Got Aver Radio working? [ Edited ]

[gepipi]

I tried to add the little widget from AverMedia to my iq818a (which has an AVerMedia A323 MiniCard Hybrid DVB-T on PCIe)
[text removed]
(although it is said to be for Vista Sidebar, Win7 32 & 64bit are both in the os list; also there are links for a variety of cards)

I installed it on Win7 and it's now indeed in the list of available widgets (with the clock, weather, recorded TV etc..) but it doesn't work: it's inert..
It is not mentioned but I understood that the Radio relies on the Aver Media Center being installed to function.
[text removed]

But any function (TV, Music, Settings etc..) accessed in the app ends up with the message "Can't Find AVerMedia TV Tuner Cards".

A search on this eventually brings the conclusion that "OEM version of our " cards "cannot use our software"...

So: has anyone found the trick (modified ini file, other version etc..?) to get it to find the card?

Alternatively: does anyone know of a different FM Widget that works?..

[gepipi]

My post (see above) has been found irrelevant and edited by a 'Moderator'...

" Make sure your contributions are relevant to this forum and to the specific category or board where you post", I'm told.

Is it because I talked about an issue with the AverMedia tuner card ? But it's HP who put it into my TouchSmart
and made it impossible to use the AverMedia software (restricting it to Ms Media Center)...

Doesn't this belong in the TouchSmart PC board? Is that Moderator's remark relevant ?

Then I'm scolded: " If you have a new question, start a new thread rather than interrupting a conversation".

Is this relevant ? Did I interrupt ? I started this topic and there's been no conversation yet..

Finally, the sententiously underlined warning falls: "Solicitations inviting members to join, participate in, or buy something are never relevant".

The text that has been removed from my post had 2 links to pages where you can download the 2 free applications I'm referring to.

Is that soliciting? Shouldn't people check what I'm talking about or should they be prevented? Is this accusation relevant ?

Could it be because these pages were on AverMedia's US site? I'm puzzled: didn't HP sell me an AverMedia TV Tuner card
when I bought my TouchSmart IQ818a?

Here is another link then from Microsoft's Windows Live Gallery (for Vista and Win7's Sidebar) for the same Radio widget and from its author.. But will it be permitted by the censor? Is it relevant ?
http://gallery.live.com/liveItemDetail.aspx?li=801cf99f-48c4-4837-9b9c-e7bdc49404be&bt=1&pl=1

Censorship aside, can anyone get it to work ?

[gepipi]

I received the following message from a Sr. Technical Marketing Manager, MPD, at AVerMedia Information, Inc. USA:

That's correct, HP TouchSmart ship with A323 MiniCard tuner, it does not has FM feature.  Since this is OEM version hardware, AVer MediaCenter application will not able to identify the hardware.  The only application you can use is the Windows Media Center and HP Media Player.

So: not widget FM for A323 users who don't want to listen to internet streaming radio stations...

Still, the 3 statements put forward don't seem, to me, completely convincing..

• A323 does not have FM feature: with Media Center though, 4 FM stations were found in this region (also in other apps like Media Portal, NVPR..)
• AVer MediaCenter can't identify the card because it is an OEM version: other programs recognise it though (like the ones mentioned above)
• The only apps one can use are Windows Media Center and HP Media Player: obviously there are other ones (as above + Virtualdub, Media Classics, VLC etc..). However they are not light, handy and quick enough for this type of use.
  
  I'm wondering if the invoked "FM feature" is really just a hardware one?

[dianebrat]

dude, really? you're going to get this upset and all huffy and puffy over this?

HP and Avermedia are 100% correct, the product installed inside the Touchsmart units is an OEM item provided to HP from Avermedia, it is not the same as what you buy retail, and it is not promised to have the same features and functions, nor even ID itself in PnP ID the same as the retail product.

The card installed at the factory by HP is promised to do whatever HP wants it to do, it does not have to run the Avermedia software, that was NOT a promise they made, and nowhere on the specifications does it imply that FM is an included feature. If it does work, great, but if it doesn't, they never promised it would.

[gepipi]

One of the HP technical support Web pages for the IQ818a is titled "Manuals for HP TouchSmart IQ818a Desktop PC"
http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/manualCategory?lc=en&dlc=en&cc=uk&lang=en&product=3816180&
and there's a pdf document called "Watching and Recording TV" which is available for download:
http://h10032.www1.hp.com/ctg/Manual/c01524663.pdf
The "Remote Control Overview", on page 6, lists the HP Remote Control buttons, and for the button No 4, it reads:
4 Radio — Opens the FM Radio window in Windows Media Center.
Wait a minute!.. Lo and behold: yes it is there! Top left of the Remote control that ships with this machine (IQ818a) !

Now, if this made you think that FM Radio is "an included feature" of the IQ818a Desktop PC, you'd better watch out as you might hyperventilate with anticipation and get all huffy puffy while you kept pressing a button that says "Radio" but never promised to play any program from any station!
The odd thing, of course, is that when it's used outside the IQ818a, this tuner card can receive radio stations and operate under the Vista/Win7 widget from AverMedia.. But then the same card, when "installed at the factory by HP is promised to do whatever HP wants it to do", and, in particular, to prohibit you from setting your choice of radio stations..
"They never promised it would" dianebrat writes. Perhaps... Still, I wonder why they would remove it. I suppose this facility must have vanished by itself in a puff of smoke!..

I also wonder what dianebrat is on and how s/he knows that "HP and Avermedia are 100% correct" and, in fact, what this strong statement can mean.
Concerning the 3 affirmations from the AverMedia person, I thought I showed they were not convincing, to say the least (or were at least (to follow this puffy lingo) a few - what: 27, 36 - percent wrong?).
Concerning HP, what can these 100% be about?
The only thing I mentioned was that their moderator had, with a sententious comment, irrelevant at 100%,
edited my contribution to remove the AverMedia URL where one could find the free software I was querying about.
I suppose it's not about the fact that the moderator probably knew nothing of the AverMedia Tuner card in this HP TouchSmart Australian model.
I assume it cannot be about their irrelevant remarks (like 'start a new thread rather than interrupting a conversation' when I did just that..)
So what's left?
I guess it must be that huffy puffy censorship dianebrat is 100% agreeing with (kudo to the great moderator!)..
"dude, really? you're going to get this upset and all huffy and puffy over this?" S/he asks..
Dude, no! But the essential is often in the detail..

[dianebrat]

just get over yourself,

your writing style presents an arrogance that pretty much assures no one will want to help you.

[gepipi]

Did I arrogantly edit the first message in this topic under

1. the ignorant pretext that AVerMedia is irrelevant to TouchSmart and
2. the stupid criticism that it was interrupting a conversation and
3. the ridiculous accusation of soliciting ?...

Did I arrogantly claim that HP and Avermedia are 100% correct ? in reply to a message showing

1. that one can pick FM Stations with this card,
2. that other programs accurately recognise it,
3. that Windows Media Center and HP Media Player are not the only apps one can use with it,
   in sharp contrast with what Avermedia said..
   
   Did I arrogantly decree that the card installed at the factory by HP is promised to do whatever HP wants it to do?
   When the question is about what it doesn't do and how to work around, if possible, this bridle?
   
   No I didn't and none of these responses were of any help at all: What's dianebrat talking about?
   S/he doesn't like my writing style? Sorry: English is not my language (may I add: huffy puffy dude? a style more favored by db)
   S/he should have put the vain comment in red in the margin and maybe that way get promoted from intern to teacher..
   Just kidding, db, don't get all huffy and puffy, dude..

[dianebrat]

I said your writing style is the issue, and you're not helping,English as a primary language or not, your posts appear to suggest that much like Charles Dickens, you are being paid by the word..

:-)

I have no interest in continuing this futile discussion.

[gepipi]

Alas! No great expectations on that chapter.. Not a kopek.
Still, you're right in a way: I had fun playing that game in English.
A small reward for a futile game..
You are indeed right that it was futile. However, I put forward genuine reasons,

true questions.  They were not answered.
Apart from your ad hominem arguments and magistral decrees,
the only possible - and negative - clue I can chase
(in the sense that it could point to a modification of some settings or installation parameters)
from your input is that an "OEM item (...) is not promised to (...)
even ID itself in PnP ID the same as the retail product" (output in
that irreproachable writing style which I suppose I should have adopted).
Sorry that I've been a real pip to you, dude!
And - please humour me one more line - you pipped me to it:
I've lost interest too...