Tuning to the correct device problem

[sami8519]

Hi,

I am using Yavdr 0.2 with TBS6980 driver 1.88 and also tried driver 1.92. my Tuner1(LNB1) is connected to Eutelsat W3 7.0E while tuner2(LNB2)is connected to hotbird 13.0E

In Brief and simple words my problem is: I make channels scan in the terminal using W_scan utility.

For Eutelsat W3 i use this command in the terminal to scan the channels: w_scan -fs -s S7E0 -a1 >> /var/lib/vdr/channels.conf
(notice that I must specify -a1(adapter1)in the command otherwise it wont work.

For Hotbird it is like this w_scan -fs -s S13E0 >> /var/lib/vdr/channels.conf

Now everything is good and scanning completes fine. Now, when I start the VDR, I found that ALL encrypted channels scanned whether they are part of Eutelsat W3 or part of Hotbird will try to tune to device 1(adapter1 which is Eutlesat W3 according to the W_scan tool) and ALL FTA channels will try to tune to device0(adapter0 which is Hotbird according to W-scan tool). This left me with the possibility to only watch FTA channels on Hotbird(True tunning) and with encrypted channels on W3(true tunning). Neither encrypted channels on Hotbird or FTA channels on W3 I can watch(wrong tunning).

I tried to correct the problem by forcing the FTA on W3 to use the correct device by changing the CA(conditional access)value in the channels.conf and they worked, but I cant correct that for Hotbird because changing CA value means that I wont be able to decrypt the channels even though they will tune to the right device which pointless.

I hope there is a solution for this problem otherwise I dont have choice only to return to Windows7:(

Regards
Sami

[cody]

Sami, first of all, please, note that what you're describing is not by any means bug in Linux drivers for TBS 6980 and both adapters (tuners) of TBS 6980 are perfectly operational and usable in Linux as you saw that for yourself with using "w_scan" tool with correct switch "-a1" or "-a0" to indicate which adapter the software should you use. however, you scan and save all channels to the same "channels.conf" file, but if you open and look such file in text editor you will see that there is no information inside it which channel through which adapter is available (i.e. what "-a1" and "-a0" switches for "w_scan" tool do ) and that explains why VDR is puzzled and don't know which adapter for which channel to use. while i don't have an answer how to solve this problem, since it's with third party open-source application and not related to TBS hardware or drivers in any way, i guess there are enough placed where you can seek help how to configure VDR properly to be used with two DVB-S2 adapters. also, maybe, it's good idea to try MythTV, which supports two or more DVB adapters from the same type and has PVR functionality a lot like and even better than what you get in Windows 7.

[sami8519]

Hi cody,

Thanks for your reply. You're right it turned out to be a VDR problem and not TBS6980 problem. And there is a work around that solves this problem by using the diseqc.conf to force certain sats positions for certain devices and that worked for me.

on a side note: Do you know If mythTV is more stabe and better functioning especially for HD channels than VDR( I experience unstable picture on HD in particular Sky it HD)? If so I am going to try it.

Thanks again cody and sorry for any inconvenience.

Regards
Sami

[cody]

Sami, at least in my opinion XBMC+VDR is maybe the best solution. also, XBMC supports hardware H.264 acceleration of HD channels with nVidia VDPAU compatible video card or Broadcom Crystal HD card:

https://shop.tbsdtv.com/hd-decoder-card-pcie-mini_c7

we had some stock of them before, but they are sold out now. however, you can use such Crystal HD card in desktop PC with adapter card like:

https://shop.tbsdtv.com/mp2a-mini-pcie-to ... r_p15.html

or

https://shop.tbsdtv.com/mp1-mini-pcie-pci ... r_p14.html

and it's nice solution, because Broadcom Crystal HD driver for Linux is almost fully open-source (it's a lot like Linux driver for TBS 6980 and only some small part of it is closed-source binary). you can read more about on XBMC project website.

[smv1210]

Do you know If mythTV is more stabe and better functioning especially for HD channels than VDR( I experience unstable picture on HD in particular Sky it HD)?

MythTV (and, especially in its mythbuntu reincarnation) works quite OK, however, to use it with TBS6980 (i.e. with "CI-less" DVB card) would be not so easy, if you are not targeting to watch FTA cannels only.

At least, I did not get very stable result to "marriage" it with SASC-NG module(while vdr-sc plug-in seems work much better...)

PS: So, currently, I have to move from Linux to win7 + MediaPortal 1.1.2 (+ MDAPIfilter + Acamd 0.1.6.8)

[sami8519]

Hi smv1210,

I am right now running mythtv on mythbuntu 10.10 and configured sasc-ng and it is working fine. what is your problem with sasc-ng?
It is true that vdr-sc(I also have yavdr 0.3 installed) works better to a degree but nevertheless I dont have major problems with sasc-ng. If you need help about it pm me and I will try to help you.

Regards
Sami

[smv1210]

I am right now running mythtv on mythbuntu 10.10 and configured sasc-ng and it is working fine. what is your problem with sasc-ng?]

Hi Sami,

Sorry, that was my negative experience with mythbuntu 9.10

Today I also have checked it on 10.10 - yes, I should admit, it definitely works much stable now.

However, for some reason , I need to have two independent instances of cardclient.conf files, separate for each receiver (how it natively done in the MDAPIfilter).

I guess, it would be also possible to achieve by modifying runsasc script, that it launch two instances of sasc-ng, something like this:

sasc-ng -j 0:2 --cam-budget --sid-allpid --sid-nocache --cam-dir /etc/camfiles1/
sasc-ng -j 1:3 --cam-budget --sid-allpid --sid-nocache --cam-dir /etc/camfiles2/

????

[sami8519]

Hi mate,

Please look at your PM. One instance of cardclient is enough.

Regards
Sami