Ceton infiniTV6

[theGBGuy]

Something has happened to my WMC again... Generally I just go through the setup TV signals again and run the EPG123 again and everything is fine afterwards, but now it says: "TV setup has encountered a serious problem", to press "Finish" and/or restart WMC/computer if the problem persists, which it does...

Things I've tried:
-ran the diagnostic for infiniTV 6: all good... cablecard is active with Comcast
-reran tuner assignments for tuners 1, 2, 3, 4... all 4 tuners are shown while running TV signal setup
-reran Digital TV assessment
-removed feature WMC and restarted computer
-reinstalled feature WMC and restarted computer

My machine is Win7 Pro x64 and Ceton infiniTV 6 ethernet tuner

I did update EPG123 to v1.3.2.20 at the time all this happened, also had a small MS update after I reinstalled the WMC feature, otherwise it was all up to date with MS... I also rolled back to EPG v1.2.11.0 which was the ver I was using...

If anyone has any ideas, I would appreciate the insight

[technodevotee]

Are there any errors in event viewer?

Have you had a look at %ProgramData%\Microsoft\eHome\logs\FirstRun.log?

[theGBGuy]

Are there any errors in event viewer?

Have you had a look at %ProgramData%\Microsoft\eHome\logs\FirstRun.log?

1- Yes there are errors in event viewer most say: " Failed to retrieve nettv (Error: PackageName is invalid.)" source: MCUPDATE and with EPG: "4:47:11 AM - Beginning epg123 client execution. 2019-12-21 12:47:11Z
4:48:02 AM - Error using loadmxf.exe to import new guide information. Exit code: -1
4:48:02 AM - Failed to import .mxf file. Exiting."

2- I'm not sure what you're looking for? Not sure what I'm looking for?

[technodevotee]

I'd expect there to be similar information in the firstrun log but sometimes it gives more information.

I assume you tried re-running the setup in case it was a transient issue at their end?

Are there any errors about an invalid token in event viewer?

[garyan2]

The error you are seeing for loadmxf could indicate a corrupted WMC database. There may be more information from the attempted import that you are not showing?

[theGBGuy]

I'd expect there to be similar information in the firstrun log but sometimes it gives more information.

I assume you tried re-running the setup in case it was a transient issue at their end?

Are there any errors about an invalid token in event viewer?

1- no errors about "tokens"
2- Yes, I have run "setup" again and rerun setup again now... Same problem occurs...

[theGBGuy]

The error you are seeing for loadmxf could indicate a corrupted WMC database. There may be more information from the attempted import that you are not showing?

OK, so how do I get a "clean" database? Where is the file location, so I can rename it? or remove it?

[garyan2]

OK, so how do I get a "clean" database? Where is the file location, so I can rename it? or remove it?

Run "START /WAIT C:\Windows\ehome\mcupdate.exe -uf -dbgc" from a command prompt and wait for it to complete.

If that doesn't work, use the [Rebuild WMC Database] button in the client.

[theGBGuy]

OK, so how do I get a "clean" database? Where is the file location, so I can rename it? or remove it?

Run "START /WAIT C:\Windows\ehome\mcupdate.exe -uf -dbgc" from a command prompt and wait for it to complete.

If that doesn't work, use the [Rebuild WMC Database] button in the client.

1- when using method at command: it took awhile to complete, then I tried to setup TV signals and the problem remains...

2- when using "rebuild WMC Database" it warns me that "no tuners are setup", then asks to restore from a backup, which I tried, then errors (halts)...

[garyan2]

1- when using method at command: it took awhile to complete, then I tried to setup TV signals and the problem remains...

2- when using "rebuild WMC Database" it warns me that "no tuners are setup", then asks to restore from a backup, which I tried, then errors (halts)...

#1 can certainly take a while, depending on how large your database is. Why did you try to do a TV Setup afterwards?

#2 I was under the assumption that you had tuners already setup, is that not the case? Was it like that before you tried #1?

[theGBGuy]

1- when using method at command: it took awhile to complete, then I tried to setup TV signals and the problem remains...

2- when using "rebuild WMC Database" it warns me that "no tuners are setup", then asks to restore from a backup, which I tried, then errors (halts)...

#1 can certainly take a while, depending on how large your database is. Why did you try to do a TV Setup afterwards?

#2 I was under the assumption that you had tuners already setup, is that not the case? Was it like that before you tried #1?

The problem was stated in my 1st post, I have a Ceton infiniTV 6 with a comcast cable card installed, I've been using this hardware setup for awhile now, but every few weeks my recordings start and can't find any tuners setup on my WMC...

In the past, I just reran the "setup TV signals" widget in WMC and the problem is cured for awhile... And since I use an aftermarket EPG, it says I should not allow the "built in EPG", which means I answer NO to the EPG licence agreement... Then it moves on to see all 4 tuners I have assigned to this computer (other 2 tuners are assigned to another computer on my network, which works fine) or it appears to be working fine (just called comcast, they said my Ceton box is offline, tech coming tomorrow to check)...

Using the diagnostic tools that Ceton provided me with, the box is working fine, tunes channels in fine, cablecard is paired to comcast, so...

Today I:
-reinstalled Ceton software using the "repair" option... NO glory...
-called comcast...
-cycled power on box...NO glory...
-checked my router to see what IP address is assigned to Ceton box, the leasing was renewed for it's static IP address...
-tried to set # of tuners to 2... NO glory... set back to 4 tuners...

The exact wording WMC says: "TV setup has encountered a serious problem" to restart WMC and/or computer, press finish to complete... Since no tuners are setup on this machine, the data base won't restore and EPG won't load...

I just verified that my other computer is tuning channels in fine, so the Ceton box is working and not offline as comcast says... Then this problem lies with WMC, How do I reinstall a fresh copy of WMC? I've already tried to take the feature off, then installed the feature again, but there must be files still on my computer remaining behind, so how do I get rid of them?

[unclebun]

I have periodically encountered a no tuners message every few weeks ever since I started using Ceton tuners more than a decade ago. All I have to do to recover from it is restart the computer. With an SSD instead of a hard drive you can restart fast enough that the programs will still record, since it first tries 5 minutes before the program starts.

[garyan2]

Well, with nothing to lose, I would...

1) Uninstall Ceton software/drivers
2) Uninstall WMC and reboot
3) Delete the contents of the c:\ProgramData\Microsoft\ehome folder
4) Install WMC
5) Install Ceton software/drivers
6) Reboot?
7) Open WMC and go forth...

[theGBGuy]

Well, with nothing to lose, I would...

1) Uninstall Ceton software/drivers
2) Uninstall WMC and reboot
3) Delete the contents of the c:\ProgramData\Microsoft\ehome folder
4) Install WMC
5) Install Ceton software/drivers
6) Reboot?
7) Open WMC and go forth...

Ah, that seemed to do the trick, although with 1 snafu, I lost the tuner setup app under extras gallery, but no big deal, the tuners were there when I ran TV signal setup, everything is working fine now, all I need to do is re schedule all my "series" recordings...

I saved my eHome folder to another drive before deleting it, is there a file that holds all the recording scheduling data? Can I copy it back?

My thanks to you Gary, and everyone else that replied...

PS I also updated my EPG123 to current ver. lost a few channel emblems, but no big deal...

[garyan2]

I saved my eHome folder to another drive before deleting it, is there a file that holds all the recording scheduling data? Can I copy it back?

Sure can. Just use the Transfer Tool and open the latest file in ehome\mcepgX-Y\backup\recordings. That is where all your requests are.

[theGBGuy]

I have periodically encountered a no tuners message every few weeks ever since I started using Ceton tuners more than a decade ago. All I have to do to recover from it is restart the computer. With an SSD instead of a hard drive you can restart fast enough that the programs will still record, since it first tries 5 minutes before the program starts.

This just happened to me again: I followed your advice and just rebooted my machine, everything came back just fine...

I have noticed with Win 7 MC, that I must let my computer go to sleep (rather than Hibernate), in order to have recordings happen, but I've also noticed that some software will not wake up properly after sleep mode... Therefor a reboot is required to have all the services start up properly... I suppose MS will never fix this, since Win 10 is the OS they want us to use...

I do have Win 10 x64 setup on this computer (dual boot), but rarely use it for lack of WMC... I have loaded the Win 10 ver of WMC, but sadly have no tuners as Ceton is no longer in Business... Has anyone here tried to install the Ceton software on a Win 10 MC? Can it be installed in "compatibility" mode? I know Win 7 is approaching "end of life", so it will soon become a Dinosaur...

[Space]

I have my Win7 system go to sleep and it wakes up only for recordings and to update the guide then goes back to sleep. It works perfectly. I don't have a Ceton tuner, however (I have a HDHomeRun Prime), so that may be the problem, or perhaps you have additional software that has issues.

[theGBGuy]

I have my Win7 system go to sleep and it wakes up only for recordings and to update the guide then goes back to sleep. It works perfectly. I don't have a Ceton tuner, however (I have a HDHomeRun Prime), so that may be the problem, or perhaps you have additional software that has issues.

I'm not sure, my primary sys is built around an i7 4790K CPU with z97 chipset MoBo and it also has problems with USB never resuming after sleep through my Linkskey 4 port KVM, where as my secondary sys is built around an i7 2600K CPU with z67 chipset MoBo and it also works perfectly for recordings and USB... I could never find the problem with USB settings in BIOS because at one point the USB was working fine on my primary sys, but when I unplugged the unit to move, the MoBo battery died and I lost the BIOS settings, so not sure what the differences are in these two hardware setups... I just know the older hardware works better than the newer hardware... Could be the fact that on the older mach. it has no USB 3.0 emulation, whereas the newer mach. does...