30/12/09: The Number 1 Tip to fix channel scan/switching problems is to install all the latest Windows Updates.

One of the prerequisites for installing TV Centre Pro 4.9.1 was Windows Installer 3.0 so I'm guessing that many of the glitches are down to this because some Windows Updates are updates for this component - install these and most problems go away.

Due to the Digital switchover my BBC channels stopped working so I was forced to re-scan for channels. I first backed up my existing channel list... which was a good thing because the scan for channels gained my my BBC channels but lost all the others!

I tried again with the same result. To resolve this I saved this new channel list, made a note of all the frequency settings of the BBC channels that I wanted, loaded the original channel list and manually altered the non-functioning BBC channels. These were the changes:

I would guess that the following settings depend on where you live... gone are the days of twiddling one dial to tune in a channel. If anyone can give me the setting for Channel 5 then I will be very happy!

So what was going on? Thinking about this issue and the issue of changing channels only to receive the "Failed to switch channel!" error, I have realised that switching between BBC channels poses no problem, but when switching from a BBC channel to another such as Dave or Virgin 1 I always get the error, and the same when switching back to BBC. The only way I have found to switch channels successfully is just to keep trying - this can take five attempts. As this problem has persisted through all versions of TV Centre and no driver update has been released to rectify the issue I come to the conclusion that the error is down to a tuner issue - the tuner is failing to switch channel or is maybe unresponsive to the call from the software.

Because the tuner has issues switching channels this causes problems not only for the user when he/she wants to change channel but when the software is trying to do the same - when a recording on another channel is scheduled or when channel scanning (hence the lack of non-BBC channels found).

The tuner issue isn't the only issue (while it is the most problematic). There are glitches in the EPG (Electronic Program Guide) for example, such as when clicking to schedule the recording of a listed program... so I always schedule recordings manually to avoid any problems.

In June '09 I decided to upgrade to TV Centre Pro 5.4.1 from 4.94a to see if there was any improvement. (I was already using the latest driver version 1.0.4.1.

The latest version of TVCentre Pro can be downloaded from Pinnacle's website:

• Support > Downloads > Drivers > scroll down to internal PCIe products and download the driver package for PCTV 3010ix
• Support > Downloads > Applications > TVCenter Pro 5.4.1 Update

I was pretty used to the common error messages by now (Failed to switch channel, Random switching of channel / flickering terrestrial channel etc) and I certainly didn't think upgrading would cause any more problems... how wrong I was!

Problems upgrading:

These are the problems I had installing 5.4.1 and while I suspect most of it was just 'one of those things' related to my system, others may experience/have experienced similar problems.

1) The first issue was the size of the download. Just slightly larger than a CD (700MB) the .iso had to be burnt to a DVD. I have yet to use VideoSpin due to activation issues but I think this should be optional, thus allowing the .iso to fit on a CD.

2) I uninstalled TV Centre Pro 4.94a via Add/Remove Programs in the Control Panel

3) I tried to update the driver via the Device Manager but it reported no newer version could be found from the driver download.

4) My first attempt at installing 5.4.1 resulted in error messages and the application failed to run:

File Error
The following error occurred on the file 'C:\Program Files\Pinnacle\TVCentre Pro\Skins\chameleon'. (\default etc.)
Access is denied.
(0x5)

I chose to ignore these.

Form skinning failed. SkinFilePath='C:\Program Files\Pinnacle\TVCentre Pro\.\Skins\Chameleon\PMC.UI.Palettes\UpperPaletteNormal\UpperPaletteNormal.xml'

5) It wasn't all doom and gloom though as I was amused by this! 'Have Fun!':

6) I uninstalled the application via the Control Panel and this time deleted the Shared Files and TVCenter Pro directories from Program Files\Pinnacle

7) I restarted the computer, copied the contents of the DVD to a folder on the desktop and ran the installation from there (this was just a precaution as I believe the deleting in 6) was the solution. Installation went smoothly this time.

8) While the installation was error free this time. The scanning for channels failed to find all the channels I had before with 4.94a, the TV window would be be blank, or would work once but after a restart would be blank.

9) I tried uninstalling, deleting the Pinnacle directory, rolling back the drivers from 1.0.4.1 to 1.0.3.3, deleting all driver files from System32 and reinstalling both 5.4.1 and when that still failed to work I tried to go back to 4.94a. Loading a saved channel list that I had (luckily) made with the previous version was also problematic. I even tried a system restore to before I had attempted the upgrade. Nothing failed to work.

10) My only solution was to install the TV card in another computer. I gambled again with 5.4.1 and on a fresh install worked.

11) The Set-up wizard has changed slightly but the same options are still there, although I'm not sure about the Signal Booster option because for me it way greyed out:

The initial channel scan failed to pick up all channels and I put this down to the whole tuner issue these card have (i.e. failing to switch channels) and I received an error on one of the scans at one point (one tuner was busy), so I started up the TV, switched between a couple of terrestrial channels, closed the TV, opened up the Settings application, deleted all channels and did another full Scan. This worked.

I now have my TV card up and running with TV Center Pro 5.4.1... albeit not in the computer I started with!

Improvements?

The Set-up wizard process and Settings application have change slightly, seemingly to streamline the process - the channel scanning is all built in to the same window.

The 'Failed to switch channel' error still occurs... the amusing thing is that the design of is has been changed slightly, but it seems to occur less now.

The new one:

The old ones: See my tips on TV Centre Pro 4.94a about how to avoid this.

The lack of channel name in the EPG has been corrected. The calendar has been replaced with a list of available dates. I'm not sure yet if reliability has improved in this area as I was used to getting errors when setting a program to record (I got into the routine of manually inputting the details instead to avoid this.)

The new one:

The old one:

There is a zoom option when you right-click the picture. Annoyingly this doesn't allow you to zoom in to remove the top and bottom black bars in widescreen format channels on a 4:3 monitor as the bars remain.

Some features are stated as only being available for a trial period, but are still available for free providing you have internet access and activate them - this is annoying, irritating and pointless from a user's point-of-view.

The same is the case with VideoSpin which is bundled with the application .iso (I presume to replace Studio 10) but this requires activating to install. I followed the instructions to do this using another computer as mine doesn't have internet access and the URL http://register.pinnaclesys.com doesn't have the product listed. I have found that VideoSpin is available for free anyway from www.videospin.com (a Pinnacle company) so again, having to activate the bundled one, or why it's even bundled in the first place is annoying.

As said at the start, my installation problems could have been down to my computer setup. But having said that, if you are getting by with 4.94a then I would suggest not upgrading to 5.4.1 unless you are prepared for the whole thing to stop working and prepared to do a fresh install of Windows.

Check out the TV Centre 4.94a pages as this contains work arounds for common errors that may still help should glitches still be present in version 5.4.1.

If you find the information here useful, why not let me know and help ensure I keep these pages here for the benefit others.