Windows Media Center “No Signal” when recording

[gonzo90017]

I’m having a really weird issue. Whenever I try to record something from my local channel 54.1 here in Los Angeles. I get an error message that there is no TV Signal. The weird part is that if I go to the TV Guide and then click on the channel I can view it just fine. No audio or video problems whatsoever!

If I go to Settings and check the TV Signal it shows 6 bars for the signal strength every time. This issue just started happening 2 weeks ago.

[swoon]

What kind of tuner do you have?

[Mike Garcen]

are you sure the tuner you’re using is the same one that records? how many/what kind of tuner?

[gonzo90017]

I’m using 2 Avermedia A188 Duet White box version cards for a total of 4 tuners.

This is the only channel I have problems with. All the other channels record fine and I frequently record 3-4 programs at once.

When checking in the “History” section of Recorded TV. I can see that Media Center tries to record on the Tuner #1 when that fails it moves on to Tuner #2 then 3 and finally 4.

[swoon]

Do you have the latest driver from Avermedia?

Does the problem happen every single time or are there times it does record on that channel?

Would your PC happen to be resuming from sleep when the problem occurs?

What does WMC say about the signal under TV setup for that channel?

[Mike Garcen]

how’s the signal strength on that channel compared to others? (you can go to Settings > TV > Check signal strength) i think

[gonzo90017]

I’m using the latest drivers from Avermedia. The recording issue happens every single time I try to record from that channel. It doesn’t matter if the tv has been awake for a while or it just resumed from sleep. Signal strength is a rock solid 6 green bars. It never fluctuates.

[phoneguyinpgh]

This may not be on track, but might they be turning on a no-copy flag on their HD broadcast??

[gonzo90017]

I have no idea. But it specifically complains about No TV Signal.
[IMG]http://i54.tinypic.com/2j4eop3.jpg[/IMG]

As you can see in the screenshots it tries to record on each and every tuner.
[IMG]http://i52.tinypic.com/2qcmqh1.jpg[/IMG]

When it doesn’t find a signal on all tuners it goes ahead and cancels the recording.
[IMG]http://i53.tinypic.com/dfc40g.jpg[/IMG]

But if I check the signal strength it has 6 green bars. (54.1)
[IMG]http://i52.tinypic.com/hvyxc3.jpg[/IMG]

[Mike Garcen]

man that’s bizarre. Sorry for not having a definitive answer, but that’s weird.

Something you could try–disable one of the tuners in Device Manager, then go back to MCE, reconfigure the TV Signal, then test. If it happens again, try with the other tuner. Ideally you’d be able to physically remove one of the tuners from the system to do this test, but if not disabling in DM should be good start.

But man this is funky. I doubt copy protection has anything to do with this.

[larsm]

Hello,

I have the exact same problem. On some of my channels I cannot record anything. WMC tells me that there is no signal when the programme was planned to be recorded.

It happens for scheduled recordings and also for manual recordings of the same few channels. But it only occuers on these few channels. They are digital channels from the Danich public service TV.

When I enter the Program Guide on WMC and find one of these channels, I can hit ok on my remote control, and then the channel will show without any problems.

When I then hit the record button on my remote control, WMC will show me the menu for manual recording, where it normally would just go ahead and start recording. When I then select ok to record, WMC gives me the same message, that there is no signal availble to record.

Some other digital channles from the same TV provider can be recorded without problems.

My WMC only has one tuner (Hauppauge, combined digital and analog).

I’m still trying to figure this out…

—

Fro Danish viewers:

The channels I cannot record are these: DR K, DR HD, DR Update and DR Ramasjang

I can record these ones: DR1, DR2, DR Synstolking

And I have tried a random selection of other channels (analogue and digital), too, without problems

[larsm]

SOLUTION FOUND

Wow, I found the solution over here: http://experts.windows.com/frms/windows_entertainment_and_connected_home/f/114/p/79859/396111.aspx#396111

The problem was that there were two sources configured for these channels. Then apparantly WMC switches the the invalid one of these, when it tries to record.

The solution was this:

Open the Programme Guide

Right click the problem channel (you need a mouse, not the remote control)

Choose Edit Channel … then Sources

Here you will see two sources enabled.

Disable one of them.

You may need to experiment to find out which one.

Another solution might be to delete all channels and scan again. But in my case this requires some manual work in order to rename the analog channels afterwards.

 

 

[Jonelli]

Larsm, THANK YOU!  this was really freaking me out.  It seemed to have just started a couple weeks ago and it was driving me crazy.  Where could that second source have come from?

 

[captain_video]

Glad you were able to fix the problem.  I would have suggested uninstalling the tuners, reinstall them from scratch and rerun WMC setup.  Chances are that would have cleared out the phantom source.

[captain_video]

Sorry – duplicate post.

[Author]

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