Can't install drivers for Wintv Tuner card

Hi all,

I run an XP windows media center 2005 edition PC (HP Pavilion/m7071.uk)which comes with the standard 3.0 Ghz single core P4 CPU. The system is about 5/6 years old I guess. Puffer motherboard, Single Core P4 processor, 4x512mb RAM etc. Some of this is probably irrelevant but I'll mention it anyway.

I recently updated my bios with the recommended HP driver and also installed a new 3.8 Ghz P4 CPU.

Worked fine for a few days then PC would not boot. Wouldn't even get to post. Black screen with fans whirring and monitor light on standby.

Spent a couple of days trying to trace the problem and narrowed it down to two bad 512mb memory modules. Removed the bad memory and PC has been booting fine; except any performance gains obtained by my CPU upgrade has been nullified by the fact that I'm now running on half my original RAM. Ok, but that can be fixed.

Only other problem is when the PC finally started booting successfully with the bad RAM removed, I got a "new hardware device found" message which predictably the wizard could not find a driver for. Looked in device manager and noticed a yellow exclamation against Multimedia Video Controller. This refers to the WinTV PCI Tuner card that comes with MCE systems.

So I downloaded the updated driver from HP but the driver installation program would not complete successfully, stopping short with an unhelpful "Error Number: 9" message. This is the same driver I'd always used for my tv card without any problems. Tried various other drivers none of which are compatible with my card.

Now it seems more than a coincidence that my RAM and Tuner card stopped functioning at the same time as the booting issue! So I guess my question is this, Could the Bios Upgraded have anything to do with any of this? Also, with regard to the TV Tuner card, shouldn't the driver program install itself whether the card is faulty/installed or not? The blasted drivers simply refuse to install!

If money were no object, I'd simply buy a couple of new sticks of RAM and a new tuner card and see what happens. But I'm doubtful that it's the PCI card itself that's at fault.

I guess the worse case scenario is that my motherboard is dying?

Any advice on what I should do first? Thanks in advance.

~James

P.S. There are no other conflicts or yellow marks in my Device manager. I've tried changing the TV card to a new PCI slot with no success.

I guess that I have to wonder...why did you not use the old drivers which previously worked...rather than using updated drivers for the capture capability.

The motherboard didn't change, the O/S didn't change...why change the driver version?

Louis

Two reasons. 1) The manufacturer recommends the upgrade to resolve certain existing issues. 2) The Manufacturer recommends the upgrade to support my CPU upgrade.

I'm not one of these people who tinkers around with a working computer just for the hell of it.

I guess that I have to wonder...why did you not use the old drivers which previously worked...rather than using updated drivers for the capture capability.

The motherboard didn't change, the O/S didn't change...why change the driver version?

Louis

CPU uggrades have nothing to do with drivers...IME. It's the motherboard and O/S which drivers need compatibility with.

You have a link for the drivers in question which you are attempting to use?

Louis

I'm afraid you're mistaken in this case. The Bios update was intended to fix the following:

• Resolves boot issue when HP Photosmart 8250 printer is connected.
• Resolves intermittent issue with resuming from suspend mode.
• Updates processor microcode to support newer Intel CPUs.

http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/softwareDownloadIndex?softwareitem=pv-40497-1&lc=en&dlc=en&cc=uk&os=228&product=482528&sw_lang=&key=null&site=null

Pay attention to #3. The board in question (ptgd1-la) with the original bios driver was not designed to handle P4 CPU's faster than 3.6GHz. Pentium hadn't built the 3.8Ghz yet! The Bios upgrade fixed that and I got the full 3.8 speed out of my new processor and the puter ran fine for a couple of weeks afterwards.

I personally don't think the bios or CPU upgrade had anything to do with my current problems because nobody else has reported any problems with it.

CPU uggrades have nothing to do with drivers...IME. It's the motherboard and O/S which drivers need compatibility with.

You have a link for the drivers in question which you are attempting to use?

Louis

FWIW: A BIOS update...is not a driver upgrade or update.

I asked about the drivers for the video card, not the BIOS update.

Louis

FWIW: A BIOS update...is not a driver upgrade or update.

I asked about the drivers for the video card, not the BIOS update.

Louis

Ok, I must've misunderstood.

The driver for the Hauppauge WinTV PVR PCI II Series TV Tuner Driver is
sp26598.exe

http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/softwareDownloadIndex?softwareitem=pv-28636-4&lc=en&dlc=en&cc=us&os=228&product=482528&sw_lang=

All the physical components as well as the OS on the system are standard Media Center 2005 edition as shipped. including the WinTV card. (except for the P4 CPU upgrade)

Thanks for taking the time to try and resolve this. I'm Happy to supply any other details.

No problem . I have a Hauppauge card, so I understand your vexation .

Try the drivers at http://www.hauppauge.com/Pages/support/support_pvrpci.html .

You need to also consider the possibility that the card is dying/dead.

Louis

No problem . I have a Hauppauge card, so I understand your vexation .

Try the drivers at http://www.hauppauge.com/Pages/support/support_pvrpci.html .

You need to also consider the possibility that the card is dying/dead.

Louis

Thanks for that Louis. Tried all the drivers there. Nothing doing, sadly.

The only lingering doubt I have about the card being dead is that the HP driver update should have installed regardless of whether the card was dead, faulty or not installed. Or at least for the program to tell me that my hardware is not compatible with the driver being installed. But all it does is end abruptly with an error number. Made me wonder if it's an OS/software or registry issue that's preventing the drivers from installing correctly. Any thoughts on that?

Never used to behave like this before. And I've previously installed and reinstalled the OS and drivers on this system countless times without any problems. Bleeping Computers!

Simple test for any removeable hardware item...try it in another desktop. If it installs properly in another system, it's a system problem. If not, two votes for failing/failed hardware. It's a PCI card so it's easily removed/moved to another system.

I have no clue as to what that error message may mean...is it a Windows message...a Hauppauge message...can you post the entire contents, including anything that appears in the top panel of the error message?

Louis

It's a Hauppauge message. "The update did not complete successfully" and underneath "Error number: 9". I even uninstalled MS Roll Up 2 update for media center and tried reinstalling. Nothing doing.

Don't have another machine handy to test it on or that's the first thing I would have done. Right now I'm waiting on Kingston memory to deliver on their "lifetime warranty" so at least I can get the system back up to speed. I can live without the tuner card for the moment. Just strange how everything happened at once, boot issue, two dead RAM modules, dead card. I dunno!

It should not be an "update" of any sort, if you previously uninstalled the current drivers for that card.

Trying to "update" damaged drivers...is often a waste of time, since the damaged drivers interfere with the attempt.

Uninstall the drivers for the capture card...then reboot and attempt to install the downloaded drivers.

You may want to try Remove Unused Drivers and Devices - http://www.windowsnetworking.com/kbase/WindowsTips/WindowsXP/UserTips/TroubleShooting/RemoveUnusedDriversandDevices.html . Then try to install the drivers.

Louis

I find no record of such error message as you quote at the Hauppauge website. Their errors seem to all be narrative.

my 2 cents ,if it were mine i would try ,uninstall it from device manager/add and remove programs i its there ,shut down,remove the card ,leave it out ,reboot to windows, open regedit/backup my registry ,then search for Hauppauge ,and remove any instance of it ,then use the f3 key to continue the search ,deleting each time untill it stops finding stuff.shutdown and reinstall the car ,installing the driver you downloaded.

register edits tips.
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/256986

I would also do that, caperjac...but i didn't want to suggest it because chasing down Hauppauge registry entries may not be the easiest thing to do for the OP.

"Advanced users" is not as large a group as it might seem when it comes to manually deleting registry entries...especially when there mutiple entries.

Should the OP decide to go that route...I sincerely encourage backing up the registry first, using a tool such as ERUNT Registry Backup Tool - http://www.snapfiles.com/get/erunt.html .

Louis

my 2 cents ,if it were mine i would try ,uninstall it from device manager/add and remove programs i its there ,shut down,remove the card ,leave it out ,reboot to windows, open regedit/backup my registry ,then search for Hauppauge ,and remove any instance of it ,then use the f3 key to continue the search ,deleting each time untill it stops finding stuff.shutdown and reinstall the car ,installing the driver you downloaded.

register edits tips.
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/256986

worth a try, with caution. thanks