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G400 + RR-G == big headache
Here's the whole story...
I purchased a single RR-G offa the Matrox web site, except the order failed to go through 4-5 times because of some sort
of java script error. I ended up calling the store and ordering it over the phone (kinda defeats the purpose of having a web store,
eh?). Anyway, a few days later (3 to be exact), the shipment arrived. 2 Rainbow runner G's! They had screwed up and sent me two. Luckily, I was only charged for one. Honest guy i am, I called them and told 'em that they screwed up.
Anyway, now the install process. First one I put in, doesn't work. The G400 says i've connected a "digital flat screen out". Note now that my Dualhead (built-in) feature was gone. I had followed the procedures for the install exactly - removed my previous drivers, installed the older
5.30 version (not the 5.41, the latest. Why? I guess their support went DOWN with each update after 5.30). Anyway, I tried the other RR-G that they had shipped. This one was detected properly, but only picked
up one channel, and it labeled the channel incorrectly. After 5 or so hours
trying to figure this out and many hours wasted with their tech support
people (who had me lugging my computer around the house, trying different
cables even though the cable I had worked fine on a TV and another TV
card that I had previously installed), we got nowhere. The Matrox tech guy
said that it was either my cable (hah), or my G400. Well, luckily (?) I had
recommend Matrox G400 cards to many of my friends and was able to find another G400 DH 32mb card. Lo and behold, I put it in and tried the second RR-G. Again, it said "digital flat pannel display" in the
information, and again, it didn't work. I tried the first RR-G. This time, it detected
the RR-G and the hardware MJEPG incoder/decoder, but NOT the TV-Tuner.
It did the same thing -- only picking up one channel, and labelling it
incorrectly.
Well, I formatted. I reinstall win98. I shutdown my system, I tried
different PCI slots just for the heck of it. I should also say that on bootup, it took
about 10-11 seconds before anything appeared on the screen (bios ver, mem test,
etc). This delay occured with both of the RR-G's and both G400 cards.
Alas, it worked!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I got all the channels!!!!!!!!! I was elated.
So I tried to record stuff. Sometimes it would work, sometimes it would go into black
and white mode, sometimes it would just record garbage. I tried different screen modes
and all that stuff. I then rebooted my system, just to see if it would still
work after rebooting, shutting down and whatnot. Alas, it didn't. It started doing the same thing all over again, picking up only one channel, etc etc etc.
I called Matrox, and they are sending a Fedex guy to pick up the cards. As
soon as they receive the cards, I will be getting a full refund (at least that's
what Joan at customer support said).
So, if you are thinking about upgrading your G400 w/ a Rainbow Runner G...
think again. I used to be a great supporter of all things Matrox, but this
experience has really soured me to them.
If anyone knows what might have been going on, and how I might have been
able to fix all this, lemme know. Because their tech people had no idea, and I'm
all out too. Either way, I'm going ATI. Anyone know if the ATI TV Wonder is
compatible with the G400? (ATI's web page says that they aren't done testing it yet..)
Jan
p.s. my system- BP6 (of COURSE I was doing this in win98 seeing how the NT/2000 support isn't there yet), dual celery 366, SB Live, couple of 17 gig harddrives (both fast enough), etc etc.
UPDATE: I somehow managed to get it to work. I formatted my harddrive, installed win98. I also put the RR-G as far away from the G400 as possible (hoping to reduce interference from the mainboard). Out of nowhere, the thing started to work. Now if I can just get it to record TV properly....
--
jan@porkchop.org
[This message has been edited by coolfish (edited 30 December 1999).]
I purchased a single RR-G offa the Matrox web site, except the order failed to go through 4-5 times because of some sort
of java script error. I ended up calling the store and ordering it over the phone (kinda defeats the purpose of having a web store,
eh?). Anyway, a few days later (3 to be exact), the shipment arrived. 2 Rainbow runner G's! They had screwed up and sent me two. Luckily, I was only charged for one. Honest guy i am, I called them and told 'em that they screwed up.
Anyway, now the install process. First one I put in, doesn't work. The G400 says i've connected a "digital flat screen out". Note now that my Dualhead (built-in) feature was gone. I had followed the procedures for the install exactly - removed my previous drivers, installed the older
5.30 version (not the 5.41, the latest. Why? I guess their support went DOWN with each update after 5.30). Anyway, I tried the other RR-G that they had shipped. This one was detected properly, but only picked
up one channel, and it labeled the channel incorrectly. After 5 or so hours
trying to figure this out and many hours wasted with their tech support
people (who had me lugging my computer around the house, trying different
cables even though the cable I had worked fine on a TV and another TV
card that I had previously installed), we got nowhere. The Matrox tech guy
said that it was either my cable (hah), or my G400. Well, luckily (?) I had
recommend Matrox G400 cards to many of my friends and was able to find another G400 DH 32mb card. Lo and behold, I put it in and tried the second RR-G. Again, it said "digital flat pannel display" in the
information, and again, it didn't work. I tried the first RR-G. This time, it detected
the RR-G and the hardware MJEPG incoder/decoder, but NOT the TV-Tuner.
It did the same thing -- only picking up one channel, and labelling it
incorrectly.
Well, I formatted. I reinstall win98. I shutdown my system, I tried
different PCI slots just for the heck of it. I should also say that on bootup, it took
about 10-11 seconds before anything appeared on the screen (bios ver, mem test,
etc). This delay occured with both of the RR-G's and both G400 cards.
Alas, it worked!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I got all the channels!!!!!!!!! I was elated.
So I tried to record stuff. Sometimes it would work, sometimes it would go into black
and white mode, sometimes it would just record garbage. I tried different screen modes
and all that stuff. I then rebooted my system, just to see if it would still
work after rebooting, shutting down and whatnot. Alas, it didn't. It started doing the same thing all over again, picking up only one channel, etc etc etc.
I called Matrox, and they are sending a Fedex guy to pick up the cards. As
soon as they receive the cards, I will be getting a full refund (at least that's
what Joan at customer support said).
So, if you are thinking about upgrading your G400 w/ a Rainbow Runner G...
think again. I used to be a great supporter of all things Matrox, but this
experience has really soured me to them.
If anyone knows what might have been going on, and how I might have been
able to fix all this, lemme know. Because their tech people had no idea, and I'm
all out too. Either way, I'm going ATI. Anyone know if the ATI TV Wonder is
compatible with the G400? (ATI's web page says that they aren't done testing it yet..)
Jan
p.s. my system- BP6 (of COURSE I was doing this in win98 seeing how the NT/2000 support isn't there yet), dual celery 366, SB Live, couple of 17 gig harddrives (both fast enough), etc etc.
UPDATE: I somehow managed to get it to work. I formatted my harddrive, installed win98. I also put the RR-G as far away from the G400 as possible (hoping to reduce interference from the mainboard). Out of nowhere, the thing started to work. Now if I can just get it to record TV properly....
--
jan@porkchop.org
[This message has been edited by coolfish (edited 30 December 1999).]
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