I have also been experiencing the same "time out waiting for writer to start" problem and after a good ten hours of serious frustration and failure
I think I may need some assistance.
I have a Leadtek DTV 1000 S card and it seems to work fine with the supplied software. But with MC I can find all the channels but not view them, I get a black screen and the above message.
The Winfast software that came with the unit is really quite awful and I don't want to have to use it. MC is far better, I just need it to work.
Here is the filter info in case that helps.
Filter Graph Info (Time-shifting writer graph):
Filter 'MJTSWriterFilter'
CLSID: {CBE332C2-ED6F-482D-8497-AB51CA0419B7}
Host: c:\program files\j river\media center 15\tv\mjtsfilewriter.ax
Input Pin 'Input'
Connected to pin '3' of filter 'MPEG-2 Demultiplexer'
Major type MEDIATYPE_Audio Sub type MEDIASUBTYPE_MPEG2_AUDIO, Format type FORMAT_WaveFormatEx
Input Pin 'Input'
Connected to pin '2' of filter 'MPEG-2 Demultiplexer'
Major type MEDIATYPE_Video Sub type MEDIASUBTYPE_MPEG2_VIDEO, Format type FORMAT_MPEG2_VIDEO
Filter 'MPEG-2 Sections and Tables'
CLSID: {C666E115-BB62-4027-A113-82D643FE2D99}
Host: c:\windows\system32\mpeg2data.ax
Input Pin 'In'
Connected to pin '5' of filter 'MPEG-2 Demultiplexer'
Major type MEDIATYPE_MPEG2_SECTIONS Sub type MEDIASUBTYPE_MPEG2DATA, Format type FORMAT_None
Filter 'BDA IP Sink'
CLSID: {17CCA71B-ECD7-11D0-B908-00A0C9223196}
Host: ksproxy.ax
Input Pin 'IPv4'
Connected to pin 'IPv4' of filter 'BDA MPE Filter'
Major type Unknown GUID Name: {E25F7B8E-CCCC-11D2-8F25-00C04F7971E2} Sub type Unknown GUID Name: {5A9A213C-DB08-11D2-8F32-00C04F7971E2}, Format type Unknown GUID Name: {5A9A213C-DB08-11D2-8F32-00C04F7971E2}
Output Pin 'Output1'
Filter 'BDA MPEG2 Transport Information Filter'
CLSID: {FC772AB0-0C7F-11D3-8FF2-00A0C9224CF4}
Host: c:\windows\system32\psisrndr.ax
Input Pin 'Input'
Connected to pin '1' of filter 'MPEG-2 Demultiplexer'
Major type MEDIATYPE_MPEG2_SECTIONS Sub type MEDIASUBTYPE_DVB_SI, Format type FORMAT_None
Filter 'JRiver Transport Stream Writer'
CLSID: {32147D78-FAF1-4394-A32C-B9BE9004B229}
Host:
Input Pin 'Input'
Connected to pin 'Output1' of filter 'Infinite Tee'
Major type MEDIATYPE_Stream Sub type Unknown GUID Name: {F4AEB342-0329-4FDD-A8FD-4AFF4926C978}, Format type FORMAT_None
Filter 'BDA MPE Filter'
CLSID: {17CCA71B-ECD7-11D0-B908-00A0C9223196}
Host: ksproxy.ax
Input Pin 'MPE'
Connected to pin '4' of filter 'MPEG-2 Demultiplexer'
Major type MEDIATYPE_MPEG2_SECTIONS Sub type MEDIASUBTYPE_None, Format type FORMAT_None
Output Pin 'IPv4'
Connected to pin 'IPv4' of filter 'BDA IP Sink'
Major type Unknown GUID Name: {E25F7B8E-CCCC-11D2-8F25-00C04F7971E2} Sub type Unknown GUID Name: {5A9A213C-DB08-11D2-8F32-00C04F7971E2}, Format type Unknown GUID Name: {5A9A213C-DB08-11D2-8F32-00C04F7971E2}
Filter 'MPEG-2 Demultiplexer'
CLSID: {AFB6C280-2C41-11D3-8A60-0000F81E0E4A}
Host: c:\windows\system32\mpg2splt.ax
Input Pin 'MPEG-2 Stream'
Connected to pin 'Output2' of filter 'Infinite Tee'
Major type MEDIATYPE_Stream Sub type Unknown GUID Name: {F4AEB342-0329-4FDD-A8FD-4AFF4926C978}, Format type FORMAT_None
Output Pin '1'
Connected to pin 'Input' of filter 'BDA MPEG2 Transport Information Filter'
Major type MEDIATYPE_MPEG2_SECTIONS Sub type MEDIASUBTYPE_DVB_SI, Format type FORMAT_None
Output Pin '2'
Connected to pin 'Input' of filter 'MJTSWriterFilter'
Major type MEDIATYPE_Video Sub type MEDIASUBTYPE_MPEG2_VIDEO, Format type FORMAT_MPEG2_VIDEO
Output Pin '3'
Connected to pin 'Input' of filter 'MJTSWriterFilter'
Major type MEDIATYPE_Audio Sub type MEDIASUBTYPE_MPEG2_AUDIO, Format type FORMAT_WaveFormatEx
Output Pin '4'
Connected to pin 'MPE' of filter 'BDA MPE Filter'
Major type MEDIATYPE_MPEG2_SECTIONS Sub type MEDIASUBTYPE_None, Format type FORMAT_None
Output Pin '5'
Connected to pin 'In' of filter 'MPEG-2 Sections and Tables'
Major type MEDIATYPE_MPEG2_SECTIONS Sub type MEDIASUBTYPE_MPEG2DATA, Format type FORMAT_None
Filter 'Infinite Tee'
CLSID: {F8388A40-D5BB-11D0-BE5A-0080C706568E}
Host: c:\windows\system32\qcap.dll
Input Pin 'Input'
Connected to pin 'MPEG2 Transport' of filter 'WinFast DTV1000 S BDA Digital Capture'
Major type MEDIATYPE_Stream Sub type Unknown GUID Name: {F4AEB342-0329-4FDD-A8FD-4AFF4926C978}, Format type FORMAT_None
Output Pin 'Output1'
Connected to pin 'Input' of filter 'JRiver Transport Stream Writer'
Major type MEDIATYPE_Stream Sub type Unknown GUID Name: {F4AEB342-0329-4FDD-A8FD-4AFF4926C978}, Format type FORMAT_None
Output Pin 'Output2'
Connected to pin 'MPEG-2 Stream' of filter 'MPEG-2 Demultiplexer'
Major type MEDIATYPE_Stream Sub type Unknown GUID Name: {F4AEB342-0329-4FDD-A8FD-4AFF4926C978}, Format type FORMAT_None
Output Pin 'Output3'
Filter 'WinFast DTV1000 S BDA Digital Capture'
CLSID: {17CCA71B-ECD7-11D0-B908-00A0C9223196}
Host: ksproxy.ax
Input Pin 'MPEG2 Transport'
Connected to pin 'MPEG2 Transport' of filter 'WinFast DTV1000 S BDA DVBT Tuner'
Major type MEDIATYPE_Stream Sub type MEDIASUBTYPE_MPEG2_TRANSPORT, Format type Unknown GUID Name: {E06D8023-DB46-11CF-B4D1-00805F6CBBEA}
Output Pin 'MPEG2 Transport'
Connected to pin 'Input' of filter 'Infinite Tee'
Major type MEDIATYPE_Stream Sub type Unknown GUID Name: {F4AEB342-0329-4FDD-A8FD-4AFF4926C978}, Format type FORMAT_None
Filter 'WinFast DTV1000 S BDA DVBT Tuner'
CLSID: {17CCA71B-ECD7-11D0-B908-00A0C9223196}
Host: ksproxy.ax
Input Pin 'Input0'
Connected to pin 'Antenna Out' of filter 'Network Provider'
Major type Unknown GUID Name: {71985F41-1CA1-11D3-9CC8-00C04F7971E0} Sub type MEDIASUBTYPE_None, Format type FORMAT_None
Output Pin 'MPEG2 Transport'
Connected to pin 'MPEG2 Transport' of filter 'WinFast DTV1000 S BDA Digital Capture'
Major type MEDIATYPE_Stream Sub type MEDIASUBTYPE_MPEG2_TRANSPORT, Format type Unknown GUID Name: {E06D8023-DB46-11CF-B4D1-00805F6CBBEA}
Filter 'Network Provider'
CLSID: {216C62DF-6D7F-4E9A-8571-05F14EDB766A}
Host: c:\windows\system32\msdvbnp.ax
Output Pin 'Antenna Out'
Connected to pin 'Input0' of filter 'WinFast DTV1000 S BDA DVBT Tuner'
Major type Unknown GUID Name: {71985F41-1CA1-11D3-9CC8-00C04F7971E0} Sub type MEDIASUBTYPE_None, Format type FORMAT_None
_________________________________________________________________________