# Alternative software for TV tuner?



## Shane

Typo in post discription....should say *A*lternative software for TV tuner....anyway

Hi all,

i have a *Avermedia Volar x A815 TV tuner *USB stick which is HDTV ready,the software which Avermedia Supplied right in the box said it was Vista ready but it didnt work it just crashed so i contacted Avermedia support and they gave me the link to their latest drivers for X64 bit version.
the thing is....the software works i can watch tv on it but when i press record within the software i get a Blue sceren of death and windows restarts!

and since ive contacted their support again they dont want to know 

does anyone know any other Alternative software that will allow me to watch and record with my USB tv tuner?

i tried Media centre in Vista but that doesnt even pick my TV tuner up! im so annoyed.

any help appreciated.

thanks


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## mep916

Nevakonaza said:


> Typo in post discription....should say *A*lternative software for TV tuner



Fixed. 

Sounds like crappy drivers. If you've downloaded the latest and still having this problem, you may want to look into another tuner. Anything made by Hauppauge is pretty good. When I installed Vista on my Sony Vaio, I ran into the same problems with the proprietary Sony TV tuner. It was driver related and Sony never released a fix for it.


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## Shane

thanks for fixing the typo Mep,

well i realy didnt want to look into another Tuner,surely theres some other software out therei could use?


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## mep916

Nevakonaza said:


> well i realy didnt want to look into another Tuner,surely theres some other software out therei could use?



You can try Myth TV. I've never tried it myself.

http://www.mythtv.org/modules.php?name=Downloads&d_op=viewdownload&cid=1

If it's a driver issue, you may run into the same issues regardless of the software you use, it's worth a shot though.


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## Shane

myth TV is a OS though isnt it? based on linux?

i would be willing to dual boot it with Vista...all i want to do is watch tv lol its so frustrating.


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## mep916

Nevakonaza said:


> myth TV is a OS though isnt it? based on linux?



Yes it is. Sorry. I believe there is a Linux based media center app you can use with Windows. I've heard tlarkin and Ukulele Ninja talk about it. It's suppose to be pretty good. Let me try and find it. 

EDIT: Try this. It looks sexy and it's free.


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## Shane

thanks for that Mep,i downloaded and installed but i cant see any function on there to watch TV,its just a media centre kind of programme that gives you options to watch clips,play music,weather etc from your system.

no mention of TV 

i appreciate your help though, ATM i hate Windows! why cant things just work for once


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## mep916

http://www.videolan.org/vlc/

That's the VLC media player tlarkin and others have talked about. I'm not sure if it allows you to watch TV though.


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## Shane

thanks il try VLC,i also found anotehr programme called SageTV.

now i installed and it set it all up for me,the channels started playing and all seemed fine but then boom BSOD and VISTA restarted 

i just cant believe this damn pos machine ,seriusly its gonna go out the window


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## mep916

Dude, it's the drivers for your tuner. They're crap. I'll bet it's the Vista drivers and it would work fine in XP.


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## Shane

Okay il try Xp and report back.


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## Shane

Hey Mep all sorted,i contacted their support again.



> Hello Mr./Ms. Shane,
> 
> Thank you for choosing AVerMedia.
> 
> This is very strange. First of all, could you please kindly let us know if your systems were able to detect the device the first time you plugged the device in? That is, before installing the driver and application for the device. By the way, are both of your vista system 64bit and 4GB of memory? Could you please kindly help double check if the device will work by limiting the memory of you system? That is, go to start search and type "msconfig". In the system configuration window, go to boot and advance. Then, click check on maximum memory. In here, please kindly try to lower your memory to less than 4GB to see if it is of any help. Please refer to the attached file. Or, you may just kindly remove one of your memory stick from your system. If all these don't work, please kindly try the following steps:
> 
> 1. Remove the TV card driver and AVerTV that you have installed by running "programs and features". Then, please go to http://support.microsoft.com/?scid=kb;en-us;290301 to download the Windows Installer CleanUp Utility “Msicuu2.exe". Run the CleanUp Utility before reinstalling the driver and AVerTV, just in case the removal was unsuccessful. Run "Windows Update" to install any fixes. Also, update your video and sound card drivers, if available. Reboot the system.
> 
> 2. Please go to http://www.avermedia.com/avertv/Support/Download.aspx?Type=APDriver&tab=APDriver&id=39 to download the latest driver and AVerTV program (AP version 6.0.18). Install the download again and the system will automatically install both the driver and the AVerTV program.
> 
> If the problem persists, please try to install the device on another computer. Otherwise, please kindly provide us the following additional information:
> 
> - Send us the dxdiag.txt file generated by the dirctX diagnostic tool. Please refer to the attached file.
> - Go to "programs and features" in the control panel and take a screenshot of all the applications being installed in your system.
> - After installation, please kindly go to "sound, video and game controllers" to check if the driver has been properly installed or not
> - Go to control panel and take screenshot of all the settings in "regional and language options"
> 
> Please don't hesitate to let us know if you have any further questions.



i ran that *Windows Installer CleanUp Utility * that he mentioned on there and re-installed all the software and it works fine now,no crashes or blu screens!

thanks for your help though guys i appreciate it


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## mep916

Nevakonaza said:


> Hey Mep all sorted,i contacted their support again.
> 
> 
> 
> i ran that *Windows Installer CleanUp Utility * that he mentioned on there and re-installed all the software and it works fine now,no crashes or blu screens!
> 
> thanks for your help though guys i appreciate it



Awesome.


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## mep916

Sorry for suggesting that you buy a new TV tuner. That was really bad advice.


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## Shane

mep916 said:


> Sorry for suggesting that you buy a new TV tuner. That was really bad advice.



no no,its fine,i didnt want to buy a new one obviusly because i already have one but what good would it be to me if it didnt work eh? 

i appreciate your help Mep you always give great advice


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