M11x r1 TV tuner?

Last night I went out and got a USB tv tuner for my laptop so I could record my wifes favorite show while she was at work, well I love the thing! But I want something internal, I hate tieing up a USB port, and I hate having large dongles hanging out of the sides of my laptop.

So does anyone know if I can put this card
Newegg.com - Habey HB-MAT5070 ATI Theater HD PCI express Mini Card ATSC/DVB-T/Clear-QAM Digital TV tuner card - Server Accessories
Into the wwan slot on my laptop? Or is the wwan slot locked down in the bios.

Thanks.

 

OK, I really hope you purchase this card and try the mod I found on the Internet for you. I was very interested in purchasing this same card and putting it in my Alienware M11x R1. However, after doing some research on the WWAN port (mainly to see if it was in fact a m-PCIe card), I found out that the BIOS blocks all but very few 'whitelisted' products that will be allowed to work in that WWAN slot.
A google search revealed that if you mask off PIN 20, the BIOS can't verify the card against the whitelist and continues the boot process. From this point, Windows treats it as just another expansion slot, and a lot of users reported success with this method. Unfortunately, I couldn't find anyone that tried this mod with anything else but an off-brand WWAN or WIFI card.
So, if you do get this working, please report back. I just can't justify the expense without knowing for sure.
Glad to see there is someone else out there thinking the way I do about upgrading the M11x R1.

 

I will give it a shot this weekend with a wifi card that I had tried early this week that didnt show up in the device manager.

If it powers on the wifi card I will order up the tv tuner card and let you know it it works out when I get it.

 

Excellent. Good Luck. If it does work, then next we can talk about where to locate the RJ-6 and antenna adapters. Can't wait to start modding!

 

I have a few sma wires that go from the little connections on wifi cards (and tv cards) to a threaded sma jack. Going to use those and pick up one of these
TV FM Radio VHF VHF SMA Mini Mount antenna aerial male | eBay
Although I would really like to have a flush mount solution for it like using the vga monitor out plug modded to just have antenna wires routed in to it.

 

I read in another thread a while back that while the WWAN slot uses a mini pci-e connector, it is actually uses the usb interface (my Dell Mini 9 was like this too), so something like that wouldn't work. However, there are wifi cards with a mini pci-e connector that use a usb interface, so you might be able to put one of those in the WWAN slot and put the tv tuner in the wifi slot.

 

But do they make half height tv tuner cards?

EDIT: emailing Habey right now to find out what he voltage on their cards are.

I guess if all else fails I can take apart my hauppage usb tv tuner and mod it to fit the mini pci slot.

here a few shot of the inside of one that I found online... the guy install some heat sinks to it.
http://www.john-am.com/2011/01/modding-a-hauppauge-wintv-hvr-950q-with-heatsinks/

OK from the people at Habey

So I guess its time to mod my mini pci slot to take my haapage usb tv tuner

 

eJohnson, thanks for all the research. I'm sure this will help out a lot of people to know that the WWAN slot is a USB mPCIe instead of a true mPCIe.

I'm wondering if the existing wi-fi card shipped with the M11x is a true mPCIe. If this is the case, then perhaps you could test in that slot using the pinmod. My only concern that the Habbey people did not address is whether placing a mPCIe card in a USB mPCIe card slot would damage either component.

It's unlikely as I'm sure the engineers thought of this, but just a precaution as I don't want you to continue this venture with the possibility of damaging your M11x.

 

Just wanting to revisit this thread here.

While searching around for a dell tv tuner card I cam across the avermedia h339. Its the card that comes in the xps line of computers, these computers have a option of either the tv tuner or the wwan card (5620 card that works in our computers) You can only choose one or the other because they both use the same slot.

So this leads me to believe that the avermedia card is infact set up for a usb mpci slot. Eitherway I ordered one, should be here about a week. I will let you all know.

Here is a picture of the avermedia card in a wwan slot of a xps 17.


Got the card, put it in, nothing. So no tv tuner

 

I really want this to work for you, but the idea of loosing mobility just to have live TV on my laptop is a deal-breaker. There is an alternative if you have a computer running 24/7 like I do.
I installed a Ceton Cable Card PCIe adapter that supplies 4 tuners, of which you can network out to other Windows Media Center computers on your network.
I am now using the Ceton's fourth tuner to stream live television to my M11x through Media Center. I can now watch HD on my laptop and even use my laptop's HDD to record the stream in a true DVR fashion. I'm fairly certain that these tuners will work outside of Media Center if that's not something you would prefer to use.
Mapping my recordings to a share on my homegroup allows all connected computers to stream my recordings. This is by far the best setup I can conceive that still gives me full mobility and brings me one step closer to returning all my crappy Motorola Cable Boxes and clunky DVRs.
However, if the M11x is your primary/only computer, an internal tuner may be your best bet.

 

M11x isnt my only computer, I just wanted a tv tuner for if I am out somewhere and want to watch tv. I can install a half height tv tuner into the wifi slot, then just use 3g for all my internet needs... but thats not fun.

 

Did you try to tape the Pin 20?
http://forum.notebookreview.com/alienware-m11x/590346-m11x-r1-tv-tuner.html#post7684333

 

Not yet, was thinking about that last night though. Going to give it another shot tonight while the wifes at work.

 

it works!!! Kinda...
. Purchased Avermedia A301
. Bought the antenna separatly ELECW F-1 94V-0 as a bundle on ebay was using it and managed to read the reference on the included pics

In Short it is working, well detected (07CA:A301:rev 0106)
Seem like the mini pcie where not all contacts are mapped are usb

didn't find channel with the antenna behind metal plate underneath..

 

Is this the one you got?
Avermedia A301 Mini Pci-e TV FM Tuner Card DVB T Hybird | eBay

Looks like the a301 is a HP card.

Keep us posted if you can pick up any signals, even if its a weak signal, I can build on a weak signal.

 

this is probably a dumb question... in the above picture with the unused WWAN antenna cables. can you plug those in the tv tuner as a tv antenna?

 

Yes and no, you can hook them up, but the singal will be very very low.

You really should install a external antenna to get a good signal.

 

yep i just tried this myself on my xps 15 ( http://forum.notebookreview.com/del...al-antennas-works-tv-antenna.html#post8469251). i can view all the digital channels but reception is not as good (constant stutter).

 

I really wanted to do an internal TV tuner like my Mini 1010 has but after investigating, I got an external Hauppauge 950Q on Ebay for $40 and figured that since I won't use it often, it's not that big a hassle to have it plugged into the external USB. Also, I can use it on other computers. It works very well.

 

i got my new m11x R3 and just installed the avermedia h339 dvbt hybrid tuner from my dell xps 15 and it works! i didnt have to change any settings (FYI wwan was enabled in bios). using the aux internal wifi antenna it picked up some digital channels too.

 

Nice, what drivers did you use?

 

i used the same dell drivers for my XPS 15

dvb-t
http://www.dell.com/support/drivers...00&productCode=xps-l502x&urlProductCode=False

 

any update on the mod???

 

I got it all to work, but the signal was not very good so my channels were pretty limited.

I ditched the tv tuner for a internal USB plug for my wireless mouse in the end.