ATI All in Wonder X800
 

I want to capture old VHS tapes, so I recently purchased an ADSTech DVD XPress DX2. It worked ok for a couple of weeks, now seems to be failing. Seems to be common with this model.

I have an X800 All in Wonder card in the machine I want to use to capture, but I don't have the MMC stuff installed. I had tried years ago to capture using MMC, but had the over-sensitive macrovision problem with any VHS tape I tried, so gave up.

I'd like to see if I can get it working again as I see the macrovison hacks on this site. What would be the best driver version and MMC version to use with this card? Also, I don't have the install CD anymore, so can I even install MMC now? All I want to do is capture VHS, so I don't need any time-shifting/program guide, etc.

Not fond of ADSTech, not surprised it had issues. Not a reliable brand in my experience in years past.

What you have there is one of the final ATI All In Wonder Radeon series AGP cards, the classic "good quality" cards that video pros and enthusiasts alike came to adore for several years there (2001-2005/2006).

I would use it, if you can.

Are you still on Windows XP? I can try to help with getting you some drivers and the best MMC for the task.
You may be able to start here, for the capturing drivers: http://support.amd.com/us/gpudownload/Pages/index.aspx
Then again, maybe try some of the older ones (the 6168 package, specifically): http://www.digitalfaq.com/forum/show...onder-392.html

Only use ATI MMC 9.02 or lower. Version 8.7, 8.8 and 8.9 are safe too, the ones I actually use these days.

I don't have the PVR stuff installed anymore either, the timeshifting and Gemstar guides. In the DTV era, these tools don't really function anymore, or not very well anyway.

As far as the anti-copy/Macrovision hacks, such things may or may not work. It's not really a "hack" as much as it's just disabling the over-sensitive detections done by the card and software. Probably half of the time or more, it detects non-protection video errors and gets confused. be sure to blame the studios, not ATI, this is their doing.

The sad situation is you'll probably need a timebase corrector (TBC), regardless of the card or device you choose to convert your tapes. There's just no escaping it.

If you want to try a simple "copy protection remover", look into the Grex unit from http://www.xdimax.com/grex/grex.html -- I've tested this in one recent months with some successes (and some failures, but that's to be expected on non-TBC "removers")

For more on TBCs, see the posts in this recent forum thread: http://www.digitalfaq.com/forum/show...8710-1853.html