External CI in the Hardware tab in Options

[RenkliArif]

Hello,

 

I have noticed an added feature ''external CI'' in the hardware options.

How does this work, and are there any devices that are reasonably priced that are compatible with this feature?

[Lars_MQ]

It only works with the USB CI as sold by terratec.

[blackbooks]

Are there any plans to add any more?

[Lars_MQ]

Well I don't know about any other completly legal solution, so the answer would be no.

[cloudy]

It only works with the USB CI as sold by terratec.

 

External ci option can be made to work with a Hauppauge wintv usb ci (which is the same hardware) by fooling Windows to install it as the terratec cinergy usb ci. By editing the VID and PID of the second entry in Cinergy_CI_USB.inf the WinTV installs like a terratec and is visible in a dropdown list above the 'scan devices' button as the Cinergy CI USB Capture. Works great with HD channels too.

 

I am now using this external USB CI instead of the one built into the FireDTV...because my diablo2 cam overheats and freezes in the FireDTV, but can be kept cooler in this external USB CI. No more freezing! Great work with this option.

 

I'm thinking these devices can be cool for decoding IPTV.

 

The red text is what was changed in Cinergy_CI_USB.inf file before installing it.

 

[TerraTec.NTx86]

;TODO: Remove prototype

%Cinergy.DeviceDesc%=Cinergy, USB\VID_1B0D&PID_5F0F

%Cinergy.DeviceDesc%=Cinergy, USB\VID_2040&PID_1100

[dvbrewer]

Well I don't know about any other completly legal solution, so the answer would be no.

If the Hauppauge Win-TV CI is almost exactly the same hardware as the Terratec, as cloudy indicates how can one be more legal than the other?

[cloudy]

I'm guessing the Hauppauge drivers only support their own dvb cards. In the process of testing the wintv, I noticed the Hauppauge drivers were locking up my WinXP sp2 installation, so I can't recommend those. I had success with the Cinergy_CI_USB_Drv_Vista_XP_3.5.0.1 drivers, and the ini file edit.

 

The wintv I'm using is rev a2.

 

NB: I always unplug the wintv until xp is booted, else I don't get both Cinergy devices available (the non BDA one needs to be there too for it to work)

[Fabien44]

.. By editing the VID and PID of the second entry in Cinergy_CI_USB.inf the WinTV installs like a terratec and is visible in a dropdown list above the 'scan devices' button as the Cinergy CI USB Capture. Works great with HD channels too.

...

Hello,

 

where is this file?

 

I have Wintv-ci and it appears in the dropdown list as WinTVCIUSBBDA Source but does not decrypt anything.

 

Thanks

[cloudy]

Hello,

 

where is this file?

 

I have Wintv-ci and it appears in the dropdown list as WinTVCIUSBBDA Source but does not decrypt anything.

 

Thanks

 

You must install the wintv-ci with the Cinergy_CI_USB driver to see it as such in the dropdownlist.

To enable the wintv-ci to install with the Cinergy driver, you must edit the Cinergy_CI_USB.inf as described before.

Don't forget to uninstall the WinTVCIUSBBDA drivers first...Good luck :-)

[frazer]

Hello,

 

I'm having problems getting the Hauppauge CAM to work properly at the moment using XP; the CAM and card are recognised in Show Cam, but the picture runs for about 5 or 10 seconds then freezes for ten seconds, starts again, freezes again and carries on like this for a while until it eventually just freezes completely.

 

I have installed it using the Cinergy drivers and edited .inf file as suggested (although this took some doing as it was trying to install it as a Hauppauge device and asking for the Hauppauge system file every time until I just put the Cinergy file straight into the System32 Drivers file). I have a Top Up TV card for UK terrestrial and am trying to watch ESPN. I see the warning that high bit rate transponders might be a problem, but wouldn't think that applied here, though I could be wrong. There are about 16 channels on the transponder, but most if not all are pretty low bit rate broadcasts; ESPN is about 3.5 mbps, but others are much lower than this I think. If that were the issue, is there a way of stopping all the channels being passed through the CAM? I wouldn't mind deleting most of them, but I guess this wouldn't make any difference would it? Is there any other reason anyone can think of why it won't play smoothly?

 

Thank you very much,

 

Frazer

[cloudy]

I have to use the option 'Open whole Transponder' to get the external Wintv CI to work.

 

Just tested the setup today on some DVB-S2 transponders:

It can handle transponders with 42.6 Mbps (like 12581V with M6HD Astra19.2).

It cannot handle 53.2 Mbps (12207V with TF1HD Astra19.2)

 

Do the DVB-T2 transponders that you are using have more than 40+Mbps on them ? Seems unlikely.

Have you checked your signal quality, dropouts are more visible using CAMS. Try testing/exchanging all parts of the system, other receivers, antennas, transponders, CAMS, CI's etc...