Tvheadend

For those of you who may have been interested, this is the latest version of the script.

The syntax for the configuration file has changed slightly (same name + location): instead of DEVICES, the term is now SOURCES. The syntax is the same, except it now supports specifying multiple tuners in a single device via comma separation, so the following service syntaxes are supported:

• DEVICE_ID : use all tuners in the given HDHomeRun device ID
• DEVICE_ID-* : same as DEVICE_ID
• DEVICE_ID-P1,P2,P3,...,PN : Use tuners P1, P2, P3, etc. on that device, in the given order. This allows you to restrict to which tuners the script will have access to by default.

This is the updated usage information:

• -s sources: the list of devices to consider as candidates (same syntax as SERVICES, above. Space-separated so be mindful of that)
  • You may specify multiple -s options with different source lists. They will be analyzed, and duplicates will be removed (see below for details)
• -S : run a channel scan
  • This overrides the value from the configuration file
• -c channel: the channel to which you wish to tune, in F.P notation where F is the frequency or channel number you wish to tune to, and P is the program number within that frequency. The program number is optional.
• -o output: the file to which output will be written (use - for stdout, this is what TVH needs, if ommitted stdout is assumed)
• -g: enable trace mode, showing every instruction as it's executed
• -h: help message
• -?: help message

Also, the script has been modified to not try tuners twice. That means that if a tuner is listed twice, it will only be tried the first time it's referenced.

Diego Rivera wrote:

For those of you who may have been interested, this is the latest version of the script.

Hi Diego,

Any chance of you adding complete, step by step guide for a newbie?

I've been struggling trying to get TVHeadend to recognize my HDHomerun tuners, and this looks like a good option.

Thanks.

Hi there!

There are three options: use the dvbhdhomerun-utils driver (kernel driver), use an hdhomerun-compatible build of TVH, or use my script (updated version attached to this reply). Here's a rundown of what you're up against:

• Kernel Driver (https://launchpad.net/~tfylliv/+archive/ubuntu/dvbhdhomerun for Ubuntu)
  • Works well, has some issues with suspend/resume on the newer kernels
  • Can scan channels
  • Makes the HDH devices appear as V4L2 devices, which means TVH sees them out of the box, and can handle channel scanning/setup automatically
  • Requires some effort to build because some headers that it needs for compilation may not be there
  • Not recommended for newbies
• HDHomerun-compatible build of TVH
  • Uses libhdhomerun to talk to the devices
  • Can scan channels
  • Just as effective as the kernel driver, but no issues with newer kernels
  • Requires a little effort to build the newer package with HDHomerun support
  • Whenever there's an updated version, you can't just download it, you have to (again) recompile to re-add the HDH support
• My script
  • Uses hdhomerun_config to talk to the devices and reproduce the video
  • Just as effective as the other two
  • Requires significant effort to configure TVH to use it since TVH can't scan for channels, and TVH lacks the ability (to my knowledge) for mass-importing IPTV channels (which would be the solution)

So...

What you need to decide is what kind of "extra" work you wish to do. It's entirely possible that the simplest solution for you is to build the HDHomeRun-enabled version of TVH, as I don't know what level of linux expertise you have. The kernel driver doesn't quite work with newer kernels (I tried it, it didn't fully work). And my script won't scan (not because it can't, but because TVH doesn't know how to scan from an IPTV source...at least, I'm not clear how it would).

Hope this helps inform your decision.

Hi Diego,
thanks for the information.

I'd rather not recompile anything, so using your script seems the best way to go.
hdhomerun_config discovers both of my devices no problem - I only have 14 channels locally, so setting up the muxes shouldn't be too much work.

An example configuration file would be appreciated. Just to compare and see if I'm missing anything obvious.

Mark

You won't need one. All you need is the list of channel numbers (you can use hdhomerun_config_gui, for instance, to write them down). Once you have that, you create the IPTV network and a MUX for each channel.

Be advised: they must all be digital channels (i.e. QAM/ATSC) - the HDH devices don't support analog signals (learned that one the hard way). If you're going for analog, I can also offer info on a solution.

Cheers!

No problem, they're all digital (ATSC)

Mark

Then that's all you need to do:

1. Add an IPTV Network
2. Add one mux per channel, tied to that IPTV network, where the URL is pipe://capture-hdh -c ${channel}
   • Mux name - whatever you like, I tend to name them like the service name will be (i.e. FOX.mux or CH7.mux)
   • Service name - the name of the channel

You should then do a network scan, and it will result in the creation of the service(s) for the muxes created. You can then associate each service to its EPG data.

Cheers!

Thanks for the assist Diego, I'll try it later today and post an update.

Mark

Hi Diego,

Just one quick question, given the following excerpt from an hdhomerun_config scan:
SCANNING: 533000000 (us-bcast:24)
LOCK: 8vsb (ss=100 snq=98 seq=100)
TSID: 0x4333
PROGRAM 1: 24.1 TVO

Which value do I use for channel?
Thanks,
Mark

You can use 24.1.

Cheers!

Diego Rivera wrote:

You can use 24.1.

Cheers!

Thanks for all your help, I ended up with a mix of frequency and channel numbers, but I did manage to get all my muxes up and running.

Mark