Gemstar plus needs to be installed on C: - possible fix

[drsmith]

I recently got this software to install and run on a system that does
not have a c: drive. I saw a couple of other postings complaining
about the problem, so I thought I would offer up what I did to make it
work for me. Note that this procedure is not for the non-technically
inclined and it may not work for everyone.

1) Copy the Gemstar folder(its in the install folder) off of the cdrom
to your hard drive. This is required so that we can make some changes
to the files.

2) Edit the setup.inx file in the Gemstar folder with a binary-clean
editor. I used vim, but a hex editor would do just as well. Replace
all occurrances of c:\ in the file with the letter of your system
drive(there's only one - make sure it includes the backslash). CASE is
important here - only change the one with the lower case 'c'! In my
case, I changed it to e:\ Save the file.

3) Run the installer. Follow the prompts like you don't know what your
doing.

4) Using the same editor as before, change all occurrances of C:\ (note
upper case) to your preferred drive letter. You will find instances of
just c: and C: in the files, but those should not be changed - only the
ones with an included backslash should be changed. Here is the list of
files:

\Program Files\Gemstar\Cuide Plus+(TM)\ATI\atidataeng.dll
\Program Files\Gemstar\Guide Plus+(TM)\ATI\PGETV.exe

5) Run the program and perform the schedule download.

The only problem with the above hack is that a program update from the
web could render the software broken again since Gemstar makes the
[improper] assumption that all computers have a C: drive. In that
case, repeating step 4 should resolve the problem(I've not tested this).

 

[tk]

I recently got this software to install and run on a system that does
not have a c: drive. I saw a couple of other postings complaining
about the problem, so I thought I would offer up what I did to make it
work for me. Note that this procedure is not for the non-technically
inclined and it may not work for everyone.

1) Copy the Gemstar folder(its in the install folder) off of the cdrom
to your hard drive. This is required so that we can make some changes
to the files.

2) Edit the setup.inx file in the Gemstar folder with a binary-clean
editor. I used vim, but a hex editor would do just as well. Replace
all occurrances of c:\ in the file with the letter of your system
drive(there's only one - make sure it includes the backslash). CASE is
important here - only change the one with the lower case 'c'! In my
case, I changed it to e:\ Save the file.

3) Run the installer. Follow the prompts like you don't know what your
doing.

4) Using the same editor as before, change all occurrances of C:\ (note
upper case) to your preferred drive letter. You will find instances of
just c: and C: in the files, but those should not be changed - only the
ones with an included backslash should be changed. Here is the list of
files:

\Program Files\Gemstar\Cuide Plus+(TM)\ATI\atidataeng.dll
\Program Files\Gemstar\Guide Plus+(TM)\ATI\PGETV.exe

5) Run the program and perform the schedule download.

The only problem with the above hack is that a program update from the
web could render the software broken again since Gemstar makes the
[improper] assumption that all computers have a C: drive. In that
case, repeating step 4 should resolve the problem(I've not tested this).

My XP install is G: bootdrive C: Gemstar is on G:
and works. I do have the disappearing mouse cursor
and last time I checked the schedule record crashed but I usually
record through SVCD input anyway and don't use it for that.

 

[drsmith]

Interesting - I have a new ATI TV Wonder USB 2.0 installed under WinXP
and without the above procedure, I couldn't even get it to install. Of
course, I have no C: drive in the system and I boot from E:, so that
may explain the differences.

The only problem so far is that it can't do a scheduled recording if
the screensaver is active or if the workstation is logged off. It
gives me an error saying it can't initialize the video. IMHO, this
software is crap and I have concerns about whether or not it would work
ok with any other recording solutions such as Showshifter. I really
need something more reliable.

 

[Barry Watzman]

I have dual boot and WinXP installed on D: and Gemstar works fine. I'm
not convinced that there is a drive letter dependency.

I recently got this software to install and run on a system that does
not have a c: drive. I saw a couple of other postings complaining
about the problem, so I thought I would offer up what I did to make it
work for me. Note that this procedure is not for the non-technically
inclined and it may not work for everyone.

1) Copy the Gemstar folder(its in the install folder) off of the cdrom
to your hard drive. This is required so that we can make some changes
to the files.

2) Edit the setup.inx file in the Gemstar folder with a binary-clean
editor. I used vim, but a hex editor would do just as well. Replace
all occurrances of c:\ in the file with the letter of your system
drive(there's only one - make sure it includes the backslash). CASE is
important here - only change the one with the lower case 'c'! In my
case, I changed it to e:\ Save the file.

3) Run the installer. Follow the prompts like you don't know what your
doing.

4) Using the same editor as before, change all occurrances of C:\ (note
upper case) to your preferred drive letter. You will find instances of
just c: and C: in the files, but those should not be changed - only the
ones with an included backslash should be changed. Here is the list of
files:

\Program Files\Gemstar\Cuide Plus+(TM)\ATI\atidataeng.dll
\Program Files\Gemstar\Guide Plus+(TM)\ATI\PGETV.exe

5) Run the program and perform the schedule download.

The only problem with the above hack is that a program update from the
web could render the software broken again since Gemstar makes the
[improper] assumption that all computers have a C: drive. In that
case, repeating step 4 should resolve the problem(I've not tested this).

My XP install is G: bootdrive C: Gemstar is on G:
and works. I do have the disappearing mouse cursor
and last time I checked the schedule record crashed but I usually
record through SVCD input anyway and don't use it for that.

 

[drsmith]

I am. The setup program wouldn't even run - it gave some cryptic error.
Searches online showed similar reports with ATI tech support saying it
*had* to be installed on c:. Once the setup program finished, the
program would launch, but it would get caught in an infinite loop
re-drawing the user-interface.

An attempt at performing the online update said I already had the
latest version installed. Makes me wonder if this is a new bug in the
software...