How to connect VCR to ATI TV Wonder

[day8tona]

I am running with Windows Vista. Recently we installed an ATI TV Wonder TV Tuner card in our HP machine. I have not tried connecting yet with our TV cable provider, but am trying to connect the TV Tuner to an external VCR. Nothing happens.

Is there special software and/or drivers I need to download and install to get this to work?

Thanks....

 

[christiangordon]

The ATI TV Wonder comes with software that will allow you to view what you have on the VCR.

Please provide more info on what you are trying to do.
Also the model of TV Wonder you have.

 

[mactronix]

Yes you need to have the AIW drivers to get it to work properly. If you do have the correct drivers installed then it could just be as simple as having the wrong input set.

Mactronix

 

[day8tona]

The ATI TV Wonder comes with software that will allow you to view what you have on the VCR.

Please provide more info on what you are trying to do.
Also the model of TV Wonder you have.[/quote]

Am trying to copy a VHS tape from external VCR device connected to my PC running Windows Vista via the ATI TV Wonder TV Tuner card.

I pulled the ATI card (which was obtained from a friend who did not know what kind of TV Tuner it was. Also, I used a multiple Windows driver disk and system chose which driver worked best with this card. It selected the driver for the ATI TV Wonder device. Here is some information I was able to pull off the card itself (not sure if it will be helpful):

Copyright 2000 ATI Technologies Inc

Saw these numbers also:
3139 147 14611D#
F11236 S/P H-2
SV23 0018

Beyond this, not sure what other information I can provide.
Thanks...

 

[day8tona]

Two additional questions (based on previous posts here)....
(1) What exactly is meant by "correct input set"? One of responders mentioned my problem may be as simple as having the wrong input set.
(2) What is meant by "scan the channels"? Other post suggested all I do is play a VCR tape and then "scan the channels".

 

[day8tona]

Some additional information to pass along, which may account for my problems. Posting here in case anyone would care to comment on it.

(1) When I attempt to access the TV Tuner via Windows Media Center I get the following error:
"TUNER NOT FOUND"
The TV signal cannot be configured because no tuner H/W is detected.
Yet, when looking at Control Panel -> Device Manager -> Sound, Video & Game Controller settings I see entries for ATI TV Wonder Audio & Video Capture as well as ATI TV Wonder TV Tuner.

(2) My son found the following two Windows informational messages having to do with the tuner:

"Your TV tuner isn't compatible with this version of Windows.
ATI Technologies Inc. doesn't plan to offer updates for your TV tuner to solve this problem. To search for similar devices that are compatible, go online to the Windows Vista Compatibility Center".

"ATI TV Wonder Video Capture is not compatible with this version of Windows. Because this device isn't compatible with this version of Windows, and there are no solutions for this problem, we recommend you find another device on following website (refers to same site as above).

I guess that is my next stop.

 

[day8tona]

I have tried everything I can...including suggestions given in this thread, to fix my TV Tuner card to work with Windows Vista desktop and the Windows Media Center app which still does not recognize the hardware.

One thing I failed to mention... based on some other tips given, have been focusing on the type of Display adapter I am using. It is a NVIDIA GeForce 8400 GS adapter. I am beginning to think that it may have something to do with this problem. Perhaps it is not compatible with the ATI TV Wonder video device I have installed.

I am pursuing this further to try and get an answer....

 

[johnk10]

......some Instructions

1 Plug the ATI TV Wonder into one of the USB ports on the computer, while the computer is powered on. If you attempt to hook up the equipment before the computer is on, and before the drivers are installed, the computer will be unable to detect and run the TV tuner.

2 Disconnect the ATI TV Wonder from the current USB connection port and insert it into a different port. Some connection ports do not work with some hardware, causing the equipment to not work or not be detected.

3 Install the driver from the provided driver installation CD. The driver is required for the computer to detect the ATI TV Wonder. Insert the CD into the computer and follow the prompts of the installation wizard, once it loads onto the screen.

4 Check the cable connection running from the ATI TV Wonder to the pc monitor or HD television source (cable/satellite receiver). If the cable is not secure in both the tuner card and television source, the computer is unable to display the audio/video content.

 

[RichU]

I have an ATI All-in-Wonder HD card (AIW), a combination TV Tuner Card and graphics card. Besides normal video card stuff, it can record over the air (OTA) and other signals. Yours MAY be just a tuner card.

It requires drivers - available at the ATI web site under tV tuners cards:
http://support.amd.com/us/gpudownload/Pages/index.aspx
Start with TV Tuner system and then continue through card model and Operating System.

Follow ATI instructions on how to remove old drivers and then install the new ones.

The tuner card requires TV inputs and software. I have an outdoor antenna that puts a coaxial cable feed into my AIW. I get great high-def signals, but obviously only for broadcast channels, about 20 in English. My cable provider, Comcast, now scrambles their signals and a cable box is required for their decoding. I opted NOT to limit my system to the one channel at a time that the box provides, so I never hooked up to that cable.

Software is needed to handle the tuner card activities. The card came with Catalyst Media Center. I found it failed often - losing channels and settings, so I quit using it. There are commercial programs, but I use NPVR, the successor to gbpvr:
http://forums.gbpvr.com//forumdisplay.php?10-NPVR-Announcements

In the software, you have to tell it to scan for channels, just like you have to do with a flat screen TV nowadays. Varies per software. Once the tuner/software recognize channels, you can then watch them.

My AIW card has two outputs: DVI and HDMI. I use the DVI for my computer monitor. I got a long HDMI cable (via the web - vastly cheaper) and it goes to my (larger) flat screen TV, so I can watch either recorded TV, live TV, or anything else from my computer on my larger TV screen. (Of course, the TV can also do live TV.) Works great, but none of it was painless or simple to do.

Good luck.

Rich