Suggestions what I'm doing wrong

[Confused Stu]

I've got my system running EXACTLY how I want it to using Vista Media Centre, until I change channel a couple of times and then it all comes crashing down! I've made every change I can think of and am now at a brick wall and hoping someone can suggest something.

PROBLEM:
After a few channel changes between non-FTA channels, the screen just shows "Service is scrambled. The current service is encrypted and can not be viewed at this time". From then on, every non-FTA shows the same until I pull out and re-insert the CAM, reboot or restart the FireDTVCommonInterface service. Once I've done this I'll get another half dozen or so changes before the same thing happens.
This has happened through every change I've tried - 32 and 64 bit OS, with and without TV pack, latest stable FloppyDTV driver for without TV pack, and latest beta drivers with TV pack.

Can anyone think of anything I haven't tried, or can anyone see any crucial difference between their working system and my unreliable one?


SETUP:

• Vista Home Premium - tested both 32bit and 64bit, both with and without TV pack (the only difference was non-TV pack message says "no signal" rather than "scrambled")
• Giga-byte MA-GA78GM-S2H motherboard with latest BIOS and drivers
• AMD Athlon X2 4850e (2.5GHz)
• 2 x WD 500Gb HDD (one split into system and file partitions, and one just for recorded TV)
• 4 Gb RAM (obviously not all utilised in 32bit mode)
• FloppyDTV C/CI (tried connecting to motherboard header and rear port - obviously not at the same time!)
• Blue Zeta CAM flashed with 0.79 Joker by hisat
• Blue label ICECRYPT CAM, flashed to 0.79 Joker by me with a CAS3+
• 2 x Funcard 4's both programmed with Funcard AU fix (flash) and external eeprom produced by Toxic 7 (CAM ID 2CB0*****, IRD 5B******, default Joker boxkey D2F27*********** and keys left blank)
• Antec Fusion chassis, PSU and VFD running iMon software

Sorry to be asking for help yet again, but I've tried everything I can think of short of replacing the motherboard. I've submitted a support ticket to Digital Everywhere and they ended up blaming the CAM - OK, but can BOTH be faulty? Any suggestions for ways forward gratefully received.

Thanks guys.

[Cafe.Rcaer]

I've read it before, I've seen a few posts around and about on this.

Did you do a clean install (i.e. of Vista and the TV Pack) or did you install the TV PAck over your existing Vista install?

P.S. What firmware do you have on the FDTV?

P.P.S How did you connect to the motherboard header, out of interest?

[Confused Stu]

Every TV Pack install has been over a clean install of Vista SP1 and it's the first thing I've installed after the motherboard drivers.

Firmware's 2.4.0 build 51440, which is the latest the website lists.

The floppydtv has connections for both a firewire header-type connection as well as the normal larger one. To connect a floppydtv to the motherboard header, unplug the firewire from the PC and have a look where the firewire cable connects to the floppydtv. Gently remove that connector and then move it to the motherboard header. Now plug the other end of the cable into the slot on the floppydtv where it connects and you're done! The unused header-type connection on the floppydtv now becomes the firewire repeater. It's on page 2 of the installation manual:
h**p://www.digital-everywhere.com/en/alcms/file/documents/floppydtv_assembly_guide.pdf

Thanks for the replay CafeRcaer. Just noticed D-E released new beta drivers on the 19th, so just going to give them a try!

[TwinTown]

Originally Posted by Confused Stu

Every TV Pack install has been over a clean install of Vista SP1 and it's the first thing I've installed after the motherboard drivers.

Firmware's 2.4.0 build 51440, which is the latest the website lists.

The floppydtv has connections for both a firewire header-type connection as well as the normal larger one. To connect a floppydtv to the motherboard header, unplug the firewire from the PC and have a look where the firewire cable connects to the floppydtv. Gently remove that connector and then move it to the motherboard header. Now plug the other end of the cable into the slot on the floppydtv where it connects and you're done! The unused header-type connection on the floppydtv now becomes the firewire repeater. It's on page 2 of the installation manual:
h**p://www.digital-everywhere.com/en/alcms/file/documents/floppydtv_assembly_guide.pdf

Thanks for the replay CafeRcaer. Just noticed D-E released new beta drivers on the 19th, so just going to give them a try!

i've virtually got identical set up to u except i don't use the beta drivers, was using the mce drivers from the original cd, had no issues at all now added tv pack and updated drivers (not beta) did get a slight issue of the xxx channels taking a little while to clear but haven't had a chance to check them since, maybe later tonight lol all other channels seem ok....try your original drivers from the cd....

ps same mb - floppydtv connected to mb IEEE 1394a header....


cheers

[Cafe.Rcaer]

Didn't you have the "Service is Scrambled.." message though TT? Before you rebuilt?

[TwinTown]

Originally Posted by Cafe.Rcaer

Didn't you have the "Service is Scrambled.." message though TT? Before you rebuilt?

i had that b4 i updated mce drivers, i never did a clean install but last night the epg wouldn't update and only had 1 days epg - message kept coming up to download as less than 3 days epg but it wouldn't update for some reason......may try RT XMLTV and bladerunner.....as it was running really slow yesterday as it kept trying to d/l epg

cheers

[Confused Stu]

Sorry to drag up my own old thread, but I'm now down to one problem with my HTPC setup, but it's a biggee!

I've now narrowed down my problem to a few specific channels - ITV4, Dave, Bravo, Movies Premier +1, Sports 1, 2, and a few others. EVERY time I change to one of these channels, my system reports that this channel is scrambled. After that, every other non-FTA channel will report that it's scrambled too. To fix it, I need to reboot the PC, restart the FireDTV service or pull the CAM out and reinsert it. It then works perfectly until I hit one of these channels again. It's always the same channels that cause the system to fall over. The channels are spread over several frequencies, with working channels on the same frequency as the non-working ones as far as I can see.

The same problem is detailed here, with even the same channels causing the issue: h**p://www.digitalworldz.co.uk/162352-anyone-had-problem.html and although the OP says he's fixed it, he doesn't say what the fix is. I've checked his other posts (and the others who posted with the same issue) but none have ever revealed the fix and none are still active on the forum. I've tried raising a new thread about it on digitalworldz, and even PMing the OP a week ago, but no response.

Does anyone have any idea what I could try to fix this? In the thread on DW, the OP seems to hint that it's the Joker CAM that's being deliberately targetted. Does anyone know of any other kind of CAM that will work that I could get and try?

I've tried changing everything I can think of - stable/beta DE drivers, 32/64 bit OS, with/without TV pack, Blue Zeta/Icecrpyt, VMC/Fireplayer, single/dual FloppyDTVs, different transponder lists - same problem on the same channels every time without fail. I'm now so familiar with Vista installs I can do one in my sleep!

Open to any suggestions for other things I can try guys? I'll take anything no matter how weird or whacky.

[Cafe.Rcaer]

First thing - disable those channels so they don't crash the Tuner/VMC. I do occasionally get "The service is scrambled" when something's crashed, the receiver service, I think, so it might just be a symptom of something else. My bet would be that you have no signal or low signal, or something.

I doubt you'll get Elyl on DW - nobody visits anymore since they closed the forums. I do seem to remember that what he thought he'd done to fix it, didn't actually fix it. I wouldn't be surprised if he'll magically find this thread and post an answer