Pinnacle 7010iX 'No Signal' MediaPortal

[rank_amateur]

Hi,
Can anyone help with my TV card problem? I've had no luck over at the actual MediaPortal forums so here's hoping you guys can help.

I have a Winfast DVT1000S card working perfectly in MediaPortal but I've been trying to add Freesat (Astra2/Eurobird1) channels using a Pinnacle 7010iX card too.

Firstly TV Server only recognises it as a 3010iX card (I think they have the same driver) which I wouldn't mind if it then worked -but it doesn't. I have scanned for channels numerous times on both the DVB S and DVB T inputs and only ever get the 'No Signal' message.

I have un-installed and re-installed the card a couple of times. I have completely removed it from the pc then put it back. I have also removed the Winfast card just in case there was a conflict. I have downloaded the latest Pinnacle drivers and also tried using the Black Gold BTG3540 driver after coming accross it, in another thread, as a possible answer. Nothing seems to work.

Device Manager recognises the card properly and says it is working properly. It also lists the correct BDA driver versions.

Any ideas? I'd really appreciate some advice as I'm no expert on computers so this has now left me completely stumped.

For what it's worth, MediaPortal runs perfectly other than this and I think it's a brilliant piece of software.

A few sysetms details:
MediaPortal Version: 1.0.2.0
MediaPortal Skin: StreamedMP
Windows Version: Windows 7 32Bit
CPU Type: Intel Core 2 CPU 4400 @2GHz
HDD: Samsung HD154UI ATA Device
Memory: 2GB
Video Card: NVIDIA Geoforce 8600GT
Video Card Driver: 8.16.11.9062
Sound Card: Realtek
Sound Card AC3: Optical
Sound Card Driver: 6.1.7600.16385
1. TV Card: Winfast DVT1000 S
1. TV Card Type: Analog
1. TV Card Driver: 1.3.4.5010
2. TV Card: Pinnacle 7010iX
2. TV Card Type: Dual Analogue+DVB-T+DVB-S
2. TV Card Driver: 6.0.3.9
Remote: MCE
TV: Sony TV, Optoma projector
TV - HTPC Connection: DVI-HDMI

Many thanks.

 

[0ldfart]

i guess the first question that comes to mind; is the tuner working properly with other software? - if u run dvbviewer or MCE or whatever, does it tune into stations?

 

[jameson_uk]

Firstly TV Server only recognises it as a 3010iX card (I think they have the same driver) which I wouldn't mind if it then worked -but it doesn't. I have scanned for channels numerous times on both the DVB S and DVB T inputs and only ever get the 'No Signal' message.

I used the BTG3450 drivers with my Pinnacle 7010ix and it worked reasonably well with both DVB-T and DVB-S. Which connections have you hooked up? I found that DVB-T would not work particularly well unless you connected up both inputs.

Also a stupid question but you are getting a DVB-S connection aren't you?? (When I first started playing I had no signal errors but that was actually down to the distribution setup in my flat not working particularly well and once that was sorted...) Second stupid question, you are scanning the right satellite and there is nothing odd like diseq on your setup which is not configured?

Also does it show in MP config as something like DVB-S 7162 BDA device? or is it showing something else?

 

[rank_amateur]

Hi, Thanks both for the swift replies.

Oldfart, I'd never used either of those (told you I was no expert ) but I have just re-enabled MCE (it was disabled because both MCE and MP use the 'green' button on the MCE remote to launch) and, interestingly, no, it can't find any signals either. It spends fifteen minutes 'Examining TV Signals' then gives up saying it can't find any.

If I then proceed manually, MCE likewise lists the card as a Pinnacle BDA 3010iX with a satellite signal strength of no bars. I continue and force it to channel scan only on the tuners that I have the leads plugged into and again fifteen minutes later 'No Channels were found'.

Jameson_UK, I only have one of each lead - normal tv and satellite - so I can't try multiple similar inputs but they are both being unplugged from the Sky digibox for this so I'm confident that the signals are there and that the dish is pointing at the 28.2E Astra/Eurobird satellites that I am scanning for.

MP lists the card as a Pinnacle BDA 3010ix and recognises all 6 inputs. I've tried disabling all of them except for the ones I've got the leads plugged into.

Thanks for your help.
Cheers.

 

[jameson_uk]

MP lists the card as a Pinnacle BDA 3010ix and recognises all 6 inputs. I've tried disabling all of them except for the ones I've got the leads plugged into.

Does windows update give you an option update for the correct card?

If not, when you install the BGT3450 drivers does that change the name of the card?

Failing this I would update the card to the correct drivers manually then try updating to the BGT3450.

Would try with DVB-T first as that has less to go wrong and once you have the right drivers installed try scanning on both DVB-T tuners in MP

 

[rank_amateur]

Hi, Yes windows identifies the card exactly correctly. If I update the driver automatically using Device Manager then the driver it uses is actually newer than the newest one I can find on the Pinnacle site. In fact the pinnacle site doesn't list a driver for windows 7 for this card at all!?

If I change to the BG drivers then yes windows lists the device as a BG3540 and shows the correct driver details so it seems to be taking notice.

I know the card worked previously because its been in this PC for about six months using Vista. I never got it working properly with the supplied viewing software then but it was more of a codec issue I think - the channels were certainly there they just wouldn't play smoothly/reliably. I'm trying again now using Win 7 and Mediaportal. Frustratingly I can't find the original packaging because I'm sure it had an installation CD (and a tiny remote) with it. Would that CD just have contained the driver and the Pinnacle software for watching TV or is something more needed to get it working in the first place? Is there any such thing as a generic driver for TV cards?

I take your point about sticking to the DVB-T input for testing, that makes perfect sense.

I've just taken the PC apart to see if there is another slot I can try the card in but there is only one slot of this type.

This is no way to spend a day off, think I might just kick the whole thing up in the air and go up the pub

Cheers.

 

[imilne]

This may be a pointless post (because I don't use MediaPortal and don't know how it works), but over on the gbpvr forums similar problems were encountered with this card and Windows 7. The solution there was to edit the bda.ini file to include the following:

[Pinnacle PCTV 7010iX - DVB-T]
TUNING_TYPE=DVB-T
FILTER_TUNER=Pinnacle PCTV 3010iX BDA DVBT Tuner
FILTER_CAPTURE=Pinnacle PCTV 3010iX BDA Digital Capture DVBT
PIN_TUNER_IN=Input0
PIN_TUNER_OUT=MPEG2 Transport
PIN_CAPTURE_IN=MPEG2 Transport
PIN_CAPTURE_OUT=MPEG2 Transport

[Pinnacle PCTV 7010iX - DVB-S]
TUNING_TYPE=DVB-S
FILTER_TUNER=Pinnacle PCTV 3010iX BDA DVBS Tuner
FILTER_CAPTURE=Pinnacle PCTV 3010iX BDA Digital Capture DVBS
PIN_TUNER_IN=Input0
PIN_TUNER_OUT=MPEG2 Transport
PIN_CAPTURE_IN=MPEG2 Transport
PIN_CAPTURE_OUT=MPEG2 Transport

As I said, it might be pointless if MediaPortal doesn't work in a similar way, but figured I may as well post it...

 

[Presuming Ed]

I have one of these cards and DVBVoewer also detects it as a 3010iX. I'll test the BDA.ini mod that imiline kindly suggested.

Just to make sure you've got the right wire in the right socket, numbering on the 7010ix works from the inside out. So DVB-T tuner 1 is the closest to the middle of the card and DVB-S 1 has the closest satellite socket to the middle of the card.

Transedit MMC from the DVBViewer site is a free tool and will be useful for you to test tuner signals.

 

[Presuming Ed]

Ah. BDA.ini is specific to the GBPVR app.

 

[Habanos]

Those cards [with default settings] don't auto-lock offset frequencies. If you're in an area where the transmitter has all digital muxes offset to avoid analogue interference, you won't find anything in a lot of software.

Run this tool:
http://www.quantexzone.com/files/scbda/ScanChannelsBDA_UK.exe

It has logic to scan the centre frequency, then +/-166kHz as used in the UK.

 

[rank_amateur]

Presuming Ed, thanks anyway. I wondered why I couldn't find that file.
I reckon we've established at least that the problem isn't just with MediaPortal coz I've just spent a few hours trying MCE with all 3 of the drivers I've so far tried in MP and there are no channels found on any of the 2 DVB-S sockets or the 2 DVB-T sockets. I live within site of the Sutton Coldfield terrestrial transmitter and the signals here are so strong that I don't even bother connecting the kitchen or bedroom TVs to the 'outside' aerial.

Habanos, do you refer to Satellite or Terrestrial transmissions there? I've tried both and no luck at all.

Thanks again everyone.

 

[Habanos]

ScanChannelsBDA is for DVB-T only.

 

[rank_amateur]

Hi Habanos,
As I suspected, that program found no signals on either of the terrestrial sockets - bearing in mind the Winfast DVB-T card in the pc works perfectly - so I'm more convinced than ever that windows is just not recognising the card properly regardless of what it says.

Cheers.

 

[Presuming Ed]

Did you try Transedit to test the satellite conenction?

 

[Habanos]

Are you using the drivers automatically installed by Windows, or are you using the ones from the PCTV Systems site?
ftp://ftp.pctvsystems.com/TV/driver/PCTV 716x/PCTV 310ix 710ix 3010ix 7010ix.zip

With these carsd, it's important to ensure that the drivers are installed via the correct .inf setup file. You can often install any old SAA716x driver and it will install without complaints, but won't set the correct tuner and LNA type/arrangement for that specific card in the registry, and so it will be incapable of actually tuning anything.

The PCTV Systems driver explicitely sets this:

; Board specific settings
HKR, "Parameters","TDA8275A_LNA_TYPE",0x00010001,0x00000007
HKR, "Parameters","TDA8275A_LNA_LVL_TV",0x00010001,0x0000000A
HKR, "Parameters","TDA8275A_LNA_LVL1_TV",0x00010001,0x00000017
HKR, "Parameters","TDA8275A_LNA_LVL2_TV",0x00010001,0x00000012
HKR, "Parameters","TDA8275A_LNA_LVL_DVBT",0x00010001,0x00000004
HKR, "Parameters", "FmLockLevel",0x00010001,0x0493E0

The LVL parameters don't really matter much (but it's best to set them properly) but TDA8275A_LNA_TYPE must be set to 7.

Another issue I had with the 3010iX (but didn't notice with the 7010iX) was that the antenna splitter didn't work all that well. Sometimes it would feed both tuners automatically, but other times it would only feed one of them. In the end I used an external Y-splitter instead which worked fine.

Finally, it might just be a common PCIe issue that plagues some motherboards, in which case I would check for BIOS updates, and also disable the PCIe Link State Power Management in Power settings.

 

[rank_amateur]

Hi,
yes those are the exact drivers I've got installed at the moment, they're the same ones as found on the Pinnacle site. The one windows chooses automatically is much newer but it didn't work either so I've gone back.
I've disabled the PCIe Link State Power Management as you've suggested but unfortunately it hasn't helped.

The 'Board Specific Settings' you show there in the quote, where should I be able to view those just to check all is well? I opened up Registry Editor and did a 'Find' for various of the strings such as "LVL" and "HKR" but they aren't found in anything like that form.

Thanks for all your help.

 

[Habanos]

If you search for TDA8275A_LNA_TYPE, you should find it. If it's not present at all that could very well be your problem.

 

[tmn103]

Unfortunately a similar problem here rather than a solution…..

My 7010ix works fine with Media Center. In MediaPortal, the DVB-S works ok, the DVB-T finds a few channels through scanning. It won’t play any of the channels though.

It’s also showing in MediaPortal as 3010ix instead of 7010ix.

I tried installing the Blackgold drivers, but then nothing showed up in MediaPortal.

I’ve tried connecting both DVB-T aerials as suggested in another post, this hasn’t worked either.

Any ideas on how to fix? Ideally I’d like to have DVB-T in Mediaportal

 

[jameson_uk]

My 7010ix just shows as 7162 BDA DVB-S (or T) in MediaPortal (no mention of a model)

It sounds like both of you have some sort of driver installed but not the BDA driver which is what MediaPortal really needs.

I would try and remove all the drivers you have managed to install completely and then start off by using the ones from Windows update.

 

[tmn103]

Having reinstalled the Blackgold drivers, I've now got it showing up in Mediaportal. It just won't detect any channels when it scans.

I'll keep trying.....

 

[jameson_uk]

Having reinstalled the Blackgold drivers, I've now got it showing up in Mediaportal. It just won't detect any channels when it scans

DVB-T ? What version of MP are you using? Do the tuners now show up as BDA 7162 DVB-T/S ??

If DVB-T have a look over that the Hauppauge forums where there is a ScanDBA program which should scan all channels to see if windows thinks you are getting a signal or not (ie. rule out a problem with MediaPortal)

 

[tmn103]

Yes all tuners are showing up in MediaPortal as BDA 7162 (DVB-T x 2, DVB-S x 2 and Analogue x 2), but won't play.

I've just scanned with ScanBDA. One of the DVB-T tuners is picking up all channels, the other is not picking up anything.

I'm using version 1.1.0.0 of MP.

 

[Habanos]

Assuming that the "non working" tuner isn't being locked exclusively by MediaPortal, then either you have a faulty card or you've run into the hardware/driver issue that I saw on the 3010iX (but strangely not the 7010iX): When I had the 3010iX (and I tried 3 different ones with different serial number ranges), it would often fail to share the signal to both tuners when just a single cable was connected. Not sure why.

An external Y-splitter did the job for me (simplifying here - I would rather use a decent F-connector based 1-in 2-out shielded splitter) but then of course you get less signal going to each tuner, so if your signal is weak you might drop off the 'digital cliff' (my Freeview Mux A is right on the 'edge' and drops off when split).

Another possibility - do you have any video conferencing apps running or anything else that might be trying to use an analogue tuner?

 

[tmn103]

Having fiddled around with this a bit more, I now have it working.

I ended up using the W7 update drivers again (so it's recognised as Pinnacle rather than Blackgold). Mediaportal still thinks that it's 3010ix rather than 7010ix.

I used ScanBDA to locate the DVB-T frequencies and then scanned just those frequencies in Mediaportal and was able to add them that way.

So, I now have all tuners working in both Mediaportal and Windows Media Center.

Thanks to all for their help.

 

[0ldfart]

Well done!

Great to hear you got it working