saqmaster
Established Member
Hi all..
Okay, well i've had my HTPC now for I guess coming on for a year. This is the spec :-
DFI Infinity RS482 uATX Motherboard
AMD A64 3200+
1GB PC3200 RAM
Onboard ATI Xpress 200 video/chipset/blah
2 x Blackgold DVB-T PCI Cards
XP Media Center Edition SR2 + latest patches
It's never been stable. Not ever. For another 6 months I suffered serious hardware hangs which appear to have been resolved since I flashed the bios (few months ago now). It's still not right though. Every now and again the graphics corrupt, or MCE loses it's button text, or something similar. Sometimes I hear the default windows "donk" sound effect as if a warning message has popped up (when the tv is off), but when I turn it on, there is no message. A few bits and bobs in the event log but nothing super obvious.
The thing that's ****** me off the most is I set two programmes to record last night and it didn't record either. I got up this morning to a message of "couldn't download EPG" (even though it gets it via DVB) and it hadn't recorded either, even though I scheduled the recordings from the guide itself!!!!!! Infuriating.
On another note, I tried (again) GB-PVR this afternoon only to quickly remind myself why I didn't bother with it in the first place (DVB support and EPG is crap).
All I want is a reliable, stable PVR. Is that too much to ask for? Originally I had a Pace PVR and a KiSS divx/dvd player but that only supported about half the divx files that get released, so a complete waste of time really. I built the HTPC as the 'ultimate replacement' and all i've had is grief. And of course, I can't go to MS for support (even though it's a legit copy). Sulk.
btw, this is UK spec.
Thoughts? 8)
-Stu
nb: here's a piccy of it..
Okay, well i've had my HTPC now for I guess coming on for a year. This is the spec :-
DFI Infinity RS482 uATX Motherboard
AMD A64 3200+
1GB PC3200 RAM
Onboard ATI Xpress 200 video/chipset/blah
2 x Blackgold DVB-T PCI Cards
XP Media Center Edition SR2 + latest patches
It's never been stable. Not ever. For another 6 months I suffered serious hardware hangs which appear to have been resolved since I flashed the bios (few months ago now). It's still not right though. Every now and again the graphics corrupt, or MCE loses it's button text, or something similar. Sometimes I hear the default windows "donk" sound effect as if a warning message has popped up (when the tv is off), but when I turn it on, there is no message. A few bits and bobs in the event log but nothing super obvious.
The thing that's ****** me off the most is I set two programmes to record last night and it didn't record either. I got up this morning to a message of "couldn't download EPG" (even though it gets it via DVB) and it hadn't recorded either, even though I scheduled the recordings from the guide itself!!!!!! Infuriating.
On another note, I tried (again) GB-PVR this afternoon only to quickly remind myself why I didn't bother with it in the first place (DVB support and EPG is crap).
All I want is a reliable, stable PVR. Is that too much to ask for? Originally I had a Pace PVR and a KiSS divx/dvd player but that only supported about half the divx files that get released, so a complete waste of time really. I built the HTPC as the 'ultimate replacement' and all i've had is grief. And of course, I can't go to MS for support (even though it's a legit copy). Sulk.
btw, this is UK spec.
Thoughts? 8)
-Stu
nb: here's a piccy of it..