Qbox II signal strength

[Marx]

Hello
I have a problem with Qbox 2. I've just bougth it and installed without any problem. Card is recognized properly, firmware loads, devices are available and almost works.
Almost, because I have problem with most channels.
When I use szap-s2 it takes about 30s to tune any channel, but I can tune channel. Hovewer when I try to watch or record it (I use VDR) it sometimes work, and sometimes can't tune.
I use dual setup - I have connected to the same dish traditional tuner and Qbox card. Tuner works ok (sometimes there are artifacts when a weather is bad), i've exchanged both outputs to eliminate that it's cable problem. I suspect that Qbox card is much less sensitive and so there are problems with signal strength.
Hovewer I don't know how to read properly signal strength and snr. If it's hex encoded - it seems signal is quite qood.
Recorded streams has errors.
It's my 4 card and all of previous 3 different had similair problem, so there is possibility that my computer is somehow broken.
I use the latest driver 12814 on Debian testing with 3.5 kernel.
I can say that README_TBS_QBOX2_UBUNTU is incomplete: it say to put dvb-usb-tbsqbox-id5920.fw while my card need dvb-usb-tbsqbox-id5928.fw, It also doesn't say anything about dvb-fe-cx24116.fw

Here is output of szap-s2:

zapping to 57 'Mango 24;TVN':
delivery DVB-S, modulation QPSK
sat 0, frequency 11393 MHz V, symbolrate 27500000, coderate 5/6, rolloff 0.35
vpid 0x0205, apid 0x02bc, sid 0x0245
using '/dev/dvb/adapter0/frontend0' and '/dev/dvb/adapter0/demux0'
status 1f | signal dd40 | snr de66 | ber 00000000 | unc 00000000 | FE_HAS_LOCK
status 1f | signal dd40 | snr e199 | ber 00000000 | unc 00000000 | FE_HAS_LOCK
status 1f | signal dd40 | snr e000 | ber 00000000 | unc 00000000 | FE_HAS_LOCK
status 1f | signal dd40 | snr e000 | ber 00000000 | unc 00000000 | FE_HAS_LOCK

zapping to 13 'TVP 1 HD;ITI':
delivery DVB-S2, modulation 8PSK
sat 0, frequency 11449 MHz H, symbolrate 27500000, coderate 3/4, rolloff 0.35
vpid 0x0216, apid 0x027a, sid 0x0000
using '/dev/dvb/adapter0/frontend0' and '/dev/dvb/adapter0/demux0'
status 1f | signal ddc0 | snr de66 | ber 00000000 | unc 00000000 | FE_HAS_LOCK
status 1f | signal ddc0 | snr de66 | ber 00000000 | unc 00000000 | FE_HAS_LOCK

zapping to 2 'Disney Channel;TP':
delivery DVB-S2, modulation 8PSK
sat 0, frequency 10911 MHz V, symbolrate 27500000, coderate 3/4, rolloff 0.35
vpid 0x01f7, apid 0x014e, sid 0x0000
using '/dev/dvb/adapter0/frontend0' and '/dev/dvb/adapter0/demux0'
status 1f | signal de40 | snr d199 | ber 00000000 | unc 00000000 | FE_HAS_LOCK
status 1f | signal de40 | snr d199 | ber 00000000 | unc 00000000 | FE_HAS_LOCK

lsusb
Bus 002 Device 004: ID 734c:5928 TBS Technologies China Q-Box II DVB-S2 HD
Bus 001 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0002 Linux Foundation 2.0 root hub
Bus 002 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0002 Linux Foundation 2.0 root hub
Bus 003 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0002 Linux Foundation 2.0 root hub
Bus 004 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0001 Linux Foundation 1.1 root hub
Bus 005 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0001 Linux Foundation 1.1 root hub
Bus 006 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0001 Linux Foundation 1.1 root hub
Bus 007 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0001 Linux Foundation 1.1 root hub

uname -a
Linux wuwek 3.5.0-rc5+ #3 SMP Sat Jul 7 23:49:22 CEST 2012 i686 GNU/Linux

Edit. I would like to add kern.log attachment but it's impossible and it's to long to post it in the message body

[steven]

Hi Marx

Would you mind writing an email to our linux support euro_support#tbsdtv.com,send the kern.log file
to him too,you will get a reply as soon as possible.

Kind Regards

steven

[Marx]

I will do that but first I would like to understand what signal strength and snr values means, to try move dish to catch better signal.

[cody]

Marx, at least based on the logs you sent to euro_support@tbsdtv.com it seems like your Qbox II device is broken, i.e. it's USB controller is not functioning properly and hence all those problems. so, since you just bought it, please, contact your seller for getting a replacement, as well in case you have problems with that, let us know.

as far as signal statistics on 'szap-s2' is concerned - in order to adjust your dish better you need to look at SNR values. however, until reporting in dB EsN0 is activated in the driver it's hard to 'read' them. so, the easiest way to do that is - create file "/etc/modprobe.d/cx24116.conf", which contains the following line:

options cx24116 esno_snr=1

and restart the driver (either with reboot of the computer of via 'rmmod' and 'modprobe') in order the new setting to be applied. after that example 'szap-s2' output :

status 1f | signal ddc0 | snr 0075 | ber 00000000 | unc 00000000 | FE_HAS_LOCK

means:

SNR in EsNo dB is 11.7 dB, because the number '75' is in hexadecimal and converted to decimal value is 117 and 117 = 10*(EsNo dB)

i hope that helps you to understand better the signal statistics, but once again your device seems like faulty based on the logs you provided to euro_support@tbsdtv.com.

[Marx]

Is it possible that card is ok? Card is bought from person who used it in his HTPC without problems.
I can say that Qbox II works ok on some channels (I can watch them) and lock (very slow) on almost all channels properly with szap-s2

I owned 4 different card (Pinnacle PCTV Sat Pro USB 452e, Terratec Cinergy S2 USB HD, Prof Revolution 8000 and this Qbox II) and none of them works properly.
Is it possible that my mainboard, AsRock E350M1, is faulty?

I've changed options cx24116 esno_snr=1 options and here is ouput of tuning:

zapping to 57 'Mango 24;TVN':
delivery DVB-S, modulation QPSK
sat 0, frequency 11393 MHz V, symbolrate 27500000, coderate 5/6, rolloff 0.35
vpid 0x0205, apid 0x02bc, sid 0x0245
using '/dev/dvb/adapter0/frontend0' and '/dev/dvb/adapter0/demux0'
status 1f | signal de40 | snr 008a | ber 00000000 | unc 00000000 | FE_HAS_LOCK
status 1f | signal de40 | snr 008b | ber 00000000 | unc 00000000 | FE_HAS_LOCK
status 1f | signal ddc0 | snr 008a | ber 00000000 | unc 00000000 | FE_HAS_LOCK
status 1f | signal ddc0 | snr 008a | ber 00000000 | unc 00000000 | FE_HAS_LOCK

It seems that snr is very low. Do i properly understand that signal is very poor?

[Marx]

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