Media Center IR receiver Windows 7 (64-bit)

dacogawa

Hi Everyone,

Just looking for a bit of advice, I've just installed windows 7 ultimate and while configuring media centre I'm getting "IR Hardware Not Detected" (after seeing a small preview window thats working)

I've looked around the net and there is a driver work-around but not for 64-bit, so I'm wondering is this the right thing to buy ? http://www.maplin.co.uk/Module.aspx?ModuleNo=218643 to sort this out, it says it has the USB IR receiver but i just want to make sure.

What I'm looking for is an IR blaster, is this what is packaged with the remote ? or if not does anyone know where to get one ? (preferably somewhere in dublin, if not anywhere on the net)


Thanks in advance for any reply


I posted this on the windows forum but think its better off here (i didn't know HTPC & Media Centre forum existed)

MAJJ

If you take a look at my post here. I rolled the dice with this ebay seller and it was money well spent.

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showt...p?t=2055750692

dacogawa

Thanks for the reply MAJJ but your link is not working, any chance of a re-post please? also any idea if the maplin pack would work ?

Thanks

Hi MAJJ, found your post but the ebay link has been removed ? and the hunt goes on!

Thanks again

subway

i presume you are trying to set up ntl or sky box with media centre, as otheqise you shouldnt need a remote to set it up.

ebay have plenty of them, heres one for example
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Microsoft-MCE-Media-Centre-Remote-Control-USB-Receiver_W0QQitemZ200443020436QQcmdZViewItemQQptZUK_Collectables_InputDevices_RL?hash=item2eab55c494#ht_500wt_976

the maplin one wont work as its the IR emitter, rather than receiver, that i imagine the pc is looking for

dacogawa

Thanks Subway,

That is exactly what I'm looking for , yes you're right I'm setting it up through a free sat box, its a pity no Irish shops seem to sell them

Anyway, thanks again for your help, its really appreciated.

subway

if you have a freesat box, you can run it directly into media center using a dvb-s card.
much better solution, lots of threads here on it. then you wont need the box or blasters at all

dacogawa

Thanks Subway,

So if i get this http://maplin.co.uk/Module.aspx?ModuleNo=97820 there is no need for a blaster, etc. I just plug in the coax straight from the dish & it does the tuning & all that on board ?

If thats the way it works I'm doing that, lots less hassle & I've got a spare lnb going as well, thanks a million for this

subway

exactly, or you could get a dual tuner (or 2 cards) if you have 2 cables free and then you will get full PVR functionality

MAJJ

Hi dacogawa, oops on the dodgy link front. I should have checked. Anyway, subway has you sorted on the correct approach.

dacogawa wrote: »

Thanks for the reply MAJJ but your link is not working, any chance of a re-post please? also any idea if the maplin pack would work ?

Thanks

Hi MAJJ, found your post but the ebay link has been removed ? and the hunt goes on!

Thanks again

dacogawa

Thanks Subway & MAJJ,

So I might as well put my old card http://global.kworld-global.com/main/prod_in.aspx?mnuid=1248&modid=6&pcid=38&ifid=16&prodid=15 in my other pc as it is no use then!

Subway do you think I'd be better off with this card http://maplin.co.uk/Module.aspx?ModuleNo=341081 rather than http://maplin.co.uk/Module.aspx?ModuleNo=97820 just had a look at the Questions (down the bottom of the page) on the DVB-S Satellite PCI TV Card and it says its not windows 7 compatible so i guess that one is out but the other (dual tuner) says it is 7 compatible.

What/where would you recommend to buy if not the card above, thank again for all the advice & help, its really appreciated.

subway

i wouldnt put too much stock in those maplin Q&A things
the DVB-S card you link should have no issues with windows 7 as its drive is BDA compliant.
the dual tuner card is DVB-T so wont work with satellite unfortunately,

if you can go second hand, you wont go wrong with this card, assuming your PC has the PCI-E slot http://www.adverts.ie/showproduct.php?product=191695&cat=all

otherwise, the maplin dvb-s card should suit as dual tuner cards are rare enough these days.

if you can wait a few weeks, and spend a bit of cash, this is the card to go for in terms of connectivity and future proofing - http://shop.blackgold.tv/epages/BT3159.sf/en_GB/?ObjectPath=/Shops/BT3159/Products/BGT3595

dacogawa

Hi Subway,

I'm sorry I thought the duel card was DVB-S, I didn't look properly.

Rang maplin to check if they were in stock, and on the website its £39.99 in Ireland its €67.99 :eek: god they always do that.

If i dont get the maplin one I'll probably go for your http://www.adverts.ie/showproduct.php?product=191695&cat=all or this http://www.play.com/PC/PCs/4-/5437587/-/Product.html?source=908 not bad at all for €45.49

or just find a nice cheap DVB-S somewhere else. http://cgi.ebay.ie/Twinhan-DTV-Sat-PCI-DVB-S_W0QQitemZ110499353668QQcmdZViewItemQQptZLH_DefaultDomain_212?hash=item19ba465444 is this any good ? seems very cheap

Thanks again for all the help

meob

dacogawa wrote: »

Hi Everyone,

Just looking for a bit of advice, I've just installed windows 7 ultimate and while configuring media centre I'm getting "IR Hardware Not Detected" (after seeing a small preview window thats working)

I've looked around the net and there is a driver work-around but not for 64-bit, so I'm wondering is this the right thing to buy ? http://www.maplin.co.uk/Module.aspx?ModuleNo=218643 to sort this out, it says it has the USB IR receiver but i just want to make sure.

What I'm looking for is an IR blaster, is this what is packaged with the remote ? or if not does anyone know where to get one ? (preferably somewhere in dublin, if not anywhere on the net)


Thanks in advance for any reply


I posted this on the windows forum but think its better off here (i didn't know HTPC & Media Centre forum existed)

you'll need one fo these:

http://www.google.com/products/catalog?hl=en&rlz=1C1GGLS_enIE353US353&resnum=0&q=microsoft+media+center+remote&um=1&ie=UTF-8&cid=11549621085619752570&ei=F-iMS7rQDZLYsQP1iNmhAw&sa=X&oi=product_catalog_result&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CA8Q8wIwAA#ps-sellers

note the ir receiver & blasters.

"IR Hardware Not Detected" error specifically pertains to the ir buds being disconnected from the IR reciever.

subway

dont think Play sell them anymore, but you might find one on ebay.
that ebay one you linked to, i would have my concerns. i got one off ebay before, unknown brand and it wasnt supported in media centre. check that with the seller before parting with any cash!

elara, komplett, dabs etc all have DVB-S tuners available so have a look at their sites also

gtg60

Hi dacogawa
That card listed on Adverts.ie belongs to me and I can guarantee it works 100% with Windows 7 64bit (which is what I use my other one in), also be aware that it is a Dual DVB-S AND Dual DVB-T card so you can receive the Irish channels via an aerial and all the UK Freesat channels via a dish and as it's a Quad tuner you can record up to 4 channels at once! Works great in MCE.

It has seen very light use and is barely second hand, if you've any questions feel free to ask me over on the thread:
http://www.adverts.ie/showproduct.php?product=191695

dacogawa

Thanks Subway,

I think I'll steer clear of the unknown brands then! looks like it might be maplin then.

Thanks meob but I'm going to go for a DVB-S card instead.

Thanks gtg60, it looks great but I usually like to get something with a guarantee so i can shout at someone & throw the product at them if it breaks:)

meob

dacogawa wrote: »

Thanks Subway,

I think I'll steer clear of the unknown brands then! looks like it might be maplin then.

Thanks meob but I'm going to go for a DVB-S card instead.

Thanks gtg60, it looks great but I usually like to get something with a guarantee so i can shout at someone & throw the product at them if it breaks:)

heres the one i use:

http://mediacenterhd.blogspot.com/2010/01/dvblink-hauppauge-wintv-nova-hd-s2-229.html

works 100%

dacogawa

Thanks meob, I'll look out for it

dacogawa

Hi Again,

Last time I annoy you about a dvb-s card, I promise

I'm going to get one of thses two, which one would you go for ?

http://www.komplett.ie/k/ki.aspx?sku=451999 €47.81

or

http://maplin.co.uk/Module.aspx?ModuleNo=97820 €67.99

I'm very swayed towards the first one as it has HD, a lot cheaper & an Irish company, any ideas on why not ?

Thanks

gtg60

PC's do the HD processing not the cards so it's a moot point.

AverMedia seem to be a good company, I had a DVB-T card made by them and it worked flawlessly.

subway

either one really. as gtg60 says its the software that does the decoding so both cards are the same in that they receive a dvb-s signal

dacogawa

Thanks gtg60 & subway, AverMedia it is then

Coasters Film

I would go with this AVerMedia http://www.komplett.ie/k/ki.aspx?sku=484513 lots more features (dual mode, extra inputs & more )for extra €30

I dont think you can go wrong with it

dacogawa

I dont mind paying a few quid more, if subway (as he's been my guru on this set up) says its worth it, I'll go with it, going to buy tonight or tmro, this has gone on long enough

subway

looks like a decent card, but you would only get any benefit if you have a DVB-T aerial or want to play an old games consolde through media centre.

it doesnt do dual channel recording unless you have a dvb-t and dvb-s source.
personally, i wouldnt go for it.

if you have 2 sat feeds availablem, then dabs have this in stock http://www.dabs.ie/products/pctv-systems-dual-satellite-pci-card-and-rc-5JGK.html?q=dvb-s#description which is the card i have and will support multi channel recording.

if you have only 1 sat feed and no plans to upgrade to multiple feeds or a DVB-T aerial then just stick with the single tuner card

dacogawa

Thanks Subway,

I only have 1 spare LNB from the dish so i guess its not going to help in that way but i was looking at getting the Irish freeview going again (have a english mpeg2 box, sadly stopped working when it changed to mpeg4)

I dont think I'll be bringing out the old atari 2600 or the sega mega drive so I'm not worried about that but if it means i can get/record the freeview as well as the freesat it might be a good thing to get the AVerMedia A707

Arragh, choices!

subway

if you have the sat feed and a connection to the aerial available then perhaps the card coasters film linked to would be the best option.
i have no experience with avermedia or dual mode combi cards so cant comment on how well it would work, but i cant see why it would cause any problems

dacogawa

Thanks subway & coasters, I'm going to just get it, done & dusted.

Thanks again for all the help

dacogawa

Hi Guys,

Just wanted to say thanks a million, got the Avermedia Satellite Trinity and it works brilliantly (apart from channel 4's signal & a few others are missing on WMC but working on the Aver MC ?)

I'm getting the Irish freeview as well as the freesat so i couldn't have asked for more.

Thanks again for all your help with this, its really appreciated.

subway

at some point, head into settings > tv > tv signal > full satellite transponder scan.
that will pull in a few hundred channels and you should have a few different channel 4 to choose from some might have better signal etc

dacogawa

Thanks Subway, I've tried the full scan but no luck, i even switched my region to se if that made any difference but it didn't.

It is a lovely interface but it could do with letting you set up your own channels :mad:

subway

im a bit confused by the issue you are having.
im using the same setup and have no problem receiving channel 4 at all. i have it set to ireland

when you set the dvb-s tuner up you should set it to (iirc) unmapped digital satellite and channel 4 should be at number 104.
it doesnt scan for anything on dvb-s

dacogawa

its confusing me 2

Everything seems fine, all the other channels are working except e4 & channel 4.

I'm not sure how the dvb-s tuner is set up, how do i check if it is IIRC ?

All I'm getting when I'm on channel 4 is black for a bit then it comes up with:

No TV Signal
There is currently no TV signal detected for this channel. The channel may be temporarily off the air, or you may need to adjust or reconnect your antenna.


When i go to edit channel (it is 104) then edit sources it has the digital satellite (DVB-S) ticked & below it says:

AVerMedia 716x BDA DVBS Tuner
Frequncy (Quality) 10714MHz (100%)
Locator info: 2:2041:9211

any idea whats up with it ? i've checked the LNB & cable with a free sat box and C4 & E4 are there. I just wish you could edit the channel

subway

its very weird, are all the copies of channel 4 showing the same issue?
i would perhaps try resetting up the tv signal first.

there is another issue going on at the moment, with ITV HD, some people have it, some people cant find it etc so there may be issues with MC in the background which could relate to this somehow.

if you did the full transponder scan you should have about 10 copies of channel 4.
go to tv settings > guide and enable all of them. then flick through them and see if any work

dacogawa

I tried all the copys of channel 4 and they are the same & i set the whole thing up again with no change.

I'm one of the people who has not got ITV HD as well but I can do with out it as long as i have c4, e4, etc.

I checked up and it seems I have none of the channels on 10714.00 H or 10729.00 V ?

I'm starting to think this just has it in for me!

Thanks again Subway

subway

everything you are doing seems to be right

googling suggests that there might be intereference at that frequency so try switching off cordless / wireless devices that are nearby and testing again.

media centre might be having difficulty interacting with the hardware to receive the signal whereas the freesat box is a more robust tuner

dacogawa

Hi Subway,

I've turned everything that might interfere with it but no luck & when I try to do a single transponder scan there is no signal on the signal quality bars (usually about half way up)

Thanks again for all the help & if you hear of any magic fix will you let me know please

dacogawa

Got it working, had to set it up for 2 satellites (after the avermedia engineer had a go) one set to

Low 9750 High 9750 switch 11700 (to get C4, E4, More 4, etc)

and the other to

Low 9750 High 10600 switch 11700 (to get the rest)

Working perfectly now, thanks for all the help Subway

subway

great to hear you got it sorted