Opening newly-reinstalled DVBViewer crashes my pc

[neophyte]

Hello

 

As a long-time user (and fan) of DVBV I've never before experienced anything like this!

 

My problems began two days ago after I'd been forced to format my system drive and reinstall Win XP, since when I've been working full-time to try to restore all my applications to pretty-much the way they were before. In the process I've updated my NVidia graphics card's driver to the latest one (ver.280.26). Although at first installing DVBV ver. 4.9 seemed to be going normally (including a successful channel scan), at some point - and I'm sorry but I'm unable to pinpoint the proximate cause of this - re-opening DVBV crashed my PC, and afterwards I got a MS message saying my PC had just recovered from a serious failure. Having subsequently uninstalled/reinstalled DVBV three or four times it has crashed my PC at every attempt to open it.

 

I'm attaching a couple of files in the hope that they may tell you what you need to know to diagnose the cause of this behaviour, so I can take corrective measures. Meanwhile, I'm helpless.

 

Here are the details of my setup:-

 

ASRock 4CoreDual-SATA2 motherboard

VIA PT880 Pro/VT8237S chipset

Intel Core2 Duo E4500 2.2 GHz

graphics: Asus EN210 PCI-E X 4

GPU: GeForce 210 1024 MB

Samsung BX2350 digital monitor

LG 32LC51 LCD TV

2048 MB DDR2 dual channel memory

Samsung SATA 160GB HDD

Samsung SATA 230GB HDD

Samsung Superwritemaster IDE multi-drive

Corsair HX520W PSU

Creative Audigy2 soundcard

TechnoTrend TV stick USB DVB-T card

(with BDA driver ver. 1.0.3.8)

O/s: XP Home SP3

support.zip

setup.xml

Edited October 21, 2011 by neophyte

[QBox User]

Setup indicates choice of EVR as video renderer. I thought that was for Vista/7. It may cause crashes on XP, depending on the video driver.

 

Run the Wizard to try another setting.

[neophyte]

Hi QBox User

 

Thanks for replying.

 

I don't know why setup.xml says that. In DVBV Options Settings -> Options -> DirectX, video renderer is set as 'Overlay Renderer'. If I ever set it as

EVR I did so without realising it.

[neophyte]

Hello

 

Is anybody from the DVBV team there?

 

I've been a week now without access to DVBV, and it would be nice to have some help from you...

[Gioxy]

It's not so simple, for what I see in you support file your system can have many sources of problem; but take clearly in mind that DVBViewer itself cannot crash you S.O., while codecs it have to use are most of the times the real culprit...

Hence my suggestion is to simplify the DirectX that DVBViewer has to work with (...but please be advised: mine is only a semi-blind guessing, since I haven't your same PC/SW/etc), e.g.:

1) uninstall sw that can interfere with it (I specially mean "PCTV System": it install at least 16 DirectX component that DVBViewer doesn't need at all...);

2) update (or reinstall) FFDShow

3) update DirectX to latest ver.

4) reboot

5) close all other running sw (also the more you can of those in the system try!)

6) open DVBViewer and *first of all* try to play a MPEG2 file

7) if it play fine then try to view some TV channel

 

[Gioxy]

A helping trick to stop DVBViewer tuning a TV channel at start is to add " -c" to the DVBViewer Desktop link command line, ie from "C:\Programs\DVBViewer\DVBViewer.exe" to "C:\Programs\DVBViewer\DVBViewer.exe -c"...

 

[neophyte]

@Gioxy

 

Thanks for answering my cry for help.

 

To repeat, the situation I'm in is that following a forced format of my C: drive and a Win XP reinstall, DVBViewer has become totally unusable for reasons I can't begin to diagnose let alone cure.

 

It's not so simple, for what I see in you support file your system can have many sources of problem

You can't imagine how my heart sank when I read those words. If someone who knows as much as you do about DVBV can't identify the source of the problem, what hope have I got?

 

I followed all the steps you suggested, and am sorry to have to report that the situation is unchanged. Into the bargain, I also uninstalled ver.4.9 and replaced it with ver. 4.8.1.0 but it made no difference. At present, the instant I open DVBV, I get the BSOD. I don't question that what you say is true:- that DVBV itself can't, technically speaking, crash my PC but it's little comfort to know that if very time I start it my PC does in fact crash. If the problem were only that DVBV is lacking something it needs to run I would understand that it would fail to run. But why should that cause my whole PC to crash? Surely there must be more to it than a missing codec or two?

 

For a time I thought I'd found the culprit: there seemed to be an association between whether I got the BSOD or not and whether Windows Search System Tray was enabled. So I disabled it, and also shut down the Indexing Service. It turns out the apparent association was false because though I've done that I'm still getiing the BSOD - every time. If anything, I got it less often when I had them both running.

 

Sorry if I seem negative. I do appreciate your efforts to help but right now I'm completely stumped and extremely frustrated.

 

I shall now open DVBV again, and after the PC has crashed and restarted I'll run supporttool.exe once again, in the hopes it might enable you to see what's going on.

support.zip

Edited October 28, 2011 by neophyte

[bogdan1980]

click on computer, manage, in the left panel click on event viewer, then on custom view, then on administrative event.

then in the right, look for DVBViewer, what error do you have here with DVBViewer?

[Gioxy]

your system can have many sources of problem

I say that way because you have many codecs installed and an analogue card that also add various DirectX component that can determine problems/conflicts... and this is often the main source of problems; the second source is graphic related, ie, if problems come at very DVBViewer start, OSD or DirectX graph building related; that's why I wrote the second post (start DVBViever with "-c" option): have you already tried this trick?

Another experiment that can be worth to do is to install and try to run DVBViewerGE (as it has a totally different OSD tecnique): install it in a different folder, and start it with "-c" option also, then (if it run!) firstly try to play a MPEG2 file then to watch some TV channel...

 

Try also to catch the problem in the event viewer and if you found it please report here...

 

Also, can you please write what XP say about the BSOD error?

 

[Griga]

In cases like this it is recommendable to launch DVBViewer with the -c command parameter, in order to let it start without playback, which will most likely avoid the crash and give an opportunity to change settings, particularly under Options -> DirectX (different decoders, different video renderer etc.).

 

As additional test launch DVBViewer with file playback - just drag & drop an audio or video file on the DVBViewer icon. It is important to find out if the crash is caused by video playback (somehow related to the graphics card) or by your DVB device. In this way you can narrow the source of the trouble down.

[neophyte]

The reference to the command-line threw me, when it was first mentioned, because I've never used it before to start DVBV and didn't know how to - with or without the -c. But having found a way to do this, I went to 'Settings -> Options -> DirectX' and changed all the settings (which I had set to ffdshow, video and audio decoders respectively) to Intervideo and Cyberlink filters - TT versions. Following which, DVBV has worked without a hitch.

 

I've also carried out the test both Gioxy and Griga suggested, dragging-and-dropping an .mpg file. No problem with that either - though actually there hadn't been even when starting-up DVBV with playback enabled.

 

So it would appear that the problem was entirely down to a wrong selection among the available filters, and is cured as soon as the filters are changed.

 

Which is absolutely fine, and I'm most appreciative of the help provided. But it leaves me in a dilemma. Quite unconnected with having been forced to set everything up again from scratch after formatting my C: drive, I'm also in the process (temporarily postponed!) of replacing the TechnoTrend TVStick as my PC's TV tuner with a PCTV nanoStick DVB-T2 (also usb). It was for that reason that I avoided selecting filters in 'Options -> DirectX' which had any direct association with TechnoTrend; I did not expect that they would be a suitable choice to work with a Pinnacle product. It was also of course why I had installed PCTV's viewing software, along with Pinnacle System's BDA driver for that particular tuner. My plan had been to switch-over to DVBViewer as my viewing software, and to uninstall Pinnacle's (along with TT's BDA driver) once I had got the new tuner working in conjunction with DVBViewer.

 

As a temporary fix, reverting to using the TT TVStick plus TT-tailored filters works OK, but that's where I've just come from not where I want to end up. What would be the best choice of filters once I change over permanently to Pinnacle's product? I have proceeded (and have spent a non-trivial sum of money) on the assumption that DVBViewer would function at least as well with the PCTV nanoStick's BDA driver as with the TechnoTrend's.

 

I hope I wasn't wrong? Any words of wisdom concerning this, anyone?

 

(For completeness' sake I'm attaching a copy of Event Viewer's output).

event_viewer.txt

Edited October 30, 2011 by neophyte

[neophyte]

click on computer, manage, in the left panel click on event viewer, then on custom view, then on administrative event.

then in the right, look for DVBViewer, what error do you have here with DVBViewer?

I hope the text-file I attached to the preceding post answers your question?

 

I couldn't find any other events that seemed to be tied-to the crashes.

[Gioxy]

What would be the best choice of filters once I change over permanently to Pinnacle's product?

It's a million dollar question: every PC is an almost unique mix of sw/hw, so only trying and seeing with your eyes you can found an answer.

 

Anyway:

1) normally DVBViewer works just fine with FFDShow Video codec (while with FFD Audio there are some users that reported problems)

2) as audio codec IMO AC3filter is a very good choiche

3) most DVBV users prefer Cyberlink/PowerDVD for Video & Audio (search the forum about PowerDVD to know how to obtain it...)

4) the renderer choiche is also (or better, often most) critical; usually "Overlay" give less problems

5) I'm pretty sure you can use TT codecs (if you'd prefer) with whatever other brand receiver

6) removing TT TVStick sw/drivers/codecs if you don't use it anymore is not mandatory, specially if you find them somehow useful for your needs

 

[neophyte]

1) normally DVBViewer works just fine with FFDShow Video codec (while with FFD Audio there are some users that reported problems)

2) as audio codec IMO AC3filter is a very good choiche

3) most DVBV users prefer Cyberlink/PowerDVD for Video & Audio (search the forum about PowerDVD to know how to obtain it...)

4) the renderer choiche is also (or better, often most) critical; usually "Overlay" give less problems

5) I'm pretty sure you can use TT codecs (if you'd prefer) with whatever other brand receiver

6) removing TT TVStick sw/drivers/codecs if you don't use it anymore is not mandatory, specially if you find them somehow useful for your needs

Many thanks, Gioxy, for that advice.

 

Here's an update, on progress so far with using the nanoStick in conjunction with DVBViewer (in case it's of interest to any other potential users).

 

In 'Settings -> Options -> Hardware' I've retained the TT BDA tuner, with 'State' set to "Normal", whilst the PCTV tuner now has 'State' set to "Preferred". To start with, I've left the 'DirectX' settings unchanged (as described in post # 11). With these settings I'm able to tune with the nanoStick to the same channels which were detected and installed when the TT was my (only) tuner - which was precisely the situation I had anticipated before I planned the changeover to the nanoStick. Given that fact, I shall probably leave those settings as they are (especially after experiencing the dire consequences of picking the wrong ones!); "if it ain't broke, don't fix it..." (If and when I get any problems I shall experiment with Gioxy's other suggested filter choices).

 

Just a word about the nanoStick DVB-T2 (290e) usb tuner. It was part of Pinnacle's product line that was taken-over by (or sold to) Hauppage. Despite that it's still branded as "PCTV" (and is, I believe, still being distributed in the US at least as a Pinnacle not a Hauppage product). I had read reviews which praised its exceptional sensitivity and - on the very brief experience I've had to date - I would endorse that. It's noticeably superior (eg in channel changeover time) to the TT, plus the fact that it doesn't show the other reception problems I've been having with the TT which made me look for a better alternative in the first place. And my experience with PCTV's Tech Support has so far been pretty good; though their English isn't faultless (I don't know which country they're based in) at least they do reply to E-mails and they do try their best. When a size 12 boot (not mine) trod on the dongle, wrecking the MCX to IEC adapter - one reason not to use the (supplied) usb extension-cable if you can find enough room to plug it directly into a usb jack - and in desperation I appealed to them for help locating a replacement, they promptly undertook to send me, not one but two! (Later I discovered that these adapters are in fact obtainable from PCTV's web-shop - from which source they're not free, and there's currently an indefinite wait - but I hadn't known that at the time). I call that pretty good support!

 

Concerning tuning, I have one further question. Can anyone please point me to where I can get guidance in choosing among the options on the 'DVBViewer Filter' tab of 'Settings -> DirectX' - especially on the merits of enabling (or leaving at the default, not enabled) 'TV/Radio Pre-Format Detection'?

 

EDIT Sorry, I ought to have looked at the Wiki first. Having now done so, I find it answers my question completely.

Edited October 31, 2011 by neophyte

[johnoo]

 

 

Here's an update, on progress so far with using the nanoStick in conjunction with DVBViewer (in case it's of interest to any other potential users).

 

I've been using the nanostick since last december in various pc's and it's excellent.It's very good with windows 7,install drivers and divx codec for audio(for HD) and just use the microsoft codec.I have used it on a xp system using the arcsoft codec for video with no problem.TBH the main problem now is finding decent stuff to watch and record in the uk on freeview.

[bogdan1980]

with dvbsource, if it aint broken, leave it be.

do not test any option from dvbsource, leave it default, 350 and 700.

TV/Radio Pre-Format Detection disabled, if you enable channel switch time became more.

With microsoft video codec, channel switch time also became more.

with cyberlink codecs, you could install kword app( google it), terratec home cinema, then register their codecs manually.

they put codecs or into program folder, or in programdata/their name, or in appdata/yourname/roaming/tunername.

Edited November 1, 2011 by bogdan1980

[neophyte]

Grateful thanks to all who posted.

 

Very useful info