Ceton InfiniTV 6 - No InfiniTV Found

[Cirdecus]

Hello everyone!

I've been using WMC in my home for about 5 years now. I started with a 4 tuner Ceton and eventually got a new 6 tuner USB model back in march. I have 2 Media center PC's, one extender and a Server.

About a week ago i started seeing a subscription error on all of my media center PC's when viewing cable. I checked the Ceton Diagnostic utility and noticed that it didn't detect a cable card installed. After rebooting the Ceton it worked ok for maybe 8 hours and then went back into that status.

While I was waiting to get to the nearest cable office to get a replacement card, eventually it stopped working altogether. After another day the diagnostic utility no longer detected the tuner at all. Sometimes after a reboot i can get the Ceton utility and WMC to see the tuner, but after trying to connect and set up the CableCard in WMC, it locks up and eventually says I have no tuner.

I opened a ticket with Ceton to investigate and possibly RMA the box, but after a week, they refuse to RMA the unit and have only replied to me 3 times, despite posting multiple diagnostic logs and screenshots.

I can easily browse to the config of the tuner via a web browser. but the Ceton tool and WMC can't detect it on ANY PC in the house. I've swapped network cables and plugged the Ceton directly into the switch on the router and still nothing. I've uninstalled all anti-virus and firewall software, turned off windows firewall, etc.

I also notice no network bridge or network device installed on any of my media center PCs. Is this normal? I thought i remembered Ceton installing a network adapter of some sort, albeit a virtual one.

Any ideas?

[Crash2009]

Do you have the pcie version or the eth?

[Cirdecus]

Sorry forgot to mention:

USB Ceton InfiniTV 6
Windows 7 64it on each media center
xbox 360 extender
win server 2012 datacenter server

I've completely reformatted both the server just recently and one of the media centers just yesterday and i keep experiencing the same issue.

[mldenison]

Ceton doesn't market a 6 channel USB tuner, do they?

[mdavej]

Ceton doesn't market a 6 channel USB tuner, do they?

Correct, there is no such thing. I assume he means ETH.

My first thought is it could be overheating. Second thought is power supply failing. Third, tuner has had a catastrophic hardware failure and cannot be repaired.

[Cirdecus]

Correct, sorry I meant ethernet

[Cirdecus]

Well so far Ceton Support has been so terrible I really hope none of you plan on purchasing one of these tuners from them. This is actually the 3rd in 5 years at $299 each, it's getting expensive. Please buy an HDHomeRun instead. I've spent 5 days now with a support ticket and Ceton has only replied once a day. Each reply is a generic, copy/paste from a matrix they're using and every reply suggests that everything but the Ceton is probably wrong. They even mentioned they have a 24 hour SLA, meaning that they have to reply with some BS every 24 hours no matter what, which is why the replies have been poor quality.

They also say that if you respond to your ticket, you reset your place in line, basically penalizing you for communicating with them.

In any case, let me clarify the environment:

PC
Windows 7 64-bit
fresh windows install plus updates
no other software, antivirus or WMC addons, simply windows and Ceton

ASUS RT-87u Router
Charter Internet

Pretty basic. I'm about to reformat the second WMC just to prove that every bit of software in the environment has been completely refreshed.

This has got to be either a mis-configuration with the firmware on the Ceton itself or a defective Ethernet Tuner.

Here's Cetons reply:

Thank you for your continued patience. We have a 24 hour SLA and each time you respond to the ticket it reset your place in the que. We deal with tickets from oldest to newest based on your last response.

Third party software or hardware configuration is preventing your InfiniTV from communicating with the diagnostic tool and Windows Media Center. We have listed the most common causes of these problems. Please see below:

1. Make sure you have completely uninstalled any antivirus suites, as they are known to erroneously block communication. Norton & McAfee are the worst offenders; Microsoft Security Essentials has a proven track record of not interfering with tuner communication if you must have antivirus software installed.

2. Do you have another TV tuner installed? If yes, please remove it from the system. Windows doesn't like other tuners installed before an OCUR. You can reinstall it once we're up and running.

3. Do you have any Windows Media Center add-ons or video software installed? If yes, please uninstall them (same issue as above).

4. Make sure your Windows firewall service is not running. The service you'll want to stop is named "MpsSvc".

5. The InfiniTV cannot be set up in a "Domain" or "Public" network; instead, it must be set up with "Home" designation in network setup.

6. The InfiniTV is not supported in a virtual environment. Any Virtual Machine (VM) software must be completely uninstalled as the network filters that are applied disrupt communication.

7. Make sure you are not allowing your PC to enter S3 Sleep mode. Media Center does not support sleep when acting as a DVR.

8. Some routers offer the ability to schedule sleep time and or stopping traffic at certain times of the day or night. Please disable this feature and leave the router on fulltime.

Please let us know if any of these steps helped, and let us know if you have any other questions or concerns.

[Crash2009]

I've completely reformatted both the server just recently and one of the media centers just yesterday and i keep experiencing the same issue.

Why does everybody punish the HTPC when the tuner needs a smack.
You have smacked the HTPC enough. Time to do something different.

1 Uninstall tuner from Device manager.
2 Uninstall all Ceton software from installed programs.
3 Reset WMC to factory settings.

You could even Remove the tuner from the PC.

4 Cold boot-discharge residual power-etc

Then put the tuner back in.

5 Install tuner software and make sure Factory Reset is has a checkmark in the box.
6 Set up WMC. DCA, PlayReady, TV Setup Etc.
7 Go grab a beer, order pizza, and watch TV.

[Cirdecus]

Does the Ceton Drivers have a "factory Reset" button during the setup wizard?

I'll give it a shot. I just set the network settings in the Ceton back to DHCP Server at 192.168.200.1, which is apparently the default for some reason. Going to plug it into the secondary ethernet port and give it a shot with a fresh install.

[Cirdecus]

Alright update:

Fresh Windows Install.
No Software other than the Ceton Drivers installed clean
WMC fresh, no configuration or plugins.

Ceton is reset back to the network settings default which is a DHCP Server at 192.168.200.1

Ceton plugged DIRECTLY into network port on fresh WMC.

Diagnostic utility still cannot find the tuner. WMC cannot find Tuner as well.

I can browse to the tuner's default IP address 192.168.200.1 through a browser as usual.

[Crash2009]

Does the Ceton Drivers have a "factory Reset" button during the setup wizard?

I'll give it a shot. I just set the network settings in the Ceton back to DHCP Server at 192.168.200.1, which is apparently the default for some reason. Going to plug it into the secondary ethernet port and give it a shot with a fresh install.

192.168.200.1 is the correct default IP

secondary Ethernet port of "What"

[Crash2009]

Is your ETH6 plugged into the Ethernet port of the HTPC?

Bad Nic? wire?

[Crash2009]

Do you have dual NICs in the HTPC?

[Crash2009]

He must be busy with the beer and pizza, hopefully watching TV also.

[Cirdecus]

haha i wish!

My PC has two NICS. when testing, i was plugging it in one NIC and letting it receive DHCP from the CETON just a minute ago when i made that post

[Cirdecus]

So strange, i checked my Signal Level and my SNR and both are acceptable, -2.2 and 40 respectively.

When I access the Ceton through the browser, everything appears great. It thinks it has tuned to the proper channel and is playing it perfectly. The tuning adapter is good, the cablecard looks good.

But the diagnostic utility and WMC just aren't having it.

[Crash2009]

But the diagnostic utility and WMC just aren't having it.

1 Can you see the file named ctndiag.exe in windows? how about DOS?
2 Can you execute the file in Win or Dos?
3 Try it from an elevated command prompt.
4 Try right click, run as administrator
When I execute the file ctndiag, the User Account Control (UAC) window pops up. This is the normal action. What happens when you execute the file?

nothing?

[Crash2009]

Check Task Manager.

Is ctndiag running somewhere where you cant see it? Like maybe in the extended portion of your desktop?

[Crash2009]

Correct, sorry I meant ethernet

What is the model number of your tuner?

Are you using a TA?

Exactly How and to What do you have this tuner cabled? Need a diagram or detailed explanation with model numbers.

example..... InfiniTV6 ETH>>>>>>>>>Cat6>>>>>>>>>>Intel Pro/1000 PT
......InfiniTV6 ETH>>>>>>>>>USB>>>>>>>>>>>STA 1520 TA

We don't have time for guessing games. If you want help, spit it out.

[Cirdecus]

I can execute it and it opens the Ceton Diag utility. I have UAC turned off so it doesn't pop a warning for me.

I have been using the diag utility for a while now trying to troubleshoot so it is open.