Wondering about getting the infiniTV ETH 6

[Billyray520]

Last weekend I tried to get a Ceton PCIe 6 card working with Time Warner. Everything was actually functional for about an hour then it all went down the drain. For a while I had my channels, but while setting up preferences etc. in WMC, it started acting up. Then it was locking up the HTPC, and Windows became unstable. I restored an image from before any of the Ceton stuff was installed, and tried re-installing drivers and just starting over. But the drivers now would cause Windows (7 Pro) to lock up and become unstable. Then I disconnected the TA and cablecard from the PCIe card, and was successfully able to install the Ceton drivers, while Windows remained stable. Then I reconnected the TA and cablecard. Ceton diagnostics showed all green checks under Devices and Cable Card. But THEN WMC would not open. Nothing I could think of doing would allow WMC to open. I filed a ticket with Ceton. They had me run diagnostics and send them the files. They decided I had a failing hdd or bad cables or something like that. I yanked all of the Ceton crap out, and restored the system image again. Now everything in Windows is rock solid, and WMC opens like normal. No diagnostic I can find (including Windows logs) has found any ongoing problems. I returned the PCIe card back to Amazon, since I couldn't get it to work anymore after that first time.

I have been debating about getting the Ceton Eth6 (although I know it uses the same software that gave me so much trouble.) I am considering the SD HR Prime for this reason. Plus it is a lot cheaper.

This HTPC is a brand new build with all new parts and components. Asus H97m-Plus, Core I5 4690s, 16 GB G.Skill RAM, Samsung Pro 256 GB SSD, Seagate 1 TB, 7200 RPM drives. Nothing in my setup is "failing" or going bad now that Ceton stuff is out.

I'm a newbie to this HTPC stuff, but an old hand with computers otherwise. I built this HTPC myself, with no issues.

Any ideas on what I may have doing wrong, or why the PCIe card stopped working, or whether I should get the Ceton Eth6, or maybe just go with the SD HR Prime???

[Scallica]

Get the HDHR Prime....it just works.

[mdavej]

My guess is heat causing your issue with the PCIe version. In any case, I've never had an issue like that with any of the half dozen or so Ceton tuners of mine.

The Prime is more stable, but has only 3 tuners of course. I need 6, so the ETH has been fine. I bought mine used for about the same price as a Prime. I have a Prime in my closet as a backup but have never had to use it.

Using the ETH would also avoid your possible heat issue.

[RyC]

Yes, would probably recommend the Prime unless you need more than 3 tuners. But I also have the ETH and it's been running fine.

[JohnW248]

I have been debating about getting the Ceton Eth6 (although I know it uses the same software that gave me so much trouble.) I am considering the SD HR Prime for this reason. Plus it is a lot cheaper.

This HTPC is a brand new build with all new parts and components. Asus H97m-Plus, Core I5 4690s, 16 GB G.Skill RAM, Samsung Pro 256 GB SSD, Seagate 1 TB, 7200 RPM drives. Nothing in my setup is "failing" or going bad now that Ceton stuff is out.

I'm a newbie to this HTPC stuff, but an old hand with computers otherwise. I built this HTPC myself, with no issues.

What I would try with what you have right now is to re-insert the PCIe 6 card without the cableCARD and with the Ceton Drivers installed. Then open Media Center and go to tasks and make sure that the Recorder Storage is set to you 1TB Seagate driver or even an external USB drive. Then insert the CableCARD without the TA. This should work for all non-SDV channel. DO NOT put the side back on the computer case and if necessary put an accessory house fan blowing into the case. This should take heat out of the equation.

See how far you can get. If the Recorder was marked to the SSD drive (which is a default to the Windows users directory) that might be an issue. I've had lock ups in the past with all types of tuners that were related to hard drive issues and you should eliminate that. If you can get a ty signal and watch it (remember nothing is live, it is recorded and playback, there is always a buffer) you can then move to reconnecting the TA.

You should open the WebGUi for the tuner card and from there you can monitor the TA and the cableCARD. You can check the tuner temps (they should be below 60 degrees C on the PCIe and 65 degress C on the Eth).

From the problems you describe, I'd want to eliminate any computer issues since you'll have the same thing with the Prime from SD or the ETH if its a system issue.

I don't have an SSD on any machine but I have a pair of ETHs running and a pair of PCIe 6 tuners running and a pair of SD Primes running. I'm running a couple of Dell i7 XPS machines, a HP AMD Quad and several lap tops (Lenovo, Dell, HP) all are Win7 either PRO or Home Premium and the Lenovo is Win 8.1 Pro.

The other consideration is to install the PCIe card in a different slot which will trigger Windows to re-install the device drivers. Keep the WebGui open on your taskbar so you can monitor activity until you get this worked out.

Also you should tell us if you have a Moto or Cisco card and what FW you're running on your tuner (that'll be on the WebGui system tab.

[JohnW248]

One other thing you don't detail and will cause this problem.....are you running any third party AVS? If you are, you need to remove it entirely (not just shut it off) and then you can install MS Security Essentials and turn ON the Windows Firewall. Since it ran for a while and then shut down, that sound like there is a possibility that you have some other AVS running that is going to kill cableCARD tv tuners.

[Billyray520]

Thanks for your replies! They have been very helpful. As far as the heat issue, there has been none. I know for a fact what the heat inside the unit is with hwinfo 64 and speedfan as well as the Asus BIOS. I have 2 noctua fans drawing air out of the case right beside the CPU and mobo. According to my readings the CPU itself is running at just barely above room temperature, and PCIe card was the only card in the case with plenty of ventilation in the rather roomy Silverstone case (see pic.) Add to that, the setup is down in the basement where the ambient temperature right now is just barely 60 degrees F. So heat can definitely be ruled out as a factor.

There are no third party firewalls, just MS Security Essentials and Windows firewall. So that can also be ruled out as a factor.

This is a brand new, dedicated HTPC, with nothing installed that isn't needed. No games, no Office, no other misc.

My problem, I think, was related to understanding WMC and its settings. But whatever I did, it seemed to mess up everything with the PCIe card permanently. Or I just don't know how to recover from that situation.

I guess I will go with the SD HR Prime. Having the 6 tuners would come in handy, but right now I need something to work.

[mdavej]

There's no reason an ETH wouldn't work. My other guess is you put the Ceton in the wrong slot or it was misaligned, causing some damage.

[Billyray520]

If it was in the wrong slot would it have worked correctly for a while before I started trying to set up WMC? I was getting channels, including the scrambled ones, and the Ceton diagnostics showed everything with a green check. I don't think there was any damage to either the PCIe card or the HTPC. Plus, if you notice in my first post, I actually did get the Ceton drivers installed and according to the Ceton diagnostics for Devices and Cable Card, everything had a green check, when I tried resetting everything up. But then WMC would not open. I think there was some kind of configuration/software conflict that I just couldn't sort out. There are no directions I can find for returning everything to a non-installed state in order to re-install everything. (Of course I did Windows System Restore etc. to remove the drivers to a point in time before anything had been installed, but that didn't work either.) What I had to do was restore my system image from the point when nothing had been installed yet. Even then, there seemed to be problems with getting the ceton device, or the cable card, or the TA to reset, still causing me problems.

Right now everything is restored back to the time before anything was installed. However, the TA and the cablecard may still have pairing or some other non-initialized setting remaining. I don't know. But the power has been removed from all of it during the time I have the HTPC shut off. That is why I am still worried about trying to set up something else. But it seems like the SD HR Prime may be my best bet.

[JohnW248]

There is a way to reset Media Center back to first install state:

right click on computer and choose manage, then open the task scheduler and go down to miscrosoft/windows/media center and find the Media Center Recover Task. Have media center closed when you do this. Run the Task. When you open media center it will be like a first install (except you haven't reset DRM) run the digital cable advisor again and proceed to TV set-up. Make sure you recorder is set to the spinning drive.

Once set-up...STOP run it for a couple of days. You don't make Gone With the Wind as you first movie.....

BTW check you PCIe tuner temps with the WEBGUI it has NO relationship to your BIOS temp or case temp. The card has its own temp readings for each tuner and that's what you need to watch. The case may be fine but you need to know the PCIe6 temps.

[Billyray520]

Thanks John. I will check as you say. Thanks for the WMC reset instructions too.

[blueiedgod]

Get the HDHR Prime....it just works.

Which HDHR comes with 6 tuners?

[Ed]

Get the HDHR Prime....it just works.

Which HDHR comes with 6 tuners?

The Prime 2 Pack

[JohnW248]

Get the HDHR Prime....it just works.

Which HDHR comes with 6 tuners?

The Prime 2 Pack

That's discontinued and took two cableCARDS and two Tuning Adapters anyway. The not yet released Prime 6 will be a single cableCARD single TA device like the ETH. Apparently there were supplier issues with a company that made some parts being purchased last year. Also don't know if the device has been through Cable Labs certification yet.

So it might be several months and for the 2 pack it's an Ebay adventure with no warranty.

[Ed]

Well, I was being sarcastic anyway.

[Crash2009]

but right now I need something to work.

Get a Set top box for the wife while you work on your project. My first one didn't even get off the bench for 3 months. I got started on it shortly after the beginning of "The Digital Transition/Migration".

http://customer.comcast.com/help-and-su ... migration/

[Billyray520]

Just an update. I got the InfiniTV 6 ETH yesterday. Today I finally have the HTPC installed in the Living Room, and set up for recording!

I had some difficulty again with the setup, and I think Ceton could do a better job with their instructions, like showing screens etc. One of the things that may have caused me trouble this time was that I didn't update the Firmware and Hardware RIGHT AWAY. After installing the driver software, Ceton has one setting up things in WMC. But they should say to update the firmware and hardware first, THEN proceed to WMC. I was having problems with WMC only allowing 4 tuners again. After the update, all 6 tuners were discovered and usable by WMC. Then their description of where to find things in WMC is not very helpful. Sometimes their name for screens or menus are different in WMC. Because of that, I often wound up in the wrong menu trying to do things. It is VERY IMPORTANT, I found, to do everything in a very specific order correctly before proceeding to the next step. Because of my confusion with WMC, I think I messed up the installation with the first PCIe card. Now looking back on things, I can't figure out why anyone would even want to use the PCIe card! 1. no heat problems (if I ever had them??) 2. no loss of EMMs if you shut down the HTPC computer to do a backup or whatever you want to do (like move it somewhere else.) As far as having 6 tuners, it's great! I have one assigned to my desktop computer, and the other 5 go to the HTPC.

I have to say the replies in this thread really helped me a lot in sorting this out!

[JohnW248]

Just FYI, after your first set-up and pairing of the cableCARD with TWC the EMM reset doesn't matter or impact anything. During the first set-up they need a good EMM count for the conditional access authorization to download to the card, but once that's done it doesn't really matter. You'll see after you power cycle the ETH or restart a computer with an internal card that the EMMs will be 0 but will increment as they get authorizations from the headend over time. Some devices will jump in 4,8, etc and others will get 10 and then add in 4s. But that is just a curiosity. If you have a problem and change out cableCARDS, the tech will send new EMMs and you'll wait for the CA stream to go authorized and change from 360 seconds to 600 seconds.

[Billyray520]

Thanks. I believe TWC passes along misinformation during the setup stage for whatever reason. Maybe as a discouragement to using cable cards ?

[adam1991]

Take off the foil hat. They're not actively doing anything of the sort. It's nothing more than sheer incompetence.

Can you imagine them cackling with glee as they spend money on creating systems and procedures that create screens of information only five people will ever see, with the sole purpose of "discouraging" or "confusing" those five people?