Air2pc-atsc Installation Issues

[jbodin]

I recently picked up a TechniSat Air2PC-ATSC card on ebay (lots of them available there now, it seems) -- my goal was to get this card working with the (beta) BDA drivers so that I could integrate it into my GBPVR HTPC system. The card installed easily, Win2K recognized it as a network adapter, and I was able to tune in all my local ATSC broadcasts with the TechniSat DVB version of DVBViewer -- I could NOT get the BDA drivers to install correctly, though, so I scrapped my idea of integrating it with GBPVR and decided to give the Pro version of DVBViewer a try. I went ahead and purchased the Pro version, and then had SIGNIFICANT headaches getting it to work.

 

I'm posting this now to hopefully provide some assistance to other Air2PC users who might run into similar problems -- DVBViewer Pro is a VERY nice bit of software, and it's well worth the price once you do get it working.

 

Once I did get it to work, it works like a charm, and I believe I will be using this to replace GBVPR as my HTPC solution. Once the installation worked, everything was a breeze, but since I had tried both the release version (4.4.0) of the TechniSat DVB software and the available beta version (4.4.1), along with several iterations of the beta BDA drivers (including a Microsoft-certified release version provided by TechniSat tech support), my installation was somewhat messy once I got around to trying to install the DVBViewer Pro version (despite the fact that I was fairly diligent about uninstalling and cleaning up my system after my various attempts).

 

When I initially tried to install DVBViewer Pro, I did have a version of TechniSat DVB working on my system, and the Setup4PC utility would scan and detect channels just fine, so I thought I was good to go -- and since the TechniSat DVB software was working fine, I never bothered to try testing my card using the Transedit Tool. THIS became a significant issue later.

 

The DVBViewer Pro installation went fine, but when I ran the Wizard and tried scanning for channels, it found NOTHING. I completed the install as-is and then tried manually doing a scan from within DVBViewer Pro, but the scan still would not detect any channels. I tried uninstalling and re-installing, I tried doing a reboot and then reinstalling, I tried everything I could think of with no luck. I read through the FAQ and the manual, and I searched through messages here, but I couldn't find anything that might help. I did run across several old posts from other Air2PC users who had experienced similar problems, but no solutions were offered.

 

I stumbled upon a reference to the Transedit Tool while searching and decided to try checking my system using that -- to my surprise, despite the fact that the TechniSat DVB software worked fine, along with the Setup4PC utility, the Transedit Took was unable to perform a scan (it gave me an error message about the device being in-use, despite the fact that I had shut down the TechniSat DVB software and the Setup4PC utility). Multiple reboots didn't help, so I was pretty much stuck.

 

I was ready to post here in hopes of getting some feedback, but I decided to try a general clean-up first, so I uninstalled DVBViewer Pro, then I uninstalled the TechniSat DVB software, and finally I uninstalled the Air2PC drivers and the card itself from the Windows Device Manager (but I didn't go so far as to physically uninstall the PCI card).

 

Then, I shut down and restarted in Safe Mode and made sure that the card actually WAS uninstalled, and I re-checked the Add/Remove Programs to make sure all the software was properly uninstalled. While still in Safe Mode I then located all instances of Skydll.dll and deleted those, then emptied the Recycle Bin for good measure.

 

After restarting Windows, Win2K found the Air2PC card on boot-up and tried to install the drivers -- at this point I made sure that it used the 4.4.0 version provided by TechniSat ( http://www.technisat.com/?site=service/dow...;produktID=1352 ). The Beta version might work for others, and it might have worked for me, but I wanted to go with the most conservative approach to try to do a "clean" install. I downloaded the "1316.zip" file from the TechniSat site and unzipped the contents of the zip file to a scrap folder on my PC -- this created a set of folders called "TS440a" that contained the drivers for the card (the "SkyNET.inf" file) along with the Technsat DVB installation files. After installing the drivers for the Air2PC card, I confirmed that Win2K grabbed the 4.4.0 drivers by checking the Device Manager, then I ran the "start.exe" file for the TechniSat DVB software itself from the main "TS440a" folder. The "start.exe" file installed all the TechniSat software (Setup4PC, Server4PC, etc.), along with the TechniSat DVB version of DVBViewer. After installation the installer will ask you if you want to reboot -- I said NO, and I believe this was an important step.

 

After completing the install WITHOUT rebooting my system, I then tried running the Setup4PC utility and was able to successfully tune in all of my local ATSC channels. No big change from before, but then I tried using the Transedit Tool utility from the DVBViewer site ( http://www.DVBViewer.com/en/index.php?page=downloads ). To my surprise (and delight), Transedit Tool was also able to tune in all of my local ATSC channels.

 

Then, without rebooting, I proceeded to run the "setup.exe" installer for DVBViewer Pro (version 3.6.1.20). The installation was fine, same as before, but this time when the Wizard got to the channel scan section, it found all of my local ATSC channels! The rest of the installation went fine, and after installation DVBViewer Pro worked just fine, right out of the box. I switched all my demultiplexers over from "default" to "NVidia" and things got even better -- I went from 80-90% CPU utilization while viewing ATSC broadcasts on my Sempron 2800+ system down to 35-40% CPU utilization while viewing broadcasts, which is EXACTLY why I wanted to switch from the TechniSat DVB version (high CPU utilization, to the point of being almost unusable/unviewable).

 

At this point, I then rebooted my system and after a restart, DVBViewer Pro is STILL working just fine.

 

I think for me the key was deleting the previous versions of Skydll.dll, forcing the installation to use the 4.4.0 version, and then making sure that I could successfully execute a channel scan using the Transedit Tool was the key to a successful instalation -- simply having the TechniSat DVB software was working NOT sufficient to ensure a proper install of DVBViewer Pro. The DVBViewer Pro manual does indicate that the TechniSat drivers should be installed, and the Troubleshooting section does reference the use of the Setup4PC utility to verify signal strength and such, but there is no specific mention that you should check your tuner card functionality with the Transedit Tool before attempting to install DVBViewer Pro.

 

Based on what I read in the manual and in the troubleshooting section, I assumed that the DVBViewer Pro install should go fine since the TechniSat DVB software and the Setup4PC utility were able to successfully tune channels with my Air2PC-ATSC card, but if you're trying to get an Air2PC-ATSC card to work you would be wise to verify its functionality using the Transedit Tool BEFORE you try to install DVBViewer Pro. If the Transedit Tool is unable to scan for channels (or if it gives you an error message), then you will probably NOT be able to get DVBViewer Pro to work, even if you ARE able to view ATSC broadcasts using the TechniSat DVB software. And if you do have problems using the Transedit Tool utility, you most likely have driver issues with the Air2PC card installation, in which case you probably need to uninstall EVERYTHING pertaining to TechniSat and the Air2PC card itself, then try a "clean" re-install as described herein using the "stable" 4.4.0 drivers from TechniSat.

 

At any rate, I am now a VERY satisfied DVBViewer Pro customer, and I hope that my experience may be helpful to others having similar problems with their installation. Many thanks to Bernd Hackbart for providing us with such a wonderfully useful piece of software!

 

Edited March 19, 2007 by jbodin

[jerryt]

I recently picked up a TechniSat Air2PC-ATSC card on ebay (lots of them available there now, it seems) -- my goal was to get this card working with the (beta) BDA drivers so that I could integrate it into my GBPVR HTPC system. The card installed easily, Win2K recognized it as a network adapter, and I was able to tune in all my local ATSC broadcasts with the TechniSat DVB version of DVBViewer -- I could NOT get the BDA drivers to install correctly, though, so I scrapped my idea of integrating it with GBPVR and decided to give the Pro version of DVBViewer a try. I went ahead and purchased the Pro version, and then had SIGNIFICANT headaches getting it to work.

 

I'm posting this now to hopefully provide some assistance to other Air2PC users who might run into similar problems -- DVBViewer Pro is a VERY nice bit of software, and it's well worth the price once you do get it working.

 

Once I did get it to work, it works like a charm, and I believe I will be using this to replace GBVPR as my HTPC solution. Once the installation worked, everything was a breeze, but since I had tried both the release version (4.4.0) of the TechniSat DVB software and the available beta version (4.4.1), along with several iterations of the beta BDA drivers (including a Microsoft-certified release version provided by TechniSat tech support), my installation was somewhat messy once I got around to trying to install the DVBViewer Pro version (despite the fact that I was fairly diligent about uninstalling and cleaning up my system after my various attempts).

 

When I initially tried to install DVBViewer Pro, I did have a version of TechniSat DVB working on my system, and the Setup4PC utility would scan and detect channels just fine, so I thought I was good to go -- and since the TechniSat DVB software was working fine, I never bothered to try testing my card using the Transedit Tool. THIS became a significant issue later.

 

The DVBViewer Pro installation went fine, but when I ran the Wizard and tried scanning for channels, it found NOTHING. I completed the install as-is and then tried manually doing a scan from within DVBViewer Pro, but the scan still would not detect any channels. I tried uninstalling and re-installing, I tried doing a reboot and then reinstalling, I tried everything I could think of with no luck. I read through the FAQ and the manual, and I searched through messages here, but I couldn't find anything that might help. I did run across several old posts from other Air2PC users who had experienced similar problems, but no solutions were offered.

 

I stumbled upon a reference to the Transedit Tool while searching and decided to try checking my system using that -- to my surprise, despite the fact that the TechniSat DVB software worked fine, along with the Setup4PC utility, the Transedit Took was unable to perform a scan (it gave me an error message about the device being in-use, despite the fact that I had shut down the TechniSat DVB software and the Setup4PC utility). Multiple reboots didn't help, so I was pretty much stuck.

 

I was ready to post here in hopes of getting some feedback, but I decided to try a general clean-up first, so I uninstalled DVBViewer Pro, then I uninstalled the TechniSat DVB software, and finally I uninstalled the Air2PC drivers and the card itself from the Windows Device Manager (but I didn't go so far as to physically uninstall the PCI card).

 

Then, I shut down and restarted in Safe Mode and made sure that the card actually WAS uninstalled, and I re-checked the Add/Remove Programs to make sure all the software was properly uninstalled. While still in Safe Mode I then located all instances of Skydll.dll and deleted those, then emptied the Recycle Bin for good measure.

 

After restarting Windows, Win2K found the Air2PC card on boot-up and tried to install the drivers -- at this point I made sure that it used the 4.4.0 version provided by TechniSat ( http://www.technisat.com/?site=service/dow...;produktID=1352 ). The Beta version might work for others, and it might have worked for me, but I wanted to go with the most conservative approach to try to do a "clean" install. I downloaded the "1316.zip" file from the TechniSat site and unzipped the contents of the zip file to a scrap folder on my PC -- this created a set of folders called "TS440a" that contained the drivers for the card (the "SkyNET.inf" file) along with the Technsat DVB installation files. After installing the drivers for the Air2PC card, I confirmed that Win2K grabbed the 4.4.0 drivers by checking the Device Manager, then I ran the "start.exe" file for the TechniSat DVB software itself from the main "TS440a" folder. The "start.exe" file installed all the TechniSat software (Setup4PC, Server4PC, etc.), along with the TechniSat DVB version of DVBViewer. After installation the installer will ask you if you want to reboot -- I said NO, and I believe this was an important step.

 

After completing the install WITHOUT rebooting my system, I then tried running the Setup4PC utility and was able to successfully tune in all of my local ATSC channels. No big change from before, but then I tried using the Transedit Tool utility from the DVBViewer site ( http://www.DVBViewer.com/en/index.php?page=downloads ). To my surprise (and delight), Transedit Tool was also able to tune in all of my local ATSC channels.

 

Then, without rebooting, I proceeded to run the "setup.exe" installer for DVBViewer Pro (version 3.6.1.20). The installation was fine, same as before, but this time when the Wizard got to the channel scan section, it found all of my local ATSC channels! The rest of the installation went fine, and after installation DVBViewer Pro worked just fine, right out of the box. I switched all my demultiplexers over from "default" to "NVidia" and things got even better -- I went from 80-90% CPU utilization while viewing ATSC broadcasts on my Sempron 2800+ system down to 35-40% CPU utilization while viewing broadcasts, which is EXACTLY why I wanted to switch from the TechniSat DVB version (high CPU utilization, to the point of being almost unusable/unviewable).

 

At this point, I then rebooted my system and after a restart, DVBViewer Pro is STILL working just fine.

 

I think for me the key was deleting the previous versions of Skydll.dll, forcing the installation to use the 4.4.0 version, and then making sure that I could successfully execute a channel scan using the Transedit Tool was the key to a successful instalation -- simply having the TechniSat DVB software was working NOT sufficient to ensure a proper install of DVBViewer Pro. The DVBViewer Pro manual does indicate that the TechniSat drivers should be installed, and the Troubleshooting section does reference the use of the Setup4PC utility to verify signal strength and such, but there is no specific mention that you should check your tuner card functionality with the Transedit Tool before attempting to install DVBViewer Pro.

 

Based on what I read in the manual and in the troubleshooting section, I assumed that the DVBViewer Pro install should go fine since the TechniSat DVB software and the Setup4PC utility were able to successfully tune channels with my Air2PC-ATSC card, but if you're trying to get an Air2PC-ATSC card to work you would be wise to verify its functionality using the Transedit Tool BEFORE you try to install DVBViewer Pro. If the Transedit Tool is unable to scan for channels (or if it gives you an error message), then you will probably NOT be able to get DVBViewer Pro to work, even if you ARE able to view ATSC broadcasts using the TechniSat DVB software. And if you do have problems using the Transedit Tool utility, you most likely have driver issues with the Air2PC card installation, in which case you probably need to uninstall EVERYTHING pertaining to TechniSat and the Air2PC card itself, then try a "clean" re-install as described herein using the "stable" 4.4.0 drivers from TechniSat.

 

At any rate, I am now a VERY satisfied DVBViewer Pro customer, and I hope that my experience may be helpful to others having similar problems with their installation. Many thanks to Bernd Hackbart for providing us with such a wonderfully useful piece of software!

 

 

Thanks for taking the time to write such a great detailed report.