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DIRECTV2PC v5514 - Issues & Discussion

34K views 253 replies 83 participants last post by  Doug Brott 
#1 ·
Important Note:

Please, DO NOT CALL CUSTOMER SUPPORT about this beta version.
Your cooperation in this matter is greatly appreciated.

The Contents of this Download: (Differences based on last National Release)

Download v5514
Download DIRECTV2PC Playback Advisor

New features
  • Dual Monitor Support (Extension mode)
  • Always on Top
  • Codec download
  • Windows 7 Support

Improved/Updated
  • Activation
  • DVR Friendly Names
  • Trickplay
  • Parental controls

Notes
  • Please use your existing DIRECTV2PC key .. If you do not have one, please complete the Beta Download process @ http://www.directv.com/directv2pc
  • New Codecs may be download & installed as part of the setup/activation process after installation.
 
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#154 ·
I'm not sure if this is a DIRECTV2PC issue or a problem with my home network. I'm watching from a computer with a wired connection. I have three HR20s. While trying to watch a show from two different receivers, I'd get about 10 minutes or so in before I get an error about not being able to connect to the Network. After the initial verification of DIRECTV2PC, does the software keep calling home? Or is this a problem with my home network? Within the past two weeks, I've had a problem with my home router dropping HTTP packets, but checking email or Xbox Live connections are unaffected. A router/home network issue, or software issue?
 
#155 ·
Hi there everybody. I'm using DirecTV2PC 5514 from this thread on a Vista system. It's actually a Mac Pro running Vista with Boot Camp. The digital output from the Mac is plugged into a Yamaha receiver. The problem is I can't get 5.1 audio out of the DirecTV2PC app. I have the latest drivers, the sound control panel is set up properly, all the tests play Dolby Digital and DTS just fine. I've played video files with DTS and AC3 audio in other apps and they work great. It's just DTV2PC that refuses to play ball. Any ideas how I can convince it to transmit Dolby Digital to the receiver?
 
#156 ·
heddhunter said:
Hi there everybody. I'm using DirecTV2PC 5514 from this thread on a Vista system. It's actually a Mac Pro running Vista with Boot Camp. The digital output from the Mac is plugged into a Yamaha receiver. The problem is I can't get 5.1 audio out of the DirecTV2PC app. I have the latest drivers, the sound control panel is set up properly, all the tests play Dolby Digital and DTS just fine. I've played video files with DTS and AC3 audio in other apps and they work great. It's just DTV2PC that refuses to play ball. Any ideas how I can convince it to transmit Dolby Digital to the receiver?
Since this app is not really for use on a HTPC, it's only two channel sound. The file name when first released was: DIRECTV_Standard2ch.Vxxx
 
#157 ·
Hello. I've been having problems running DirecTV2PC on my computer. It seems to work sometimes and not work others. Right now, I'm in the "not working" stage and have been for several days despite several attempts to resolve the issue. If I launch DirecTV2PC, it consistently finds 0 receivers (even through I have 2 HR2x receivers on my network). Curiously, in my troubleshooting, I noticed that the software will "find" one or both of my HR's if I disable ZoneAlarm. But it still will not play any programs in the List. It gives me an error message stating "Unable to play content" or something like that. But the Playlist comes up and is correct (updated with newly recorded programs) each time I launch the software and it successfully brings up a playlist.

I find the whole ZoneAlarm thing weird since I know that DirecTV2PC is cleared by ZoneAlarm to access the internet and is cleared to act as a server. And furthermore, I have not been able to find any posts about people saying that DirecTV2PC will not work with ZoneAlarm. But even disabling it will not allow me to play programs from the playlist.

Any ideas? Thank you.

Brian
 
#158 ·
breevesdc said:
I find the whole ZoneAlarm thing weird since I know that DirecTV2PC is cleared by ZoneAlarm to access the internet and is cleared to act as a server. And furthermore, I have not been able to find any posts about people saying that DirecTV2PC will not work with ZoneAlarm. But even disabling it will not allow me to play programs from the playlist.

Any ideas? Thank you.

Brian
Firewalls have caused some problems with others [Norton, etc.], so I'd guess you're in the right place.
DirecTV2PC is a client not a server. I'd also "guess" that there is a port not being opened for the streaming to start [when you can see the server/HR].
I'd turn off all firewalls [Windows too] and see what you can find.
 
#159 ·
Thanks for your reply.

I turned off ZoneAlarm and then tried DirecTV2PC and all I could get was the playlist to come up. It would not play anything. I'll try totally diabling ZA and then rebooting my machine (so that it never launches) and see if that works. If so, then we can isolate ZA as the culprit. I'm surprised that no one else seems to have had issues with D*2PC and Zone Alarm if that is the issue. I thought ZA was fairly prevalent out there one Windows PCs.

Brian
 
#161 ·
veryoldschool said:
It looks that way to me. There was a version that gave me this problem [even with analog] for MEG-4 "planet earth", but if I switched over to the older MPEG-2 recording [of the same show] it played fine.
This version has fixed the analog playback of MPEG-4.

"I see" two problems:
My Dell 2007 WFP has HDCP support, but not sure about yours. Check the Dell site and see if they mention it [at all]. If so then this shouldn't be a problem.
The nVidia [while a good card] falls "just short" of what you need for using the DVI to monitor connection. You'd need a 7900 or higher.

So, I'd try the VGA [analog] connection first and see if you can play back HD [like I can].
Then "if" you Dell supports HDCP, I'd [as I did] look for one of the ATI 3xxx chip video cards. They're ~$50-100. Newegg has been good for me.
What makes a great "gaming card" isn't really needed for this app.

Here's what the Advisor "more info" shows:
That works(going analog). At least in this version; I can play all content again.

Also, from the research I did on the internet the Dell monitor I have does NOT support HDCP, so I would need to upgrade my graphics card and monitor. Probably won't my old eyes cant tell the difference between the VGA and DVI connections.
 
#163 ·
Add me to the list of people that this release breaks all playback for. Anything I try to play just gives me the dreaded 'protected content cannot be played back at this time' message. There also seems to be something odd about this release, in that, after upgrading, even uninstalling and reverting to the older release hasn't restored playback functionality. Anyone else experienced something similar? It would really be nice if D2PC had some sort of log where you could see why the protection was failing. Playback appears to fluctuate between working and not every version or two for me, despite the fact that the rest of my hardware/software setup and network remain unchanged.

It seems rather silly to create software that could potentially be an excellent addition to their repertoire and a great selling point, then render it essentially useless for many people by putting up draconian content protection standards that apparently can't even be met by legitimate software and hardware. As someone said earlier in the thread, we're clearly already paying for DTV service, and if we really wanted to capture something, we could just go out and buy a SlingBox. I'm sure their hand is being forced by the content owners, but I'm not sure if this product will ever be useful to the average DTV customer if the protection scheme isn't revised to be slightly more forgiving.
 
#164 ·
Alamei said:
Add me to the list of people that this release breaks all playback for. Anything I try to play just gives me the dreaded 'protected content cannot be played back at this time' message. There also seems to be something odd about this release, in that, after upgrading, even uninstalling and reverting to the older release hasn't restored playback functionality. Anyone else experienced something similar? It would really be nice if D2PC had some sort of log where you could see why the protection was failing. Playback appears to fluctuate between working and not every version or two for me, despite the fact that the rest of my hardware/software setup and network remain unchanged.

It seems rather silly to create software that could potentially be an excellent addition to their repertoire and a great selling point, then render it essentially useless for many people by putting up draconian content protection standards that apparently can't even be met by legitimate software and hardware. As someone said earlier in the thread, we're clearly already paying for DTV service, and if we really wanted to capture something, we could just go out and buy a SlingBox. I'm sure their hand is being forced by the content owners, but I'm not sure if this product will ever be useful to the average DTV customer if the protection scheme isn't revised to be slightly more forgiving.
Posting your advisor log might help, both to see why and to try to help.
 
#165 ·
veryoldschool said:
Posting your advisor log might help, both to see why and to try to help.
Sure thing:
Code:
CPU : Intel(R) Core(TM)2 CPU 6600 @ 2.40GHz - [COLOR="Green"]Yes[/COLOR] 	 
GPU (Hardware acceleration) : NVIDIA GeForce 8800 GTS - [COLOR="Green"]Yes[/COLOR]
System Memory : 2048 MB - [COLOR="Green"]Yes[/COLOR] 	 
Operating System : Windows XP Service Pack 3 - [COLOR="Green"]Yes[/COLOR] 	 
Graphics Card : NVIDIA GeForce 8800 GTS - [COLOR="Green"]Yes[/COLOR] 	 
Screen Capture Protection : Yes - [COLOR="Green"]Yes[/COLOR] 	 
Graphics card video memory : 640 MB	 	 
Graphics Card Driver : 6.14.11.9038 - [COLOR="Green"]Yes[/COLOR] 	 
Video Connection Type : Digital(with HDCP) - [COLOR="Green"]Yes[/COLOR] 	 
Network Adapter : ETHERNET: NVIDIA nForce Networking Controller - Packet Scheduler Miniport - [COLOR="Green"]Yes[/COLOR] 
Network Adapter : ETHERNET: Windows Mobile-based Device #8 - [COLOR="Green"]Yes[/COLOR] 
	 
Program version : 1.0.0.1525	 	 
System language : 0409 ENU English English	 	 
Time : Mon Aug 10 21:28:26 2009 	 	 
Computer : Desktop	 	 
System Name : FIREFLY
All systems go, captain! There's more the 2GB of memory in the system, but that detection issue is mentioned earlier in the thread, and is likely irrelevant. I also only have one monitor attached (22" Samsung), so I never had the multiple-monitor issues some folks were running into.

EDIT: Well, found the answer: Of all the things to be causing the disruption, it was my Windows Mobile smartphone. Whenever you dock the phone to a system, Windows tries to treat it as a new network adapter. Apparently the new version of D2PC does not like the extra network adapter (or perhaps the type of adapter that the phone creates), despite the fact that the Advisor seems perfectly happy with it. This is entirely reproducible, as well. Dock the phone: no playback. Take it out: 100% playback. To anyone else experiencing the protected content issue: Try disabling/removing everything but your primary network connection and see if it helps. If this was already a known issue, I apologize for bringing it up again, but can anyone from the DTV team comment on why the extra network adapter would cause D2PC to freak out?
 
#166 ·
Alamei said:
Well, found the answer: Of all the things to be causing the disruption, it was my Windows Mobile smartphone. Whenever you dock the phone to a system, Windows tries to treat it as a new network adapter. Apparently the new version of D2PC does not like whatever manner of adapter gets created for the phone, despite the fact that the Advisor seems perfectly happy with it. This is entirely reproducible, as well. Dock the phone: No playback. Take it out: 100% playback. Anyone else experiencing protected content issue: Try disabling/removing everything but your primary network connection and see if it helps. If this was already a known issue, I apologize for bringing it up again.
Thanks for posting this.
I have never heard of this before [but will remember it now], so hopefully this will help others.
:)
 
#167 ·
veryoldschool said:
Thanks for posting this.
I have never heard of this before [but will remember it now], so hopefully this will help others.
:)
I would definitely like to hear from other members having the protected content issue on whether they have multiple network adapters (Windows Mobile-related or otherwise). Can anyone else here reproduce this issue to confirm that it's not some odd amalgamation of settings on my system that's causing the glitch with a WM smartphone attached?
 
#168 ·
Anybody trying this with the built-in ATI HD 3200 integrated chipset? I've updated my system to the latest ATI Catalyst driver and I get a Playback Advisor failure in the "Graphics Card Driver". Clicking on the more info tells me I need to install the latest AMD/ATI Catalyst software (which I have done)

Relevant portion of log below:

GPU (Hardware acceleration) : ATI Radeon HD 3200 Graphics Yes
System Memory : 2048 MB Yes
Operating System : Windows XP Service Pack 3 Yes
Graphics Card : ATI Radeon HD 3200 Graphics Yes
__dwItemID=1301__ : Adapter Compatibility: ATI Technologies Inc.
__dwItemID=1302__ : VideoProcessor: ATI Radeon HD 3200 Graphics (0x9610)
Screen Capture Protection : Yes Yes
__dwItemID=1304__ : ATI PCOM=Yes
__dwItemID=1304__ : ATI SORT=No
__dwItemID=1305__ : GPUDetectPass Yes
Graphics card video memory : 700 MB
Graphics Card Driver : 8.632.0.0 No More Info
__dwItemID=1501__ : 2D Driver=6.14.10.6973
__dwItemID=1502__ : COPP=Yes
__dwItemID=1504__ : DEVICE=N/A
Video Connection Type : Analog Yes
 
#169 ·
Alamei said:
If this was already a known issue, I apologize for bringing it up again, but can anyone from the DTV team comment on why the extra network adapter would cause D2PC to freak out?
My guess is that it's seen as attempt to circumvent the requirement that viewing is within the DIRECTV customers home network, for example, like how VPN tunneling into DIRECTV2PC is blocked... Just a WAG.
 
#170 ·
Drew2k said:
My guess is that it's seen as attempt to circumvent the requirement that viewing is within the DIRECTV customers home network, for example, like how VPN tunneling into DIRECTV2PC is blocked... Just a WAG.
Good thought, Drew, but wouldn't that only affect VPN systems like Hamachi that create a pseudo-adapter? Cisco and CheckPoint, for instance, don't add any network adapters to the system, they just modify the existing connections (a practice which can cause all manner of issues, but I digress). I don't have any VPNs configured on the computer that has D2PC installed, however, so I am unable to test your theory. Anyone else here able to chime in on this one?
 
#171 ·
Greetings,

I have the latest version of the beta (5514 I believe) and yet get questionable performance, especially on HD content. The computer I'm running this on has very high specs:

i7 Extreme (8 cores)
12 GB
RAID-10 with 4 15k SAS drives, dedicated RAID controller
Dual Gb NICs
Full Cisco infrastructure, all CAT-6 cabling fully certified
Twin NVidia GTX 280 Cards
Dell 30" Monitor
Windows 7 64-bit

I can't see where I should be having problems, but I am. Standard Definition content plays *mostly* error free, enough so to be watchable and non-distracting. HD content is, however, completely unwatchable. It stutters, hops around, and generally feels like I'm trying to watch a HD Movie preview on a 56k modem.

Thoughts?
 
#172 ·
SomeClown said:
Greetings,

I have the latest version of the beta (5514 I believe) and yet get questionable performance, especially on HD content. The computer I'm running this on has very high specs:

i7 Extreme (8 cores)
12 GB
RAID-10 with 4 15k SAS drives, dedicated RAID controller
Dual Gb NICs
Full Cisco infrastructure, all CAT-6 cabling fully certified
Twin NVidia GTX 280 Cards
Dell 30" Monitor
Windows 7 64-bit

I can't see where I should be having problems, but I am. Standard Definition content plays *mostly* error free, enough so to be watchable and non-distracting. HD content is, however, completely unwatchable. It stutters, hops around, and generally feels like I'm trying to watch a HD Movie preview on a 56k modem.

Thoughts?
You got hardware that's for sure.
What you're describing sounds like you're on a poor powerline/wireless network.
I couldn't begin to work you through your network, other than to try a very simple connection and see if things change.
I've got a five year old P4, Vista 32, and a wired network, which had this playing fine for all types of recordings.
 
#173 ·
veryoldschool said:
You got hardware that's for sure.
What you're describing sounds like you're on a poor powerline/wireless network.
I couldn't begin to work you through your network, other than to try a very simple connection and see if things change.
I've got a five year old P4, Vista 32, and a wired network, which had this playing fine for all types of recordings.
Yeah, I'm thinking I may need to start moving through the QoS settings on the infrastructure... it really does seem network related. Sometimes with a lot of gear you can tune yourself right into a big hole of badness. :)
 
#175 ·
Classic problem... sometimes the easiest to overlook: the port had reset and mismatched with the Directv device. So, the Directv was set to whatever... 100Mb/Full Duplex and the port had reset to auto and negotiated to 10/Half. Always causes latency, always. Anyhow, the upshot is the system seems to be working flawlessly... now I can move on to *****ing about features... :)

Cool stuff though, maybe it'll keep me from buying a Slingbox for a while.
 
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