Titan TV and Catalyst Media Center

A

aj1701e

New member
Has anyone had problems getting Titan TV to update on the new CMC?
I just installed the new TV Wonder 650 and after some of the normal driver quirkiness, have everything working except the EPG. I went thru the setup wizard (many times), my cable provider is found, the icon with the arrow pointing up pops in my systray, the balloon says "TV Guide Connecting...", I even see the download working thru my firewall stats....but no program info ever becomes available on the TV....:confused:
 
Well, I have a TV Wonder 650 but I use it with Media Center Edition 2005 not the included “Catalyst Media Center” software.

I have heard that the guide information isn’t displayed with TV or in TV mode. Therefore, is the guide info available when viewing the guide in full screen (guide page / screen) in “Catalyst Media Center”,….?
 
I, too, am having the same problem.
I even installed the card and software in a different PC to see if it was an issue with my PC.
I called ATI. They claim that it is a known problem and that "they" (Cyberlink or TitanTV?) are working on it.
I opened a question on the Cyberlink website technical support to see what is going on.
Anybody else having any success with Catalyst Media Center and TitanTV EPG?
 
Gotten Worse

Gotten Worse

Now I have my system all gummed up. I tried another reinstall and tinkered with the some of the settings to try to get the EPG working and now the tv stations are complete static. I figured i could system restore back to what I had, but no, somehow CMC has a problem with being system restored and files are duplicated with a "2" as part of their file name...so i started over from scratch like i did in the beginning...with multiple cleanings in the registry and folders, but to no avail, getting just about at my wits end :nuts:
(Thank goodness my Hauppauge 150 is there as my backup)
 
OK, I gave “Catalyst Media Center” a try and the EPG didn’t work for me either. I must say that “Catalyst Media Center” is a very poor substitute for “Windows XP Media Center Edition 2005” and Vista build 5744 (and up),….with or without a working EPG.

Anyway, the symptom seems to be that the “Catalyst Media Center” EPG initiates a download which is slow even on a reasonably fast line (Cable DSL,..T1) and then it eventually just seems to time-out without an error massage,…it (the EPG download manager) just sits there doing nothing,…

Although “Catalyst Media Center” shows every indication of being a modified version of “Cyberlink PowerCinema 4” with a few enhancements, Cyberlink is under no direct obligation to answer support questions in this regard,….at least not to the ATI end customer,…

ATI likely passes on any customer reported bugs that they can reproduce to Cyberlink with respect to “Catalyst Media Center”,…….and ATI would then have to wait for Cyberlink to fix the given issues.

Remember that “Cyberlink PowerCinema 4” shipped without an EPG for the USA so the EPG for “Catalyst Media Center” in the USA is part of the modification,….

However, the issue could just as easily be a TitanTV server problem rather then a Cyberlink one,….
 
When it doesn't work for you, do you see CMCService.exe in your task manager chewing up a lot of CPU? I let it run all night like that a couple of times and it never stopped.

I opened a question on Cyberlink's website. This is what I asked:
TV Guide problem I bought an ATI TV Wonder 650 which
came with ATI Catalyst Media Center.
It is my understanding that Catalyst
is actually PowerCinema 4 with some
minor modifications.

I am having a problem with the EPG
function. The guide never comes up on
the screen. In addition, after awhile,
the CMCservice.exe program goes into
some kind of loop chewing up a log of
CPU.
The little icon in the tray by the
Windows XP clock indicates TV Guide

Connecting...

I called ATI technical support and
they indicated that this is a known
problem and that Cyberlink was working
on it.
I would like to confirm this and would
like to know when to expect a fix.
Thank you,


And this is the lame execuse of an answer I got back:
Dear Jerry,

Thank you for contacting Cyberlink Online Support.

CyberLink PowerCinema supports Electronic Programming Guide (EPG) via the Internet or Teletext. Check the table below to find out if your country supports EPG either via Internet or Teletext. If your country does, please contact your local cable operator for more details on setting up EPG in your local area.

TV.JSP

I apologize for the inconvenience.

Please feel free to contact us back for any further clarification in this issue or for any assistance related to Cyberlink Products.

Thank you and best regards

I would guess they didn't really read my question.
I guess I am going to just have to spend the money and "upgrade" to MCE.
Although I like the TV Wonder 650, I have half a mind to return it and get something that ships with software that works...whether I use it or not.
Not sell me a product that does not work as claimed!!
Jerry
 
jnance said:
,.....
I guess I am going to just have to spend the money and "upgrade" to MCE.
Although I like the TV Wonder 650, I have half a mind to return it and get something that ships with software that works...whether I use it or not.
Not sell me a product that does not work as claimed!!
Jerry
Click to expand...

While I agree with your sentiment that the entire package should work as advertised and you are well within your rights to return the TV Wonder 650 based on the merits of “Catalyst Media Center” alone,…

I myself have never really been satisfied with bundled software and have very low expectations in this respect. In short, I expect to dislike whatever software is included and may only install it out of morbid curiosity.

Personally, I buy hardware for the hardware (not the included software) and I buy software for the software.

If poor software bundles were limited to a few manufacturers one could easily avoid them but it seem to be a trend in the industry as a whole form what I can see.

I have often found that either the included software has been deliberately truncated to impede functionality (to foster the sale of a service or full version) or the software was of dubious quality to begin with (such as Cyberlink PowerCinema / Catalyst Media Center).

BTW, you can buy MCE 2K5 now for about ~$109.99 with a FREE upgrade coupon to Vista Home Premium (with Vista MCE) OEM from newegg. It might just be better to wait for a retail upgrade package for about ~$159 though.
 
Got it working!

Got it working!

Amazingly enough, I got CMC working again by nothing more than extensive trial and error....after cleaning everything ATI out, setting a system restore point and constantly removing and reinstalling, I found that by simply choosing analog cable # 2 in the display settings window then the tv channels were scanned and found just fine...Why that should make a difference is beyond me!.....Now hopefully ATI will address the EPG problem and we'll be all set!
BTW-my CPU does chew up more cycles when the "TV Guide Connecting" icon pops up and my firewall stats show several megabytes of data is being downloaded...just nowhere usable by CMC...
 
Last edited:
Agustus said:
I myself have never really been satisfied with bundled software and have very low expectations in this respect. In short, I expect to dislike whatever software is included and may only install it out of morbid curiosity.

Personally, I buy hardware for the hardware (not the included software) and I buy software for the software...
Click to expand...
Agustus I take your point, but even so, as consumers we have every right to complain. Hardware, especially this type, is useless without compatable software. The box does not say, "Includes working hardware, you may have to purchase compatable software from another manufacturer in order to use this product."

As to bundled software in general, when I bought my DVD burner, the included software was basic, but yes, I could burn DVDs. When I bought my scanner, the same. My digital camera, the same. My fax modem included working software that does indeed allow me to send faxes, etc. All of the software I've gotten bundled was not necessarily full featured or fancy, but it worked and did the tasks that were claimed.
 
Steve N said:
Agustus I take your point, but even so, as consumers we have every right to complain. Hardware, especially this type, is useless without compatable software. The box does not say, "Includes working hardware, you may have to purchase compatable software from another manufacturer in order to use this product."
Click to expand...

While I agree with your sentiment it doesn’t change the current state of affaires. And to be clear, the software “in the box” is often serviceable to some degree but IMO more often then not its “unacceptable” by my standards.

Steve N said:
As to bundled software in general, when I bought my DVD burner, the included software was basic, but yes, I could burn DVDs. When I bought my scanner, the same. My digital camera, the same. My fax modem included working software that does indeed allow me to send faxes, etc. All of the software I've gotten bundled was not necessarily full featured or fancy, but it worked and did the tasks that were claimed.
Click to expand...

Again, I think we agree here for the most part. I have had 4 or 5 recent DVD+/-RW drives, 6 or so ASUS motherboards, Hauppauge / ATI TV tuners, and a bunch of ATI and nVidia video cards,…..and more. They all came with serviceable software but ultimately they all found their way to my desk drawer,…in the “use only in case of emergency” pile.
 
Yep...I agree with Steve N.
Although I do want to "upgrade" to MCE and/or Vista eventually, I'm just not prepared to do that now. I just spent $120 on this card and expected to use the software for now on my WinXP Pro machine. I wasn't expecting to have to turn around and spend another $110 just to be able to access the TV Guide. :-(
I also agree with Agustus that bundled software usually is lacking. But at least the advertised components work.
 
The only program that works that I have used with my 650 Pro is Beyond TV 4, it has a gudie that actually works, and works well.

The only problem, other than it costing too much money, is Analog TV and HDTV playback does not look as good with the BTV player as with the ATI MMC. I guess the BTV does not use the ATi theatre chips functions fully.

Bummer

But what really pisses me off is not getting the damn remote wonder to work...I should have opted for the Media Center remote control instead.
 
I don't have a problem with Titan downloading the guide. The problem I have is it's downloading the guide for a nearby city. This, even though my city is a major city compared to it. It gives me the Comcast Cable Analog listings for Hinesville GA, when I enter any zip for Savannah, GA.

Does anybody know where it stores the downloaded file?
 
I'm trying out the trail version on PowerCinema 5, but just found out it does not support EPG for the United States according to their site.:confused:

I tried Beyound TV 4.7, but wasn't happy with it. Any other options.
 
Phantoms, what didn't you like about the BeyondTV program?

I've been using BeyondTV for about a month now with a 650 and an HDHomeRun on Windows XP (non-MCE) and found BeyondTV to be better (much better in most respects) than CMC. Yes it sucks that one has to buy other software, like BeyondTV or upgrade to MCE, but in the end it was worth it just to get rid of the horrendous CMC program.

I hate the CMC software as I too also had trouble getting the EPG in CMC to update in the past. It was hit or miss on updating since I bought the 650 a year ago. There was a three month stretch where it wouldn't update at all and then one day during the summer it started updating again.
 
A shot in the dark, didn't one of the on-line guide sites/services just change over from free or something? Could that have anything to do with EPG difficulties? Just a wild guess, & probably not worth much, but...

Absolutely FWIW, I'd also guess that there's *maybe* another version or build of CMC somewhere in the future, possibly after MS updates Vista MC... There's been a lot of talk in other threads RE: QAM etc... AMD/ATI updated their product pages & advisor, and it still shows the same ol' TV Wonder 650 pci (with single tuner) doing QAM in Vista. If so, wouldn't expect ATI to either disclose it or respond to complaints on the older version -- not that they shouldn't, but just wouldn't expect them to the way they've handled the aiws in Vista and so on.


For those not liking BTV or wanting to pay the price, there are several alternatives, including at least a couple for free. While I was spoiled by MMC (the only reason I bought AIWs), no TV cards come with really worthwhile software that I'm aware of. Check videohelp.com
 
benner, I didn't find it as fluid as PowerCinema. The EPG does work and I may give another try because of that.
 
For what its worth, Catalyst Media Center has been updated with the release of the new TV Wonder 650 Combo PCIe, TV Wonder 650 Combo USB and TV Wonder 600 products. I honestly don’t know if many of the issues have been fixed but I can say for certain that there is a new version number out.

I very, very, very briefly looked at it (new CMC) when I bought a TV Wonder 650 Combo USB tuner from bestbuy. I returned it due to an odd signal loss issue in Vista Media Center (digital tuner would drop out when the analog tuner recording was ended during quad recordings).

So some improvements in CMC may have been made but I still recommend Media Center Edition 2005, Vista Media Center (via Vista Home Premium or Vista Ultimate Edition) or BeyondTV. Naturally you shouldn’t have to buy such software but buying good software is also its own reward.
 
IN a perfect world you shouldn't have to buy software, Agustus. :)

Personally my thoughts FWIW is sooner or later most folks are going to run Vista, if only because they need it with newer software, hardware, or to connect on their home network with Vista machines. If I had to buy something, figure the Vista OEM disc was the safest purchase, what with Media Center build in and supported. And it was better (cheaper :D) than shelling out the $ for a program like BTV & then Vista somewhere down the road. But then I need CC support and that's not all that common.
 
Sure, in a perfect world we wouldn’t / shouldn’t have to buy software. No argument there.

However, that doesn’t change the fact that CMC (PowerCinema) is a cheap knock off’s of quality PVR software such as MCE and VMC. CMC (PowerCinema) is clunky, awkward and ill-conceived even if it worked as it should without flaw it still yields a fairly weak viewer experience overall (IMO).

Realistically though, who is allergic to buying software from time to time especially if it enhances your experience and will give you years of enjoyment?

I know what you mean though CMC should be all that the buyer needs. For what its worth, even with the EPG issues I found CMC to be fairly functional overall and fairly feature rich. Having said that, I wouldn’t use CMC for personal use when far superior software products are so clearly out there.
 
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