Installation of Ceton Diagnostic Tools/Drivers causes issues

[nicholass817]

I have built a PC around 2 x infiniTV 6 pcie...

Asus Sabertooth Z97 Mark 1
Intel Core i7-4790K
G.SKILL Ripjaws X Series 16GB (4 x 4GB) DDR3 1600
2 x Intel 530 Series 120GB - Raid 1 for OS (W7Ult SP1 x64)
2 x Western Digital RE 4TB - Raid 1 for Data
(almost got a redundant ATX PSU...just cant afford it yet)

Problem is that as soon as I install the Ceton Diag Tool/Drivers and restart, the system starts to act up. It won't establish a NIC connection as quickly, it wont shutdown (hangs at "Logging Off" or "Shutting Down"), one of the InfiniTVs takes ~5min to be recognized by the diag (though showing in network connections and device manager), etc. I can uninstall the Ceton Diag Tool/Drivers and everything is right with the build again. However, i have to pull the cards to keep the Add/Remove Programs or device manager from locking up when uninstalling. I've tried installing each card separately with all the same results.

I bought the 2 cards about 6 months apart, one from Newegg/one from Amazon, and this is the first machine they have been installed in. I can't imagine I've gotten 2 duds from 2 vendors so far apart from each other. So, I'm really hoping this is all a software/firmware issue.

I tried to collect data through the diag tool and it kept locking up too. I had to uninstall, reinstall, and run diag immediately to keep it from freezing. And kept trying to run it for a couple days and it luckily went a second time.
They are both posted here: https://drive.google.com/folderview?id= ... sp=sharing

I do have a ticket open with Ceton support...just hoping to resolve this ASAP...the client (a.k.a. The Mrs.) is getting pissed.

Any help or advise will be greatly appreciated.

Thanks!!!!

[nicholass817]

Update...still not working...I've been testing theories that have all concluded that there is something wrong with the both ITVs and/or the driver/CDU. Here's what I've done:

First, I read that Cisco switches could cause problems...disconnected and re-installed CDU and drivers...still BSODed after hanging for while on shutdown.

Second, I read that raid SSDs can cause problems...Removed raid, re-installed W7 on one of the drives and all updates, system drivers, etc., followed by CDU and drivers...still BSODed after hanging for while on shutdown.

Third, thought it might just be the SSDs that I chose to use...replaced with a spare deskstar 500gb I had lying around, re-installed W7 and all updates, system drivers, etc., followed by CDU and drivers...still BSODed after hanging for while on shutdown.

Fourth, remembered another build I did where the ITV would not work on the x1 slot, but would on the x16...tried moving both cards, then just one card, then the other, then all slots with each card separately...still BSODed after hanging for while on shutdown each time.

My next step is to start reading the BSOD minidumps, but have a strong suspicion of what is causing it.

Oh, and Ceton Support has only responded to ask for the diag files. I've followed up with them with no response as of yet.

Somebody please help, I'm at my wits end!!

[nicholass817]

So...this might be an IRQ conflict (remember those?) with USB or the NICs. I have a single usb plugged in for the KB/M that of course i cant take out, and the only other USB devices are the tuning adapters. As soon as i unplug the TAs most of the major issues stop...still slow to recognize NICs and one of the ITVs, but I need the TAs. I've tried uninstalling and reinstalling the USB drivers in hope that it will assign a different IRQ slot, but no love. And moving the cards didnt work either...sent dmp file to ceton support.

[cwinfield]

Make sure your TA are not plugged into usb 3 beause that has been known to cause problems. I would suspect a driver issue, disable wifi onboard unless your using it, and get latest NIC drivers from intel, realtek or broadcom. Could also easily be a bios setting. Do you have Intel smart connect technology installed? Did you make any changes to the settings for that or your sleep settings in bios?

[Crash2009]

So...this might be an IRQ conflict (remember those?)

Have you tried adjusting the speed of the PciE Slots?

A while back we had someone that was trying to get 1 tuner going in a Sabertooth. There was some kinky proprietary adjustment in the bios. Read everything PciE and IRQ in the manual and you will find it.

[nicholass817]

Got a response from support last night with the following tasks:
1. USB Hotfix kb2798670 (Link removed)

2. Also, change Power Options:

a. Open the control panel, navigate to the Power Options icon, and double click it
b. Note the power plan that is currently selected and choose "Change Plan Settings"
c. In the Edit Plan Settings dialog box choose "Change Advanced Power Settings"
d. In the list select "USB settings" and choose "USB selective suspend settings"; set "Plugged in" to Disabled.

Move all other USB devices over to the second USB Enhanced controller (many motherboards have 2 USB controllers).

Note: Some USB Enhanced Controllers may not handle selective suspends accurately or can fail when other devices either don't support the feature or behave incorrectly. This can cause devices on that USB controller to lose connectivity. The above is intended to help with these issues and increase stability.

3. Install Hotfix kb2679255 (Link removed)

*** Upgrade your PCI drivers to the latest Microsoft Windows 7 RTM/SP1 hotfix. ***
The link below discusses a specific scenario, but it contains other fixes as well:

4. KB Article Number(s): 2601456 for Windows 7 SP1. (Link removed)

5. Change your Power Options by following the instructions below:

-- Open Control Panel, navigate to the Power Options icon, and double click it.
-- From the Power Options dialog box choose "Change Plan Settings" from the current selected power plan.
-- Click the "Change Advanced Power Settings" link
-- Scroll to PCI Express and expand the Link State Power Management section
-- Click the setting and change it to "Off"
-- Save and reboot the computer.

6. You may have an IRQ conflict with the slot you have it in. Move it to a new slot (Remember you can put it in x1, x4, x8, x16).

7. Finish ALL your Microsoft Windows Updates. There are several important Network and Kernel Hotfixes required.

8. Install Hotfix kb2746119

9. Install the latest network driver directly from the manufacturers website.

10. Make sure that your NIC is not allowed to power down. Please see below:
-- Open Device Manager
-- Right click on your NIC card and select "Properties"
-- Select the "Power Management" tab; then CLEAR the "Allow the computer to turn off the device to save power" check box

11. Disable IPv6 on your NIC & InfiniTV: Use this link to disable or re-enable IPv6. Here: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/929852

I went through all this and the problems remained, and seemed to worsen. I tried to run a diag tool several time and it froze on "Collecting Process List" or "Ping 0,0,0,0" each time. Would restart in between each attempt and the system would freeze like its been doing...I had to do hard shut downs each time. Then it ran once for no particular reason. Sent that to support this morning.

Make sure your TA are not plugged into usb 3 beause that has been known to cause problems. I would suspect a driver issue, disable wifi onboard unless your using it, and get latest NIC drivers from intel, realtek or broadcom. Could also easily be a bios setting. Do you have Intel smart connect technology installed? Did you make any changes to the settings for that or your sleep settings in bios?

I do have the TAs plugged into USB 3...I've already tried the USB 2 just not on this latest set of changes.
No onboard wifi, latest intel and realtek drivers (dual NIC), haven't changed anything in the bios (UEFI) other than fan speeds, and no smart connect.

Have you tried adjusting the speed of the PciE Slots?

A while back we had someone that was trying to get 1 tuner going in a Sabertooth. There was some kinky proprietary adjustment in the bios. Read everything PciE and IRQ in the manual and you will find it.

Haven't tried it but I'm going to now. I just read the IRQ assignments for the MB, and am realizing it may be some trick getting 2 cards in slots that aren't shared with each other, an eHCI, xHCI, NIC, or graphics.

Looks like I'm going to have to disable some stuff in bios, relocate the cards...again, adjust PCIe speeds, and hope for the best.

I'll post results.

Thanks for the responses y'all.

[nicholass817]

I ran home to eat lunch and work on this...pulled the system off the rack, cracked it open, moved the cards to slots that wont be shared (I think), put it all back in place, started it up, disabled xHCI and one of the eHCI in bios, started windows and reinstalled the ceton drivers. Problems persist and now one of the ITVs isn't being recognized by the Ceton Diagnostic Tool, though still showing as a network adapter and in the Device Manager. Going to try adjusting the PCIe speeds tonight...forgot to do it today. I'm not very hopeful at this point.

[cwinfield]

Sorry couldn't be more help. Sounds like the motherboard is being less than user friendly with too much integrated stuff filling up all your IRQs. All you can do is try turning stuff off and check the PCIe for speed (100 MHz)and maybe legacy settings. Any chance you could try the tuners on another motherboard? Are you running the latest bios? There has been some updates for PCIe and stability.

SABERTOOTH Z97 MARK 1 BIOS 0801
1.Enhance compatibility with some PCIE device.
2.Revise help string in BIOS.

[nicholass817]

Ya, the BIOS is up to date.

I do have 2 other HTPCs with ITV4s in them that I was hoping to sell or give to family after getting this one up and stable. I may decommission one of them early in order to test the cards. I'm kind of shooting in the dark right now, but maybe I'll change the right setting or move the card to the right slot by chance and get it going before having to do that....or just maybe I'll get some magic file from Ceton support...

[Crash2009]

I have one old school idea for you.....Simplify.....Throw in one bootable hard drive, make one tuner work properly, then move the same 1 tuner to each pcie slot, write down which slots work without changing anything. Remove tuner 1.

Now do the same thing with tuner 2

Finally try both tuners in the slots you know are working.

Sounds too easy doesn't it? I always thought those tuners had a bios of their own. Sometimes they need to be reset before they start working. As I recall there is a return to factory setting in there somewhere.

What about the tuner's IP address? Shouldn't the tuners have unique addresses? 192.168.200.1 192.168.200.2 Likely subnet the same 255.255.255.0

[nicholass817]

Got this from Ceton support just now:

Our apologies for not catching this sooner. We do not support the use of Windows Bridging with our PCIe 6 units or with any InfiniTV when two are present in the box.

Open Windows Media Center, then navigate to Extras > Extras Gallery / Extras Library > Network Tuners. From there, select "Reset to Factory Defaults". At this point, we'd like you to do the following:

1. Open the Ceton InfiniTV Diagnostic Tool.
2. Click the "Devices" tab.
3. Select "Reset Network Settings".
4. Select "Clear Tuner Configuration", then "Discover Tuners".
5. Run through TV Setup again.

Once you've done this, run through TV Setup again and let us know if your problems persist. If you have any other questions or concerns, please let us know.

Many issues with this response...1. I am not using Windows Bridging. 2. Ceton doesn't support 2 ITVs in one box? (http://cetoncorp.com/2013/06/17/q-what- ... -extender/) 3. I do not have network tuners setup or installed.

I'm livid...

I have one old school idea for you.....Simplify.....Throw in one bootable hard drive, make one tuner work properly, then move the same 1 tuner to each pcie slot, write down which slots work without changing anything. Remove tuner 1.

Now do the same thing with tuner 2

Finally try both tuners in the slots you know are working.

Sounds too easy doesn't it? I always thought those tuners had a bios of their own. Sometimes they need to be reset before they start working. As I recall there is a return to factory setting in there somewhere.

What about the tuner's IP address? Shouldn't the tuners have unique addresses? 192.168.200.1 192.168.200.2 Likely subnet the same 255.255.255.0

I am going to give this a try. The IP addresses are almost exactly what you said. 192.168.200.1 & 192.168.201.3. What assigns these IP addresses? My router assigns 10.x.x.x. I don't get how my router would assign address to the ITVs though. The other 2 machines with single ITV4s gives them the same 192.168.200.1. Could this be whats causing issues? Do i some how need to assign a static IP to the ITVs that is 10.x.x.x based?

[cwinfield]

You just go to the device webpage. under system>network settings>change from DHCP to static IP and input the data. Sorry about the support service your receiving.

[Crash2009]

The IP addresses are almost exactly what you said. 192.168.200.1 & 192.168.201.3. What assigns these IP addresses?

I think there is a DHCP server built in to the tuner. Like CW said you can turn it off by enabling Static and assigning your own available IP's from the router. If something "blows up" you can always factory reset like ceton support suggested.

[nicholass817]

I GOT IT TO WORK!!!!

I decided to tweak the bios a little more and noticed that some of the changes i had made previously weren't showing in the bios settings. Did a couple tests and saw the bios wasn't holding certain settings for some reason...I re-flashed it and bios is stable...with all PCIe slots set to 1.0, USB 3.0 controller disabled, and a couple other setting I cant recall at the moment. I then tested each card separately in each of the 6 PCIe slots by installing card, clearing the configuration in the diagnostic tool, setting up WMC, restarting, checking channels, restarting, etc. each time....it took a while.

I then installed both ITVs in a couple different configurations and have found the best performance from PCIe x1_1 & x1_2. I am only having a couple issues right now, it takes about 30 seconds to get internet access after the system starts up and one of the cards isn't recognized by the CDT for about a minute (think this might be a bad CC). But because this system will only be restarted once a week, this shouldn't be a problem.

One upside that my wife noticed after going live and taking down the other WMC machines is that the Echos we have now operate better. I was prepared to dump all 3 of them and go get some used 360s, but no need now.

Thanks for the advice!!!!!

[Crash2009]

some of the changes i had made previously weren't showing in the bios settings. Did a couple tests and saw the bios wasn't holding certain settings for some reason

I've run into that error before. In my case I forgot to use the CLRTC or CLRCMOS jumper after updating the bios. I'm told pulling the battery does the same thing.

[Crash2009]

nicholass817,

Do you think you could document the steps required to install a pair of tuners in one box? While it's fresh in your mind. After your done.

[nicholass817]

Do you think you could document the steps required to install a pair of tuners in one box? While it's fresh in your mind. After your done.

I sure can. After letting it run and using via extenders for a few days I am noticing a couple issues, and am not sure what the cause is at the moment.

- Live TV looks great on every channel, but recordings are a little degraded and have an ocassional pixelated flicker. This, I think, may be the hard drives I'm using for data storage, or an IRQ conflict with the SATA controller.

- Sometimes channels wont tune, and what I've found works is pulling a cerrtain cablecard and reinstalling will fix it...need to make it to TWC offfice this week some time.

After i get those figured out ill definitely put together a cleaned up step-by-step.

[Crash2009]

Dual NICS? Realtek® 8111GR, NIC.......Intel® I218V, 1 x Gigabit LAN Controller.... Which drivers are you using, Windows? Realtek? Intel? or Asus?

Flickering might be this.....https://communities.intel.com/thread/32 ... 0&tstart=0

Any errors in device manager?

[Crash2009]

Dual NICS? Realtek® 8111GR, NIC.......Intel® I218V, 1 x Gigabit LAN Controller.... Which drivers are you using, Windows? Realtek? Intel? or Asus?

Flickering might be this.....https://communities.intel.com/thread/32 ... 0&tstart=0

Any errors in device manager?

That's quite the Dual NIC arrangement. Is it Intel controlling a pair of Realtek? Looks like that would take a week by itself. NICS should be a top priority....It's their job to blast your content all over the building.

Flicker could be caused there too. It's probably a driver or bios setting. Have you WireSharked the HTPC to Extender yet? There might be a pile of 0's and 1's on the floor behind the HTPC.

[Crash2009]

Here is one idea..... Intel PROSet Version 17.0

http://hardforum.com/showthread.php?t=1691040