The number of folks who have difficulty in installing the ATI HDTV Wonder is significant. Here is a step-by-step guide for a low risk, highly successful installation of the ATI HDTV Wonder high definition TV tuner card and another analog tv tuner in a Windows XP Media Center Edition 2005.
A few caveats: (1) the procedure assumes a new installation of Windows XP Media Center Edition 2005 on a clean hard drive, (2) the procedure does not apply to a plain Windows XP installation, although the technique should work, (3) you will use the latest applicable Windows Updates and ATI drivers, and (4) it is essential that you install a DVD decoder like Nvidia's DVD decoder.
Also, we strongly recommend that you perform a proper analysis of your antenna requirements beforehand. It's no use in installing a tv tuner if you get very weak over-the-air signals from your local broadcasters. See AntennaWeb.org and CheckHD.com.
Most analogue TV tuners with hardware MPEG encoding will work, but the tuners that are certified for the Windows XP Media Center Edtion 2005 logo are preferred.
The procedure:
1. Install Windows XP Media Center Edition 2005 without the tv tuner cards. Do the Windows Update. Don't go into MCE to setup TV channels yet, of course.
2. Install the HDTV Rollup update from Microsoft, if not previously installed
3. Install the analog TV tuner drivers. Shutdown.
4. Physically install the analog TV tuner in the PCI slot. Restart. Check Device Manager
5. Install the HDTV Wonder driver from ATI. Shutdown.
6. Physically install the ATI card in a PCI slot
5. ReStart. The card gets detected and set up automatically. Check Device Manager.
6. Launch MCE and setup TV channels that you want; you will need an internet connection to download the TV guide.
These steps should be considered a very conservative approach with low risk of failure. An alternative approach would be to throw all the parts and cards into the box and let Windows XP do it's thing, and then install the latest drivers for the tuners along the way. I've tried this technique with success.
You might consider some precautionary steps. Make images of the system partition/hard drive with Ghost or some other imager (make sure you check the Ghost image for corruption). Run Windows XP's Restore at various critical points. These in the event you have to retreat to an earlier install position.
There two HD tuners on the list of certified for Windows XP Media Center Edition 2005 parts: ATI HDTV Wonder and Avermedia AverTVHD MCE A180. In addition, the Dvico FusionHDTV III tuner will work in WMCE 2005. Note well that, all three of the HD tuners will not work in WMCE 2005 without the presence in the system of an analogue tuner with hardware MPEG encoding, at least during setting up of digital TV channels in WMCE.
However, the ATI HDTV Wonder will work in WMCE without the presence of an analogue TV tuner with hardware MPEG encoding if you use the so-called Kram drivers. The Kram drivers are a hacked version of ATI's Catalyst drivers, the WMCE portion of which is used to make the ATI HDTV Wonder work. However, there are reports that the quality of the standard definition TV from the analogue part of the HDTV Wonder is not very good. As this software is not official, you are generally on your own as to getting them to work.
At the present moment, I have one analogue tuner (Hauppauge's WinTV PVR 250MCE) and two HD tuners (HDTV Wonder and AverTVHD) in my system, and all three perform very well. Two HD tuners permit recording of two HD programs or record one and watch live another, simultaneously.
Do not be confused about video encoders and decoders. An analogue tuner with hardware MPEG "encoding" in required, and a DVD "decoder" is required.
For users of motherboards that support PCIe graphics cards with a limited number of PCI slots, a USB analogue TV tuner with hardware MPEG encoding will serve these purposes as well as a PCI analogue tv card. Hauppauge's WinTV USB2 tuner is an example. After setting up the standard and digital channels in WMCE, you can remove the analogue tuner from the system.
Lastly, your best MCE pc system design is one for a high performance computer. Trying to do this on the cheap or with spare pc parts will increase your risk of a poorly performing system or of outright failure. After all, you will be processing video in all its forms. MS's and ATI's recommended (not minimum) system requirements are good starts.
For instance, Microsoft's list of "certified for Windows XP Media Center Edition 2005 logo" recommends at least Radeon 9800 and GeforceFX 5200 graphics cards.
I do not guarantee that the above procedure will work for you or with all system configurations. I am a volunteer, not paid by anyone, and have no connections with Microsoft, ATI, or any other company. To the extent copyright laws are applicable, I grant a non-exclusive right to all individuals for private copying and use. There are no warranties of any kind, and where an express or implied warranty may apply, total damages shall be limited to one cent USA. In other words, use the above at your own risk.
A few caveats: (1) the procedure assumes a new installation of Windows XP Media Center Edition 2005 on a clean hard drive, (2) the procedure does not apply to a plain Windows XP installation, although the technique should work, (3) you will use the latest applicable Windows Updates and ATI drivers, and (4) it is essential that you install a DVD decoder like Nvidia's DVD decoder.
Also, we strongly recommend that you perform a proper analysis of your antenna requirements beforehand. It's no use in installing a tv tuner if you get very weak over-the-air signals from your local broadcasters. See AntennaWeb.org and CheckHD.com.
Most analogue TV tuners with hardware MPEG encoding will work, but the tuners that are certified for the Windows XP Media Center Edtion 2005 logo are preferred.
The procedure:
1. Install Windows XP Media Center Edition 2005 without the tv tuner cards. Do the Windows Update. Don't go into MCE to setup TV channels yet, of course.
2. Install the HDTV Rollup update from Microsoft, if not previously installed
3. Install the analog TV tuner drivers. Shutdown.
4. Physically install the analog TV tuner in the PCI slot. Restart. Check Device Manager
5. Install the HDTV Wonder driver from ATI. Shutdown.
6. Physically install the ATI card in a PCI slot
5. ReStart. The card gets detected and set up automatically. Check Device Manager.
6. Launch MCE and setup TV channels that you want; you will need an internet connection to download the TV guide.
These steps should be considered a very conservative approach with low risk of failure. An alternative approach would be to throw all the parts and cards into the box and let Windows XP do it's thing, and then install the latest drivers for the tuners along the way. I've tried this technique with success.
You might consider some precautionary steps. Make images of the system partition/hard drive with Ghost or some other imager (make sure you check the Ghost image for corruption). Run Windows XP's Restore at various critical points. These in the event you have to retreat to an earlier install position.
There two HD tuners on the list of certified for Windows XP Media Center Edition 2005 parts: ATI HDTV Wonder and Avermedia AverTVHD MCE A180. In addition, the Dvico FusionHDTV III tuner will work in WMCE 2005. Note well that, all three of the HD tuners will not work in WMCE 2005 without the presence in the system of an analogue tuner with hardware MPEG encoding, at least during setting up of digital TV channels in WMCE.
However, the ATI HDTV Wonder will work in WMCE without the presence of an analogue TV tuner with hardware MPEG encoding if you use the so-called Kram drivers. The Kram drivers are a hacked version of ATI's Catalyst drivers, the WMCE portion of which is used to make the ATI HDTV Wonder work. However, there are reports that the quality of the standard definition TV from the analogue part of the HDTV Wonder is not very good. As this software is not official, you are generally on your own as to getting them to work.
At the present moment, I have one analogue tuner (Hauppauge's WinTV PVR 250MCE) and two HD tuners (HDTV Wonder and AverTVHD) in my system, and all three perform very well. Two HD tuners permit recording of two HD programs or record one and watch live another, simultaneously.
Do not be confused about video encoders and decoders. An analogue tuner with hardware MPEG "encoding" in required, and a DVD "decoder" is required.
For users of motherboards that support PCIe graphics cards with a limited number of PCI slots, a USB analogue TV tuner with hardware MPEG encoding will serve these purposes as well as a PCI analogue tv card. Hauppauge's WinTV USB2 tuner is an example. After setting up the standard and digital channels in WMCE, you can remove the analogue tuner from the system.
Lastly, your best MCE pc system design is one for a high performance computer. Trying to do this on the cheap or with spare pc parts will increase your risk of a poorly performing system or of outright failure. After all, you will be processing video in all its forms. MS's and ATI's recommended (not minimum) system requirements are good starts.
For instance, Microsoft's list of "certified for Windows XP Media Center Edition 2005 logo" recommends at least Radeon 9800 and GeforceFX 5200 graphics cards.
I do not guarantee that the above procedure will work for you or with all system configurations. I am a volunteer, not paid by anyone, and have no connections with Microsoft, ATI, or any other company. To the extent copyright laws are applicable, I grant a non-exclusive right to all individuals for private copying and use. There are no warranties of any kind, and where an express or implied warranty may apply, total damages shall be limited to one cent USA. In other words, use the above at your own risk.