Pinnacle 801e SE USB Stick + MCE does... nothing.

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  1. Posts : 10
    Vista 32 / Windows 7 Beta
       #1

    Pinnacle 801e SE USB Stick + MCE does... nothing.


    I hope I make sense in this post, it's been a long night of working on an upgrade install (Vista 32 to Windows 7 Beta)... now I have discovered that the whole point I did it (to get QAM working in MCE) was a waste.

    In Vista 32 MCE, the 801e stick is detected (after installing MCE drivers as well as Vista drivers), and the analog portion works in MCE (but no digital, QAM, clearQAM, etc).

    After reading up, I found that supposedly, Windows 7 MCE would support QAM straight away, however this is simply not the case.

    I performed an upgrade install to Windows 7... got the ATI card to work (finally)...

    Then after uninstalling/unplugging the 801e and plugging it back in, Windows 7 did find it again, and did install some sort of driver automatically from Windows Update. However in MCE, it does nothing. Even starting from scratch in MCE Setup, it goes through the motions but finds no tuners...

    Ultimately the whole reason I decided to experiment with Windows 7 was to tune in to (and record) QAM and clearQAM HD channels over cable... now I can't even get MCE to do analog. It doesn't detect ANY tuner, even though the driver is installed via Windows Update.

    Has anyone else run into this problem, or better yet, solved it?... thanks in advance
    Last edited by homerpez; 09 Feb 2009 at 07:50. Reason: details
      My Computer


  2. Posts : 195
    Windows 7 Ultimate x64
       #2

    As I've mentioned in other posts, what worked best for me was to perform a clean fresh install on a bare drive. I used the advanced setting to delete the previous partitions and start from scratch. I did have some trouble with my QAM tuners, but the HDHomeRun beta driver set fixed that. I can now view and record QAM with no trouble. QAM can be tricky. The first trick is to get MC7 to recognize the QAM tuner. That I could do, however, I guess you can't. So, again I suggest starting from scratch - not an upgrade.

    Bye.
      My Computer


  3. Posts : 10
    Vista 32 / Windows 7 Beta
    Thread Starter
       #3

    While I know it's technically accurate... telling me I need to buy more expensive hardware AND I need to wipe out everything I have on there that DOES work... isn't exactly the solution I was hoping for here... but thanks.

    I may definitely be SOL, but I have seen other Pinnacle users telling how they can at least get mixed results with Win 7 MCE, without even installing any drivers themselves. Even with me, on the upgrade, Win 7 DOES install drivers for the 801e SE stick... it's just that they don't seem to function properly.

    I even uninstalled it, chose "delete drivers for this device", unplugged it, plugged it back in, and let it install whatever latest drivers it had on the Windows Update server...

    I guess also, to be more specific: MCE doesn't exactly say "no tuner found"... it allows me to click "TV Signal", then it says "MCE cannot determine what kind of signal you have"... odd. I am definitely going to send MS a message on the issue.

    So, I guess short of waiting for Microsoft and Pinnacle to update either Win 7 Beta or the drivers for it... is there any work-around?
      My Computer


  4. Posts : 195
    Windows 7 Ultimate x64
       #4

    From my reading of Win7 quirks and foibles, and in spite of how well it can work, it's still beta. This means it can be quite fragile when it comes to adding any devices and especially third-party drivers. I have read more than once that upgrading Vista Ultimate to Win7 Ultimate is just not the same as a fresh installation, and that's Microsoft saying that.

    The warning that you should not put Win7 on a production machine is very real. I have put Win7 on a netbook, a notebook and my wife's HTPC, All three of these are candidates for blowing away at any time, and have been more than once. I had to blow away the HTPC twice to get it stable. I have my 750GB USB portable HD for pulling off what is worth saving, and bye-bye partitions. My HTPC, my desktop, my wife's desktop, the kids notebooks and the server are staying Vista, XP and Server 2003, as they were. There is too much invested in them to blow away.

    So I do not make the suggestion lightly, but from a position of experience with this stuff. I suggest you perform a fresh clean installation of Win7 knowing it may not solve the problem, but at least has a chance.

    Bye.
      My Computer


  5. Posts : 10
    Vista 32 / Windows 7 Beta
    Thread Starter
       #5

    Yeah, such is the nature of these things I suppose. It is only on my "play" machine, which I use only to watch movies and (occasionally) play old arcade games on TV... my work machine is still Vista 32.

    With some hacking, I was able to bring back the analog tuner in MCE, which was nice... but I'd still like QAM (and especially HD signals on QAM) to work.

    Reading some more into it, I think I may have jumped the gun (along with hundreds of other people) in the hype that "WINDOWS 7 WILL SUPPORT QAM!" Only to find that it doesn't for a lot of people. There's a 7022 build out that may, and supposedly you can upgrade to it from 7000. Supposedly, digital tuners was one thing fixed vs. 7000. I may play around with that and see what I get, anything short of having to nuke the entire contents of the machine...

    Thanks for the help so far
      My Computer


  6. Posts : 1
    Windows 7
       #6

    Win 7 and 801E do not play together


    Tried a clean install of Win 7 RC1 and the 801E, Can not get it working!

    Bout ready to reformat and re-install OpenSuse and XP
      My Computer


  7. Posts : 2
    Win 7 RC1
       #7

    Pinnacle PCTV QAM Solution


    Like previous posters I tinkered with Win 7 RC1 until it finally loaded some drivers and found my Pinnacle PCTV 800i card. MCR then proceeded to find ONLY the analog channels, again like others.

    Then i decided to try installing the current Pinnacle driver package AFTEr i changed the compatability setting so it would run the setup file as Windows Xp SP3. VOILA! It installed the entire package, scanned and found ALL the QAM channels I receive from Cox Cable and the display quality is just as good as I have under Win Xp and i haven't even installed the latest Nvidia drivers for Windows 7. I'm running an E8400 OC'd to 4.05Ghz on Gigabyte EP45-UD3P with 2GB of OCZ 1066 RAM and in general, the RC1 and all my apps seem to be running about 20% faster under Win 7 vs. Xp so I might actually forgive Microsoft for their Vista faux pas.
      My Computer


  8. Posts : 1
    WIN7 and XP
       #8

    This worked for my PCTV USB 880e


    I had a difficult time getting Windows Media Center letting me use the ClearQAM from my PCTV HD Ultimate Stick (880e) under Windows 7.

    I manually installed the drivers from PCTV Systems.
    PCTV Systems > Support > Downloads > Windows 7 BETA driver

    Hope this helps.
      My Computer


  9. Posts : 2
    win 7
       #9

    dazednconfused said:
    I had a difficult time getting Windows Media Center letting me use the ClearQAM from my PCTV HD Ultimate Stick (880e) under Windows 7.

    I manually installed the drivers from PCTV Systems.
    PCTV Systems > Support > Downloads > Windows 7 BETA driver

    Hope this helps.
    How did you install those drivers, please

    thanx
      My Computer


  10. Posts : 144
    Windows 7 Rc Build 7264 x86, Ubuntu
       #10

    Download the appropriate driver for your Pinnacle Stick / Card here

    http://www.pctvsystems.com/Support/D...S/Default.aspx

    Unzip, note location

    Open Device Manager ( Start -> type Device Manager hit enter

    Navigate to Sound, Video, and Game Controllers

    Right Click on your tuner select Update Driver Software

    Select Browse My Computer for Software

    Select Browse

    Navigate to the folder where you unzipped the driver files and select the .inf file

    Follow onscreen prompts

    Restart W7

    Run tv signal setup in Media Center and you will have your Qam

    Hope this helps

    Scott
      My Computer


 
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