scan says: "Tuning failed!" -- what's wrong?

[torbengb]

I've just managed to install the tuner card and have it detected by Linux. So far so good!

Now I want to find some channels, but the "scan" tool says:

Code: Select All Code

$ scan -v /usr/share/dvb/dvb-s/Astra-19.2E
scanning /usr/share/dvb/dvb-s/Astra-19.2E
using '/dev/dvb/adapter0/frontend0' and '/dev/dvb/adapter0/demux0'
initial transponder 12551500 V 22000000 5
>>> tune to: 12551:v:0:22000
DiSEqC: switch pos 0, 13V, hiband (index 2)
DVB-S IF freq is 1951500
>>> tuning status == 0x00
>>> tuning status == 0x00
>>> tuning status == 0x00
>>> tuning status == 0x00
>>> tuning status == 0x00
>>> tuning status == 0x00
>>> tuning status == 0x00
>>> tuning status == 0x00
>>> tuning status == 0x00
>>> tuning status == 0x00
WARNING: >>> tuning failed!!!
>>> tune to: 12551:v:0:22000 (tuning failed)
DiSEqC: switch pos 0, 13V, hiband (index 2)
DVB-S IF freq is 1951500
>>> tuning status == 0x00
>>> tuning status == 0x00
>>> tuning status == 0x00
>>> tuning status == 0x00
>>> tuning status == 0x00
>>> tuning status == 0x00
>>> tuning status == 0x00
>>> tuning status == 0x00
>>> tuning status == 0x00
>>> tuning status == 0x00
WARNING: >>> tuning failed!!!
ERROR: initial tuning failed
dumping lists (0 services)
Done.
$

Questions:

What could be the problem at this point? How can I troubleshoot it; what information can I provide?
I can't even tell whether this is purely a problem with the software settings, or whether it points to an electrical problem between the tuner card and the LNB (or would a lack of signal produce a different output)?


Notes:

1. It does not matter whether the CI+ module is inserted or not; same result.
2. I have not yet inserted the chipcard into the CI+ module.
3. I have not yet installed MythTV or any other such software, so there shouldn't be any other process blocking this scan's access to the tuner.
4. It is suggested that "kern.log" might hold a clue, but I can't tell: pastebin
5. It is also suggested that this scan will fail if the card needs firmware, so I made sure that I have the two firmware files "v4l-cx23885-avcore-01.fw" and "v4l-cx23885-enc.fw" in /lib/firmware/ (and rebooted).
6. Installing a tuner in Linux is turning out to be a very complicated and frustrating task; I can only wonder whether it would be much easier if I had a Windows computer - but I don't.

[steven]

Hi torbengb

What about the signal is it ok?

can you have a try with dvblast like this

dvblast -f 12551500 -s 22000000 -v 13 -a 0

check whether you can get lock and send us the output log information.


Thanks

Kind Regards

steven

[torbengb]

Thank you! "dvblast" was not installed, so I did that.
It says "no lock, tuning again": pastebin
and it keeps repeating the last few lines:

warning: no lock, tuning again
debug: frequency 12551500 is in Ku-band (higher)
debug: configuring LNB to v=13 p=0 satnum=0
debug: tuning QPSK frontend to f=12551500 srate=22000000 inversion=-1 fec=999 rolloff=35 modulation=legacy pilot=-1

I can see from the output that it finds the card, and it detects that there is one CI slot on the card, and that there is an Irdeto CA module in that slot, and that there is no "descrambler" which I presume means the chip card that I have not yet inserted. There is some "MMI choice" in German, that must be from the Irdeto card which is purchased here in Austria.

What does this output tell you?

Thanks in advance! (I also replied to the support email)

[steven]

Hi torbengb

From the dvblast output information the driver is no problem what about the signal ?
Do you have checked that it is ok ?
and what about your LNB type ?

Thanks

Kind Regards

steven

[torbengb]

Hi Steven!
The signal from the LNB should be all right. It was installed a while ago using a direction-finder device so I'm confident that it receives a signal and sends it down the wire.

I'm slightly less confident that the signal reaches the tuner. It's a new house and new cabling, but still there *could* be a problem somewhere between the LNB and the tuner card. I don't own any other TV or tuner equipment so I can't simply connect something else to confirm it.

Are you saying that the computer (hw+sw) seems to be in order?
Does "no lock" explicitly mean that it doesn't receive a signal in the cable?

Regards,
Torben

[torbengb]

As an update to the above, I believe I have ruled out faults with the dish alignment, LNB, coax cable, physical tuner card, driver software, motherboard, and the basic OS itself. I have replaced the LNB. I have confirmed that the coax cable is good all the way from the LNB to the computer. I have replaced the harddisk and installed a fresh copy of Linux.

With all these potential sources removed, the exact same error still occurs. The command "scan -vvvvv /usr/share/dvb/dvb-s/Astra-19.2E" still gives me that same error, "tuning failed!".

I still need to know what this error precisely means, and more importantly: how can I get this tuner card to work?

[torbengb]

As an update to the above, I have reinstalled the OS and reinstalled the card again, but sadly now I cannot reproduce the situation because the computer doesn't load the card properly yet.

So this topic is a dead end. Remove it?

[steven]

Hi

Please have a look at this guide :
viewtopic.php?f=86&t=9779

rm -rf /lib/modules/${version}/kernel/drivers/media

the version you can get with
uname -a

like this:
# uname -a
Linux skyip 3.19.0-30-generic #34~14.04.1-Ubuntu SMP Fri Oct 2 22:09:39 UTC 2015 x86_64 x86_64 x86_64 GNU/Linux
# ls /lib/modules/3.19.0-
3.19.0-25-generic/ 3.19.0-30-generic/
# rm -rf /lib/modules/3.19.0-30-generic/kernel/driver/media

Thanks

Kind Regards

steven