Various VGX-XL301 issues

[FergusB]

I am just getting to grips with my new VGX-XL301 / 40W2000 combination but have a few difficulties:

1.
The VGX--XL301 is connected to the 40W2000 using HDMI. While using the PC in either standard Vista or Media Centre mode, if I change over the TV's HDMI source to my SkyHD box, when I change back to the PC, there is no signal. The PC appears to be still functioning (i.e. some drive access on indicator) but the screen remains blank. Nothing I do seems to 'wake it up'. My only solution is to power down the PC and start it again, which is not good.

2.
My SkyHD box is connected to the VGX via S-video. Unfortunately, this seems to mean that I can't record in widescreen mode. Is there any way of doing this as I would like to transfer some stuff from the Sky box HDD to DVD.

3.
Since getting the system, I am not happy with the quality of the video using Media Centre. If I look at Live TV, which in my case is only the S-video input from the SkyHD box, the picture quality is quite poor. I don't know the technical description but it looks like something that was downloaded from the internet - blotchy colours and blurred moving images. As the source S-video is quite good, I presume that it is a setting that I am missing but where? When I go back to Vista desktop and use Sony's DVD creating software, the capture quality is acceptable so I know the hardware is OK.

Sorry if any of this stuff has been covered before. Would appreciate anyone's comments or assistance. Thanks!

[bdaly]

Hi Fergus,

I am having the exact same problem with my 301,Sony don't seem to know what the problem is, I came across a thread with someone having a similar problem with a 201, They disabled the Intel Viiv software on the system tray, I tried this and it seems to have solved the problem,
In regards to the live tv picture I also have this problem, Sony told me it was because I was using an NTL box, and that you don't get this problem with SKY, obviously this is not the case, Hope this has helped, let me know if you solve the tv problem.

Cheers,
BDaly.

[FergusB]

Thanks for your comments, BDaly. I tried disabling the Viiv at the system tray and it has slightly improved things - I can now change the TV over to another AV source and back without upsetting a normal Windows session but it still makes Media Centre throw a wobbler. By the way, do you know how to reinstate Viiv to the system tray? I can't find anywhere to start it again although Services show the Media Server as running.

As regards my other gripes, I am beginning to realise that I am not alone! It is very frustrating that both Sony and Microsoft can sell such incomplete products and expect people to sort it out themselves. My latest problem is that Vista won't let me do a system restore. I have tried different restore points and also tried disabling Norton, just in case, but no joy.

If it weren't for the cracking 1080P slide shows, music features and convenient Internet access, I think I would junk this VGX=301. Rant over. If you ever find any solutions, please let me know.

Thanks again,
FergusB

[p003876]

hi guys!

having exact the same configuration (VGX-XL301 / 40W2000) and facing the same problem you mentioned in 1.

Sometimes if I switch over to a different input source on TV and switch back - everything is OK, but most of the times, there is no signal, and only a hard reset (power on button in front panel) helps.

Disabling of ViiV did not help, did not improve things!

I have been playing around with NVidia Drivers, but to my mind it is the same to all available drivers. At this moment I am using 158.18, which finally provided 1080p!

So If anyone got a solution, please help!!!

thx in advance,
cheers
karl

[RobMiles]

I've had this too. Noticed it as soon as I got my 201 and put Vista on it.

If you use HDMI and the 40W2000 you get a problem when you switch from one input to another, which either causes the PC to reset or best case the audio stutters for several seconds before recovering. I tried a whole bunch of different NVidia drivers before giving up completely on HDMI. This is not actually a huge problem for me, in that I got some component cables and used them instead. With the Vista Media centre set to 720p and the desktop set at 1080i it is mostly OK, except for some flickering on thin lines on the desktop.

I agree that it is apalling that things which are marked as Vista compatible aren't. This is the second device that I've got which is marked "Vista Capable" but turns out to be anything but.

[timround]

Hi,

I recently purchased the XL301 and also have it hooked up to a 40W2000 with HDMI.

It took a lot of hunting down, but a solution to the HDMI switching is KB937500.
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/937500/
You need to phone Microsoft and explain your problem, and request this hotfix, they will email you a link so you can download it.

Its not a perfect fix, you still have problems with sound cutting out and jumping video when you return from sleep, but at least its not a black screen.

I also asked about Vista SP1 and was told it should be out in August (maybe September).
This hotfix and many others related to sleep will be bundled with SP1.
If you look through the hotfixes on support.microsoft.com, you'll find quite a few to do with media center and sleep.

I must admit I can't understand how Sony can release a product with this many serious issues! I was hoping to replace my freeview PVR with this, but its just not stable enough.
Fingers crossed SP1 fixes all the major problems!


Tim

[ChalkyWhite71]

I had the opportunity to buy the 301 for £300 more than my 201, but thought i'd make do with XP MCE on the 201 and wait until SP1 of Vista. I appreciate that I've now got to upgrade XP, but thought this expense was swallowed up by the difference between 201 and 301 price.

Other than twin tuner card and 2Gb RAM, I think that all the hardware in both models is identical.

[johanrobson]

You can change your display source between Component and HDTV in the NVidea Control Panel. This brings the HDMI back to life

[jimmyhank]

Thanks timround - I have the VGX-XL301 and 40W2000 as well - but a variation on the problem. Initially I had the same issue i.e. if I switched between HDMI sources or if I brought the system out of sleep the screen would be blank even though the system would still be running.

Eventually I did a system restore as I ran in to too many issues and wanted to try everything from scratch and decide one by one which updates to apply. I thought randomly applying updates caused a lot of my problems to begin with.

The problem I have now is not with the display but the WLAN - if I leave the system running and switch to another source the WLAN will become disabled and you cannot renable without rebooting - worse still you can't even shutdown properly so it is extremely annoying.

Everything works fine on the system as long as I don't switch input sources on my tv.

I will try the KB you mention and let you know how I get on.

Cheers
J

[timround]

I've still got problems. I'm almost at the point of giving up, but the fact I spent £1000 on this keeps me going!

Sony tech support have now suggested wiping the machine and starting again. So before I did this, I decided to try the current release candidate of SP1, using a registry hack to allow you to download it from windows update, but unfortunately that didn't help.

Here's a list of my current problems:-

- Sometimes not waking from sleep (this could be windows update causing the machine to reboot and sit on the password screen)

- Sometimes it wakes from sleep and I have no sound

- When it does wake from sleep I can't see live tv, I have to switch channels for it to work.

- When I record live tv and play the recording back, the video will occasionly freeze for a few seconds before continuing (sound is fine)



I used to be able to wake the pc by pressing close on the remote then pressing the green button to relauch VMC, but that no longer works.


And annoyingly tech support automatically closes your case if you leave it more than 10 days!

So my plan is to install a 2nd hard drive and copy off all the recording I want to keep, and re-install everything, and rather than having to request all the hot fixes from Microsoft again, I'm just going to try SP1 again.


I'll let you know how I get on.


Tim.