The most common issues that arise when using WinCast/TV tend to involve VGA card compatibility. Since the DirectDraw software technology is relatively new, not all VGA cards will support it equally well. We have several programs in place to assist you as you upgrade to DirectDraw, a step you will want to take not only for WinCast/TV, but also because many new game and entertainment programs are being written for DirectDraw!
VGA chips which normally include Direct Draw drivers and normally DO NOT require updates includes: S3 Trio64V+ and ViRGE, ATI Rage and ET6000 based VGA boards.
There is also a new program called DDCHECK.EXE which checks to see if your VGA card has Direct Draw support. This program can be found on the WinCast Driver Disk in the DRV directory. To run it, put the WinCast Driver Disk in your floppy disk drive and click on Start/Run and then:
a:\DRV\DDCHECK.EXE
If the message is: "Good news. We have detected a compatible VGA card and driver", it means your VGA card has a Direct Draw driver which will support the WinCast or WinTVpci.
If not, we have included a VGA Driver Disk which contains updates to the driver software for several popular VGA chips. The Installation and Reference Manual explains how to update your drivers from the disk. Also, various software updates can also be downloaded from our Web site, and the Web sites of VGA card and chip manufacturers.
It is sometimes useful to force WinCast/TV to use a mode of operation of your VGA card known as Primary Surface mode. This can be helpful in eliminating compatibility problems, or improving picture quality on some VGA boards, and when used in some resolutions.
To force WinCast/TV to use Primary Surface mode, run the program "PRIMARY", which is installed with the Win/TV application. Click on the "Start" button, then "Programs" and then "Win_TV". Click on "Primary". Click on "Force Primary" then close the program by clicking on the "X". The Primary program simply makes a settig in the Windows95 Registry that tells WinCast/TV to use the Primary mode of operation. This can be changed at any time to "Allow Overlay" by re-running Primary.
Note: When using Primay Surface mode, you will not be able to view live Closed Caption data overlaid on your TV Window when using the Intel Intercast Viewer. However, you will still be able to save the Closed Caption data to a file !
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 c:\Program Files\Wintv directory on your PC. To install this update so it takes effect every time you turn your system on, add the line
c:\wintv3\765
to your AUTOEXEC.BAT file (found in the C:\ directory)..
The WinCast/TV 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.
After installing the WinCast/TV, 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 "Hauppauge WinCast/TV".
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 Hauppauge WinCast/TV. This brings up the Hauppauge WinCast Properties window. Then click on Resources.
Take a look at the setting for the Interrupt. If there is no Interrupt listed, then Windows95 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.
The first way you can try to get a free interrupt is by swapping PCI slots:
Put the WinCast in another free PCI slot and then reboot your PC. After rebooting, check in the Windows95 Device Manager to see if there is an assigned Interrupt for the WinCast. Note: you will need to reinstall the WinCast driver if Windows 95 gives you the message New Multimedia Device has been found during the reboot. Have your WinCast Driver disk ready during the reboot..
Or:
Swap the WinCast with another PCI device. For example, if you have a VGA card in the first PCI slot and the WinCast in the second PCI slot, swap them (while the power is off, of course!) and then reboot Windows95. This often clears up an interrupt conflict because Windows 95 will reassign the PCI interrupts. Once again, check the Windows95 Device Manager for a non-conflicting interrupt for WinCast.
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 WinCast. 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:
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 WinCast. 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 Windows95 DeviceManager) that IRQ 9 is being used by your LAN card, yet Windows95 insists on assigning IRQ9 to the WinCast, 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 WinCast.
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 WinCast. For example, if you know IRQ 10 is not being used, you can sometimes assign this interrupt to the PCI slot that the WinCast card is in.
The following PCI interrupt specifications are needed by the WinCast and WinTVpci. 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:
Some PC's do not have all PCI slots as bus-master slots. This will require moving WinCast/TV to another slot which is a bus-master slot.
When using the WinCast/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 either Win/TV or the Intel Intercast Viewer. 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 WinCast/TV. To fix this problem, you need to manually readjust the Memory Address of the WinCast/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 Hauppauge WinCast/TV. This brings up the Hauppauge WinCast/TV Properties window. Then click on Resources.
| Now un-click the Use automatic settings. Highlight |
The Memory Address range of the WinCast/TV is a set of two 8 digit hexidecimal 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 hexidemical arithmatic!). This changes the memory space between the Vision968 and the WinCast/TV to 64Mbytes. For example:
| original configuration | increase by 4 | decrease by 8 |
|---|---|---|
| 80000000-80000FFF | 84000000-84000FFF | 78000000-78000FFF |
| FFFA0000-FFFA0FFF | can't do | F7FA0000-F7FA0FFF |
Some installations report a class of problems with the Intel Intercast Viewer, but are able to use the Win/TV application without trouble. The typical symptom is the Intercast Viewer gives a Windows 95 Error when trying to change channels. This program can be fixed by downloading the latest Intercast Viewer. Click here for information on downloading the new Intercast viewer.
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