getting the BLUE SCREEN OF DEATH

[jigielnik]

whenever i try to play a recorded file, i get the infamous blue screen of death, and the comp restarts. i decided to run the media center diagnostic tool, and while the overview says i meet minimum reqirements to run, when i run the tests in the test tab, after the first test, it tried to do the next and i got the blue screen again, and my computer restarted

Do you want to tell about your system or should we guess?

And the BSOD error message is?

[jigielnik]

the system is a gateway mx6956, dual core processor, 160 gb HD, 1 gig of ram, xp media center edition of course, intel GMA 950 graphics. i was sending the recorded programs to an external usb HD, a 320 gb western digital, but the problem seemed to be happening no matter where i saved it to

[jigielnik]

as for the BSOD message, well, i tried to read it, but its not up there long enough to read, i thought i made out somthing about memory, which seems likely given the circumstances, but im not sure. another piece of info, i tried to play the file in WMP, and i got the same BSOD problem

Two important items you left out -- tuner and DVD decoder.

Do you have MCE-specific drivers for the tuner loaded?

Did the system formerly work?

Is it a prebuilt or did you add Media Center?

[jigielnik]

the system formerly worked well, and media center was a prebuild, in the OS when i bought it. as for drivers, im pretty sure it has all the updated drivers as of now (but where would i find media center specific drivers), but when i ran the media center diagnostic tool, i found some issues you might be interested to know. when i ran the diagnostic, and looked at the media devices tab, in device view the "software devices" had a yellow question mark, i noticed that not nearly all of my video encoders and decoders were media center compatible, and when i looked at my TV tuner (a VisionTek, designed by ATI, TV wonder HD 600 USB) in category view, its merit was DoNotUse, along with several other things like some decoders and encoders.
i would send you media center diagnostics system snapshot, however, every single time i try to run the test, at like 98% done, it fails, and gives an error having to do with unauthorized access, and i am this Admin, and only user of this computer.
unless anyone here can think of somthing, i am considering just system restoring to before i even owned this tuner (ie: last thursday) and just trying everything over.
any suggestions?

Could you tell us what the BSOD message is? That is supposed to help diagnose
the problem.

If you have lots of DVD decoders, I'd try the decoder check utility
(http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/d...displaylang=en) and set the one you want to be preferred.

If the problems have started occuring since you got your tuner, and there is
a query over that, then that sounds like the best bet. I'd go to their web
site, download the most recent driver (and any instruction on installation).
Then I'd use Control panel to un-install the hardware/driver, remove the
tuner and reboot. Then follow the instructions to reinstall.

If you have any software to view the tuner output, outside MCE, I'd check
that too.

[jigielnik]

so you suggest checking the video driver utility, and uninstalling the tuner. also, the BSOD message is only up for literally 1 or 2 seconds before the computer auto boots, so i am always unable to read it. an additional detail, i ran the tests on the MC diagnostic tool, and before it could even finish the very first test, right before it should have finished, i got the BSOD again. so now yet another question, if the video driver utility says that i dont have the proper drivers, where do i get them?

[jigielnik]

additional comment, somtimes, when i have moved the media center program window to the television screen, and i try to double click it, to make it smaller (and moveable, to move it back to the monitor) i get the BSOD too. is there a way to freeze things so i can actually read this BSOD, also, tuner output wasnt too bad using the packaged catalyst media center that came with the tuner, however, the program was unintuitive, and sucked, so i used windows media center, which worked perfectly untill i tried to record somthing, which at first when i watched it, would give me the infamous "digital audio service error" but now, it somtimes i dont even get to see the error it just BSODs and re-boots, but even when i can play it (recorded programs only, live tv works fine) i still ALWAYS get the "digital audio service" error.
right now, im thinking that i will uninstall the tuner and any associated drivers, then do a system restore back to before i bought the tuner, do you think this will work, or should i just un-install the tuner and only re-boot. at this point, after running the diagnostic, im worried theres somthing wrong with media center in general, so i want to restore, but i will take the knowledge of the forum over my guessing

You would need to check the web site for the manufacturer of the card(s).

To not have the system restart on a BSOD, right-click on "My Computer" and
choose "Properties", click on the Advanced tab and choose the Startup and
Recovery button. There is a setting on that screen to "Automatically restart
on failure", make sure that is unchecked. (Exact steps might be a little off
for XP, I am currently on a Vista system).
--
James
Orlando (Goofy says "Hey"), Florida

"jigielnik" <jigielnik.30vine@DoNotSpam.com> wrote in message
news:jigielnik.30vine@DoNotSpam.com...
>
> so you suggest checking the video driver utility, and uninstalling the
> tuner. also, the BSOD message is only up for literally 1 or 2 seconds
> before the computer auto boots, so i am always unable to read it. an
> additional detail, i ran the tests on the MC diagnostic tool, and
> before it could even finish the very first test, right before it should
> have finished, i got the BSOD again. so now yet another question, if the
> video driver utility says that i dont have the proper drivers, where do
> i get them?
>
>
> --
> jigielnik
> ------------------------------------------------------------------------
> jigielnik's Profile: http://forums.techarena.in/members/36104.htm
> View this thread: getting the BLUE SCREEN OF DEATH
>
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[jigielnik]

i ran the DVD decoder utility, and it said i had one working fully, and it was already set to the preferred, the problem with all this is that somtimes, i dont get the BSOD. somtimes i can play a recorded program, but the only problem is the infamous "digital audio service" error, i think it might be a hard drive issue, but im pretty sure its not

If you are getting "Digital Audio service", I think this points even more
strongly at your tuner. This message appears when the number of missed video
frames is so high that MCE decides that it must be a digital radio signal,
not a video signal. The normal solution is to update and reinstall your TV
tuner drivers.

I'd be tempted to buy another tuner and try that. A cheap usb stick tuner is
pretty affordable. Uninstall and remove your old tuner and try the new one.
If that works, then you might consider trying your other tuner again - and if
you can get it to work, then you might actually end up having 2 tuners, which
makes a huge difference to MCE anyway.

"jigielnik" wrote:

>
> i ran the DVD decoder utility, and it said i had one working fully, and
> it was already set to the preferred, the problem with all this is that
> somtimes, i dont get the BSOD. somtimes i can play a recorded program,
> but the only problem is the infamous "digital audio service" error, i
> think it might be a hard drive issue, but im pretty sure its not
>
>
> --
> jigielnik
> ------------------------------------------------------------------------
> jigielnik's Profile: http://forums.techarena.in/members/36104.htm
> View this thread: getting the BLUE SCREEN OF DEATH
>
> http://forums.techarena.in
>
>

[jigielnik]

Originally Posted by Eric Baines

If you are getting "Digital Audio service", I think this points even more
strongly at your tuner. This message appears when the number of missed video
frames is so high that MCE decides that it must be a digital radio signal,
not a video signal. The normal solution is to update and reinstall your TV
tuner drivers.

I'd be tempted to buy another tuner and try that. A cheap usb stick tuner is
pretty affordable. Uninstall and remove your old tuner and try the new one.
If that works, then you might consider trying your other tuner again - and if
you can get it to work, then you might actually end up having 2 tuners, which
makes a huge difference to MCE anyway.

>[/color]

see, normally, i would consider this to be the problem, and, in a lot of ways i do think its my tuner. however, i have (and countless times at this point) uninstalled my tuner, re-installed with new drivers, updated the drivers, and done everything you can do involving the words tuner, uninstall, update and driver. im aware that it is my tuner causing the "digital audio service" error, and as of now, to solve THAT problem, i will either buy a new tuner, or get a signal amplifier for my cable, because even on a normal television, the signal isnt super strong, its viewable fine, but not amazing.
my real problem however, is no longer the "digital audio service" error, because i am now aware of its cause, as well as various solutions, my new, and significantly more important issue is the BSOD, on occasion, i get the BSOD when simply trying to open a recorded file, or even once or twice when trying to just turn on live TV. this is my real problem. i have run registry/driver cleaner and repair tools, and i system restored to a time before i even owned the tuner, and the problem still seems to persist. at this point, the tuner is no longer the issue, as im sure its just weak signal or somthing like that, at this point, its the BSOD, that wont fix itself no matter what i do, right now im considering just re-installing windows, or perhaps upgrading to vista, but i want to hear what the forum has to say about the BSOD specifically