Component Video with MCE

[Gary-MM]

The situation is still being investigated. It's a little tricky in that it appears to be system dependent. This makes it a little harder to get to the bottom of the issue than if it happened in 100% of cases.

[TheTechGuy]

Kindly download the following zip File http://monsoonftp.com/download/havasvc_0.9.26.1006.zip extract the havasvc.exe & havactl.dll files at a convenient location and follow the instructions:

· Stop all HAVA related software: Setup Wizard, Player, MCE UI

· Stop the "HAVA Service" from the Services applet (Start > Control Panel > "Switch to Classic View" > Administrative Tools > Services > Click on HAVA Service and Click on Stop)

· Replace the files havasvc.exe and havactl.dll installed in the folder C:\Program Files\Monsoon Multimedia\Drivers with the New files.

Note: To be able to revert the changes back if something doesn't work with the new ones, please copy the original files to another folder or rename them "havasvc.old and havactl.old" at the same location.

· Start the "HAVA Service" and check if everything works as expected.



Riyaz
Hava Support

[hi-def]

Hi.

Thank you for the update. I followed the instructions (i.e. shutdown the Hava Service, rename the old files, overwrite them with the new files, etc.). Once I copied the new files, I rebooted the computer.

- Short answer: It fixes 1/2 of the problem.
- I no longer get an error saying "No signal" after the computer comes out of sleep.
- However, MCE can no longer change the channel.
- Also, when I run the Hava player, the remote control is still "greyed out".

Longer Answer:

Once I copied the new files, I rebooted the computer (for good measure). After the reboot, I went into MCE and tried to go to Live TV. I tried twice and both times MCE crashes.

So I:
- Re-ran the Hava Setup Wizard.
- Re-ran the "Setup TV signal" in MCE
- I verified that when I go into the Hava player, I get picture, sounds, and I can select the remote control and change channels. Close Hava Player.
- I verified that when I go into MCE I get picture, sound, and I can change channels successfully (i.e. MCE and Hava can successfully control my Motorola set top box).

- I then allowed the PC to go to Hybrid Sleep (in Vista).
- I brought the PC out of sleep.
- I went into MCE and selected Live TV. I do get a picture and sound. (This is different from before. With the old code, MCE would say "No Signal".
- In MCE, I tried to change the channel. I see the MCE IR transmitter blink (like MCE is trying to change the channel), but nothing happens. MCE is not able to change the channel anymore.
- Close MCE
- Open Hava Player.
- Again, there is picture and sound. But just like before, when I try to click on either the Remote icon or go into the menu to select the remote, the menu option is greyed out. So the Hava player is unable to change the channel (this is the same as before).
- Close Hava Player
- Re-run the Hava Setup Wizard.
- Re-open Hava Player. Now I am able to select the remote.
- Same with MCE. MCE can change the channel again.

So after sleep, I no longer get the "No Signal" error from MCE, but I am still not able to change the channel.

Please let me know if there is any further information I can provide or if there is another test that I can run. If you have more files that you'd like me to test, just let me know.

Thank you.

[jvc214]

I tried following the instructions (above) for configuring MCE with component video. Everything worked fine until MCE tried to locate the video signal. It selected S-Video, which has sound but no video.

I tried several of the options and finishing the setup "blind" as you recommended.

MCE fails to switch to component video when it starts (I have the Hava flag set). I get an MCE error message "Decoder Error. The video decoder has either malfunctioned or is not installed. Please restart Media Center and/or the computer."

Help!

Configuration:
Windows XP / MCE. All patches up to date.
Hava Wireless HD, component video input, using Hava I/R to switch channels.
Satellite input: Dish VIP211 (std & HD)

[jvc214]

One more data point:
I had setup MCE using channel 3 and continued "blind" through the setup.

I had a regular XP computer next to my MCE machine and had Hava Player running on it when Media Center started. The hava player tried to change to channel 333.

[jvc214]

A further data point. MCE wasn't lying. I had no MCE MPEG-2 decoder installed.

I installed the trial Nvidia decoder. Now MCE, and Hava player, both think there is a signal but display it as black.

[hi-def]

In my initial trial of the test code (to fix the sleep issue) I reported that it fixed half of the problem. I'm sorry to report that the initial finding seems to be false.

I let the computer go to sleep again and this time when it came out of sleep, MCE reported that the bit rate of the signal was too low (and there was no picture, just the blue screen MCE error message). That seems a little different than before. Before it reported that there was no signal at all. Same result (i.e. MCE can't use the Hava after sleep), but just wanted to report the slight change in the error message.

So it still seems that after sleep, MCE is unable to use the Hava.

At this point, I went to restore the original files that I had overwritten with the "sleep fix" versions. And now I'm really in trouble.

The Hava Wizard reports that it can no longer find my Hava on the network? I have rebooted the PC (many times) and I've pulled the plug on my Hava to get it to reboot as well (many times) with no luck. I checked my router and the Hava is no longer DHCP'ing. So did my Hava die?

Is there something else I can try on the Hava (besides pulling and reconnecting the plug)? Is there a "restore to factory defaults" reset on the Hava that I can try to bring it back alive?

To recap:

Problem #1 - Can't communicate with Hava
Problem #2 - Can't use the Hava after sleep.

Thanks for the Help.

[Gary-MM]

Yes, to restore HAVA to the factory state, hold the reset button down in back for about 5-6 seconds, or until all lights on the front come on at the same time. After about a minute it will be rebooted and ready to go with the 2 LEDs on the right illuminated.

The other thing you might want to check is that the HAVA Service is started, see Control Panel->Administrative Tools->Services.

[hi-def]

The reset button did the trick. Thanks. My hava is now back up and talking again.

I've restored the original files and changed my MCE PC to stop going to sleep.

Please let me know if there is another fix that you'd like me to try.

Thank you.

[refugee]

I am a refugee (can you tell from my userID?) from Pinnacle. Since their phone support redirects to Monsoon, I figured your board is a good place to look for help. Especially considering the support and quality of discussion here is outstanding and is much better than over at Pinnacle.

Anyway, I have exactly the same problem in Vista MCE with my PCTV To Go as some users have been having with their Havas. I get a "Tuner in use" error (Error 771) when the PC resumes from sleep.

Everything works very-very well as long as the PC is freshly rebooted or never goes to sleep. The problem, most specifically, is that the PCTV Service (the equivalent of Hava Service) fails to start on resume from sleep.

I did NOT have this problem on my previous XP Media Center PC. Now I have a Vista Home Premium PC which is brand new out of the box. It is this brand new Vista PC that exhibits this problem.

There is an easy way to manually overcome the "Tuner in Use" problem upon resume from sleep:

a) Restart the PCTV Service (Hava Service) from the Services console.
or
b) Open the Player application (which forces the service restart).

Once you do a) or b), you get the TV signal back in MCE. Obviously, the manual approach is useless for scheduled recordings if you let the PC go to sleep in between. If you don't, you may be looking at a wasted $20 to $30-worth of electricity every month.

Is there a way to force the service to restart on resume? Can it be done throough a setting in the Windows OS, or is it something that only you can implement by rewriting the service's application code?

I know I have repeated some of the things that were said before and asked the questions that were asked before, but please-please help us. Thank you very much for all the support.

[TheTechGuy]

Dear Pinnacle Customer.

You are most welcome to this Forum.

Kindly Download the Following File and save it to any convenient location

http://monsoonftp.com/download/pctvsvc_0.9.27.2004.zip

In order to install PCTV patch (pctvsvc_09.9.27.2004.zip) please do the following:

Stop all PCTV To Go related software: Setup Wizard, Player, MCE UI;
Stop the "PCTV Service" from the Services applet;
Replace the files pctvsvc.exe and pctvctl.dll installed in the folder %Program Files%\Pinnacle\Drivers with the ones contained in the pctvsvc_09.9.27.2004.zip (to be able to revert the changes back if something doesn't work with the new ones, please copy the original files to another folder or rename them in place)
start the "PCTV Service" and check if everything is working as expected.


HAVA Tech Support.

[refugee]

You guys are the best! Thanks for the Pinnacle fix. I can now watch live TV when the PC wakes up from sleep!

I have not had much time to test it extensively, but there *might* be another problem with it when doing a scheduled recording. I think it has problems changing channels for scheduled recordings. I had the same issue with my previous PC, which was XP-based MCE. It might be trying to send the change channel command while the wireless connection is being established. I will, hopefully, have more time to test it tonight or this weekend, and let you know. I think I will make a new thread about it.

To summarize, the problem I reported yesterday (no TV in Vista Media Center when resuming from sleep) has been resolved with the files you posted last evening.

[gcawley]

This procedure to setup component does not work for me.

Every time I open Media center and go to live tv in media center my Hava switches back to Coaxial/RF. This happens even if I have the Hava player running.

I am using Windows Vista with latest updates.

I did the following.
1. Had Hava set to Coaxial/RF in order to select a channel 2,3 or 4.
2. Manually setup MCE to channel 2, 3 or 4. I tried each one.
3. Exit MCE.
4. Startup Hava and switch to Component.
5. Open MCE and go to live tv. Blank screen and hava player is set back to Coaxial.

[gcawley]

Then exit MCE, and startup up the hava player and in settings switch it back to component,go back into MCE and voila!

change this
startup up the hava player and in settings switch it back to component,

to this
startup hava setup wizard choose Advanced and check the box under video to 'Map TV tuner to this input' and select component.