Are you losing BGT3650 Tuners?

[duncane]

If you are, see my experience below. It's only been working for me for 3 hours but I couldn't even get 5 mins of Live TV before this!

See here http://www.thegreenbutton.tv/forums/vie ... 329#p17329

Cheers
Ewan

[WarrenH]

Hi Ewan, I have similar components to your build in a Tranquil case (i5 2405s, 8GB ram, Sony BDR). I'm running 2 HDD's, an Intel X25 SSD and WD 1GB HDD. I have IR and VFD and 150w power supply, my temps are about 10% lower than yours though. I'm using the BGT3595.
I raise the temps aspect as I've experienced tuner issues with a previous OrigenAE M10 fanned case when running hot. Although really only around 55C. Your temps are well within specs and shouldn't really cause any issues, I would suggest however running the tuner with the case cover removed and see if the issue persists. Also, make sure you set the audio settings in media centre to 2.0 regardless of whether you're using an external AVR.

[duncane]

Thanks Warren, that is interesting. The 3.5" HDD gets pretty hot when running and the tuner card is roughly half overlapping it. Doesn't look like it the photo in my original thread but the HDD had been moved since then. So a lot of this HDD heat will be radiating straight onto the card. I was actually intending swapping for a 2.5" to give me more room but didn't do that yet.

Anyway, tuners did stop working again last night They didn't vanish from Device Manager like before but it did need a Power Off Reboot to use them again.

Think I'll go through the BG Fix process again tonight and see how it goes. If tuners still have problems I'll run with lid off as you say. The HDD is not fixed it just sits on some foam feet so I can move it again quite easily during testing.

When you say 'Audio to 2.0' you mean the part where it asks 2.0 or 5.1 or 7.1? What I have is a set of Creative 5.1's

Thanks
Ewan

[WarrenH]

Try without the case, if you're losing them in device manager then they're "disconnecting" from the system either due to power or cut out of the pcie. This may be an issue with the card, or power on the board.
Referring to audio, yes I'm referring to the part you've identified, use 2.0 not the other 5.1, etc settings. Your speakers should handle the configuration. Are you connecting via RCA or Optical?

[duncane]

Hi Warren, connecting via RCA.

They WERE vanishing from Device Manager before BlackGolds version of 'Resetting MC' via their batch file. Now when there is an issue, MC just stops seeing them and says No Signal/No Tuner Available but they still show in Device Manager. Power Off Reboot sorts it out.

Like I said I'll try an uninstall/batch file/install etc again tonight to see if I get the same results and I can update BlackGold with the info.

Thanks again, Ewan

[tommo]

Was on the avforums earlier and there was a 5 page thread with these issues. Surprised Blackgold who are known for their quality released the card in this state.

[duncane]

Yip tommo I've read the same posts. My latest attempts below, I've just pasted in my email to BG...

Hi, went through the whole process again tonight. To start with I’d say steps 3 and 4 in your instructions further down this page should be swapped around as your batch file removes the reg entries! I spotted it before I went any further and merged the reg file again.

When I got to the stage of scanning for channels it only found 81 compared to the normal 119. I then ‘Scanned for more channels’ and it lost channels and I only had 38! Checked Device Manager and sure enough tuners vanished.

Power Off reboot. Scanned again 76 channels found but when viewing the guide it showed more than 76! Started watching live TV, started a couple recordings and after 10 mins the whole lot stopped. Device Manager = No tuners.

I have now tried again, this time with the card in a PCIe 8x slot, had been using the 1x before, just to see. Initial scan found more channels earlier in the scan and then channel amount actually decreased/increased/decreased/increased etc during the scan, finally finishing on 85. First time I’ve seen that happening. Note this is the exact same Wall Aerial Socket and Cable as the flawless BGT3620 was on so should not be any signal problems.

Had enough, 3620 going back in and I await your response.

Warren - Before all that above I did as you suggested, Audio to 2.0 and case lid off, plenty room for heat to escape. The 3650 does run hot though, I can hold the back of finger against it for 4 seconds before it hurts too much. Will see if the 3620 is that hot tonight.

My 3620 is back in place and is still working flawlessly.

Thanks
Ewan

[WarrenH]

Back in place and still working - great news, hopefully it continues.
Of interest, I use DVBLink TVSource for tuning my BGT, costs a couple of quid and a bit fussy to initially understand the program, but once configured it works excellent. I had problems with finding and tuning all channels in media centre, although I have no issues with DVBLink.

[duncane]

Yeah I've used DVB Link before ages ago and had it configured/working as it should but I didn't have a serious need for it though.

However, I think you may have misread - my OLD Dual 3620 is back in place and working, like it always did for a year in my old PC. The NEW Quad 3650 that has caused this headache and all the posts is in a drawer until BG advise!

If the Dual in the same PC using the same universal driver works perfectly and the Quad doesn't, what does that tell us? It's hardware?

But other people have already said that they have returned the Quad and received the exact same card (as they marked it) back from BG with a Firmware upgrade and it has solved problems. My one came out with the Firmware Fix already in place but it's -

Cheers
Ewan

[duncane]

Ok I held off posting for a while. New BGT3650 been faultless for 2 weeks now. BG said thisabout the old one,

The card did have a hard fault. This was caused by a fractured joint on one of the components. It may have been there from the beginning but only became apparent after a period of time.

Before this I actually spoke to a supplier who build to order custom HTPCs with the option of adding a BGT3650. They soon stopped offering them after lots of complaints.

So if you really want a half height Quad DVB-T2 card and are prepared for the possibility you may have to 'test and RMA' 1 or 2 of them then give them a go!

I can only assume that due to the amount of returns/faults/bad batches etc that they have not been able to test them as much as they'd like, if at all.
Who knows, all I know is that I'm at last happy with mine!

Of course I could still get hit with the "only became apparent after a period of time" scenario, but based on my 1st 2 cards the fault appeared within hours and this one has been in place for 2 weeks.
Cheers
Ewan

[mattyc]

New card direct from black gold and same issues. Tried all their fixes and now I get no channels! I think the drivers are no good as old hauppage cards worked in my system in place of the BGT3650 - and Windows even found the drivers for me!

http://www.avforums.com/forums/home-ent ... st17902647

I am MCE8

[duncane]

My BGT3650 went bad again.

Fed up, sent it back. Installed a TBS6284 and it's been good for months now. I got a refund from them with no questions but I did include our email conversations printed off in the return so they couldn't really say no anyway.

Cheers

[mattyc]

This is reponse I got form BG support.

There are indeed some outstanding issues with the BGT3650, in some systems. But in the first instance, the issues you state above would be typical of the known problems within Media Center. If you are still having issues once you have checked to 'Sources', then we can issue a returns number if you require.

Thing is none of the problems I 'stated above' happen with a different make of card in my system!