# DIRECTV2PC v5020 - Issues & Discussion



## Doug Brott (Jul 12, 2006)

*Important Note:*

Please, * DO NOT CALL CUSTOMER SUPPORT* about this beta version.
Your cooperation in this matter is greatly appreciated.

*The Contents of this CE Download: (Differences based on last National Release)*

*Download v5020*
*Download DIRECTV2PC Playback Advisor*

*New features*

Video Acceleration when available
Support for Friendly Names
Offer "Retry" when content cannot be played due to HDCP support issue
Change activation key: when receiving "incorrect activation key"
New EULA (please read)
Prevent screen capture of D2PC app
Ability to connect to update server
Support for Windows 7 Activation

*Improved/Updated*

Trick Play
video / audio mismatch in FF mode
Lip sync issues
Server lookup/connection consistency
Parental: when no PIN, default setting is unlocked
Edge sharpness during playback in full screen
ATSC playback audio
Video lockup when changing audio/video several times
parental controls
refined "Download now" behavior
Closed Captioning
Improved playback when USB device in use
"Showcase" tab is now "Top Movies"

*Notes*

Please use your existing DIRECTV2PC key .. If you do not have one, please complete the Beta Download process @ http://www.directv.com/directv2pc


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## Doug Brott (Jul 12, 2006)

Please make use of the Download DIRECTV2PC Playback Advisor to verify that your hardware is capable of utilizing the DIRECTV2PC application


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## Doug Brott (Jul 12, 2006)

DIRECTV has decided to make this latest beta available to everyone @ DBSTalk.com. The DIRECTV2PC application can be used to view content on any HR2x receiver that is properly configured on your home network.

A few months ago, DIRECTV released the first beta version to the public at http://www.directv.com/directv2pc .. Version 5020 is a significant improvement over the first beta. If you are still using the first beta or have not yet tried DIRECTV, now is your opportunity to try the latest DIRECTV2PC application.

Enjoy.


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## ozonedan (Dec 27, 2005)

I installed it a couple of days ago. No matter what I try to play the same thing happens.
The selection will start to play, stop and a message pops up that says, "Can not play video from output source because hardware protections cannot be installed.", or something like that.


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## wilbur_the_goose (Aug 16, 2006)

ozone - I have the same issue if I output to my TV via component. 

I think it's because of digital copy protection.


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## ozonedan (Dec 27, 2005)

wilbur_the_goose said:


> ozone - I have the same issue if I output to my TV via component.
> 
> I think it's because of digital copy protection.


I'm connected by hdmi. Didn't have this problem with the previous DIRECTV2PC version. I don't really use the program that much. It's more of a novelty for me. But if it isn't working I want to know why.


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## Doug Brott (Jul 12, 2006)

ozonedan said:


> I'm connected by hdmi. Didn't have this problem with the previous DIRECTV2PC version. I don't really use the program that much. It's more of a novelty for me. But if it isn't working I want to know why.


Did you run the advisor program?


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## veryoldschool (Dec 10, 2006)

ozonedan said:


> I installed it a couple of days ago. No matter what I try to play the same thing happens.
> The selection will start to play, stop and a message pops up that says, "Can not play video from output source because hardware protections cannot be installed.", or something like that.


"feedback" is helpful when it includes the hardware/software being used [ie: what's your video card/drivers, etc.]


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## Rockermann (Aug 9, 2007)

Should the original beta be uninstalled before installing the update?


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## veryoldschool (Dec 10, 2006)

Rockermann said:


> Should the original beta be uninstalled before installing the update?


I've always started the new install and had it remove the older version [which it does before doing the new install].


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## Rockermann (Aug 9, 2007)

Excellent.. Good to know it has a built in uninstaller. Thanks!


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## bobnielsen (Jun 29, 2006)

Since this version (and the previous one, as well) check for updates when starting up, it would be nice if that process would actually do an update.


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## DaveRustici (Aug 15, 2007)

For a HD recording after a couple of minutes of viewing the video stops updating (basically a still picture) and the audio continues on. Has anyone else seen this behavior? An SD recording seems to be OK although I have not watch anything for a long period of time.

My video card is an ATI 4670, processor is Intel Duo Core 2 E8400 and I have windows 7.


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## dbronstein (Oct 21, 2002)

Apparently they haven't fixed the joke process of getting a key. I don't have my key so I tried to get a new one and it says I've exceeded the maximum number of requests for this e-mail address. But there's no way to get the key associated with my e-mail address. So now I have to create a new e-mail account just to get a new key. What a joke.


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## dbronstein (Oct 21, 2002)

ozonedan said:


> I installed it a couple of days ago. No matter what I try to play the same thing happens.
> The selection will start to play, stop and a message pops up that says, "Can not play video from output source because hardware protections cannot be installed.", or something like that.


I have the same problem. The previous version worked fine. Does anyone know how to fix it?


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## digitalfreak (Nov 30, 2006)

- Still hangs my PC for ~10 seconds when closing the program.
+/- CPU utilization is about the same - MPEG2 content ~16%, MPEG4 content ~70%. My video card doesn't support hardware MPEG4 decode, so I guess that's to be expected.
+ Menus seem more responsive
- Still very slow using the 30 second skip. Clicking it multiple times doesn't queue like it does on the physical DVR.

System:
AMD Opteron 185 (dual-core, 2.6Ghz)
4GB RAM
Nvidia Geforce 8800GTX
Windows Vista Ultimate x64


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## veryoldschool (Dec 10, 2006)

digitalfreak said:


> - Still hangs my PC for ~10 seconds when closing the program.
> +/- CPU utilization is about the same - MPEG2 content ~16%, MPEG4 content ~70%. My video card doesn't support hardware MPEG4 decode, so I guess that's to be expected.
> + Menus seem more responsive
> - Still very slow using the 30 second skip. Clicking it multiple times doesn't queue like it does on the physical DVR.
> ...


Your video card is fine/great, but "I'd guess" the 64 bit drivers are [one of] your problem(s).


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## azjerry (Jan 13, 2008)

dbronstein said:


> Apparently they haven't fixed the joke process of getting a key. I don't have my key so I tried to get a new one and it says I've exceeded the maximum number of requests for this e-mail address. But there's no way to get the key associated with my e-mail address. So now I have to create a new e-mail account just to get a new key. What a joke.


Same happened to me. I re-submitted using a different email address hours ago and haven't gotten a new key yet.


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## ozonedan (Dec 27, 2005)

veryoldschool said:


> "feedback" is helpful when it includes the hardware/software being used [ie: what's your video card/drivers, etc.]


My video card is an NVIDIA GeFORCE 6100 n FORCE 405. The advisor says it failed. However, so did the advisor on the original version. But it worked fine.


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## STEVEN-H (Jan 19, 2007)

dbronstein said:


> Apparently they haven't fixed the joke process of getting a key. I don't have my key so I tried to get a new one and it says I've exceeded the maximum number of requests for this e-mail address. But there's no way to get the key associated with my e-mail address. So now I have to create a new e-mail account just to get a new key. What a joke.


I have the same problem an have pretty much given up testing this product.


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## dbronstein (Oct 21, 2002)

I will say I got it working on my wife's PC (apparently it likes her video card) and the problem of the status bar not going away has been fixed. Although HD still doesn't work because it's too choppy. But since we went from being able to use it on two PCs to only being able to use it on one PC, overall it's a definite decline in performance.


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## veryoldschool (Dec 10, 2006)

ozonedan said:


> My video card is an NVIDIA GeFORCE 6100 n FORCE 405. The advisor says it failed. However, so did the advisor on the original version. But it worked fine.


That chip doesn't seem to work with this version. There have been several [many] posts that the 6150 chip isn't supported with the newer version. I haven't even tried it with my 6600GT, since it can't off load the h.264 decoding.


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## juniormaj (Feb 9, 2009)

STEVEN-H said:


> I have the same problem an have pretty much given up testing this product.


That's pretty much where I've been at for over a month. It's a shame, because I'd really like to give it a go.


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## Doug Brott (Jul 12, 2006)

dbronstein said:


> Apparently they haven't fixed the joke process of getting a key. I don't have my key so I tried to get a new one and it says I've exceeded the maximum number of requests for this e-mail address. But there's no way to get the key associated with my e-mail address. So now I have to create a new e-mail account just to get a new key. What a joke.


If anyone is having this problem, please send a private message to me with the e-mail address you submitted and I will ask DIRECTV to look up the information for you.


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## Doug Brott (Jul 12, 2006)

azjerry said:


> Same happened to me. I re-submitted using a different email address hours ago and haven't gotten a new key yet.


DIRECTV will not send a key unless you download the (old) beta completely. If you simply put in your e-mail address and did not complete the download, then a key will have never been sent to you.


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## evan_s (Mar 4, 2008)

digitalfreak said:


> - Still hangs my PC for ~10 seconds when closing the program.
> +/- CPU utilization is about the same - MPEG2 content ~16%, MPEG4 content ~70%. My video card doesn't support hardware MPEG4 decode, so I guess that's to be expected.
> + Menus seem more responsive
> - Still very slow using the 30 second skip. Clicking it multiple times doesn't queue like it does on the physical DVR.
> ...


Is your video card a 640mb model or a 512mb model? If it's a 640 mb model then it doesn't support mpeg4 decoding. If it's a 512mb model it should support it and should be much lower than that on the processor usage.


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## veryoldschool (Dec 10, 2006)

evan_s said:


> Is your video card a 640mb model or a 512mb model? If it's a 640 mb model then it doesn't support mpeg4 decoding. If it's a 512mb model it should support it and should be much lower than that on the processor usage.


 If nVidia "knows" their models, it shouldn't be a problem: http://www.nvidia.com/page/geforce_8800.html


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## thudman99 (Jan 20, 2007)

It appears that 5020 has a slow but steady memory leak during playback which will eventually use all available RAM. In task manager you can watch the DIRECTV2PC(TM).exe process slowly tick up.

On my PC which has 2gb, it regularly gets up above 1gb.

Other than that and the performance issues that creates its works fine for me.


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## keenan (Feb 8, 2005)

I think it also doesn't shut down properly every time, I get a CyberLink Engine 3 error("program not closed" - something to that effect) upon computer shutdown on occasion.

Haven't noticed the memory leak, but I'll watch for it and see what it does.


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## evan_s (Mar 4, 2008)

veryoldschool said:


> If nVidia "knows" their models, it shouldn't be a problem: http://www.nvidia.com/page/geforce_8800.html


The orginal 8800gts with 768 or 640mb of ram don't support mpeg4 decoding. Only the 256/512mb models support mpeg 4 decoding. The original G80 chips used didn't have a fully functional pure video decoder. The newer g92 core which is what is used for all the 256/512 mb models does have the full functionality.


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## MountainMan10 (Jan 31, 2008)

Playback advisor gives all green.
CPU : Intel(R) Core(TM)2 CPU 6600 @ 2.40GHz Yes 
__dwItemID=1001__ : szLibCPUName = Intel(R) Core(TM)2 CPU 6600 @ 
__dwItemID=1002__ : dwLibClockRate = 2397 
__dwItemID=1003__ : dwLibFamily = 6, dwLibModel=15, dwLibStepping=6 
__dwItemID=1004__ : dwLibNumPhysicalProc = 2, dwLibNumCorePerPackage=2, dwLibNumLogicalPerCore=0 
__dwItemID=1005__ : dwLibCorePerPackage = 2, dwLibTotalLogicals=2 
__dwItemID=1006__ : szWMIName=Intel(R) Core(TM)2 CPU 6600 @ 2.40GHz 
__dwItemID=1007__ : szWMIManufacturer=GenuineIntel 
__dwItemID=1008__ : dwWMIMaxClockSpeed=2400 
__dwItemID=1009__ : bBatteryExist=0 
__dwItemID=1010__ : szGuess=Core Duo TXX (Conroe) 
CPU (Hardware acceleration) : No hardware decoder detected Yes 
System Memory : 2048 MB Yes 
Operating System : Windows XP Service Pack 3 Yes 
Graphics Card : NVIDIA GeForce 8400 GS Yes 
__dwItemID=1301__ : Adapter Compatibility: NVIDIA 
__dwItemID=1302__ : VideoProcessor: GeForce 8400 GS 
__dwItemID=1303__ : Screen Capture Protection - NVAPI RGBOverlay=Yes 
__dwItemID=1305__ : GPUDetectPass Yes 
Graphics card video memory : 512 MB 
Graphics Card Driver : 6.14.11.8206 Yes 
__dwItemID=1501__ : 2D Driver=6.14.11.8206 
__dwItemID=1502__ : COPP=Yes 
__dwItemID=1503__ : RGBOverlay=Yes 
__dwItemID=1504__ : DEVICE=N/A 
Video Connection Type : Analog Yes 
Network Adapter : ETHERNET: Intel(R) PRO/1000 PL Network Connection #2 - Packet Scheduler Miniport Yes 
Network Adapter : ETHERNET: Intel(R) PRO/1000 PL Network Connection - Packet Scheduler Miniport Yes 
Program version : 1.0.0.1323 
System language : 0409 ENU English English 
Time : Mon Mar 02 15:03:35 2009 
Computer : Desktop 

Content plays for a few seconds and then:
DIRECT2PC cannot play the video content on your output device, because it can not apply hardware protection mechanism. Try updating your driver or re-select the video content.


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## keenan (Feb 8, 2005)

thudman99 said:


> It appears that 5020 has a slow but steady memory leak during playback which will eventually use all available RAM. In task manager you can watch the DIRECTV2PC(TM).exe process slowly tick up.
> 
> On my PC which has 2gb, it regularly gets up above 1gb.
> 
> Other than that and the performance issues that creates its works fine for me.


Not seeing the memory leak, been running it for 1.5 hrs and it stays right about 120mb.


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## digitalfreak (Nov 30, 2006)

evan_s said:


> Is your video card a 640mb model or a 512mb model? If it's a 640 mb model then it doesn't support mpeg4 decoding. If it's a 512mb model it should support it and should be much lower than that on the processor usage.


Check my original post. I know my card doesn't support MPEG4 decoding.


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## dvst8_ (Aug 30, 2007)

DaveRustici said:


> For a HD recording after a couple of minutes of viewing the video stops updating (basically a still picture) and the audio continues on. Has anyone else seen this behavior? An SD recording seems to be OK although I have not watch anything for a long period of time.
> 
> My video card is an ATI 4670, processor is Intel Duo Core 2 E8400 and I have windows 7.


I have a similar problem, I think it might be a Windows 7 issue?
E6400 @ 3.1, Geforce 260 SC, 4 GB of Ram, Windows 7 64-bit.

CPU usage is around 7% with MPEG4 HD, after a few minutes the video gets blocky and I have to skip back a second to clean it up, then it happens a few minutes later again over and over.
Updated to the newer Nvidia WDDM 1.1 drivers (released today (03/02) for Windows 7 helped a little. http://www.nvidia.com/object/windows_7.html

DaveRustici, What router are you using? Mine is a D-link DIR-655 (A3, V1.22)


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## memory1 (Dec 3, 2006)

I had to get a new key but so far my Win 7 machine runs without any problems


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## RogueFive (Aug 24, 2008)

R8ders2K said:


> If you haven't already done so, you might want to take a look at the link to the ATI website, as it indicates that the MacBook Pro is also supported...
> BTW, which MacBook Pro do you have? Do you have the new Unibody?


No Unibody for me yet ... but I like the old (silver) keyboard.

Thanks for the link .. should help the BootCamp users.


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## DaveRustici (Aug 15, 2007)

dvst8_ said:


> I have a similar problem, I think it might be a Windows 7 issue?
> E6400 @ 3.1, Geforce 260 SC, 4 GB of Ram, Windows 7 64-bit.
> 
> CPU usage is around 7% with MPEG4 HD, after a few minutes the video gets blocky and I have to skip back a second to clean it up, then it happens a few minutes later again over and over.
> ...


My router is a Linksys WRT54G


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## RogueFive (Aug 24, 2008)

I have a new odd thing happening ... I always had the digital audio coax and analog audio connected. Today I hooked up a digital optical cable as well ... and suddenly Direct2PC is mute. When I unplug the optical, I have sound again on the PC.


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## dadecamp (Aug 6, 2007)

DaveRustici said:


> For a HD recording after a couple of minutes of viewing the video stops updating (basically a still picture) and the audio continues on. Has anyone else seen this behavior? An SD recording seems to be OK although I have not watch anything for a long period of time.
> 
> My video card is an ATI 4670, processor is Intel Duo Core 2 E8400 and I have windows 7.


I have the same thing happen here running Windows 7 64bit . I also tried 5020 on this same computer but with Vista 32bit with the same thing happening. Afer playback running fine for several minutes the video will start stuttering a few frames then repeat the same few stuttering frames over and over while the audio continues to play on. Stoping playback then resuming fixes problem for a few seconds, then it starts problem over again with problem starting within a few seconds.

The older ver of D2PC worked fine on Vista 32bit.

I noticed that there is a new ATI driver out so will try that to see if it helps/fixes problem.

System 
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Manufacturer Gigabyte Technology Co., Ltd. 
Model EP43-DS3L 
Total amount of system memory 8.00 GB RAM 
System type 64-bit operating system 
Number of processor cores 2

Storage 
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Total size of hard disk(s) 1164 GB 
Disk partition (C 50 GB Free (98 GB Total) 
Disk partition (D 217 GB Free (466 GB Total) 
Media drive (E CD/DVD 
Disk partition (F 499 GB Free (601 GB Total)

Graphics 
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Display adapter type ATI Radeon HD 4550 
Total available graphics memory 3323 MB 
Dedicated graphics memory 512 MB 
Dedicated system memory 0 MB 
Shared system memory 2811 MB 
Display adapter driver version 8.582.0.0 
Primary monitor resolution 1920x1080 
DirectX version DirectX 10

Network 
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Network Adapter Realtek RTL8168C(P)/8111C(P) Family PCI-E Gigabit Ethernet NIC (NDIS 6.2)


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## jmschnur (Aug 30, 2006)

dbronstein said:


> Apparently they haven't fixed the joke process of getting a key. I don't have my key so I tried to get a new one and it says I've exceeded the maximum number of requests for this e-mail address. But there's no way to get the key associated with my e-mail address. So now I have to create a new e-mail account just to get a new key. What a joke.


With my old key it tells me I have too many out and need a new. Requests for a new different one have failed so far. 
Doug, Thanks from all of us for looking into this.

Joel


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## Athlon646464 (Feb 23, 2007)

Working great here......

Vista Ultimate 32 bit
Invidia 9800GTX
4 Gig Ram
Dual Core 6600 @ 2.40 GHz (x2)
Networked w/D* provided PLC's


I had a 6800GT and 2 Gig Ram and HD would stutter. Now it is all perfect!

Love it........


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## Rockermann (Aug 9, 2007)

Yeah, I lost my first key and all attempts (three to be exact) to get another have failed. So after installing the update (and letting it remove the earlier version) I'm stuck with nothing.


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## Doug Brott (Jul 12, 2006)

Rockermann said:


> Yeah, I lost my first key and all attempts (three to be exact) to get another have failed. So after installing the update (and letting it remove the earlier version) I'm stuck with nothing.


When you attempted to get new keys did you download the "old" beta completely? If you didn't then Cyberlink would have never sent you a key .. thus why you didn't receive it.


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## Rockermann (Aug 9, 2007)

Doug Brott said:


> When you attempted to get new keys did you download the "old" beta completely? If you didn't then Cyberlink would have never sent you a key .. thus why you didn't receive it.


Ahh... that would probably explain it then as I did NOT download the old beta. I'll do that now. Thanks for the tip.


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## David Carmichael (Mar 12, 2007)

I had to update my video driver for 'copy protection'?!?
::ERROR::
DIRECTV2PC cannot display this video because your graphics card does not currently support screen capture protection for protected content. Try updating your graphics card driver of modify your driver settings.
::::
Luckly ''Intel'' had just posted a new driver last week or I would of been upset as the older version of DirecTV2PC did not have this issue.

--David


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## wilsonc (Aug 22, 2006)

Doug Brott said:


> DIRECTV will not send a key unless you download the (old) beta completely. If you simply put in your e-mail address and did not complete the download, then a key will have never been sent to you.


Doug, thats not what happened to me yesterday. I had to get another key, as soon as I started the download, the key arrived and I stopped the download.


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## wilsonc (Aug 22, 2006)

I am currently recording 2 HD channels. If I try to watch a recorded HD show, I get the message "The Receiver is not responding. Please try again." I can watch content that is SD, but ever time I select something HD, the message comes up.


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## islesfan (Oct 18, 2006)

Works for a while. I downloaded the update, then I ran the program and it played back great. I tried every trick play available and I couldn't get it to stutter.

Later in the evening, my Wife and I settled in to watch NCIS. 30 seconds in, the stuttering, stops and starts, and eventually the "receiver is not responding" message returned. (I tried Burn Notice, and the same result) As best I can tell, it knows when I actually want to USE the program as opposed to when I want to TEST the program. If I am testing, it works great. If I am using it craps out.

I know that the only yellow I get on the advisor is for the Wi-Fi connection. Everything else exceeds the requirements.

For now, DirecTV2PC is a cool novelty idea. Hopefully it will eventually become a workable program.

(note: I was able to watch a SD Smallville, as long as I didn't use trick play and I reastarted it after 45 minutes when the receiver stopped responding.)


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## DaveRustici (Aug 15, 2007)

dadecamp said:


> I have the same thing happen here running Windows 7 64bit . I also tried 5020 on this same computer but with Vista 32bit with the same thing happening. Afer playback running fine for several minutes the video will start stuttering a few frames then repeat the same few stuttering frames over and over while the audio continues to play on. Stoping playback then resuming fixes problem for a few seconds, then it starts problem over again with problem starting within a few seconds.
> 
> The older ver of D2PC worked fine on Vista 32bit.
> 
> ...


This is exactly the same problem that I am seeing. I did try updating to the latest ATI drivers and that did not fix the issue. I also had the orginial software working on Vista.


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## dettxw (Nov 21, 2007)

islesfan said:


> Works for a while. I downloaded the update, then I ran the program and it played back great. I tried every trick play available and I couldn't get it to stutter.
> 
> Later in the evening, my Wife and I settled in to watch NCIS. 30 seconds in, the stuttering, stops and starts, and eventually the "receiver is not responding" message returned. (I tried Burn Notice, and the same result) As best I can tell, it knows when I actually want to USE the program as opposed to when I want to TEST the program. If I am testing, it works great. If I am using it craps out.
> 
> ...


From your advisor report and performance report sounds like a wireless upgrade would help you. 
What kind of setup do you have? You may have lots of neighbors also trying to use the crowded 2.4GHz wireless g band at the same time. 
From much experience I can tell you that wireless n is really required for mpeg4 playback using DIRECTV2PC, at least for consistent playback, trickplay, and especially if you want to do anything else with your network while playing recordings.
If you want good playback with mpeg2 OTA then I recommend a 5GHz wireless setup. You'll have the band to yourself and performance will improve (though there can be range issues vs. 2.4GHz).


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## mopzo (Jun 15, 2007)

dbronstein said:


> Apparently they haven't fixed the joke process of getting a key. I don't have my key so I tried to get a new one and it says I've exceeded the maximum number of requests for this e-mail address. But there's no way to get the key associated with my e-mail address. So now I have to create a new e-mail account just to get a new key. What a joke.


Granted, it's my fault I deleted the email. But the installation should be able to pull the serial number off the old installation. I get nearly instant notifications that I've exceeded my serial numbers. But still waiting for a new serial number when I provided a new email address. Yes I downloaded the whole program. What now? I need a serial number!


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## BubblePuppy (Nov 3, 2006)

Just installed it on my Vista32 laptop.....won't let me activate, says that it cannot connect to internet. Port 443 is open. I also turned off the firewall and still won't connect. Previous version worked well. I think I will uninstall and reinstall unless someone has a better idea.


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## BubblePuppy (Nov 3, 2006)

BubblePuppy said:


> Just installed it on my Vista32 laptop.....won't let me activate, says that* it cannot connect to internet*. Port 443 is open. I also turned off the firewall and still won't connect. Previous version worked well. I think I will uninstall and reinstall unless someone has a better idea.


I uninstalled it and then reinstalled and I get the same message.


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## ATARI (May 10, 2007)

I should have known better.

The old build worked flawless for me. I was really enjoying being able to watch stuff on my computer if the kids were busy watching their programs on the main screen. So, of course, I have to fix what isn't broken and end up breaking it.

My problem -- SD programs play fine, but now HD (MPEG4 I'm assuming) programming, the picture is very garbled looking. Movement leaves pixelly trails. Trick play doesn't work at all.

Advisor shows all green.

Anyway I can get the old build back?


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## kimsan (Nov 18, 2005)

BubblePuppy said:


> Just installed it on my Vista32 laptop.....won't let me activate, says that it cannot connect to internet. Port 443 is open. I also turned off the firewall and still won't connect. Previous version worked well. I think I will uninstall and reinstall unless someone has a better idea.





BubblePuppy said:


> I uninstalled it and then reinstalled and I get the same message.


Same issue with Vista32 on a Dell Hybrid. The original beta ran fine, but new one fails to activate.

Even worse, now the original beta fails to activate, so DirecTV2PC is busted until I can figure a workaround


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## Athlon646464 (Feb 23, 2007)

kimsan said:


> Same issue with Vista32 on a Dell Hybrid. The original beta ran fine, but new one fails to activate.
> 
> Even worse, now the original beta fails to activate, so DirecTV2PC is busted until I can figure a workaround


Same thing happened to me, so I went back to the original version web site @ http://www.directv.com/directv2pc, provided them with one of my other email addresses, downloaded the program and got a new key right away.

I did not need to install the new download or uninstall the new version I had already installed. All I did was enter my new activation key when I got it and it worked!


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## BubblePuppy (Nov 3, 2006)

Athlon646464 said:


> Same thing happened to me, so I went back to the original version web site @ http://www.directv.com/directv2pc, provided them with one of my other email addresses, downloaded the program and got a new key right away.
> 
> I did not need to install the new download or uninstall the new version. All I did was enter my new activation key and it worked.


Good idea, I'll give it a try. I have 5 email address to pick from.:lol:


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## BubblePuppy (Nov 3, 2006)

Athlon646464 said:


> Same thing happened to me, so I went back to the original version web site @ http://www.directv.com/directv2pc, provided them with one of my other email addresses, downloaded the program and got a new key right away.
> 
> I did not need to install the new download or uninstall the new version I had already installed. All I did was enter my new activation key when I got it and it worked!


I went there but I did not see a place to put in a email addy. I download the advisor, though.


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## Athlon646464 (Feb 23, 2007)

BubblePuppy said:


> I went there but I did not see a place to put in a email addy. I download the advisor, though.


Just click the 'Download Beta' button and follow along......... You will be asked for your name and email address.

For me, it was when I clicked 'Download Now' for the advisor program.


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## BubblePuppy (Nov 3, 2006)

Athlon646464 said:


> Just click the 'Download Beta' button and follow along......... You will be asked for your name and email address.


I did and all I can download is the advisor. I wonder if I have to uninstall D2PC. I do have an online account Dtv, I wonder if that if the problem. B


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## Athlon646464 (Feb 23, 2007)

BubblePuppy said:


> I did and all I can download is the advisor. I wonder if I have to uninstall D2PC. I do have an online account Dtv, I wonder if that if the problem. B


When the warning pops up about 'Parental Controls', are you clicking 'Cancel', or 'Continue To Beta Download'?

What's interesting to me after just looking at it is the following:

When I just click on 'Download Now' (which is AFTER the Parental Control warning), I get a page asking for my name and email at the same time a little box pops up to start the download.

If I follow the suggestion to hold my Ctrl key when I click the 'Download Now' button to by-pass pop-up blockers, I DO NOT get the page asking for my name and email! So, don't hold your Ctrl key if you are doing that.

BTW - I'm using Firefox 3.0+


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## BubblePuppy (Nov 3, 2006)

Athlon646464 said:


> When the warning pops up about 'Parental Controls', are you clicking 'Cancel', or *'Continue To Beta Download'*?
> 
> What's interesting to me after just looking at it is the following:
> 
> ...


 I'm clicking "continue". however I need to check my pop-up blocker on my browser.


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## BubblePuppy (Nov 3, 2006)

BubblePuppy said:


> I'm clicking "continue". however I need to check my pop-up blocker on my browser.


I turned off the pop-up blocker in my browser but that didn't do it.


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## Athlon646464 (Feb 23, 2007)

BP - I just tried it in IE, and got similar results, except that the page asking for my name and email opened in a new tab.....

If you are using IE, click the little yellow bar that appears at the top of the page to allow for pop-ups from that site.


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## islesfan (Oct 18, 2006)

dettxw said:


> From your advisor report and performance report sounds like a wireless upgrade would help you.
> What kind of setup do you have? You may have lots of neighbors also trying to use the crowded 2.4GHz wireless g band at the same time.
> From much experience I can tell you that wireless n is really required for mpeg4 playback using DIRECTV2PC, at least for consistent playback, trickplay, and especially if you want to do anything else with your network while playing recordings.
> If you want good playback with mpeg2 OTA then I recommend a 5GHz wireless setup. You'll have the band to yourself and performance will improve (though there can be range issues vs. 2.4GHz).


I do have only G, not N, but an upgrade is not possible. I have a game adapter on the HR20, and that's the money for now. As for interference, however, I live in a rural area, so there's no one close enough to interfere.

The thing that gets me is the way it works only when I am messing around with it. When I try to use it, no go.


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## Athlon646464 (Feb 23, 2007)

BubblePuppy said:


> I turned off the pop-up blocker in my browser but that didn't do it.


I'd send you a link to go directly to that page, but that will not work because you need the PC warning first. If you try and go directly to the page, then you are directed back to the beginning of the process instead.

My guess is that this is a browser issue on your end, and I'm out of ideas. Sorry, perhaps someone else can help......


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## BubblePuppy (Nov 3, 2006)

Athlon646464 said:


> Just click the 'Download Beta' button and follow along......... You will be asked for your name and email address.
> 
> *For me, it was when I clicked 'Download Now' for the advisor program*.


That worked! Thanks.!!!!! 
I had turned off the PU Blocker but did not continue to do the download. I just assumed the email page was on the main page


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## Athlon646464 (Feb 23, 2007)

BubblePuppy said:


> That worked! Thanks.!!!!!
> I had turned off the PU Blocker but did not continue to do the download. I just assumed the email page was on the main page


LOL - glad you worked it out!!

:hurah:


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## kimsan (Nov 18, 2005)

Athlon646464 said:


> Same thing happened to me, so I went back to the original version web site @ http://www.directv.com/directv2pc, provided them with one of my other email addresses, downloaded the program and got a new key right away.
> 
> I did not need to install the new download or uninstall the new version I had already installed. All I did was enter my new activation key when I got it and it worked!


That got you past the "unable to connect to internet" message?


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## Athlon646464 (Feb 23, 2007)

kimsan said:


> That got you past the "unable to connect to internet" message?


I never had that issue.

I'm assuming I was connected to the 'net the whole time because they were able to see a 'key' they did not like (my old one), so I got a new one as I described above.

Sorry - don't know why the program cannot see the internet in your case.


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## kimsan (Nov 18, 2005)

Athlon646464 said:


> I never had that issue.
> 
> I'm assuming I was connected to the 'net the whole time because they were able to see a 'key' they did not like (my old one), so I got a new one as I described above.
> 
> Sorry - don't know why the program cannot see the internet in your case.


Might just be a Vista issue. I'll try a new key there and also try a load on an XP box just to see what's what.


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## robnielsen (Feb 8, 2006)

Unable to activate, get 'Could not connect to the Internet'. I am posting this on the same computer that this is failing on.


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## dc330 (Nov 2, 2006)

But I have a Radeon X550 and I do not see anywhere or find anyplace that will allow me to agree with their ridiculous DRM rules. Anybody else get their older Radeon card to work?


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## kimsan (Nov 18, 2005)

robnielsen said:


> Unable to activate, get 'Could not connect to the Internet'. I am posting this on the same computer that this is failing on.


This seems to be the theme today.

Tried an XP box (previously working) and got the internet failure.

Uninstalled and tried original beta...ditto

Tried new activation number...ditto

Restoring back to an older save pre-fiasco to get DTV2PC back...hopefully


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## jmschnur (Aug 30, 2006)

I tried but did not get a new key; so I removed my version Direct2PC from my other computer. Then I reinstalled the latest version on the computer by my TV set that uses a Buffalo Ethernet converter.

Now when I try to activate I get a "can not connect to internet. The program sees both of my HR20's when it started and the computer works fine with the interenet. I disable the firewall and McAffe and got the same message. Any suggestions?

XP SP3

joel


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## mopzo (Jun 15, 2007)

Doug Brott said:


> If anyone is having this problem, please send a private message to me with the e-mail address you submitted and I will ask DIRECTV to look up the information for you.


Thank you obtaining my serial numbers. It is greatly appreciated.


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## xmguy (Mar 27, 2008)

Downloaded v5020 and applied old licence key and got error that the program could not connect to the Internet. All Firewall software WAS NOT blocking this app. Anyone have this issue know of a fix?


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## BubblePuppy (Nov 3, 2006)

Well I did get a new key (see above post, about 8 above,I think) and it still says "can not connect to internet". I give up.


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## xmguy (Mar 27, 2008)

BubblePuppy said:


> Well I did get a new key (see above post, about 8 above,I think) and it still says "can not connect to internet". I give up.


I didn't bother trying with new key as it seemed all keys would report same error.


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## BubblePuppy (Nov 3, 2006)

xmguy said:


> I didn't bother trying with new key as it seemed all keys would report same error.


Smart man!

I might try it with Windows7, I'm using Vista.


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## mopzo (Jun 15, 2007)

BubblePuppy said:


> Well I did get a new key (see above post, about 8 above,I think) and it still says "can not connect to internet". I give up.


I realize it's "beta" Blah Blah. But the previous "beta" worked great. Getting "can't connect to internet" with this new version. De-installed and re-installed old version, NOW THAT DOESN'T WORK!! Not only does the new version not work. I can't use the old either.

Nice Work....:mad2:


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## veryoldschool (Dec 10, 2006)

Kind of looks like the activation server is down right now.


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## BubblePuppy (Nov 3, 2006)

mopzo said:


> I realize it's "beta" Blah Blah. But the previous "beta" worked great. Getting "can't connect to internet" with this new version. De-installed and re-installed old version, NOW THAT DOESN'T WORK!! Not only does the new version not work. I can't use the old either.
> 
> Nice Work....:mad2:


I really liked the previous version. 
VOS may have hit the nail. May not be the program but the server.
Any word DOUG?


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## SParker (Apr 27, 2002)

Keep getting the old dreaded the receiver is not responding on my HR20-700. Only thing that seems to fix it is a reboot of the receiver but can't right now. Would opening some ports in the router fix it?


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## uclavic (Sep 8, 2007)

The only issue that I'm seeing is that I keep losing my connection to Full Tilt Poker (yes I know I'm a degenerate) if I try to play while watching content via Direct2PC. I running this on a brand new Q9300 (Quad core 2.5GHz) PC, Vista 64 Home Premium, 6GB system memory, Nvidia 9300 512MB machine. I have a GbE network connecting the DVR to the PC. The issue only occurs when I'm actively streaming content to my PC. I've got the app open on my desktop, but without playing anything I don't have any issues with losing my connection to the Full Tilt server. As soon as I start playing I lose my connection every few minutes. It's not a network bandwidth issue as I can play Full Tilt and watch Direct2PC on a separate computer simultaneously. My other Direct2PC setup is running on a Lenovo T61 laptop with a T7300 processor (2.0GHz Core 2 Duo).


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## BubblePuppy (Nov 3, 2006)

It's 12:33am PST, and I decided to try to activate again.
IT IS NOW WORKING!!!!!!:joy:


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## kimsan (Nov 18, 2005)

BubblePuppy said:


> It's 12:33am PST, and I decided to try to activate again.
> IT IS NOW WORKING!!!!!!:joy:


5020 or the original?

I ended up falling back to a ghost restore and got the original version up on my XP box. I'll try the vista box later today. I'll go for 5020 if that'l do-able now.


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## BubblePuppy (Nov 3, 2006)

kimsan said:


> 5020 or the original?
> 
> I ended up falling back to a ghost restore and got the original version up on my XP box. I'll try the vista box later today. I'll go for 5020 if that'l do-able now.


v5020

But people were having the same problem when they went back to the previous version. I'm guessing that both versions will activate. VOS was probably correct, it wasn't the program, but Dtv server.
I'm running Vista32. Later I will try it on Windows7 and on my Vista64 laptop.


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## xmguy (Mar 27, 2008)

BubblePuppy said:


> Smart man!
> 
> I might try it with Windows7, I'm using Vista.


XP home SP3. (hate Vista)


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## xmguy (Mar 27, 2008)

BubblePuppy said:


> It's 12:33am PST, and I decided to try to activate again.
> IT IS NOW WORKING!!!!!!:joy:


 Yep. Working here also.


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## turls (Jul 8, 2006)

I was trying to figure out why I kept getting stuttering / jerky playback in Vista on both DirecTV2PC and recorded ATSC signals through Vista Media Center. I knew my PC and video card were up to snuff. On top of that, I dual boot this PC with Windows 7 and have no trouble with playback in VMC on that partition. I also don't have any issues on a Media Center Extender or on a Xbox 360 used as an extender.

Turns out, somehow the shaders had been disabled on my video card. Playback is as smooth as silk now.

I had been playing with a product called nHancer, which changes settings on your video card. I'm not sure if it was the initial cause, but I was having trouble playing DoW2 at full resolution and a forum suggested that fix. I then enabled shaders using that utility. That fix also took care of my DirecTV2PC playback issues!

Hopefully that helps somebody, as I didn't see this mentioned here in all the time I've been beta testing this.


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## kimsan (Nov 18, 2005)

BubblePuppy said:


> v5020
> 
> But people were having the same problem when they went back to the previous version. I'm guessing that both versions will activate. VOS was probably correct, it wasn't the program, but Dtv server.
> I'm running Vista32. Later I will try it on Windows7 and on my Vista64 laptop.


Yup. 5020 is live now on VistaMC, XP desktop, and XP laptop.

Thanks for the feedback.


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## ht2 (Dec 14, 2008)

turls said:


> I was trying to figure out why I kept getting stuttering / jerky playback in Vista on both DirecTV2PC and recorded ATSC signals through Vista Media Center. I knew my PC and video card were up to snuff. On top of that, I dual boot this PC with Windows 7 and have no trouble with playback in VMC on that partition. I also don't have any issues on a Media Center Extender or on a Xbox 360 used as an extender.
> 
> Turns out, somehow the shaders had been disabled on my video card. Playback is as smooth as silk now.
> 
> ...


I have same issue so I downloaded nHancer but I could not find shaders or hardware option. Can you show us more detailed setup for nHancer?

Thanks,

My system is dell XPS m1330 notebook t9300 [email protected] and 8400gs 4Gram vista home 32bit.


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## dc330 (Nov 2, 2006)

Anybody have a Radeon card and get the stupd you do not have DRM protection warning. Everything is the latest and greatist on the card and there are 0 settings to protect copyright material, that I can copy form my dvd right next to the DVR,


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## ATARI (May 10, 2007)

ATARI said:


> I should have known better.
> 
> The old build worked flawless for me. I was really enjoying being able to watch stuff on my computer if the kids were busy watching their programs on the main screen. So, of course, I have to fix what isn't broken and end up breaking it.
> 
> ...


Problem solved.

Downloaded and installed the latest NVIDIA drivers for my card and now DIRECTV2PC is working fine again.


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## azjerry (Jan 13, 2008)

Still doesn't work with dual monitors.


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## turls (Jul 8, 2006)

ht2 said:


> I have same issue so I downloaded nHancer but I could not find shaders or hardware option. Can you show us more detailed setup for nHancer?


I was afraid you would ask that--actually I'm not sure what I did. nHancer is a profiler editor for gaming that makes changes to the registry. I only _thought_ I enabled shaders for one specific game, but I may have made global changes. There is a tab on the right hand side called "compatibility". There are shader settings in there to play around with. I'll look at it some more and see if I can come up with anything better.


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## boylan (Jul 19, 2007)

azjerry said:


> Still doesn't work with dual monitors.


Ugh. I was afraid of that. I've really stopped using DIRECTV2PC since it requires me to disable one monitor every time I want to watch something.

It's a great idea, and I would use it much more frequently if I could multitask across monitors while having it on.


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## Jae (Mar 6, 2009)

I've used National release Direct2PC for a while and decided to 
Try out this great program provided by DBS so here is what i got back from Playback Advisory.

Directv2pc Playback advisory

Advisory created a Restore point

Installed Using MsiInstaller 
DTCPIP Advisor -- Configuration Completed Successfully.



> 0000: 3937347B 31433846 37352D32 342D4236
> 0008: 2D383541 38374241 3742342D 30374630
> 0010: 41413231 7D38


-Graphics card: Green Nvidia Geforce 8800 GTX

-Graphics Card Driver: Red *Graphics card driver is 7.15.11.8208*

-HDCP-compliant Display Red: *I have a Hansg hg216D 22" 21.6" is viewable HDCP compliant* 
Currently using DVI to HDMI

My current viewing 1680x1050 @ 60hz Wide 16:10


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## SParker (Apr 27, 2002)

Is there any way to keep DIRECTV2PC from disabling Aero in Vista?


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## veryoldschool (Dec 10, 2006)

SParker said:


> Is there any way to keep DIRECTV2PC from disabling Aero in Vista?


 "Not yet"


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## dettxw (Nov 21, 2007)

SParker said:


> Is there any way to keep DIRECTV2PC from disabling Aero in Vista?


My BeyondTV software for the PC tuner does it too. Or maybe Vista itself does the disabling when it senses a certain kind of program running.


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## ToddinVA (Mar 5, 2006)

Anyone gotten it to work with WinXP yet under VMWare Fusion on a Mac?


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## RogueFive (Aug 24, 2008)

ToddinVA said:


> Anyone gotten it to work with WinXP yet under VMWare Fusion on a Mac?


Nope, neither the emulated Fusion or Parallels controller are deemed acceptable for copy protection and screen capturing by both the advisor and the actual software 
At least Bootcamp works.


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## Cmnore (Sep 22, 2008)

Has anyone gotten this to work on a Windows XP x64 system yet?


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## ktischler (Sep 9, 2007)

5020 works fine on my Vista laptop, but I cannot get it to activate on my Windows 7 desktop. I have tried completely disabling the firewall, and even connecting the desktop directly to my cable model. No go.

Anyone else get it activated on Windows 7?

Ken


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## Cmnore (Sep 22, 2008)

Yes. I have it working on Win7. Make sure you're using the BETA release. It is supposed to fix the activation issue. It did for me. Try doing a 'clean' uninstall with something like CCleaner or REVO uninstaller first.(assuming you have another version installed before vs. 5020).


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## ktischler (Sep 9, 2007)

Beta 5020 was the first version installed on the desktop. Desktop is running Win7 64-bit, could that be a problem? The laptop is running Vista 64 and it works fine there.

All I get is...

"Activation failed. Make sure you are connected to the internet. Please press 'Re-activate' button to try again."

This is so frustrating. The desktop is really where I need it, since it is located in another room from the HR21. Any suggestions on other things I could try to get it activated?


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## Cmnore (Sep 22, 2008)

Are you installing it 'as administrator' or in compatibility mode? I'm guessing that security must be blocking internet access to the program. I would reinstall it this way and check the firewall settings to make sure it isn't blocked.


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## ktischler (Sep 9, 2007)

I have UAC turned off, so everything runs as admin. I have also turned off the firewall to see if that is an issue, but it does not help.

It has to be something in Win7 since it runs fine on my Vista 64 laptop. I just can't figure out what.


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## Athlon646464 (Feb 23, 2007)

ktischler said:


> I just can't figure out what.


Sometimes the activation server goes down, and the error message as a result says you are not connected to the internet, when in fact you are. It was down for a couple of days last week, I believe. It could be that is all it is in your case.

:eek2:


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## Maverickster (Sep 20, 2007)

I have a Dell Latitude D820 Notebook running Vista Ultimate; Core2Duo 2.0Ghz; 2GB RAM; 320GB/7200RPM HDD; 512MB Nvidia Quadro NVS 120M Video Card (which is apparently the laptop equivalent of the 7300).

The previous version of D2PC (4526) worked quite well for me. The picture was not quite as sharp as it could have been, but overall motion was almost flawless (with the occasional stuttering during high-action scenes of the type that is probably to be expected with this type of software).

I installed this new version (5020) and while the picture was sharper overall, for scenes with even moderate motion, there's frequent pixelation (looks like when you get a little rain fade), stuttering, and a strange thing I'd never seen before, the top 3rd of the image splits from the rest and lags behind, "tearing" would be a good description.

Based on the specs of my computer, I am assuming that this is a video card issue, but it doesn't make a whole lot of sense to me that it worked under the original release, but doesn't work now. Did DirecTV make the video processing more reliant on the video card or something in this release?

Anyway, because of the issues described above, I've "rolled back" to version 4526 since it's pretty much unwatchable under 5020.

Any suggestions on what the problem could be?

--Mav


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## ATARI (May 10, 2007)

Maverickster said:


> I have a Dell Latitude D820 Notebook running Vista Ultimate; Core2Duo 2.0Ghz; 2GB RAM; 320GB/7200RPM HDD; 512MB Nvidia Quadro NVS 120M Video Card (which is apparently the laptop equivalent of the 7300).
> 
> The previous version of D2PC (4526) worked quite well for me. The picture was not quite as sharp as it could have been, but overall motion was almost flawless (with the occasional stuttering during high-action scenes of the type that is probably to be expected with this type of software).
> 
> ...


Make sure you have downloaded and installed the latest, greatest video drivers for your card. That solved my problem at least.


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## Maverickster (Sep 20, 2007)

ATARI said:


> Make sure you have downloaded and installed the latest, greatest video drivers for your card. That solved my problem at least.


Yeah, I have a habit of reading these threads before I do this, so after reading your posts, I did that before I installed it. No dice.

--Mav


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