Tech Forum

Brethren, please assist with finding of a source of the problem. I fluently searched through the forum items but didn’t find the answer.
I get the signal for webcast from a TV set outputs. There is a cable TV network installed in the building and it was easier to send the modulated RF video and audio for Webcast from 1st floor to the 2nd floor where the District clerk computer is located than to install the new video cable. For capturing of the signal I used PCI TV tuner card first but later replaced it with the external capture device due to incompatibility of the first. This onehttp://www.pinnaclesys.com/PublicSite/us/Products/Consumer+Products/Dazzle/Dazzle+Video+Archiving/Dazzle+DVD+Recorder+Plus.htm
During the first test it looked well but, unfortunately, when the real event has taken place the session has frozen after about 20 min. Since that I tried to restart the application many times, reboot the system, change setting but with no effect. System stops after uncertain period of time. At that the internet was working well. That my experience was with Webcast 2.0 version. Then we decided to upgrade it up to 3.0. We did it with required upgrading of Microsoft expression Encoder, Framework….But , unfortunately…… we have the same result. It looks like the time period before the stop a little bit extended. Now I have installed the software on my office computer and am testing the same device with the same software (with other camera). It looks better but still unstable. The process still interrupts but with different character . It sends messages like “ An error occured while streaming the webcast ……”
Dear experienced users, what may be the cause of this issue? I am sure that the capture device is OK. Today it worked more than 4 hours without interruptions. That means that it works properly. The cause is other but what?
Please help.
I noticed one more trouble on my “newly tested system” . When I change settings before the session start would it be on the main panel board or local settings for the external device I must restart the session from the beginning. I can’t after set up at once. The blank picture freezes and nothing can make it alive. Log out is also useless. Only restart the application.
I will appreciate any comment on this issue. Thanks in advance.
Igor, Moscow District STS

I'm really surprised you have no responses to this. It worries me that the software is maybe not very well supported as I hope to use a laptop with this software as a second streamer for the Spanish translation of our meetings.

If I were you I would look at the computer to see if possibly there is something running in the background that might have contributed to the freezing after a certain period of time. Make sure the computer is running no other app in memory while the webcast is going. In fact, I'd even consider disabling the antivirus tool. Once you have a very clean memory space try it again and see if the problem still occurs.

ldsrussp wrote:I'm really surprised you have no responses to this. It worries me that the software is maybe not very well supported...

Please note that this is simply a community forum. There are lots of helpful people here, but if no one has encountered the reported issue, you may not get a response. Also note that the community of Webcast users is relatively small, so that also reduces your chance of getting an answer to a very specific question.

Official support for Webcast is done through the Global Service Desk; that is the organization that can issue a trouble ticket and track down problems. Before you call them, it's good to search these forums and also browse through the extensive information on the wiki at Meetinghouse Webcast.

We had a challenge that appears to be similar to yours

Ours had to do with our Internet connection "Upload speed" and the profile (resolution) that we selected within the Meetinghouse webcast software

At about 8:00 a.m. (ET) we ran tests for about twenty (20) minutes and all appeared to be well with the setup and configurations we had used in our prior tests

Then about 09:45 a.m. (ET) we started the webcast and all appeared to be within reason, just the normal how do you start receiving (etc.)

Then the challenges started with the receiving site reported that it would freeze

After stopping and starting webcast, changing the version of Meetinghouse Webcast software, changing desktops/laptops, checking the desktop/laptop memory and processor usage, we then did a network speed test (speedtest.net) and found that our "Upload speed" had dropped after we had done our prior weeks' testing

When High 16X9 was selected it would run for a while then the receiving site reported that it would freeze and start buffering

Restarted the desktop (just to be sure) and Meetinghouse Webcast software was set to Low 16X9, to match our "Upload speed" of .402 Mb/s. It ran great and the receiving site reported that their video stream was within reason and that the audio was great

Configuration:

Meetinghouse Webcast 3.0.0.101
Processors: AMD Athlon(tm) 64 X2 Dual Core Processor 3800+
Operating System: Microsoft Windows XP Professional, 5.1.2600, SP 3
Physical Memory: 1.00 GB
Network Adapters: Broadcom NetXtreme 57xx Gigabit Controller - Packet Scheduler Miniport
Audio Sound Devices: USB Audio Device (OK, Enabled)
SigmaTel High Definition Audio CODEC (OK, Enabled)
Media Encoder: Microsoft Expression Encoder 4.0

Using “Roxio Easy VHS to DVD” (version 2.0) for video and audio input to the Meetinghouse Webcast software 3.0.0.101

Curios. Were you using the dedicated streamer box? Did it give you any indication it was having bandwidth problems?

We had the same problem, and found it was the Pinnacle Dazzle/DVD card. We got freezing about 45 minutes into a broadcast. Just purchased the Roxio card and it works great, no freezing.

Thank you all for your comments. I incline to think now that the cause of the problem is in the video card however. Will try to replace it again. Whan morel of Roxio did you use?