I recorded The Office and My Name is Earl on NBC last night and they played back fine. They were both recorded on my HDHR though.

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As JHale stated I didn't do the update through microsoft but do have my tuners on 1.17. I recorded the office last night on my hdhomerun and ati tuners and watched without problem.

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Dell xps420 w/ dual ATI cable cards
Hdhomerun for QAM
Panasonic 50" Plasma fed by xbox 360
Panasonic 42" plama fed by xbox 360
3TB in storage and counting

I did do the update through Microsoft and haven't noticed any issues but then again I also performed the firmware upgrade to 1.17 the day it came out so maybe that has something to do with it. Those that are having problems, were your tuners on 1.17 BEFORE the Windows Update driver update?

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jhale83:

I did do the update through Microsoft and haven't noticed any issues but then again I also performed the firmware upgrade to 1.17 the day it came out so maybe that has something to do with it. Those that are having problems, were your tuners on 1.17 BEFORE the Windows Update driver update?

I have to check - I did not preform any manual updates but my machine is on 24/7 so not sure if it just did it automatically or not (Firmware should never be automatic, right?)

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Niveus Rainier 500HD Media Center PC
4 tuners (2 CC, 2 OTA)
64" Pioneer Elite (PRO-720HD)
Marantz, Parasound, Mirage, Definitive Audio Equipment
Logitech 890 Pro Remote
Linksys DMA-2100 Extender
HP MediaSmart WHS
3 Xbox 360s
Zune
Sonos

I've manually updated the firmware of both my DCTs a couple of days after it was posted on ATIs website and I've been recording a bunch of stuff since then. Knock on wood, so far no problems. Since the Microsoft update seems to update the firmware has any of you that are having problems followed the following instructions from ATI? Just curious. There must be a reason why ATI recommends to follow these steps before upgrading the firmware. This instructions are in the release notes documment for ATI's firmware.

Installation Instructions:

To minimize the risk of update failing and the device becomes unusable, the following caution is highly recommended:

1. Power up an OCUR (ATI TV Wonder Digital Cable Tuner) without CableCard
2. Wait at least two minutes but no longer than 10  minutes before running the update utility (this is Step 3 in the process below)

Correct. Firmware is always a manual process unless they some how figured out a way to incorporate it into Windows Update. That doesn't really make sense to me though. I've always recommended turning off the auto install function of Windows Update. There have been a lot of updates that I don't want because they aren't necessary.

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jhale83:

I did do the update through Microsoft and haven't noticed any issues but then again I also performed the firmware upgrade to 1.17 the day it came out so maybe that has something to do with it. Those that are having problems, were your tuners on 1.17 BEFORE the Windows Update driver update?

Once I discovered my tuner was the source of errors, I did go out and upgrade the firmware on my original DCT.  That did not solve the problem.  On my replacement that has sat since February in its box, I did not do ANY firmware updates.  It behaves in the same manner as the original. 

As I think back to my whole troubleshooting process since last night, the only common factor I can find is that the DCT would get removed from System Manager, then reinstalled, before it would start working again.  BUT, after a period of time, it stops working.

I still am not completely convinced that these issues are not related.  The only difference between watching and recording is that watching content does not permanently write to disk, where recording does.  This would be easier to troubleshoot if it wasn't so intermittent. 

Also, I made sure my hard drive had enough free space as well, thinking it might be a space issue.

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Jon
Carrollton, TX

Dell XPS420, 2.4GHz Quad Core
3GB 800MHz RAM, 320GB 7200rpm HD
NVidia 9600GT 1GB w/Display Port
BD Drive + DVD-RW, ATI DCT
Dell 3008 WFP 30" 2560x1600 Monitor/TV

Well I did a system restore and that did not fix my problem. I updated the BIOS and that didn't work either. Tonight I will reflash the firmware on the tuners and see if that makes a difference. I did the firmware update from ATI a week ago and did not install anything from MS.

jdrake:

jhale83:

I did do the update through Microsoft and haven't noticed any issues but then again I also performed the firmware upgrade to 1.17 the day it came out so maybe that has something to do with it. Those that are having problems, were your tuners on 1.17 BEFORE the Windows Update driver update?

Once I discovered my tuner was the source of errors, I did go out and upgrade the firmware on my original DCT.  That did not solve the problem.  On my replacement that has sat since February in its box, I did not do ANY firmware updates.  It behaves in the same manner as the original. 

As I think back to my whole troubleshooting process since last night, the only common factor I can find is that the DCT would get removed from System Manager, then reinstalled, before it would start working again.  BUT, after a period of time, it stops working.

I still am not completely convinced that these issues are not related.  The only difference between watching and recording is that watching content does not permanently write to disk, where recording does.  This would be easier to troubleshoot if it wasn't so intermittent. 

Also, I made sure my hard drive had enough free space as well, thinking it might be a space issue.

My Tuners were on 1.17 the day it came out.  My issue is, I don't even see the update listed?  Can someone tell me what update it is?  The only recent one I see is related to Outlook Express.

We do know that Microsoft has the ability to make changes with out updates, IE Internet TV, and other things being moved around within the menu.

I reflashed 1.17 last night after after each reboot it would work.  Before it would not.  When I left the house this morning it was still working, the real test will be this evening.

-D

Guys I "had" the same exact issue last night with my Dell XPS 420 dual cable card setup. All channels showed the RC-BSOD (Restriced Content - Blue Screen of Death) after 2pm CST.

Manually updated (not via windows update) to the 1.17 firmware Monday, May 12th. Tuners working fine until yesterday.

Steps I took to troubleshoot.

1. System restored back a day, as I just installed the latest rev of My Movies, iTunes, and PowerDVD 8. Did not fix the issue.

2. Then I wondered if my default MPEG2 audio and video codecs got fubar'd, as I once read that if a codec pak or something changes the default MPEG2 decoder from Microsofts to something else it breaks the DRM path. Downloaded vmcd.exe and found that everything was still set to the MS codecs.

3. Started thinking the HDCP was the culprit, and maybe my tv or video card wasn't interpreting HDCP properly. If this was the case, all my extenders should still be working, annnnnnd they weren't.... wrong again.

4. Started cursing DRM, Microsoft, Comcast, and shitty broadcast flags....

5. Reset power to my cablecard tuners.

6. Reseated my cablecards in the tuners with the system on.

7. Checked into the troubleshooting faq on this Microsoft page. http://www.microsoft.com/windows/products/winfamily/mediacenter/cablecard.mspx Make sure to expand the Cablecard Troubleshooting section.

8. Looked at the Cablecard activation pages in the media center interface and saw some messages stating to call the cable compcany.

8. Called my cable provider, and had them send an INIT signal then a HIT signal 5 minuites after.

10 minuites later everything was functioning again....

Thats my story... hopefully it helps....

My thinking is the windows update version of the firmware update came down and fubar'd the cards since they were already at 1.17, or not.....

Angeloooo

I am not seeing the ATI update listed as an available update.  I already have the firmware at 1.17 (from ATI a few weeks back).  My driver version is set at 6.0.6000.16386 with a date of 6/21/2006.

I want to make sure this doesn't get installed until we know more about it, but I don't see it at all.  Can someone send over their driver version and date that is listed in Device Manager?

Thanks

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boxerboys:

I am not seeing the ATI update listed as an available update.  I already have the firmware at 1.17 (from ATI a few weeks back).  My driver version is set at 6.0.6000.16386 with a date of 6/21/2006.

I want to make sure this doesn't get installed until we know more about it, but I don't see it at all.  Can someone send over their driver version and date that is listed in Device Manager?

Thanks

I've got the same driver version.

I've been supporting MS for 9 years now since my entire career is mainly revolved around Microsoft products.

I can't fathom though how a company can allow this, what we have no been struggeling with for over 24 hours, to happen.  In the last 24 hours, Microsoft has totally undone the last 4 months of great service from my Cable Card Vista setup.

All that success is now left with my wife being pissed because it just broke, for no apparent reason.  And I mean it's not like it's a tiny annoying bug, it quits working altogether.  I hope someone at MS reads this, and can assure us they at least have some clue as to WTF is going on.

Ok sorry... now with that off my chest....

Does anyone have any proof at all about a Update relating to this issue?  I see no updates at all, except for Outlook Express, and Windows Defender.  No I could see Windows Defender possilby doing something wrong.  What about disabeling Windows Defender altogether?

 

-D

My driver version is 1.17.1.0 after the Windows Update (this matches the firmware number that was upgraded previously). It's dated 4/7/2008.

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jhale83:

My driver version is 1.17.1.0 after the Windows Update (this matches the firmware number that was upgraded previously). It's dated 4/7/2008.

Can you tell me the KB number of the update? 

Thanks,
Marcus

Wow, what a nightmare this has been.  And here I thought it was just me.  I have the XPS420 setup.  This morning I re-applied the 1.16 firmware (unaware the new one was out yet) to the two tuners because I remembered that helped back in February for "Restricted Content".  It seemed to work for a bit.  I came back in the evening and NO channels would tune at all.   I re-did the firmware again, but for the second tuner it hit 100% but then said it "timed out", and now I have a WORSE problem.

The second tuner has (safe) in its description, it gets a different icon in the Network list, the bottom light stays OFF, and it REFUSES to accept firmware. I checked the website, found the new one, but it too times out, then that tuner is "remmoved".  I uninstalled 1.17 to be able to retry 1.16, and it's flat broken.  I spent hours on the phone with Dell; they tried the Uninstall the Device trick, but when it was re-discovered it was still locked in its safe.  The prior msg with the warning about the device becoming "unusable" is pretty scary.

Does anyone have any other ideas how to get out of "Safe mode" ?

I got these in January; it's been flaky since day one, though better since SP1, ostensibly because Cox would only install MCards, not SCards, and apparently the ATI tuners aren't ready for them--hopefully the 1.17 will help, If I can ever get it to work at all.  The "good" tuner shows signal strength at 45 and won't tune a channel either...

Thanks for any help or ideas,

--BH