HD channels keep losing signal

[greenfrog]

Hi all

I've recently overhauled my Media Center with some hardware upgrades and the addition of a Freesat card (previously I've used Freeview).

All has gone fairly well with the exception of the HD channels. After a manual scan all are correct and present, and when viewed the signal/quality looks great.

However the problem usually manifests around 30 seconds or so into viewing. MCE will report 'No Signal' and stop recording, despite the signal being perfect till that point. This also happens when recording TV.

The TV card is a TBS6982. I can't imagine its a performance issue as the PC plays other HD video competently. I've updated all drivers and even tried a fresh install, but still the problem persists.

Strangely I can't seem to find anyone else with the same issue.

If anyone has any ideas I'd be very appreciative.

[Crash2009]

We get no signal errors all the time over here. (North America) Our first suspicion usually is the strength of the incoming signal. (Cable or Sat in) Most of the time, as you have noticed, this is not the problem.

I don't have any hard facts to backup my speculations, but I do think that WMC has no way to define what signal it is reporting as NO SIGNAL. Could be the signal from the tuner to the hard drive, or the signal from the hard drive to the display, or something else.

As a starting point test the hard drive for it's Read/Write ability. another test is to try recording to a different drive.

[greenfrog]

Hi Crash2009

I suspect you're right regarding what the 'no signal' actually refers to - in past incarnations my MCE set-up has experienced this for many different reasons.

I'll try hooking up another hard drive for testing - maybe MCE isn't able to write the buffer to HD fast enough and this only becomes a problem after 30 seconds or so. Still, I would have thought this would be a more common problem, my HD is no slouch - so far I can't find any reports of similar issues.

I'll let you know how I get on.

[Crash2009]

Another favorite blame target is antivirus and firewall. Easy fix from what I understand. Just add a few "permit rules".