MCE 2005 users in here please.

pcoltrane · 11 Jul 2006 at 13:55

Could I ask any media center 2005 users to do a little test for me so I can get to the bottom of the problem I have. It shouldn't take a moment.

Currently, if I have a TV show recording then open the media center front end I will end up with skips/jumps in the recordings corresponding to the point I open media center. I also get the same skips in recordings when I change channel on the second tuner etc. Other than this everything works flawlessly.

I've eliminated certain things such as the gfx card and mpeg2 decoder, but still have no idea if it is related to CPU load, the sata controller or something else.

I'd hugely appreciate if anyone running media center could set something recording, drop to the XP desktop and then reopen media center (and if you have a second tuner try changing channel a few times). Could you then check the recording for skips/jumps. If you could then post back here whether you got an skips along with your ssytem hardware you'd help me a great deal. Thanks in advance to anyone who replies

My spec:

Venice 3000+ @ 2250mhz
2 x 512mb Geil value
MSI K8NGM2-FID mobo
Onboard 6150 gfx (also tried a 7600gt but problem still there)
Onboard a880 realtek HD audio
Samsung spinpoint 160gb SATA
2 x Compro T200 DVB-T cards
Using powerdvd 7 decoder (same problem with purevideo decoder too)

Marc

pcoltrane · 11 Jul 2006 at 18:07

Thanks for the reply gav. What CPU /mobo are you using?

I'd still appreciate hearing from anyone else with a media center to try and spot any trends and discover if one particular component or driver is the culpit

Cheers

Marc

pcoltrane · 11 Jul 2006 at 20:03

Thanks Kev, I'd be particularly interested in whether you experience the same skips as then i can eliminate the tv tuners - I've been very tempted to buy the Cinergy 2400i to see if that helps.

Incidentally and slightly OT - how do you find the 2400i? Do you sometimes get the "no tv signal" message when you first go to live tv (changing up or down channel makes it starting working again) as a lot of people seem to with the compro and other tuner cards? Any other issues with it?

Cheers

Marc

pcoltrane · 11 Jul 2006 at 20:04

Oh and yes - as csmager says a software extender has been confirmed to be in the pipeline ny MS (softsled) but won't be in XP. Lets hope it is included with the vista release as its something I am dying to have too)

pcoltrane · 12 Jul 2006 at 09:42

Hi Kev, great reply.

You have answered a load of questions for me (and created some new ones hehe)

Last night i decided to bite the bullet and put my X2 chip from my main pc in the media center. Lo and behold, I no longer get the skips in recordings etc (but out it does make it a pretty expensive machine just for watching and recording tv!)

I assumed that must be the answer - those without dual core chip get the skips and those who have one don't ...... but then today i look at your spec again and argh you have a 3700+ and yet don't get any skips. Since our machines are pretty much identical otherwise that leaves just the tv card ..... or that you are using an IDE drive rather than SATA (Could you confirm this for me?)

I think I will buy the cinergy anyway in the hope of curing the "no tv signal" issue that i get with the compro. i'm sure i have seen them for around £55 which isn't bad value. Hopefully it will then allow me to return to the single core chip as you have. If not I guess that only leaves the SATA controller as the offending item!

Marc