rca jacks on media center pc

[Wolhay]

i have read the user manual, it mentioned nothing about these rca jacks. tried gateways online incompetent support, first guy took over an hour of mainly stalling, my question isnt very complicated. how do i use the rca jacks? after close to an hour of stalling the final time he tells me to wait he just ends the session abruptly. the second tech support was equally intelligent and used the same stall methods, and kept telling me to call this gateway answers line that charges per minute as she obviously didnt know the answer.

ANYWAY my question is how do I get these rca jacks on the front of my pc to route to my speakers and monitor? i assumed it would just automatically take over, and there was nothing in the media center software that lets me use rca input. is there some type of software i need to use these?

[TooLFooL]

what type of pc is it? these are RCA jacks, and not 1/8" 'phone' type jacks?

[Wolhay]

it is a gateway media center pc, gm5474 if that means anything to you. and i am certain these are rca jacks as the red and white say audio in and the yellow says video in

[Video Head]

The front panel of that model says it should have a headphone minijack, microphone minijack, firewire port, s-video input, composite video input (yellow RCA), L&R audio input (white & red RCA). Does that sound like what you have?

The s-video and RCA jacks are for inputing video and audio. What do you want to connect to them and ultimately what do you want it to do?

Their primary purpose would be for capturing analog video from sources such as VCR's or video cameras. They can be used for other purposes as well. If you say what it is you want to achieve I will try to help.

[Wolhay]

yes, that is what i have. i intend to hook up a gaming console, which i assume to be analog input

[Video Head]

yes, that is what i have. i intend to hook up a gaming console, which i assume to be analog input

Did you mean analog output? You do want the console to output to the computer, right?

You should just be able to connect the console and use whatever video capture software came with the computer to capture the console's output. Some software may be better at this task for gamming than others. I do not play games so hopefully some of the gamer types here can offer their 2 cents as well.

[Wolhay]

yes, i meant analog output, and windows media center has no rca input function and came with no additional video capture software. are there any free programs that would do this?

[edDV]

Input from a gaming console for what purpose?
Certainly not game play?
Delay would make that impractical.

[Wolhay]

if the delay would be lower than 60 frames per second, what would its use for anything else be?

oh well thanks for letting me know they are useless for gaming anyway, i just assumed them to be as the same type on the back of VCRs or whatever, i guess ill just use a VCR and go through the tv input

[TBoneit]

Deleted

[edDV]

if the delay would be lower than 60 frames per second, what would its use for anything else be?

oh well thanks for letting me know they are useless for gaming anyway, i just assumed them to be as the same type on the back of VCRs or whatever, i guess ill just use a VCR and go through the tv input

I'm just helping you to ask questions of Gateway.

If you think you will be happy if you hit the fire button and then wait* for 60 frames (1 sec) for the game to respond then this may be ok. The aliens have a full second to shoot you though.


* actually what you would be seeing is delayed so you were already shot before you saw your gun flash.

[deathvegetable]

There will be no time delay when using these RCA ports to capture video. And you can install the free software Virtual VCR to capture video with this setup. Your problem is something that extends to many Gateway users. I have the model GM5446E for instance, and went through the same frustrations with Gateway's lack of documentation and lackluster customer service, which incorrectly told me the ports should work right out of the box! Customer service also wanted me to chat with someone at a rate of $100/hour... I told them I could buy a capture card for that much and that they didn't help me... I digress.

The reason your RCA ports don't work is because they are part of the onboard video chipset that your motherboard contains. Your model computer shows that it came with a Geforce 8500 video card. That means Gateway deactivated the onboard chipset in favor of the more powerful video card. Great for gaming, not for video capturing.

In theory you could go into the bios and turn the chipset on, but, you would have to uninstall the video card or risk unfavorable interactions.

[moadib66]

I am having a similar problem with my Gateway GM5474. Have plugged in my digital camcorder RCA output into the jacks on the front of the PC. I've tried several of the free video capture programs and none will recognize the input. Is there something in the Device Manager I need to turn on?
I'm not trying to do anything complicated, just capture some of my kids sports videos.
Thanks

[jagabo]

I am having a similar problem with my Gateway GM5474. Have plugged in my digital camcorder RCA output into the jacks on the front of the PC.

With a digital camcorder you want to capture via firewire. That will get you an exact copy of what's on the tape. Using composite video would entail a digital to analog conversion, then an analog to digital conversion. You will loose quality.

[kimco52]

If your computer does not have Firewire capability, you can purchase an add-on PCI card for about $15 and plug it into a spare PCI slot, if you have one.
I don't have a Gateway. If you say the documentation sucks, then I believe you. However, you should be able to see where those jacks go to on your MB or add-on card. That will give you a clue. It may need to be turned on in BIOS. If you look at Control Panel Device Manager, do they show up? Any yellow exclamation marks? Do you need to load drivers from your support disk?
Have you checked online support?

Have you read all your manuals/documentation? Perhaps you need to go to control panel and check multimedia and see what it has enabled and disabled. Check your Windows Record Settings window.

Just grabbing straws here.
This is why I don't buy prepackaged computers. I put mine together myself so I know what I have and how the pieces all relate.

[moadib66]

Thanks for the advice. Where would it show up in the Device Manager? Anything in particular to look for in the BIOS?

[redwudz]

I would go with deathvegetable's idea if you do have a add-on video card. It would have to be disabled or removed if those jacks hook to the motherboard video. But you should have a video selection in your BIOS settings you could try. But if you have a MB video out, you would likely have to move your video monitor to that connector. And your video display performance will suffer

You would just have to look around in BIOS for the video card setting. It should say something like PCI or PEG for the settings. If the MB video is turned off in BIOS, it won't show in Device Manager. But go to 'Control Panel>Classic View>Device Manager>Display adapters'.

[kimco52]

I am not familiar with Vista but I assume it is similar to XP. Follow Redwudz recommendations.
Also, I looked online at the manual from Gateway and agree that the documentation is not good. I also noticed that they have a Firewire Port. You can check it by looking in your BIOS and in Device manager. If you plug your Camcorder digital out to that input and turn it on, your Camcorder should show up in Device Manager. It may also show up on your start line as a device. Your capture software should recognize it. If you have digital out from your camcorder, that is what you should use, not the RCA jacks.