able to use custom frequencies for specific RF channel (not actual channel number like 7, 9 or 10 in their names).

Due to WAF currently being on the edge I didn't have much time to test my latest findings but I think I'm on a right path.

Currently I have channel 9 tuned to 191.6MHz with much less stutter (only small glitches compared to freezes lasting couple of seconds or longer). 191.5, initially hardcoded in psisdecd.dll, later applied with my method didn't work for me at all (no channel 9).

As frequencies in the table can become obsolete Microsoft implemented ability for overwriting those via registry.
All you need is couple of new keys in registry called "DigitalTVAutoTune" and "TS61-0":
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\TV System Services\DigitalTVAutoTune\TS61-0

TS61-0 defines tunning spaces for Australian (61) broadcast (0) - you'd change 0 to 1 for tuning spaces for cable TV.

Under that branch you need to specify overwriting frequency for specific RF channel index by creating DWORD values with name corresponding to RF channel index and value representing new frequency for that index in Hz (i.e. "Nine Network" index 10 decimal value 191625000).

Below is extract of my overwrites for all networks (all because it shortens channels scan and takes only 1 min or so to find all services).
-----------------------------------------------
Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\TV System Services\DigitalTVAutoTune\TS61-0]
"10"=dword:0b6b9580
"8"=dword:0a946f60
"14"=dword:0d154de0
"15"=dword:0d801da0
"29"=dword:1ffc3f68
-----------------------------------------------

After adding above entries to your registry, close Media Center and
restart "Windows Media Center Receiver Service"
Start -> Run -> cmd
net stop ehRecvr
net start ehRecvr
(no reboot required)

Start Media Center, delete and rescan all the channels:
Tasks > Settings > TV > Scan for More Services > Delete All > Start Scan > Next > Finish

I don't call it a fix and I can't promise it will resolve your problems. As I mentioned I didn't have much time to test this so it's up to you if you want to continue experimenting this on your own.

Couple of other things I've noticed:
1. For some reason EHShell.exe occasionally scans registry for overwrites under TS49-0 which represents tunning spaces for Germany. To be on the safe side you may want to consider creating overwrites in your registry under TS49-0 with same details as for TS61-0.

2. Also have a look at "Finetune010" value under "HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Dvico\ZuluHDTV\Dat a" branch. You'll notice there another one called "Finetune029" both with decimal values of 125 which defines offset to centre frequencies for Network Nine and SBS. Initially I thought those values are there only for FusionHDTV application however I've seen Media Center process EHShell.exe reading those values at some point. I simply changed value of "Finetune010" to "0" to make sure it won't mess up my manual overwrites.

Good luck to those who decide to have a play with it.

Regards,
Pawel

[Kevmeister]

Well I've tried twice now patching the psisdecd.dll file and have had zero success. Still get stuttering. The first time I suspect my patching was wrong, but the second time I looked specifically only for 191625000 and replaced with 191500000 frequency.

In my case Channel 9 was still found on the first scan.

So I'm giving up on this for the moment until someone else has any great ideas.

Unless the chipset has some kind of gain/attenuation control I'm not sure how a DVICO driver fix is going to fix this?

Seriously contemplating the TinyTwin USB or the Dual Hybrid S2 from DigitalNow though - annoyed with Hardware that does not work without stuffing around.

[Mikey_M]

Hi All

Thanks to those that tried frequency change in MCE. Bit disappointed it didn't work for others. If nothing else, it's more info I can pass onto Dvico.

If anyone around the Brisbane / Ipswich area in Qld has a Dual Express card they don't want anymore, please let me know, as I can't afford to buy a new one.
Mine has a heap of mods on it and I need to get an original one for testing when Dvico get back to work.
Send me a private message with your name, a contact number and roughly how much you want for the card.

Thanks to all

Mike

[test7875]

Anyone had or heard anymore from Dvico and Lako?

PS : I tried the reg edit to fix the issue .. got an IGA commercial and bang .. stutter.

Havent yet tried the .ddl fix.

[Mikey_M]

Hi

Lako is out of action for xmas until 7th Jan and Dvico til next week.
I don't think Dvico are going to do much until they send me the other cards for testing and I get back to them with the results.

Hope everyone had a good xmas.

Regards

Mike

[pawelg]

Originally Posted by Mikey_M

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I don't think Dvico are going to do much until they send me the other cards for testing and I get back to them with the results.
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That's what they (Dvico) told me.

[Mark1]

If its all that much of a technical deal, I'm gonna have to demand a Return Authorisation (because I know the guys I purchased it from wont until Dvico allow it - A&aaaaaarrrrR!!!)
They would be like, "Oh, but we've tested it, and its not faulty" and all the rest of the BS.
I'm over it.....

So, Dvico, when you finaly come back from Xmas break and read the posts that your USERS ('test subjects', 'guinea pigs'.....LOL) have left since. Why don't you accept there is a fault already, and start doing something proactive like handing out some RA's so we can move on.

And if you don't think I am entitled to it then please familirise yourself with the Australian Competition and Consumer Act. Let me highlight a few points;
- "Under the Act the consumer is entitled to expect to enjoy quiet possession of the goods." Key word here is ENJOY. I'll let you work that one out..
- "be of merchantable quality" Clearly its NOT.
- "be fit for the purpose—goods must do the job you made clear to the supplier you wanted them to do or that are implied from the circumstances in which you purchased the goods" As above.
- "match the description or sample given to you before purchase, whether through a catalogue, labelling, packaging, on a website or in person." No mention anywhere for me to expect these issues.