I bought a USB TV Stick last week which is supposed to work on Vista, but haven’t been able to get it to work until today. I kept getting an error sayding that PMCLoader.exe was closing. I got this on my 64bit desktop and my 32bit laptop. Frustrating.
I got it solved and will just post what I did in case someone else comes across the same problem and finds this through Google (I couldn’t find anything).
For Vista, you need to download the proper drivers for the stick. These are not on the normal drivers page, so you need to look around a bit. I went to http://cdn.pinnaclesys.com/SupportFiles/PCTV%20Drivers/ReadmePCTV.htm to download the the 64 bit drivers (currently in Beta) for product 71E. Then, go to Device Manager and manually install the driver. The incredibly long Pinnacle software installation (it took over 30 minutes and required a reboot) is worthless. Even now, it tells me I don’t have .net 2 installed (which I know to be false).
For this TV Stick, use Windows Media Centre instead of the bundled Pinnacle software. I’m still setting it all up after four days. I’m not too pleased with this so far.
Update (24 August 2007):
I’ve seen alot of people have found this post searching for an answer to the same problem. I got it working with Windows Media Centre, but not the bundled software. The problem is I get no good reception. That cheap little aerial they give you doesn’t pick up anything in my area. If you are in London or using the aerial on top of your house, the drivers on the link above should work fine.
Hello, ive got 32 bit and ive just downloaded the drivers from that site. im in device manager, what do i do next? please reply asap thanks.
I’m just wondering how Media Centre picks up the signal? I plugged in the Dazzle Stick USB into my lovely brand new Vista laptop and uploaded the software for Pinnacle, but it had a problem opening so I downloaded some drivers from Pinnacle.. First of all I have no idea what 32 bit or 64 bit means?! (whoops) so I went for the 64 beta as a guess… if that doesn’t work then I guess I will download the 32 bit!
Does Windows Media Centre automatically pick up that there is an aerial attached in the UBS and that it should use that to scan for signals?
I’m glad I found your site in Google, but sadly I still don’t have enough of a knowledge of computers to know what to do next. I had a feeling that I wouldn’t be able to get freeview very well in the area, but I thought i would get a fuzzy picture as some sort of sign of life.. I got nothing! 🙂
I managed to “plug and play” in vista,(having media centre already installed) however, I can not make the thing work on Windows XP home. Does anyone have an idea how to make it work? Of-course XP home does not have MCE so I have been on the look out for addon software to serve this purpose to no avail. Any help much appreciated
Yeah, I got one too. I’m trying to get it running on vista x64. I tried media center but it blue screens my pc at 64% scan. Anyway, cheers, merry xmas!
i bought a similar devive on e-bay a few weeks back , all installation guides and drivers installed , but after repeated attempts to run it , i gey the same message saying no signal .. please do let me know if you come across a solution . At the moment this seems like a big waste of money.
Hi,
I bought one, ran the software etc and got it working fine. Then, a few days in I got a message saying ‘No Signal’. I reinstalled re-plugged etc, but to no avail. Then, a few days later it worked. Then a few days later back to the no signal – and I’ve got it plugged into a wall aerial socket that goes to the roof. I downloaded the 32-bit driver from their site, but there are absolutely no installation instructions. This product didn’t come in a tin, but if it did it would be guilty of misselling.
I too have a pinnacle dazzle 71e – this is absolutely terrible!
I have had this now for a few months, only for the drivers to knock themselves out, and for me to get annoyed very quickly..
BTW, I am running Vista 32bit.
I feel that a sending back of the product will soon have to happen, as I cannot seriously be bothered with this.
That said – you pay peanuts…
I need help with the 71e, I have broken the small aerial adapter anyone know what they are called and where you may be able to buy one from as I have lost my PC World recipt?