RR-G tuner drop out

[kleinbull]

I hate to re-hash an old subject, cause I've read some stuff about this from Aug-99, but I'm having a problem with the TV tuner on my new RR-G.

Abit be6-II bios SH
PIII 500Mhz Win98
Matrox millenium G400 DH
128Mb micron PC100 ram
Aureal SQ2500 quad sound card
Smart and Friendly 4x4x32 CD/RW
Pioneer 10X slot DVD drive
D-link 10baseT network - RRcable modem
Generic 4-bay case w/250W PS

I will list the IRQ's later if it's really necessary, but since this subject has come up before, I hope it's not necessary. It's a long list, and the copy function doesn't work there.

Anyway, everything seems to work fine except the tuner comes and goes. When it's on, it doesn't drop out, but it's a guessing game whether it will work or not.

I know there has been speculation that the PS needs to be 300W 2.01 compliant. I just want to be sure before I go shell out $60-$100 on a new PS if I don't need it, but will if I have to. The reason for my hesitation is, it almost seems sound card related, and I just wanted to see if anyone w/Aureal card could verify or clarify. The speaker in the task bar gets X'd out when PC-VCR is loading and when changing channels. When the tuner is not working, TV-Audio tab doesn't show up in the PC-VCR properties. Even though I have tv-stereo selected, the selected mode only and always shows up as TV-mono. My rear channel speakers never work w/PC-VCR.

I'm sorry this is such a long letter for an old subject but, I wanted to make sure I put symptoms for my reasoning.

Thanks

[Dr Mordrid]

It sure does sound like it's related to the audio card, doesn't it? You have a very powerful PCI audio card there with tons of features, and that very well could be the rub.

My first suggestion would be to turn off all the special features in the Aureal when capturing or editing. By that I mean 3D, spatial, reverb etc. etc. Leave nothing on but the basic 2D audio functions.

Also you should disable the ISA legacy device in the Device Manager or where ever Aureal has placed this capability. Very important.

Also check for the very latest drivers for the Aureal.

After that you get my standard rant on how bus intensive PCI audio cards are in general....

Dr. Mordrid

[Greg Granville]

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" size="2">Originally posted by kleinbull:
I hate to re-hash an old subject, cause I've read some stuff about this from Aug-99, but I'm having a problem with the TV tuner on my new RR-G.

</font>

My recent experience is that buying a 300watt ATX 2.01 compliant power supply is not an absolute guarantee to fix the problem... But it really does seem to be a power supply issue because I also tried a 250 watt Enlight ATX supply (which says nothing about being 2.01 compliant on it) - and the Tuner has come up every time after about a dozen or so cold boots now.

With the certified 300 watt, I only got the tuner to come up once after about 8 attempts. The time it did work, I had dropped the AGP clock to 44 mhz. (66 mhz FSB, 3:2 divider) Next time, it failed again... The good powerup may have just been a fluke. Out it came.

The only difference I noted between the enlight and the 300watt 2.01 compliant supply is that the Enlight seemed to have slightly closer tolerances on some of the supply voltages. This is based upon observations made with a utility called "motherboard monitor". I'm running a dual Celeron system (ABit BP-6 366a's @550) which is famous for having problems with the RR-G.

I know people are saying that the voltage supplies to the AGP port are critical. I'm beginning to wonder if the steady-state voltage levels aren't really all that critical. What *may* be more important - just speculation on my part - is the way the voltages behave in the brief interval right after you press the power-on button. This may be specific to different models of power supply - or it could be variations in manufacturing tolerances.

My advice is to try to find a place that will sell you a supply with the option of returning it if it doesn't work for you. Make sure they understand that you need to be able to return it even if it's not really "defective".

I haven't tried any other brands, but supplies from Sparkle and Antec seem to have a good reputation for quality, and are also fairly cheap. I'd probably opt for one of these brands (also Enlight) if you are going to play the swapping game.

[huzoo]

I had to change power supplies when I bought an Abit A7V. Before that the old power supply worked with my previous three motherboards and my RRG.

[Dr Mordrid]

Thats more likely an Athlon issue. They draw a lot of current and many older power supplies can't keep up. Also they require better voltage regulation....

Dr. Mordrid

[Boul]

Greg, what was your -12V rail reading before and after your enlight swap? I tried switching to a 300W antec with the right specs, but my RR-Gtuner still won't come on my BP6. And my -12V rail is at -11.8 or so, which I suspect might be a problem...

[kleinbull]

UPDATE:

Thanks for all the response. I bought the Antec 300W ATX 2.3. It did wonders, and I think it allowed me to find out what is really going on, maybe.

My card works 99% of the time now. I only wish I had another card to modify to test my theory. Anyway, the only time my TV-Tuner doesn't work now is during peak viewing time. The times that it doesn't work; between 6-10pm M-F, during Holiday bowl, during Super Bowl, etc.

I had considered this before, but now since the card is working so well, it is more prevelant.

I believe the tuner module may be the real culprit. Don't get me wrong, once the signal is captured, the card does a great job of tuning. I could give more specifics and symptoms, but this would get lengthy, and I'm not positive yet.

It seems too obvious to be coincidence. I live in Austin, and everyone in town was watching UT in the holiday bowl. I have cable, and when the RR-G doesn't seem to work, it then picks up local channels even though still set for cable. hmmm

Anyway, it's just a thought and if anyone could substantiate it, it'd be cool.

kleinbull