WinTV card, no video

[frank5]

My winTV PCI hauppage 878 card recently gives me a black screen. Audio is ok.

System includes K7S5A MB,Radeon 9600 video, WinXP SP2 OS, 2400+ CPU, 512 PNY 2100 RAM, Maxtar 40gig HD, Linksys B wireless PCI NIC, ETC.

I recently did a repair install, since things were running quite slow despite spyware, virus scanning etc. Now, system is purring, However no video on the tv card using the updated Wintv 2000 application and updated wintv and graphics card drivers.
The tv video is fine using the Dscaler software. This program does not need to use Wintv drivers in order to work properly.
Why doesn't the tv video work with the standard drivers, and application software anymore?

[Crashman]

Try completely uninstalling the card drivers and application, then reinstalling those.

[frank5]

I did. I also used the HCW clear utility to clear all old drivers and apps., and reinstalled all drivers and apps. etc. Everything reinstalls, smoothly, still no video.

[frank5]

Wintv didn't like sharing an IRQ with my NIC. After checking off OS is not plug and play aware and giving priority to a different IRQ to my Wintv in BIOS, the stardard drivers are now recognized, and the tv app. works fine.
I found the problem in system information under forced hardware for anyone who experiences a similar problem.

[Peter M]

I can't believe Hauppauge have STILL not fixed that (totally pathetic) driver bug - IRQ sharing capability has been mandatory for PCI devices ever since PCI was conceived ... and that was 13 years ago.

[Crashman]

Hey Peter: IRQ sharing between two or more busmastering devices has always been a problem. IRQ sharing between a busmastering device (such as a NIC or SCSI card) and non-busmastering device (such as a USB controller) usually isn't a problem. The BIGGEST difference I've seen between problematic and non-problematic combinations has been in how the MOTHERBOARD assigns onboard devices and slots.

[Peter M]

Crashman, sorry, you're as wrong as can be there. What we're actually facing when confronted with an "IRQ sharing conflict" is driver bugs. There is no such thing as a PCI card that /requires/ an unshared IRQ. This "requirement" isn't even allowed in PCI - so if you built a PCI card, you better get your drivers sorted so they're PCI compliant as well. Hauppauge hasn't gotten to that ever since their TV cards went from ISA to PCI - and that is flat out pathetic.

Isn't it strange that Hauppauge's cards miraculously start working on shared IRQs when you use an open-source driver?

IRQ passthrough from driver to driver takes less than two microseconds in Windows XP, btw. This is so utterly irrelevant with TV cards, which fire an interrupt 50 or 60 times per second. Even with higher IRQ traffic, there still isn't the slightest hint of a problem if everyone gets their drivers correct. I've seen as many as 20 busmastering NICs on a single IRQ - in Windows.

Shared IRQs are not a problem. Please don't assist makers of **** software in keeping that myth alive. Help kicking them so they finally fix their software - or don't buy their stuff.

[Peter M]

btw, USB controllers ARE bus mastering devices. QED.

[Crashman]

Ah well, I'm still dealing with older parts, older BIOS, older drivers, and older operating systems when I do "rebuilds", so some of my comments will seem outdated.

[Peter M]

Actually, shared interrupts have been a non-problem on an OS level ever since operating systems became PCI-aware (Windows 95).

Ever since, it's all been driver bugs - regardless of what the BIOS prepared and how the OS presented it. (I happen to have been a BIOS writer since those days, so I know quite well what's going on down there right on the hardware )

As it happens, the one category of devices with a consistent track record of such driver bugs is TV and sound cards - and strangely enough, it's always the high profile name brands - Creative, Pinnacle, Hauppauge et al.

[AllGamer]

yeap, Creative cards are know to be very "propietary" as wanting the IRQ for itself all the time.

working with new hardware + software drivers are no problem

it's working with older hardware + older software drivers that you will always see the problem

and there is no way to avoid it, since they will no longer release any drivers updates for those older products., so you have to fall back to the good old days of assigning specific IRQ for each hardware to prevent conflicts.

Even if you don't like how that sounds, most people have to live with the hardware/drivers they got, and make it work one way or another.

no point dumping the hardware just to buy a new hardware for an old computer only to get drivers that works with IRQ sharing as it was supposed to 10+ years ago

[frank5]

Peter is right. I tried reinstalling several dated and outdated Wintv drivers without success. It wasn't until I gave that card its own IRQ that I got it to work with its proprietary drivers. I could probably have switched PCI slots and get the same result , but all is working fine so I will leave well enough alone.

Thankyou for your help and an enlightening discussion, Frank