HDTV Wonder system requirements.

[Brian]

Archived from groups: alt.comp.periphs.videocards.ati (More info?)

So I got my hands on the HDTV Wonder today, but the installation did not go
as planned. Got all the software installed okay, but when I tried to start
DTV playback, I got nothing. I tried running the PC Check, but all it was
telling me was that my audio card clock wasn't accurate enough and to
update the drivers. It also told me that DMA wasn't enabled for my hard
drive.

Well, the entire computer is only a few weeks old, the audio drivers are as
fresh as can be. Same with the DMA. And, even according to PC Check,
those are both quality issues, neither one would explain the non-starter.

My best guess at this point is that I don't have DirectX 9 support. But I
can't get a straight answer out of any of the websites I've looked at to
tell me exactly what chipsets do and don't support DX9, and I haven't been
paying enough attention to the market to be able to answer it myself.

I'm willing to go buy a new videocard, if that's what it takes, but first I
want to make sure that buying a new card will actually do me any good.
This system is built for home-theater, it has no aspirations for gaming,
ever. It's also a very small form factor (Shuttle), so I'm really worried
about heat dissipation if I add an AGP card.

Full System Spec:

Nvidia nForce2 motherboard
512MB system memory (64MB taken for graphics)
GeForce4 MX graphics (onboard)
AMD Athlon XP 2200+ (IIRC, +/- 200 Mhz)
80GB WD Hard Disk
Sony CD-RW/DVD combo drive
ATI HDTV Wonder PCI
Windows XP Pro
All drivers and windowsupdates at best available version.

Two questions here.

One, do I really need to do a video card upgrade in order to run this
thing?

Two, what's the slowest, coolest, least noisy video card I can buy that
will do what needs to be done?

Thanks in advance for any help.

Brian
--
"To announce that there must be no criticism of the president, or that we
are to stand by the president right or wrong, is not only unpatriotic and
servile, but is morally treasonable to the American public." - Theodore
Roosevelt (1918)

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.comp.periphs.videocards.ati (More info?)

Brian wrote:

> So I got my hands on the HDTV Wonder today, but the installation did not
> go
> as planned. Got all the software installed okay, but when I tried to
> start
> DTV playback, I got nothing. I tried running the PC Check, but all it was
> telling me was that my audio card clock wasn't accurate enough and to
> update the drivers. It also told me that DMA wasn't enabled for my hard
> drive.
>
> Well, the entire computer is only a few weeks old, the audio drivers are
> as
> fresh as can be. Same with the DMA. And, even according to PC Check,
> those are both quality issues, neither one would explain the non-starter.
>
> My best guess at this point is that I don't have DirectX 9 support. But I
> can't get a straight answer out of any of the websites I've looked at to
> tell me exactly what chipsets do and don't support DX9, and I haven't been
> paying enough attention to the market to be able to answer it myself.
>
> I'm willing to go buy a new videocard, if that's what it takes, but first
> I want to make sure that buying a new card will actually do me any good.
> This system is built for home-theater, it has no aspirations for gaming,
> ever. It's also a very small form factor (Shuttle), so I'm really worried
> about heat dissipation if I add an AGP card.
>
> Full System Spec:
>
> Nvidia nForce2 motherboard
> 512MB system memory (64MB taken for graphics)
> GeForce4 MX graphics (onboard)
> AMD Athlon XP 2200+ (IIRC, +/- 200 Mhz)
> 80GB WD Hard Disk
> Sony CD-RW/DVD combo drive
> ATI HDTV Wonder PCI
> Windows XP Pro
> All drivers and windowsupdates at best available version.
>
> Two questions here.
>
> One, do I really need to do a video card upgrade in order to run this
> thing?
>
> Two, what's the slowest, coolest, least noisy video card I can buy that
> will do what needs to be done?
>
> Thanks in advance for any help.

I think you're kind of on your own since you've got the new board on the
block. FWIW, with the Dvico boards the Radeon 8500 works fine, but so does
the Geforce 4MX. It could be that that onboard video is not quite a
Geforce 4MX--onboard video is always suspect--or it could be that ATI
didn't test the HDTV Wonder with the competition's board.

If the HDTV Wonder _needs_ a board with DirectX 9 acceleration, those boards
are the ATI Radeon 9500 and higher and the Geforce FX5200 and higher.

> Brian

--
--John
Reply to jclarke at ae tee tee global dot net
(was jclarke at eye bee em dot net)

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.comp.periphs.videocards.ati (More info?)

"Brian" <brianmcadam@pobox.com> wrote in message
news:nk2mg0dauidoj6bdcgs5180eadalqkohm6@4ax.com...
> So I got my hands on the HDTV Wonder today, but the installation did not
go
> as planned. Got all the software installed okay, but when I tried to
start
> DTV playback, I got nothing. I tried running the PC Check, but all it was
> telling me was that my audio card clock wasn't accurate enough and to
> update the drivers. It also told me that DMA wasn't enabled for my hard
> drive.
>
> Well, the entire computer is only a few weeks old, the audio drivers are
as
> fresh as can be. Same with the DMA. And, even according to PC Check,
> those are both quality issues, neither one would explain the non-starter.
>
> My best guess at this point is that I don't have DirectX 9 support. But I
> can't get a straight answer out of any of the websites I've looked at to
> tell me exactly what chipsets do and don't support DX9, and I haven't been
> paying enough attention to the market to be able to answer it myself.
>
> I'm willing to go buy a new videocard, if that's what it takes, but first
I
> want to make sure that buying a new card will actually do me any good.
> This system is built for home-theater, it has no aspirations for gaming,
> ever. It's also a very small form factor (Shuttle), so I'm really worried
> about heat dissipation if I add an AGP card.
>
> Full System Spec:
>
> Nvidia nForce2 motherboard
> 512MB system memory (64MB taken for graphics)
> GeForce4 MX graphics (onboard)
> AMD Athlon XP 2200+ (IIRC, +/- 200 Mhz)
> 80GB WD Hard Disk
> Sony CD-RW/DVD combo drive
> ATI HDTV Wonder PCI
> Windows XP Pro
> All drivers and windowsupdates at best available version.
>
> Two questions here.
>
> One, do I really need to do a video card upgrade in order to run this
> thing?
>
> Two, what's the slowest, coolest, least noisy video card I can buy that
> will do what needs to be done?
>
> Thanks in advance for any help.
>
> Brian

Not familiar with your card but heres what ATI say about video card
requirement.
"Graphics card with 64MB or greater of frame buffer and Microsoft DirectX
9.0 support "

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.comp.periphs.videocards.ati (More info?)

I have a DVICO Fusion II board - not the current model.
The analog portion is so compatible that I had to pull
the DVICO when installing the software for an ATI 9600.
The DVICO analog TV tuner is mono. The DVICO seems more
tolerant of old VHS tapes and other forms of partially
mutilated video.

For HDTV the DVICO requires a fast P4 or newer ATI
boards with an MPEG2 decoder. It worked fine with a
2.4 P4 and AIW 7500.

As I write this I am downloading the latest DVICO software
which is supposed to record digital directly to MPEG. It
would be nice to capture Star Trek Enterprise to a reasonably
sized MPEG file.

--
Chuck Forsberg caf@omen.com www.omen.com 503-614-0430
Developer of Industrial ZMODEM(Tm) for Embedded Applications
Omen Technology Inc "The High Reliability Software"
10255 NW Old Cornelius Pass Portland OR 97231 FAX 629-0665

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.comp.periphs.videocards.ati (More info?)

The GF4 MX is a DX 7 card.

"Brian" <brianmcadam@pobox.com> wrote in message
news:nk2mg0dauidoj6bdcgs5180eadalqkohm6@4ax.com...
> So I got my hands on the HDTV Wonder today, but the installation did not
go
> as planned. Got all the software installed okay, but when I tried to
start
> DTV playback, I got nothing. I tried running the PC Check, but all it was
> telling me was that my audio card clock wasn't accurate enough and to
> update the drivers. It also told me that DMA wasn't enabled for my hard
> drive.
>
> Well, the entire computer is only a few weeks old, the audio drivers are
as
> fresh as can be. Same with the DMA. And, even according to PC Check,
> those are both quality issues, neither one would explain the non-starter.
>
> My best guess at this point is that I don't have DirectX 9 support. But I
> can't get a straight answer out of any of the websites I've looked at to
> tell me exactly what chipsets do and don't support DX9, and I haven't been
> paying enough attention to the market to be able to answer it myself.
>
> I'm willing to go buy a new videocard, if that's what it takes, but first
I
> want to make sure that buying a new card will actually do me any good.
> This system is built for home-theater, it has no aspirations for gaming,
> ever. It's also a very small form factor (Shuttle), so I'm really worried
> about heat dissipation if I add an AGP card.
>
> Full System Spec:
>
> Nvidia nForce2 motherboard
> 512MB system memory (64MB taken for graphics)
> GeForce4 MX graphics (onboard)
> AMD Athlon XP 2200+ (IIRC, +/- 200 Mhz)
> 80GB WD Hard Disk
> Sony CD-RW/DVD combo drive
> ATI HDTV Wonder PCI
> Windows XP Pro
> All drivers and windowsupdates at best available version.
>
> Two questions here.
>
> One, do I really need to do a video card upgrade in order to run this
> thing?
>
> Two, what's the slowest, coolest, least noisy video card I can buy that
> will do what needs to be done?
>
> Thanks in advance for any help.
>
> Brian
> --
> "To announce that there must be no criticism of the president, or that we
> are to stand by the president right or wrong, is not only unpatriotic and
> servile, but is morally treasonable to the American public." - Theodore
> Roosevelt (1918)