TV Recorder loses card

[Infidelus]

I've seen this a couple of times over the last month or so, and I'm scratching my head as to why.

I've got two dual tuners in the HTPC.

Card 1 - Kworld Dual DVB-T PC160-2T
Card 2 - KWorld UB499-2T USB Dual DVB-T HD Stick

After installing Argus, all 4 tuners are detected fine and work. Then after a day or so, one of the tuners suddenly fails to detect, and doesn't come back even after a reboot.

tuner.PNG (20.02 KiB) Viewed 12529 times

After a few more days, the second tuner on this card will also stop functioning. If I do a complete uninstall/reinstall of Argus, both cards work again briefly.

If it was a driver problem, I'd expect both tuners (#3 & #4) to fail together. Windows isn't reporting any errors with the card, and I can't see any driver failures in Event Viewer.

devicemanager.PNG (10.62 KiB) Viewed 12529 times

The only thing I can see in event viewer is

Code: Select all

Log Name:      System
Source:        Service Control Manager
Date:          07/04/2013 20:20:00
Event ID:      7011
Task Category: None
Level:         Error
Keywords:      Classic
User:          N/A
Computer:      HTPC
Description:
A timeout (30000 milliseconds) was reached while waiting for a transaction response from the ArgusTVRecorder service.
Event Xml:
<Event xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/win/2004/08/events/event">
  <System>
    <Provider Name="Service Control Manager" Guid="{555908d1-a6d7-4695-8e1e-26931d2012f4}" EventSourceName="Service Control Manager" />
    <EventID Qualifiers="49152">7011</EventID>
    <Version>0</Version>
    <Level>2</Level>
    <Task>0</Task>
    <Opcode>0</Opcode>
    <Keywords>0x8080000000000000</Keywords>
    <TimeCreated SystemTime="2013-04-07T19:20:00.364404300Z" />
    <EventRecordID>1685</EventRecordID>
    <Correlation />
    <Execution ProcessID="552" ThreadID="4084" />
    <Channel>System</Channel>
    <Computer>HTPC</Computer>
    <Security />
  </System>
  <EventData>
    <Data Name="param1">30000</Data>
    <Data Name="param2">ArgusTVRecorder</Data>
  </EventData>
</Event>

I've also been using TV Server recently while the EPG bug was being resolved, and all 4 tuners were working during this time. The problem only seems to manifest when I run the Argus recorder.

[tompa]

Hi!

Are those USB-devices? Does it only happens at reboot?
If so try just do reconnect them (in the same USB-connector) while PC is running.

/tompa

[Infidelus]

It is USB, but as it's a single USB device (dual tuner) and one of the tuners is working, I can't see that reconnecting it is going to help much

Surely it either works ... or it doesn't. As mentioned, it's fine if I use TV Server, it just keeps going wrong if I use the Argus recorder.

PS, it's the first thing I tried when I first noticed it happening a month ago. I also tried different USB ports, and reinstalled the PC multiple times.

[tompa]

Ok

Then its not the same problem. But maybe something with USB!?
USB can act strange anyhow

/tompa

[Sjakko]

It's not entirely clear to me at what point the detection from ARGUS is lost. If it's after a resume from sleep or boot then maybe the "Delay init after a resume" setting can help. It can be found via ARGUS TV Recorder Console > Settings > Advanced.

[PD]

And does the tuners stay missing after a restart of the Argus tuner service, i know you tried rebooting, but this des not seem to make sense, even if the device location id had changed.

[andrewNZ]

When the tuners disappear, are they still listed as present and working in device manager?

It's possible that both sticks are plugged into the same controller and that is causing the issue.
Some USB tuners can draw a lot of power and are often very picky about their power supply too. Having two on the same controller may exceed 2 Amps.
You could try using a powered USB hub if you have one.

[Infidelus]

It's not entirely clear to me at what point the detection from ARGUS is lost. If it's after a resume from sleep or boot then maybe the "Delay init after a resume" setting can help. It can be found via ARGUS TV Recorder Console > Settings > Advanced.

It doesn't happen immediately, but when it does occur, it is after a reboot or when resuming from sleep - but not on the first resume from sleep. It seems to work fine for a day, and then it'll suddenly lose one of the tuners.

And does the tuners stay missing after a restart of the Argus tuner service, i know you tried rebooting, but this des not seem to make sense, even if the device location id had changed.

Yes, as soon as it goes missing, it stays missing unless I completely uninstall/reinstall Argus.

When the tuners disappear, are they still listed as present and working in device manager?

It's possible that both sticks are plugged into the same controller and that is causing the issue.
Some USB tuners can draw a lot of power and are often very picky about their power supply too. Having two on the same controller may exceed 2 Amps.
You could try using a powered USB hub if you have one.

It's only one USB stick - it just happens to be a dual tuner

As shown in the picture in the original post, one of the IT9135 tuner's is working, and the other *suddenly* stops getting detected after resuming from standby/restart.

Again, if I use TV Server, that particular problem goes away.

I do have a powered hub loafing around somewhere, so I'll see if I can find it just to rule that out anyway. [edit] Make that past tense. Just looked through all my draws with all my spare computer bits and can't find it. Guess I must have thrown it out at some point

[Infidelus]

I've managed to find my powered hub after turfing out all my draws of computer components on the floor (really must have a clearout somewhen! ).

I've plugged it in to the HTPC and initial signs are promising. The 4th tuner is back again. I'll keep an eye on it for a few days to make sure it doesn't vanish again.

[logifuse]

A bit left field, but in WMC you often see an issue known as phantom tuners with USB dual tuners. Essentially, on resume, one or more of the tuners can suddenly creates a new identity in the registry.

Could be related.