I've just installed a PlusTV Hybrid pci tuner but can't receive any freeview channels (it is available through Virgin Cable in my area). It is picking up 6 terrestial channels. I've tried setting it to cable/antena and digital/analog without success.
Any help would be appreciated
tia

You don't mention what model tuner you have, Is it designed to operate on a Virgin Cable input.

It sounds as though your are picking up the RF channels, are the 6 channels thatyou can get digital or analouge? Have you got a good enough aerial to receive the digital freeview signal?

It says HERE you might need to re-tune.

There are more Troubleshooting guides at the bottom of the page.

And of course, a Virgin Cable input signal is going to need a Virgin Cable digibox (with possibly a special Virgin Cable Freeview viewing card).

I Googled and found the following:

Freeview can only be recieved via a Freeview box connected to an antenna.

Freesat can be recieved two ways, one via a new Freesat box connected to a dish pointing to the Astra satellite or second by a Sky digibox with a Sky Freesat card pointing to the same satellite (cost about 20 or so).

The Virgin Media cable coming into your house can only produce tv pictures via a VM box with a valid M/L/XL subscription and card.

The difference in technology makes it impossible any other way
Freeview = DVB-T
Freesat = DVB-S
Cable = DVB-C

Also on a final note it's against the VM Terms and Conditions to attach anything to your cable that isn't supplied or approved by Virgin Media.

So you are in for a stuffing, matey. Stand by to get stuffed by a Media Virgin. :-)

Hope you get one like those on the TV advert where the Virgin Trolley Dollies are jaunting along with the airline captain. Phwoar!. ;-)

thanks for your replies. I'll check out the links you provide.
the card is: TW/UK DVBT-210. In its bumf it suggests that it will receive freeview.

In our town Virgin supply the six basic analog channels (2 X ITV, bbc etc) to all houses in a decoded format for free. No box is needed, the cable feeds direct into the rf tv slot. It is these channels which I'm getting. You only need a decoder (STB) if you wish to subscribe to the other Virgin stuff. In fact we're not supposed to put up aerials anywhere in the Town although many who get pissed off with VM put up Sky dishes.

It is my understanding that freeview is supplied through the same cable but needs a separate box for decoding the signal. I was hoping that this card would decode these signals.

You don't live in a typical area so I couldn't guess whether or not you are receiving a standard Freeview RF signal.

Either try to get some info out of Virgin or find out if any of your neighbours can get freeview either on a modern TV or a standard box. Or you could spend 15 on a freeview box and see if it works.

Thanks again.
I can't find any info on VM site but nothing new about that. Will probably email them.
Will also visit someone who gets freeview. However I'm totally confident it's being fed through the cable.
It looks like the mistake I'm making is to expect the card to decode the signal.

The card will only be able to decode the signal if it is the same type of RF signal that is used for the terrestial digital broadcasts. I don't know whether or not that is the case, but the post by ExcecLine suggests that it may be different.

In execline's post: Freeview = DVB-T
On the box the card came in: watch, pause, record analog TV and digital terrestial TV (DVB-T).

I've just been to see someone who's getting freeview via the cable and a VM supplied box. I'll get on to them and see if the signal has to be turned on or some such.

From ExecLines post which quotes from the Freeview website.

The difference in technology makes it impossible any other way
Freeview = DVB-T
Freesat = DVB-S
Cable = DVB-C

You are presumably on cable and therefore need a DVB-C box.

If any of your neighbours can get freeview with a standard modern TV or a standard digi box then your card should work if they need the VM box then it won't work unless you plug it into a standard TV aerial.

The one I saw was using a VM box. I've emailed them so we'll see what they come up with (probably in a week or 3). It's an academic exercise in that I want to know what's going on more than anything so I'll continue to research, will report back if I find out anything interesting and once again thank you for your interest.

One of my flat screen monitors has just gone blank. I've checked the obvious - fuse, connection etc - but to no avail. Is it worth trying to get it repaired, or should I just buy a new one?

Have you done the obvious - swapped them round, check the video card is seated correctly? They're so cheap these days though.

SC - yes. The power light isn't even coming on! I run a dual head card and the other monitor is fine. As you say they have come down dramatically in price. Its a dell digital screen which I bought about 5 years ago for @ 450 - similiar can now be bought for 130-150 - hence my question really.

Looks like a new one then, unless anyone else has an idea.

Fuse in the plug?

Yep - 1st thing I checked!

Sorry - didn't mean to suggest you hadn't thought of the obvious :-)

lol

I'm in need of some serious help! My main PC's hard disk crashed today - my most recent backup is not recent enough :-( I have a utility that can normally recover set right most hard disk problems (Spinrite) but it refuses to run now as it detects a firmware problem (and suggests a BIOS update).

The options as I see them:

1. Relocate the hard disk on to another old PC and run Spinrite from there (and pray!)
2. Get a USB enclosure for the disk and use my laptop to run Spinrite
3. Just give up and curse my luck

The disk is not booting up at all. Running Windows XP Repair from the original CD to run CHKDSK didn't help as it stopped after 49% reporting an irrecoverable error.

The drive is old IDE type drive. I'm not heavily into hardware but don't mind a bit of tinkering. What are my best options to try and get the disk working long enough to recover at least some of the data? Grateful for any help and pointers.

If it detects a firmware problem it is talking about the drive firmware, so moving to another PC or laptop won't help. The message probably just means that the drive controller hardware is broken and so the data on the actual disc can't be accessed through it. Not sure what you could do beyond the usual stuff of checking that all cables in the PC are secure and that the drive has been detected correctly in the BIOS (possibly the PC BIOS parameters do not reflect what is needed to access the disc). You could also try popping the drive in the fridge for a while.

Thanks for responding so soon, Kayak! I've just double-checked on Spinrite's website and they seem to suggest it could be a problem with the motherboard BIOS.

Spinrite and BIOS problems

However, I will re-open the PC first thing in the morning and check all the wires and how the BIOS sees the drive. As for the BIOS parameters for the drive, what can I look for that will tell me something's wrong?

Thanks,
Lal