ATI Tv Wonder PCI - Help with Programs pls

jonjonsanfru

Golden Member
Feb 12, 2001
1,933
2
81
ATI Software - I've used upto version 8.1, i can not get any newer versions to install for me. 8.9 just quits in the middle of setting up to install. I am assuming that it is because it does not see the ATI Tv Wonder or a ATI main GFX card. /shrug, i never liked the slowness and graininess of the ATI MMCs BUT i'd be willing to give 8.9 a chance if i could install it. i followed the instructions on the website exactly (not hard) and no go, and nothing on google gave me an answer as to why it won't install. Since it was a fresh install of windows there were no residual old drivers left around to mess things up.

DScaler - 4.1.8 and 3.12, this is what i USED to use and i loved it. Since my last reformat/reinstall though neither version can continually capture TV video signal. The sound continues after the picture freezes, and i can get the picture back by changing the input to something else and back to TV tuner, but it will only lock up again. Then when i close the program i get the 'The video thread failed to exit in timely manner and was forcefully terminated.' i can restart the program at this point, but its pointless as the picture will lock up again. i've also installed the windows XP hotfix for directx 9.0b and tv tuners, that did not help either. when i formated reinstalled i only added a 80gig HD, and have not changed any other settings so i can't see what is different for this installation except i went from the newest newest nvidia drivers back to 53.03 so i don't see how rolling back to certified drivers would cause a problem.

WinDVR 3 (B079.64C00) - I just got this program today, it takes a while to load up and is a bit slow on the channel surfing but the video quality by far is the best of the 3. the problems i have with this are as follows:

1. The most annoying, i can only make the TV viewing window 320x400 or some such... Dscaler allowed me to make the box as big or as small as i wanted while keeping the aspect ratio... if i could get WinDVR to allow me to resize to any size, i'd use it in a heartbeat, but as it is now its only good just want to watch TV on my computer... if i JUST wanted to watch TV i'd go watch the big TV in the other room.
2. The response time on changing channels or even loading up, why does it take so long? i have a 2100xp, 768ram, GF3Ti200... i'm not asking to play brand new games, but a general use app like WinDVR should be a little lighter on its feet. is there something i can do to help this? or just an inherrent flaw, or is it just that WinDVR has to load so much... is there a way to tune that down?


So yeah, any light that can be shed here would be much appreciated. Fixes for any of the 3 programs, or another program that works as well as the last two... whatever gets it working like i want it :) also if there is another high traffic forum more specific to my problems where i will get a better response please feel free to point me in the right direction. if anything needs to be clarified or you have a question that will help you better answer my question please post, i want to get this fixed :) Everything else on my computer is running just fine:

Windows XP Proffesional w/SP1
AMD 2100XP+ (140 FSB, the problem is there at 133 as well)
768 DDR PC2100 (3x256)
ABIT KR7A-133r (flashed to 2nd newest bios, newest bios makes a conflict with my GF3)
GF3 Ti200 64meg (running at Ti500 speed, problem still exists at stock speed)
D-Link DWL 520+ PCI Wireless card
Santa Cruz Turtle Beach Sound Card
ATI TV Wonder PCI
 

vailr

Diamond Member
Oct 9, 1999
5,365
54
91
Try this forum for TV Wonder:
Text
The newest MMC 8.9 version for the TV Wonder card should work fine. May need to swap around to different PCI slots, though.
However, you might want to try Cyberlink's PowerVCR II, which has a free 30-day trial download.
For dScaler 4.18, try a fresh install, without re-using any of the previously used dScaler files.
Also, the freeware program "Belarc Advisor 6.1" will tell you if any MS service packs need to be re-installed.
 

jonjonsanfru

Golden Member
Feb 12, 2001
1,933
2
81
Already posted this problem there as well, no response yet :( it seems people with Nvidia cards are not able to install MMC 8.9, i mean it kinda makes sense... but come on, i always hated all the checks ATI had to ensure you had the 'right' hardware. So i have no way of knowing how it will act on my computer, so i have to wait i guess until someone enters in ONE line of code into the installation file that tells it that Nvidia Main Card systems are OK for install.

PowerVCR's window gets smaller but the video quality is ok, and its sluggish... AND it loads 3 windows in my taskbar. On DScaler this happened from the first install after a fresh reinstall format, so there were no residual files, and i did full cleanings for them when reinstalled them again, same error every time in either version... and before the reformat reinstall DScaler worked great, except for the video quality now (for the few minutes it runs) is much better than it was before the reformat reinstall.

SHADOWSTREAM is a program i just downloaded, the video quality is ok but it allows me to use TV on my computer more like i prefer... maybe i'll just use shadowstream and windvr until something comes along that combines both... btw SHADOWSTREAM is only 92kb!!! man thats small.