Systems Guidelines

The MM100/200 PCTV card works using a technique which involves sending the data (corresponding to the moving TV image) directly into the VGA card's memory over the PCI bus.
This represents a large amount of data, and this volume of data can often result in problems with the TV card's operation.

The following guidelines can be used to avoid problems with operation of the TV card:-

* Only have one video source (Window) open at any one time.
* The smaller the picture, the less the demand on PCI bandwidth, so if problems are being experienced with mixed TV and PC   operation, try reducing the size of the TV window
* TV capture is very CPU and disc-intensive. So while capturing, you will not be able to carry out any other activities on the PC.
* The TV audio is normally wired to connect as CD audio on a sound card, so you can have TV or CD Audio, but can't watch TV while listening to CD audio.

System lockups can be caused by a few things:

If your system locks up the next time you reboot your PC after the PC TV driver has been installed, you have an interrupt conflict between the TV Card and either the VGA card or the disk controller. Look in this section: Clearing interrupts by swapping PCI slots. Some system lockups are due to a VGA driver update being required.

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Lockup after Installation

Disable crash protectors before installing the PC TV driver. If your PC locks up during the Windows95 boot, you have an interrupt conflict. Try to put the PC TV in another PCI slot. Also, you might need to temporarily remove an ISA board such as your Sound Card

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VGA Driver Issues

The most common issues that arise when using PC TV tend to involve VGA card compatibility. Since the DirectDraw software technology is relatively new, not all VGA cards will support it equally well.

VGA chips which normally include Direct Draw drivers and normally DO NOT require updates includes: S3 Trio64V+ and ViRGE, ATI Rage, ET6000 and newer Cirrus Logic based VGA boards.

Problems with older VGA cards based on the S3 Trio64V+ chip. Some VGA boards based on the S3 Trio64 V+ chip use an older VGA BIOS, which can occasionally cause a PC to "lock-up", especially when working with large video windows. Should you encounter such a condition, you will need to use an update, which is found in the download section.

There are known good configurations which the TV card has been tested with, and known bad ones that have problems with the TV card (or have limitations on settings). A list of the tested configurations follows, and the 'problem' ones are listed below:-

Cirrus Logic 5464 (Laguna) VGA
Problems due to Cirrus Logic's drivers, Early versions had severely corrupted TV picture, but latest CL drivers are OK except in full-screen mode.

SiS5596
Non-compliant PCI implementation in SiS silicon, could be made to work by manipulating bits in PCI bridge each time application was run; (unsuitable for end-users)

SiS5598
Any VGA settings (resolution, colour depth, refresh rate) other than those defaults   may cause display quality problems in full screen TV mode.  Download latest Bios and Video drivers from www.sis.com.tw

Anything which doesn't support DirectX5    Generally VGA cards which are more than 2 years old may not be able to support DirectX5

AGP cards
AGP aperture size must be set to at least 64M

Daytona Trident
PC lock

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PCI Configuration Problems

The PC TV Tuner requires two system resources: one Interrupt and a memory segment. Most installation problems are related to Interrupt conflicts. While Windows95 Plug-and-Play is very convenient to use, it is not able to detect Interrupt conflicts in all PC's.

Checking the Plug-and-Play Configuration

After installing the PC TV Tuner, it is handy to check the Plug-and-Play configuration. Click on the Start button, then Settings then Control Panel. Then double click on the System icon and then the Device Manager tab. Double click on "Sound, video and game controllers" to see the "MMxxxPCTV" or Modular/Fusion.  If Plug-and-Play has found a conflict between it and other device in your system, you'll see a little yellow circle with an exclamation point or an "X" inside. But remember, Plug-and-Play will not always be able to find all interrupt conflicts.

Now double click on MMxxxPCTV" or Modular/Fusion. This brings up the Properties window. Then click on Resources. Take a look at the setting for the Interrupt. If there is no Interrupt listed, then Windows 95/98 was not able to find an clear Interrupt. If an Interrupt is listed, you should check to make sure this interrupt is not also being used by a non-Plug-and-Play device.

Clearing an Interrupt by swapping PCI slots

The first way you can try to get a free interrupt is by swapping PCI slots:

Put the PC TV in another free PCI slot and then reboot your PC. After rebooting, check in the Windows 95/98 Device Manager to see if there is an assigned Interrupt for the PC TV. Note: you will need to reinstall the PC TV driver if Windows 95/98 gives you the message New Multimedia Device has been found during the reboot. Have your PC TV Driver disk ready during the reboot..

Or:

Swap the PC TV with another PCI device. For example, if you have a VGA card in the first PCI slot and the PC TV in the second PCI slot, swap them (while the power is off, of course!) and then reboot Windows 95/98. This often clears up an interrupt conflict because Windows 95 will reassign the PCI interrupts. Once again, check the Windows 95/98 Device Manager for a non-conflicting interrupt for PC TV.

Clearing an Interrupt for use by PC TV by deleted an unused system device

If your PC is pretty well loaded with devices, you might find that there are no free interrupts available in your PC. In this case you'll need to find an unused device which has an interrupt reserved for it and free up its Interrupt.

We have found many sound cards use 3 interrupts, and that the MPU401 interrupt can be freed up for use by the PC TV. To free up the MPU401 interrupt you need to run the sound card setup program disable the MPU401.

We have found that many PC's reserve an interrupt for the PS/2 mouse or the USB port, even though these devices are not being used. Also we have found that in systems that use SCSI hard disk drives, the system might still reserve an interrupt for an IDE controller.

To free up an Interrupt by disabling a system device, you must:

1.Go into the BIOS and disable the Peripheral not being used (for example: the PS/2 style mouse). You can enter the BIOS by hitting the DEL key, F1 or the F2 key (depending upon which BIOS your PC has) while your PC is being rebooted. 2.After rebooting Windows 95, go into "Device Manager", highlight the device and then click on "Remove". 3.Reboot Windows95 again and check the Device Manager and make sure PC TV has been given the interrupt freed up by the deleted system device.

Checking the BIOS PCI interrupt settings

While most PCI-based systems configure interrupts automatically via a Plug-n-Play chip set on your motherboard and system BIOS, there are occasional problems.

Sometimes you need to tell the BIOS which interrupt to use for the PC TV. You can do this by going into the BIOS during the boot up (hit the DEL key or the F1 key during system reboot), and then finding the PCI configuration menu.

Once you are in the PCI Configuration menu, you can reserve an interrupt, which you know is being used by a another device in your PC. For example, if you know (by looking in the Windows 95/98 Device Manager) that IRQ 9 is being used by your LAN card, yet Windows 95/98 insists on assigning IRQ9 to the PC TV, you can often go into the BIOS and set IRQ 9 as being used by an ISA device. This reserves IRQ 9 and the next time you reboot your PC, Windows 95 should find a different (and non-conflicting) interrupt for the PC TV.

Also, in the PCI Configuration menu, you can manually assign an interrupt, which you know is not being used to the PCI slot used by the PC TV. For example, if you know IRQ 10 is not being used, you can sometimes assign this interrupt to the PCI slot that the PC TV card is in.

The following PCI interrupt specifications are needed by the PC TV. These are normally the way most PCs are set at the factory, but if you are experiencing problems, look in the PCI Configuration menu to check these settings:

The PCI slot must be configured to support bus-mastering. The PCI slot must be configured to support INTA (that is, PCI Interrupt Class A)  PCI INTA must be assigned to a free IRQ (interrupt) number or set to "Auto". Some PC's do not have all PCI slots as bus-master slots. This will require moving PC TV to another slot, which is a bus-master slot.

MM100/200 requires two system resources: one Interrupt (IRQ) and a memory segment. Most installation problems are related to Interrupt conflicts. While Windows 95 Plug-and-Play is very convenient to use, it is unable to detect interrupt conflicts issue in all PC.

You will need to download this program PCIView.exe. Following that launch the pciview.exe program. When you're in the program, press F1, and then F2. You'll need to change the value for the PCI configuration space Register 81. Key in "81". Change the PCI configuration space Reg. 81 for the SiS chipset from 00 to 01, save the register contents, and exit PCIview.exe. Run PCTV or Galaxy again. Your PC should no longer have the hang up problem.

Download PCIview.exe

You can try to get a free interrupt by swapping the MM100/200 hardware to a different PCI slot (remember to power down your PC before this process is carried out). After rebooting, check in the Windows95 Device Manager to see if there is an assigned non-conflicting interrupt for the MM100/200. me

Go through this steps to check for MM100/200 IRQ assignment on your PC:

Click on Start -> Settings -> Control Panel -> double click on System icon

click on Device Manager tab -> click on Properties button to reveal Computer Properties.

(Note: you will need to reinstall MM100/200 device driver if Windows 95/98 gives you a message PCI Multimedia Device has been found during Windows start-up.)

Or:

Swap MM100/200 hardware with another PCI device. For example, if you have a VGA card in the first PCI slot and MM100/200 in the second PCI slot, swap them (remember to power down your PC before this process is carried out) and boot-up your PC. This often clears up an interrupt conflict because Windows 95 will reassign the PCI interrupts. Once again, check the Windows95 Device Manager to ensure that there is a non-conflicting interrupt for MM100/200.

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If your PC is well loaded with hardware devices, you might find that there are no free interrupts available in your PC. In this case you'll need to find a less frequently used hardware device which has an interrupt reserved for it and free its interrupt.

We have found many sound cards use 3 interrupts (IRQ), for example the MPU401 interrupt can be freed up for use by PCTV. To free up the MPU401 interrupt you need to run the sound card setup program to disable the MPU401.

We have also found that a number of PC reserves an interrupt for the PS/2 mouse or the USB port even though these devices are not being used commonly. In addition, we found that in systems that use SCSI hard disk drives, the system might still reserve an interrupt for an IDE controller – in this case you can free up the interrupt for IDE controller.

To disable a system device so that you can free up an Interrupt, you must:

1. Go into your PC BIOS and disable the Peripheral that is not being used (for example: the PS/2 mouse). You can enter the BIOS by hitting the DEL key, F1 or the F2 key (depending upon which BIOS your PC has) while your PC is being rebooted. (If you’re not sure how to do, you’re advised to check with your PC dealer). After the change Save and exit from the BIOS to continue the normal Windows 95 boot-up.
2. At Windows 95, click on Start -> Settings -> Control Panel -> double click on System icon -> click on Device Manager tab -> highlight the device that you disable at the BIOS and click "Remove" to remove that particular device. Reboot.
3. After reboot, check the Device Manager in your System and make sure MM100/200 has been given the interrupt freed up by the deleted system device.

While most PCI-based PC configure interrupts automatically via a Plug-n-Play chip set on your motherboard and system BIOS, there are occasional problems.

Sometimes you need to tell the BIOS which interrupt to use for MM100/200. You can do this by hitting the DEL key, F1 or the F2 key (depending upon which BIOS your PC has) while your PC is being rebooted. (If you’re not sure how to do, you’re advised to check with your PC dealer). Once you’re in the BIOS, find the PCI configuration menu.

At the PCI Configuration menu, you can reserve an interrupt, which you know is being used by an another device in your PC. For example, if you know (by looking in the Windows95 System’s Device Manager) that IRQ 9 is being used by your LAN card, yet Windows95 insists on assigning IRQ9 to MM100/200, you can go into the BIOS and set IRQ 9 as being used by an ISA device. This reserve IRQ 9 and the next time you boot-up your PC, Windows 95 should find a different (and non-conflicting) interrupt for the MM100/200.

At the PCI Configuration menu, you can also manually assign an interrupt, which you know is not being used by another hardware device, and assigned it for use to the PCI slot used by MM100/200. For example, if you know IRQ 10 is not being used, you can assign this interrupt to the PCI slot that MM100/200 is in.

PCTV needs the following PCI interrupt specifications. These are normally the way most PCs are set at the factory, but if you are experiencing problems, look in the PCI Configuration menu to check these settings:

• The PCI slot must be configured to support bus-mastering
• The PCI slot must be configured to support INTA (that is, PCI Interrupt Class A)
• PCI INTA must be assigned to a free IRQ (interrupt) number or set to "Auto"

Some PC does not have all PCI slots as bus-master slots. This will require moving MM100/200 to another slot that is a bus-master slot.

System Lock-ups when using VGA cards based on the S3 Vision968 or 868

When using the PC TV with VGA boards based on the S3 Vision968 or S3 Vision868, which can be found in the #9 Motion 771 and the Diamond Stealth VRAM, some installations report random system lock-ups while using PC TV. Lock-up is quick, occurring within seconds of starting the application.

This problem is related to a Plug-and-Play memory overlap between the Vision968 and the PC TV. To fix this problem, you need to manually readjust the Memory Address of the PC TV.  

To change the address, click on the Start button, then Settings then Control Panel. Then double click on the System icon and then the Device Manager tab.

Double click on Sound, video and game controllers. Then double click on MM100 PCTV. This brings up the MM100 PCTV Properties window. Then click on Resources.

Now un-click the Use automatic settings.

Highlight Memory Range

and click on Change Setting:

The Memory Address range of the MM100 PCTV is a set of two 8 digit hexadecimal number, such as:

FFFA0000-FFFA0FFF

To eliminate the memory overlap, either increase the second digit by 4, or decrease it by 8 (remember to use hexadecimal arithmetic!). This changes the memory space between the Vision968 and the MM100 PCTV to 64Mbytes. For example:

original configuration increase by 4decrease by 880000000-80000FFF84000000-84000FFF78000000-78000FFFFFFA0000-FFFA0FFFcan't doF7FA0000-F7FA0FFF

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Screen errors with STB/Diamond Viper PCI

If you are using an STB TV PCI adapter, you may experience the following symptoms:

•If you move the STB TV window, your screen becomes distorted. •If you try to change the STB TV window to full-screen mode, you are unable expand the window larger than 640x480 pixels, and the remaining portion of the screen turns bright pink. If you restore the window to its original size, your screen becomes distorted.

CAUSE
This behaviour can occur if you are using a Riva 128-based video adapter with Windows 98 drivers.

RESOLUTION
To resolve this behaviour, obtain the latest Windows 98 drivers for your Riva 128-based video adapter from the manufacturer.
To work around this behaviour, use one of the following methods:
Refresh the Desktop
To refresh the desktop, follow these steps:
1.Click the Minimise button (the first button in the upper-right corner
of the STB TV window).

• Click a blank area of the desktop, and then press the F5 key to refresh the desktop.
• Click each desktop icon to refresh it.
• Right-click STB TV on the taskbar, and then click Restore.
Use the Microsoft Windows 95 Drivers for Your Video Adapter
To replace the Windows 98 drivers with the Windows 95 drivers included with your video adapter, follow these steps:

1.Click Start, point to Settings, and then click Control Panel.
2.Double-click Display, click the Settings tab, and then click Advanced.
3.On the Adapter tab, click Change, click Next, click "Display a list of all the drivers in a specific location, so you can select the driver you want," and then click Next.
4.Click Have Disk, click Browse, navigate to the folder containing the Windows 95 drivers, and then click OK.
NOTE: If your video adapter does not include Windows 95 drivers, obtain the drivers from the manufacturer.
5.Click Next, click Finish, click Apply, and then click Close.
6.Click Yes when you are prompted to restart your computer.

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Windows 98 and S3 card errors

SYMPTOMS
If your computer has a TV card installed, your computer may stop responding (hang) with an "Unrecoverable page fault" error message when you start Windows.

CAUSE
This behaviour can occur if older S3 video adapter drivers are installed on your computer. Some older versions of the drivers for S3-based chip sets have compatibility problems with the drivers for the TV hardware.

RESOLUTION
To resolve this issue, install the Windows 98 S3 drivers, or the most current drivers provided by the display adapter's manufacturer. To install the Windows 98 drivers, follow these steps:

1.Restart your computer. Press and hold down the CTRL key until the Windows 98 Startup menu appears, and then choose Safe Mode.
2.Click Start, point to Settings, and then click Control Panel.
3.Double-click Display, click the Settings tab, and then click OK.
4.Restart the computer normally.
5.Click Start, point to Settings, and then click Control Panel.
6.Double-click Display, click the Settings tab, and then click Advanced.
7.Click the Adapter tab, and then click Change.
8.Click Next, click "Display a list of all the drivers in a specific location, so you can select the driver you want," and then click Next.
9.Click Show All Devices.
10.In the Manufacturers box, click S3.
11.In the Models box, click the appropriate model, click OK, and then click Next.
12.Click Next, click Next, and then click Finish.
13.Click Close, click Close, and then click Yes to restart your computer.

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Computer Hangs or Cannot Preview Video in NetMeeting

When you configure video camera properties or use the video functions in NetMeeting, you may experience any of the following symptoms:
•Your computer may stop responding (hang). You may also see a "fatal exception 6" error message on a blue screen. •You may see a grey or black screen when you view the My Video window in Microsoft NetMeeting.

RESOLUTION
WARNING: Using Registry Editor incorrectly can cause serious problems that may require you to reinstall Windows 95. Microsoft cannot guarantee that problems resulting from the incorrect use of Registry Editor can be solved. Use Registry Editor at your own risk.

NOTE: For information about how to edit the registry, view the Changing Keys And Values online Help topic in Registry Editor (REGEDIT.EXE). Note that you should make a backup copy of the registry files (SYSTEM.DAT and USER.DAT) before you edit the registry.
Use Registry Editor to verify that the key listed below has the values listed, and if needed, edit the values to match the values listed:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Conferencing\CaptureDevices\
MSVIDEO:Brooktree Bt848

dwImageSize 00 01 40 00
dwNumColors 0C 00 00 00
dwStreamingMode 01 00 00 00

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MotherBoard Issues

If you have a motherboard with onboard video, it is advisable to get latest BIOS/driver update from the manufacturer. Main boards with problems is SIS/Chaintech. Get latest drivers from their web site. www.sis.com.tw or www.chaintech.com.tw.

The Chaintech Sim SIS motherboard have an update that adds the BIOS option "Peer to peer concurrency"
Some PCI devices, for example PCI TV cards, need to have the PCI peer-to-peer function enabled. This BIOS update adds the "Peer to peer concurrency" option to the "Chipset Features Setup". Please note that the default setting for this option is still disabled, so don't forget to enable it if your PCI device requires this function.

MM200PCTV Uninstall Procedure

Removal of the MM200PCTV series of cards

If you Galaxy Ver 1.1 CD:

Insert CD
Click on "Reinstall Drivers"
Galaxy TV/Remote and Switchboard can be uninstalled from: Control Panel/Add/Remove Programs

If you have Ver 3.x of TV Application CD, with the PCTV32 icon on desktop:

This procedure is applicable in cases of the MM201, MM202 and MM205 PCTV cards and it should be followed to de-install such cards from Windows-95 or Windows-98. It cannot be used for de-installing an MM100PCTV card, and should not used if a non-Modular Technology TV card was previously installed.

1. Go into Settings/Control panel/System/Device manager/Sound video and game controllers and remove both the Fusion TV Tuner (Audio) and Fusion TV Tuner (Video) devices.

2. Delete the PCTV32 icon from the desktop.

Teletext Application: (if applicable)

3. Go into Settings/Control panel/Add remove programs and remove the Cebra Teletext Application
   

Files:

4. Use Windows Explorer to access the folder C:\Windows\Inf, remove the files Mtpctva.Inf and Mtpctvv.Inf. (their file-type is Setup Information). If you cannot see a folder entitled C:\Windows\Inf, ensure the 'show all files' button is clicked in View/Folder Options
5. Remove the files ModularTechnologyMTPCTVA.Inf and ModularTechnologyMTPCTVV.Inf from the folder C:\Windows\Inf\Other.
6. If there is no C:\Windows\Inf\Other.folder on your PC, you have version A of Windows-95. You will need to examine all Oem*.inf files (ie files with a name beginning with Oem followed by a number and ending in .Inf), and delete all files which refer to VEN_109E in [SECTION_0]
   

Registry:  (WARNING: Backup (Export) your Registry before making any changes !!!)

7. Click on Start/Run and type in REGEDIT then press OK. This will take you into the Registry Editor. Click on the + symbol to the left of HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE, this will expand the category, Next click the + to the left of Enum, then the + to the left of PCI, this will show a list of all PCI devices in the PC. There may be two entries which begin with the code VEN_109E, if so delete both.
8. Now go back to the top and expand the HKEY_CURRENT_USER key, then Software, then Modular Technology, and delete both the MM200PCTV and SETUP folders. Then close the Registry Editor.

WARNING: Backup (Export) your Registry before making any changes !!!

Re-installation:

9. Now ask the PC to re-start, it should detect 'New Hardware' and will ask for a disc/CD for drivers, follow the remainder of the installation section in the card's User Guide.

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What operating systems can my TV board be installed under?

The PCTV PCI boards will function on WINDOWS 98, WINDOWS 95

3rd party Developers have also written drivers for both Linux for the TV PCI boards. These drivers, information, and their support may be found on their respective websites - See Drivers

Minimum System Requirements to Install TV PCI:

A Pentium 200 Mhz MMX or faster is recommended, as well as a motherboard with an INTEL PCI controller chipset for optimum performance that conforms to PCI 2.1. Also, a VGA card that fully supports all aspects of Direct Draw would be required. A Complete VGA card compatibility list can be found in support section.

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Causes for System Lockups:

• A non-INTEL PCI controller chipset on the motherboard. We recommend using an INTEL based PCI controller chipset on the motherboard, or one that would be compliant to Intel's 2.1 PCI specifications.
  Known chipsets that will cause lockups are certain SIS, VIA, UMC, ALI, and some OPTI. The VIASIS.EXE fix can be applied in these cases which may address the problem. If the problem persists, sometimes the motherboard manufacturer may provide an updated BIOS which can help the problem. Also, if the board is based on a VIA chipset, some updates available at VIA's website may also address the issue (http://www.viatech.com)
• Certain incompatible VGA cards like: S3 964, 864, Trident and Cirrus Logic.
• S3 Trio 64 V+ (as per README)
• S3 Vision 868 and 968 (as per README)
• VGA cards based on the Nvidia TNT chipsets (STB Velocity 4400) - These VGA cards claim not to be able to share their IRQ with any other device on the system. If they share with PCTV, this may cause a lockup. The VGA card must be moved to a different IRQ setting.
• Direct X is not enabled.
• Direct X 4 - If this is the version of Direct X on the system, it would be best to update to Direct X 5 (From the PCTV CD - Run DXSETUP, or Direct X 6, which can be downloaded from Microsoft (http://www.microsoft.com)
• Be sure the VGA colour settings are set to greater than 256 colours. PCTV will not function properly in 256 colour mode.
• If there is/was a different video capture card in the system, there may be drivers or system files related to this device which will cause conflicts with the PCTV and lockup the system. These drivers will need to be removed or replaced. (See "Drivers already loaded" below)

I get a Black Screen in PCTV, but I can hear audio OK:

Black screens are generally VGA driver related. Make sure that you are running the VGA colour settings in High colour 16bit or better. If you are running in 256 colour mode, PCTV will not work properly. Also, if you go to Control Panel - System - Performance Tab, on the bottom you should have a button for Graphics. Click on this and you will get a Hardware Acceleration slider for the Graphics card. Try moving the slider up or down a notch. The 3/4 notch would usually make it work. Click on OK and restart the system. Then try the PCTV again.

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I get Mouse lockups with my Nvidia based VGA card. (Common on some Dell XPS and Gateway systems)

While in Windows, go to your Device Manager by right clicking you’re mouse on you’re My Computer icon and then go down to Properties.

Click the Device Manager Tab and then double click on the word Computer that is at the top.

Scroll through the window and take a look to see what IRQ your VGA card is on. These machines are usually equipped with an STB or Diamond graphics card. More than likely the graphics card is sharing the same IRQ with the PCTV.

After this is noted you can restart Windows. But before entering Windows again enter your Bios settings by hitting the delete key on your keyboard when you have a black background with a Dell logo in the upper right hand corner of the screen or a black background with a Dell logo covering the whole screen.

Once you’re in the BIOS, go to the Advanced Menu and then down to Resource Configuration. You can do this by using your arrow keys on your keyboard.

Bring the cursor down to the setting for the IRQ that the Graphics card and PCTV card are sharing. Change it from Available to Reserved by hitting the enter key on your keyboard.

Once this is done, move the cursor over to the Exit setting and Exit the BIOS, saving your changes.

Once you are back in Windows run the PCTV. The mouse cursor should now keep from locking up.

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Fonts get corrupted, or scrambled in PCTV or other programs when PCTV is running:

Generally, this is seen with Incompatible VGA cards (i.e. Trident & some Cirrus Logic). In some cases this will be caused by a Compatible VGA card as well, and updating to the latest VGA drivers may be necessary, as well as updating to Direct X 6. VGA cards with only 1MB RAM on the board may also cause this. At least 2MB is needed to run with the PCTV 4MB or more is recommended. If you have a VGA card based on the S3 Virge Chipset, try the following: Click on Start - Settings - Control Panel - System - Performance Tab, on the bottom you should have a button for Graphics. Click on this and you will get a Hardware Acceleration slider for the Graphics card. Try moving the slider up or down a notch. The 3/4 notch would usually make it work.

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"Out Of Memory" error when trying to run PCTV

This generally indicates a conflict of software, or corrupted driver files. The best solution is completely un-installing the PCTV software and drivers, and doing a fresh install.

Uninstalling PCTV Software:

See our Support pages for Instructions

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Error message when trying to initialise PCTV "Runtime Error 53 - File not found":

Generally indicates the drivers did not install correctly. Be sure that the latest available PCTV driver and application software is installed. It may also be necessary to first completely uninstall the PCTV software before re-installing.

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"Capture Device Not Detected" or "Unable to draw this Data Format" or "MMSystem275"error when trying to capture .AVI files:

In the Video capture application, try setting the ‘Image Dimension’ to 160x120 or 320 X 240 and the ‘Image Format’ to BTYUV. These settings are found under Options - Video Format. Make sure that the image dimension is not set to 160x112 which sometimes defaults when BTYUV is selected. These settings are found under Options - Video Format. Also under ‘Capture’ from the Menu Bar, make sure that the Brooktree: BT848 Capture driver is checked.

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Black streaks or lines through saved still images OR scrambled looking saves:

This is usually caused by a bandwidth problem with certain in-compatible motherboard chipsets. (OPTI, VIA, SIS, etc.), or possibly an incompatible VGA card (Trident, etc.) This will also happen if you have an older VGA card dated Pre 1996.

The Audio is not recorded when I capture an AVI file using the PCTV capture program.

It is actually the Sound Card that will capture the Audio portion of the AVI files. The PCTV capture application will allow you to capture both by syncing the Audio and Video together. But the sound card will actually capture the sound.

If you do not record the Audio when you are capturing Video Clips, you want to make sure that the sound card's Line In mixer is setup to Record audio. Sometimes they are set for Playback only. To Check this, click on Start - Accessories - Entertainment (or Multimedia), in the Windows Volume Control, go to Options then Properties. In here click on the Recording Bullet. Below you should see the Mixers that are set to record make sure that the Line In is checked and click on OK. Then make sure that it is not muted. Try to record some audio through the Line In jack using Windows' Sound Recorder. This program is found in the Multimedia group.
If you can record audio using the Sound Recorder, then you should be able to capture audio with the capture program.

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"bt848, no suitable Direct Draw provider. Overlay channel is disabled" or "VGA driver mode incompatibility error:

This would indicate either that an incompatible VGA card is being used, or updated Direct Draw VGA drivers would need to be installed if it is a known compatible VGA card.
This will also occur if you have a VGA card based on the S3 Virge chip and the 3D Hardware Acceleration was not turned on in DirectX. This can be turned on the the DXtool option of DirectX.
Also check the Hardware Acceleration through Windows. Go to Control Panel - System - Performance Tab, on the bottom you should have a button for Graphics. Click on this and you will get a Hardware Acceleration slider for the Graphics card. Try moving the slider up or down a notch. The 3/4 notch would usually make it work. Click on OK and restart the system. Then try the PCTV again.

This indicates that the TV card is functioning correctly, but it is having difficulties displaying live motion video on your computers' display adapter card. You can test this by tuning into a live channel, and pressing the freeze button on the TV card. You should now see the still frame image of the TV signal.

The following causes may be the source of the problem:

• VGA display adapter has LESS than 2MB of RAM
• VGA card is not compatible with TV card (See our compatibility listing))
• Windows display settings set for only 256 colors (should be at least high color 16-bit)
• Windows display settings set higher than 1024 x 768 or 1280 x 1024
• Incorrect, old, or corrupted display drivers installed for your display adapter
• Incorrect, old, or corrupted version of Microsoft DirectX installed
• Mismatched version of TV card drivers/DirectX

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"Drivers Already Loaded, PCTV shutting down" Error when running PCTV:

Try rebooting the system. If the error is still present, it would indicate some type of Driver conflict. Check under CONTROL PANEL- Multimedia - Advanced (or Devices) - Video Capture devices. There should be an MSVIDEO: Brooktree BT848 Capture driver listed here. If there are any others, try disabling them for testing purposes to see if you can get the PCTV to work.
If another capture device was once installed in the system, make sure that the driver for that device is no longer listed here. It would also be best to assure that any registry entries, .INF files, and drivers are removed from the previous device.
If wavetop is running you must stop Wavetop before using the PCTV card. To do this right-click on the Wavetop Icon and click on Stop.

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Cannot get FULL screen TV mode, and have black border around TV picture in this mode:

For the most part the PCTV will display at a maximum image dimension of 640x480 in any resolution. If your VGA card supports Overlay mode, you should be able to see full screen in resolutions up to 1024 x 768. If your VGA card does not support overlay mode, this would be a hardware limitation of that VGA chipset. In this case, running in a higher resolution than 640 x 480, will not allow a true full screen TV picture. A work around for this is provided in the PCTV program. Click on DISPLAY- Preferences, and set the TV Mode size for 640 x 480 (800 x 600 for the PAL Video format). This will default the VGA display to 640 x 480 resolution when going to full screen mode - allowing a true full screen.

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NetMeeting configuration:

In NetMeeting, go to the Current Call section of the program. You should see 2 small windows: "My Video" and "Remote Video". Click on the arrow in the "My Video" window to change it from "Not sending" to "Previewing". A screen will appear with either video, a blue screen, or the NetMeeting logo. Next, on the menu bar, choose Tools - Options - Video, and be sure that "Video Camera Properties" indicates the MSVIDEO:Brooktree Bt848 Capture driver. Click the Source button, which will allow you to select your Video source. (COMPOSITE for a camera or VCR input into the PCTV, Camera (with S video selected) for an S-Video input and Tuner for the PCTV tuner picture.

For more information on NetMeeting click here: http://www.microsoft.com/netmeeting

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Cannot access SETTINGS in TV Menu

De and re install, check graphics and motherboard.
Copy msvcrt.dll and mfc42.dll from website (dlls.zip) to c:/windows/system!

How much disk space does capturing video require?

(22 kHz, 16-bit audio)

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Linux O/S Support ?

We do not support for Linux for our TV Tuners.

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AVI file captured not playing back?

This problem could mean that there is a problem with Codec's installed. To rectify reinstall codec's:
Installing Windows 9x Multimedia Support:

To ensure that the default Windows video compression CODEC's are installed, use the following steps:

• From the CONTROL PANEL open Add/Remove Programs
• Select the WINDOWS SETUP tab and double click MULTIMEDIA
• Make sure that AUDIO compression, Media Player and VIDEO compression are selected and click OK
• Make sure that MULTIMEDIA is checked. (If Windows Multimedia is already installed and you wish to RE-INSTALL it, simply UNCHECK Multimedia, Click APPLY and then RE-CHECK Multimedia and proceed to step 5)
• Click APPLY (the Window 9x installation CD is required)
• The Multimedia components will be installed from the Windows CD.

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What is Overlay?

There are two different ways to display a video window on the computer screen: Overlay surface and Primary surface
Both methods work by transferring the image directly from the TV Tuner to the memory of your PC's graphics board via the PCI or AGP bus

With an overlay surface, the video signal is transferred into an invisible part of the graphics board memory. The graphics board will then take care of the image and make sure that it gets transferred to the right place in the visible part of the memory. Not all graphics boards have this feature and thus may not allow an overlay surface. Occasionally, we have seen cases where the graphics board "tells us" that it can do an overlay surface but then either does not do so or starts to draw incorrect buttons or destroy other desktop elements.

In contrast to the overlay surface, the video signal is transferred directly into a visible part of the graphics board memory - right where you will see it. 
The drawback of a primary surface is that your graphics board has to be set to at least 16-bits per pixel color depth. Primary surface also requires more bandwidth on the PCI bus and we have occasionally seen some graphics boards showing distortions of the video display, especially when using 32 bits per pixel color depth. And finally, a menu or other window covering the primary surface video display may get overwritten under certain circumstances. 
To help you in troubleshooting and deciding which display mode to use, here are some of the limitations of primary and overlay surface. In general, we recommend to use the overlay surface - if your graphics board supports it. 

Primary Surface

Primary surface requires that the graphics board is set to 16, 24 or 32 bits per pixel color depth. 
Covering the video display with another window may result in stray pixels and should be avoided. 
Primary surface requires a higher bandwidth on the PCI/AGP bus. This may result in flashing lines on the video image, especially at 24 or 32 bits per pixel color depth. Switch back to 16-bits per pixel. 
When using primary surface, both fields of the video will get displayed on the PC screen. This may show as "feathering" and is due to the interlaced nature of the signal. 

Overlay Surface

Some graphics boards do not support overlay surface at all. The overlay option will then not be available. 
Some graphics boards report that they support overlay surface, but then do not. If you select overlay surface, you will not see any video display. 
Overlay surface mode uses a keying color to indicate where on the screen video is being displayed. Placing a window with this keying color above the video will result in the video showing through. 
With an overlay surface, the graphics board participates in manipulating the video before it gets displayed. This may change the brightness or colors of the image. Some graphics boards have tools ("gamma correction" etc.) that permit you to adjust this. 

The difference between Primary Surface and Overlay Surface is that Overlay Surface requires special hardware on the graphics card. You need a graphics card with one of these processors along with drivers that support DirectDraw and DirectX in order to take advantage of the Overlay Surface feature. Cards with Overlay Surface have an additional video buffer called an Overlay buffer in addition to the Primary video buffer. 

If you use a graphics card that does not have this support, you can use Primary Surface type of Overlay. Primary Surface still requires Direct Draw and Direct X support, but the overlay will be processed in the primary video buffer since the card does not have an Overlay buffer.

The other issues are related to performance due to the fact that Overlay Surface has it's own Overlay buffer and Primary Surface does not. If you move a window while using Primary Surface the entire computer screen will refresh as the window is moved. This does not cause any functional problems but to some users the refreshing of the screen may be annoying. The other issue is that Primary Overlay may not work at the higher screen resolutions and color depths that your graphics card may allow.

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