I have at the mo a 1.2gig athlon with half gig ram. When I play my freecom, even though I have really good reception, it does freeze and stall. I put this down to the fact that even thought the machine is above minimum requirements, it is a bit old. I then read chris' message, and he said that he has fine playback on a similar specced machine.
I checked the task manger, and the freezing seems to happen when the system idle process aswell as freeom push the process percentage over 85%. In the examples I have seen, there are no other processes using any CPU.
I am kinda confused by SIP, as on google it says its the percentage of CPU not being used????!?!?!? (is this right)
Anyone have any ideas on how to make my machine be able to record without and freezing.
Tried to record Planet Earth, but it had freezing. I did all I could think of. Turned off all the things in the system tray I could think of, and still it happned...
PS I am using USB2
Nick B
Athlon's like yours (most likely the Applewood core) work on different FSB (Front Side Bus) speeds and, from memory, have much lower L2 and L1 caches than Celeron M's. Essentially, what this means is that, although the poster with the Celeron M has a lower overall power (200 MHz less than your machine), it actually can store more operations and outcomes (the L2 and L1 caches) and thanks to the higher FSB, it's core clock speed is actually faster - or to put it in extreme laymans terms, it gets more crap done per clock cycle (whereby 1.2 GHz would be 1.2 thousand million cycles per second) than an Athlon, although newer Athlon 64's actually get more crap done per clock cycle than Pentium 4's - but that's for another day.
Also, Celeron Ms tend to be optimised for multimedia applications, whereas AMD had their heads in the sand and just made "yet another" generic processor; hence Celerons will perform better than the original Athlons for multimedia tasks (although again, i must stress that with the introduction of the Athlon 64, this has changed somewhat).
The other thing to take into account is the amount of RAM the poster with the 1.3 Celeron M has, and the speed at which that RAM runs. Essentially though, without getting more technical, i would either think of upgrading your system to an Intel Pentium 4, Celeron D or Athlon 64 system (all of which are quite cheap if you go for the lower end of the spectrum to put it in a measurable framework, a socket 754 2800+ Athlon 64 will set you back around £70, whereas a 2.8 GHz Intel Pentium 4 will be around £60ish) or checking that software such as antivirus and firewall software isn't running.
Athlon's like yours (most likely the Applewood core) work on different FSB (Front Side Bus) speeds and, from memory, have much lower L2 and L1 caches than Celeron M's. Essentially, what this means is that, although the poster with the Celeron M has a lower overall power (200 MHz less than your machine), it actually can store more operations and outcomes (the L2 and L1 caches) and thanks to the higher FSB, it's core clock speed is actually faster - or to put it in extreme laymans terms, it gets more crap done per clock cycle (whereby 1.2 GHz would be 1.2 thousand million cycles per second) than an Athlon, although newer Athlon 64's actually get more crap done per clock cycle than Pentium 4's - but that's for another day.
Also, Celeron Ms tend to be optimised for multimedia applications, whereas AMD had their heads in the sand and just made "yet another" generic processor; hence Celerons will perform better than the original Athlons for multimedia tasks (although again, i must stress that with the introduction of the Athlon 64, this has changed somewhat).
The other thing to take into account is the amount of RAM the poster with the 1.3 Celeron M has, and the speed at which that RAM runs. Essentially though, without getting more technical, i would either think of upgrading your system to an Intel Pentium 4, Celeron D or Athlon 64 system (all of which are quite cheap if you go for the lower end of the spectrum to put it in a measurable framework, a socket 754 2800+ Athlon 64 will set you back around £70, whereas a 2.8 GHz Intel Pentium 4 will be around £60ish) or checking that software such as antivirus and firewall software isn't running.
Appoligies if this post got too technical.
Good post. Hell, I learned a thing or two just from reading it.
For the record, I have a Dell Inspiron 6000 with 512MB of RAM, with the 1.3 Ghz Celeron M running on XP Pro, Service Pack 2. I'm running Direct X 9c via an Intel 915GM graphics card.
I've spent at least 5 hours watching Freeview via the Freecom (which I got on Friday), and so far, I've had no lock-ups or freezing while watching telly. I've even done a test-recording and played it back - again, no problems.
Like a lot of people here, I'm having problems trying to use the Yakumo drivers with my Freecom DVB-T Stick. I'm wondering if somebody could help us out by spelling out explicitly what we're doing wrong...
I have downloaded the latest Yakumo drivers (http://www.yakumo.com/downloads/drivers/DVB-T/Quickstick/BDA_Driver.zip). The zip file contains four files - BDA_Loader_220.inf and .sys, and BDA_Capture_220.inf and .sys. BDA_Loader_220 is version 5.7.29.0 and BDA_Capture_220 is version 1.0.0.36.
I've tried on a clean machine and a 'dirty' machine which already had the Freecom drivers, and during installation when asked for the drivers, if I point to the yakumo BDA_Loader/Capture files I simply get the message 'The specified location does not contain information about your hardware.' and refuses to progress further.
I bought the hardware a couple of days ago so it's a new unit - is it possible that it is not compatible with the Yakumo drivers? I'm not sure if anything has changed recently?
Please can somebody lend a hand as I really want to get this working without the ropey Freecom software. (Does anybody know where to get the Yakumo software BTW?)
Cheers,
Matt
I'm getting the same problem as Matt. When it comes to installing it with the Yakumo drivers, I point to the folder containing the Yakumo files (4 files as above) and I always get the "'The specified location does not contain information about your hardware" error.
Can anyone advise on this point please?
So far the only way to get this to work is with the supplied Freecom drivers, and they're taking over the CPU time completely!
make sure when you uninstall the freecom drivers, delete the drivers from system32/drivers.
I did this and I was able to load the drivers - shame I could not get the software to work!!!!!
make sure when you uninstall the freecom drivers, delete the drivers from system32/drivers.
I did this and I was able to load the drivers - shame I could not get the software to work!!!!!
There must be something here which I'm missing. I've tried every combination of starting from scratch to fully installed with Freecom drivers and then updating them.
Every time I specify the location of the Yakumo drivers, it's saying "The specified location does not contain information about your hardware."
I've read that you need to install the drivers when the PC is clean of Freecom drivers. So from that position:
- Plug the stick into a USB port
- The PC detects a new USB device and opens the window to install new driver
- Guide it to the folder where the Yakumo drivers are
- That error appears every time
Are we talking about the same .zip file from Yakumo? It's called "BDA_Driver.zip" and contains the 4 files Matt described.
Just as RudeShark says, I've tried on a machine that's never had the drivers installed and on a machine that's already got the Freecom drivers on it - all I get is that message! "The specified location does not contain information about your hardware."
I'm pretty convinced I must have got the wrong drivers but these are the only ones available on the Yakumo site. Anyone with a working Freecom stick using Yakumo drivers, could you please at least tell me what file you downloaded from their site? As said above, the file I downloaded was called "BDA_Driver.zip" and contains only the 4 files listed above.
I *really* want to get this working so *please* help! Thanks
Hi I got the Freecom DVB - T USB Stick and it works perfectly I haven’t installed any other drivers.
Is it possible to plug your VCR into it or won’t it work? I have been unsuccessful so far.
Simon.
No. The Freecom is a digital-only device that extracts the DTV element of the aerial signal and processes it. You'd need an analogue card or device to accept a signal from a VCR.
Just as RudeShark says, I've tried on a machine that's never had the drivers installed and on a machine that's already got the Freecom drivers on it - all I get is that message! "The specified location does not contain information about your hardware."
I'm pretty convinced I must have got the wrong drivers but these are the only ones available on the Yakumo site. Anyone with a working Freecom stick using Yakumo drivers, could you please at least tell me what file you downloaded from their site? As said above, the file I downloaded was called "BDA_Driver.zip" and contains only the 4 files listed above.
I *really* want to get this working so *please* help! Thanks
Matt.
Is it possible that the latest Freecom "sticks" use a different chip-set to the earlier versions ?
(hence the Yakumo drivers are not suitable)
I have had mine a while and the Yakumo drivers work OK.
Is it possible that the latest Freecom "sticks" use a different chip-set to the earlier versions ?
(hence the Yakumo drivers are not suitable)
I have had mine a while and the Yakumo drivers work OK.
Mine (which works with at least the old Yakumo drivers (the version that included the TV viewer, etc. - not sure about the current ones on their site)) says 'Made in Taiwan September 2005'
I really want to get one of these, and most people seem to rave about it. But I have got a couple of questions before I buy one.
Firstly it seems that it saves it as mpeg 2 format. Is this exactly the same as the DVD mpeg2. If I wanted to put a program onto dvd, can I without recompressing it? I want to keep the quality as high as possible. Does anyone know of a tutorial for this?
The transmissions are MPEG2 but that doesn't necessarily mean that it's compatible with DVD - sometimes they are cutting costs by not transmitting at DVD resolution.
AFAICS the BBC and the main ITV and Channel 4 stations are fine because they are transmitting (IIRC) a 768x480 video image but I've found that stations like "More 4" are transmitting something like 700x480. That's not compatible with DVD so you'd have to re-encode those ones.
Furthermore, I've found that the BBC sometimes transmits a station with > max DVD rates (~10Mb/s). My burner software warns me that it might not work, but it seems that the DVD players I've tried can handle the higher rate.
I recently bought the Yuan PD300, which is (by all accounts) the same stick (it works with the Yukamo drivers as well). However, I'm having a slight problem trying to use it with DC-DVB - thread here: http://forum.digitalspy.co.uk/board/showthread.php?t=354240
Has anyone had this problem with the Freecom and, if so, how did you manage to fix it? Cheers.
No. The Freecom is a digital-only device that extracts the DTV element of the aerial signal and processes it. You'd need an analogue card or device to accept a signal from a VCR.
The resolution on the BBC channels is 720x576. ITV uses 704x576 on ITV1 and 544x576 on others. Those are the three resolutions used on the other channels too. The type of MPEG broadcast is called Transport Stream (TS). To use on a DVD it needs to be converted to Program Stream (PS). If your DVD authoring software can't do this directly, run it through something like ProjectX to demultiplex the sound and video, as this will also drop the reported bitrate to the true level, not the false high rates that the broadcasters tag their streams with.
To use a 544x576 stream on a DVD and have the picture the correct aspect ratio, use the DVD Patcher program AFTER you have demultiplexed in ProjectX.
It might sound complicated, but once you've done it once it is really straightforward.
I've just installled by freecom usb freeview, works really well, however i can see im missing a few channels, ITV1,2,3 and 4, i am in a E11 postcode, using the areiral that came with it. can any1 help me out?
Try it with a better aerial, as you'd have to be under the transmitter to get perfect reception with the mini aerials that are supplied with these devices. The ITV/C4 multiplex is using a less robust transmission method, hence likely to cause more problems than the Beeb's.
My Freecom Stick says on the back 'February 2006' and refuses to have anything to do with the Yakumo drivers. I'm fairly PC-competent so I'm sure it's not a simple numptie-problem. Either the drivers are different (which it sounds like I'm trying to use the same ones as everyone else) or the hardware is different. I'm suspecting the latter and now I'll have to hold my breath and hope Freecom get round to releasing a bda driver.
My Freecom Stick says on the back 'February 2006' and refuses to have anything to do with the Yakumo drivers. I'm fairly PC-competent so I'm sure it's not a simple numptie-problem. Either the drivers are different (which it sounds like I'm trying to use the same ones as everyone else) or the hardware is different. I'm suspecting the latter and now I'll have to hold my breath and hope Freecom get round to releasing a bda driver.
Thanks anyway,
Matt
Yep, mine has February 2006 on the back of it too.
My Freecom Stick has November 2005 on the back and i can install the yakumo bda drivers ok, but when trying to use the device afterwards, it just hangs the pc.
Sometimes i can scan for channels using the bda drivers and start to watch a channel but within a second the pc then freezes completely and the reset button has to be pressed
Mind you it works fine with the current freecom drivers.
Also my pc won't boot with the stick plugged in, take it out and it boots fine, plug it in straight after boot and all is fine too! :eek:
I suspect i have to mess with the bios settings in case it is trying to boot from a usb device, anyone else had this problem?
Comments
Also, Celeron Ms tend to be optimised for multimedia applications, whereas AMD had their heads in the sand and just made "yet another" generic processor; hence Celerons will perform better than the original Athlons for multimedia tasks (although again, i must stress that with the introduction of the Athlon 64, this has changed somewhat).
The other thing to take into account is the amount of RAM the poster with the 1.3 Celeron M has, and the speed at which that RAM runs. Essentially though, without getting more technical, i would either think of upgrading your system to an Intel Pentium 4, Celeron D or Athlon 64 system (all of which are quite cheap if you go for the lower end of the spectrum to put it in a measurable framework, a socket 754 2800+ Athlon 64 will set you back around £70, whereas a 2.8 GHz Intel Pentium 4 will be around £60ish) or checking that software such as antivirus and firewall software isn't running.
Appoligies if this post got too technical.
Good post. Hell, I learned a thing or two just from reading it.
For the record, I have a Dell Inspiron 6000 with 512MB of RAM, with the 1.3 Ghz Celeron M running on XP Pro, Service Pack 2. I'm running Direct X 9c via an Intel 915GM graphics card.
I've spent at least 5 hours watching Freeview via the Freecom (which I got on Friday), and so far, I've had no lock-ups or freezing while watching telly. I've even done a test-recording and played it back - again, no problems.
Maybe I'm just lucky.
I'm getting the same problem as Matt. When it comes to installing it with the Yakumo drivers, I point to the folder containing the Yakumo files (4 files as above) and I always get the "'The specified location does not contain information about your hardware" error.
Can anyone advise on this point please?
So far the only way to get this to work is with the supplied Freecom drivers, and they're taking over the CPU time completely!
Cheers,
RS.
I did this and I was able to load the drivers - shame I could not get the software to work!!!!!
There must be something here which I'm missing. I've tried every combination of starting from scratch to fully installed with Freecom drivers and then updating them.
Every time I specify the location of the Yakumo drivers, it's saying "The specified location does not contain information about your hardware."
I've read that you need to install the drivers when the PC is clean of Freecom drivers. So from that position:
- Plug the stick into a USB port
- The PC detects a new USB device and opens the window to install new driver
- Guide it to the folder where the Yakumo drivers are
- That error appears every time
Are we talking about the same .zip file from Yakumo? It's called "BDA_Driver.zip" and contains the 4 files Matt described.
It's driving me mad.
RS.
Also can we have a list of 3rd party apps that are compatible with the freecom stick?
Thanks!
I'm pretty convinced I must have got the wrong drivers but these are the only ones available on the Yakumo site. Anyone with a working Freecom stick using Yakumo drivers, could you please at least tell me what file you downloaded from their site? As said above, the file I downloaded was called "BDA_Driver.zip" and contains only the 4 files listed above.
I *really* want to get this working so *please* help! Thanks
Matt.
Is it possible to plug your VCR into it or won’t it work? I have been unsuccessful so far.
Simon.
BDA_Capture_220.inf (2,720 bytes)
BDA_Loader_220.inf (1,582 bytes)
The two files with the same names but with .sys file extension
HTH
No. The Freecom is a digital-only device that extracts the DTV element of the aerial signal and processes it. You'd need an analogue card or device to accept a signal from a VCR.
Is it possible that the latest Freecom "sticks" use a different chip-set to the earlier versions ?
(hence the Yakumo drivers are not suitable)
I have had mine a while and the Yakumo drivers work OK.
Frank
The label on the back of my USB stick says;
Made in Taiwan November 2005
AFAICS the BBC and the main ITV and Channel 4 stations are fine because they are transmitting (IIRC) a 768x480 video image but I've found that stations like "More 4" are transmitting something like 700x480. That's not compatible with DVD so you'd have to re-encode those ones.
Furthermore, I've found that the BBC sometimes transmits a station with > max DVD rates (~10Mb/s). My burner software warns me that it might not work, but it seems that the DVD players I've tried can handle the higher rate.
I recently bought the Yuan PD300, which is (by all accounts) the same stick (it works with the Yukamo drivers as well). However, I'm having a slight problem trying to use it with DC-DVB - thread here: http://forum.digitalspy.co.uk/board/showthread.php?t=354240
Has anyone had this problem with the Freecom and, if so, how did you manage to fix it? Cheers.
Thanks Joegib
Simon.
To use a 544x576 stream on a DVD and have the picture the correct aspect ratio, use the DVD Patcher program AFTER you have demultiplexed in ProjectX.
It might sound complicated, but once you've done it once it is really straightforward.
Try it with a better aerial, as you'd have to be under the transmitter to get perfect reception with the mini aerials that are supplied with these devices. The ITV/C4 multiplex is using a less robust transmission method, hence likely to cause more problems than the Beeb's.
Thanks anyway,
Matt
Yep, mine has February 2006 on the back of it too.
RS.
Sometimes i can scan for channels using the bda drivers and start to watch a channel but within a second the pc then freezes completely and the reset button has to be pressed
Mind you it works fine with the current freecom drivers.
Also my pc won't boot with the stick plugged in, take it out and it boots fine, plug it in straight after boot and all is fine too! :eek:
I suspect i have to mess with the bios settings in case it is trying to boot from a usb device, anyone else had this problem?
September 2005 on the back of mine and the Yakuo drivers work OK.
It looks possible that Freecom have changed the chipset between Sept 2005 and the Feb 2006 batches :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: