Why Dual EyeTV Tuners Are an "Unsupported Feature"
It’s with great sadness that I report my dual EyeTV tuner set-up is providing less-than-stellar stability. Of course, I knew going in this wasn’t something El Gato had spent time refining – they even go out of their way to let customers know using two tuners is an “unsupported feature.” The only official guideline they offer is not to use more than three of the same tuners on one machine.
The good news is El Gato is planning on adding this feature set in the future…here’s a promising note from them about using multiple tuners:
“We’re starting to gear up to finish this feature, but I’m not certain when. When it is done, it should be quite robust.”
So we know that the future is promising. But for now, there are a couple of recurring “features” I wanted to update EyeTV users about.
1. Kernal Panic/Unannounced Shutdown: The hallmark of a serious Mac App problem is it’s ability to force a system shutdown. When I used to work on Windows machines, this was a fact of life with a lot of tasks. But it’s a rare occurance for me in OS X.
And that’s why I know the recent “You must restart your computer” messages are directly related to the multiple EyeTV units. My Mini only runs EyeTV, DVD Assist, & FR (when I need it) and there were zero problems with a single EyeTV 500 plugged in. But since hooking the second unit up, I’ve had to restart the computer three times…all at unrelated times of the day and during differing tasks. I haven’t missed a recording. Yet. But that’s the event I’m dreading, because I know it will force me to chose either stability or dual-recording.
2. Losing Dolby Digital Signal: One of the features I heralded most during EyeTV 2′s release was it’s new ability to manage my Mini’s Digital Audio signal.
Pre-2.0, using DVD Player/VLC/whatever to play back digital audio involved jerking the sound from EyeTV and forced users to reaquire it upon returning to EyeTV. Version 2.0 fixed this and effortlessly switched the signal behind the scenes based on which app needed it.
So you can imagine the sickening feeling I got seeing the same “Lost Digital Audio Signal” error message pop up twice since setting up the dual tuners. It was easy enough to fix, but unsettling nontheless. And like the first note, it’s got me thinking about life with a single tuner should the problem persist.
So what WILL I do? Leaving things the way they are for now seems like the short-term plan. Perhaps El Gato will release a more stable version in the near-future. Either way, I’ll keep record of it all here.
