Tvheadend

The WinTV Nova T-500 is basically 2 Microtune/Dibcom based usb tuners on a pci card.

If they're showing in Tvheadend they should work. From my experience with the dibcom700, the driver however requires that you define all mux freq values & avoid the use of AUTO.

Thanks for the quick response. I'll be able to look at this again over the weekend. They show up as two DiB3000CM/P or something like that. I've been pointed to this [[https://www.linuxtv.org/wiki/index.php/Hauppauge_WinTV-NOVA-T-500]] which I missed somehow. It's not a Diversity model as far as I can see (one aerial connector). I have no idea what defining all mux frequencies means but I'll see if I can make sense of what's on that page. If it's too much hassle I may just buy a newer USB tuner. This one dates from 2007 and I can see reinstalls in future being a possibility and don't want to do too much messing around. I didn't know about the manual activation of the LNA, or even what an LNA was! :-)

Sorry I wasn't clear. What I mean when I say "define all mux freq values", I mean you need to enter everything when adding a mux & not use the default AUTO otherwise the scan is very likely going to fail.

I presume that's an example for illustration? If not, any idea where I can find the appropriate info? I can identify the two frequencies and polarisation of transmitters I can use but don't see how that relates to the above nor do I know what most of that means, alas.

Harmless Drudge wrote:

I presume that's an example for illustration? If not, any idea where I can find the appropriate info?

Yes it's an example as to the kind of values you need to enter. Here in the UK there's plenty of details online ukfree.tv being one.

I can identify the two frequencies and polarisation of transmitters I can use but don't see how that relates to the above nor do I know what most of that means, alas.

Ok, thanks. Not in the UK but will see what I can find. I've managed to get new firmware installed but dmesg is indeed reporting frequencies out of range.

If you can't find any frequencies install w_scan (sometimes listed as wscan, w-scan or w_scan). You can use that to do a scan of all the available frequencies, from that you can work out the details. If you get stuck just post the w_scan results here & I'll try and help.

Thanks. I think I've concluded that neither of the two major transmitters whose details included in TVheadend are ones my aerial is receiving (mountains add some complications; pretty sure we were on one of them up to moving to UHF and digital). I've just managed to find out what frequencies a nearby secondary transmitter uses; it may be that our aerial is tuned to that. I tried just editing in those numbers and rescanning but that didn't work, but maybe I did something wrong. Will try your latest suggestion tomorrow.

Mark Clarkstone wrote:

If you can't find any frequencies install w_scan (sometimes listed as wscan, w-scan or w_scan). You can use that to do a scan of all the available frequencies, from that you can work out the details. If you get stuck just post the w_scan results here & I'll try and help.

Ok. Seems I was wrong about the aerial being tuned to a secondary transmitter. I tried to install scan and was told LibreElec was read-only. I figured out how to get around that for installing the driver for Nova T-500 but found another solution this time.

Poking around on the manual tuning menu of the older of our TVs, both of which are auto-tuning, I found a way of seeing what channel it was on and the signal strength. It showed that the aerial is, in fact, tuned to the nearest primary transmitter¹. (This was not the case prior to the digital switch over, which I thought was because are in the shadow of an intervening mountain³). Anyway, it's one of the available predefined mux settings: "Ireland: ie-kippure."

To recap, I

• installed TVheadend and connected to it via a browser (having copied the firmware² to /storage/.config/firmware and rebooted)
• created admin and non-admin users (network 0.0.0.0/0 for now)
• added a DVB-T network called Saorview (Irish equivalent of Freeview), set predefined muxes to ie-kippure and 'character set' to auto
• configured each of the adapters to "Enabled", "Saorview, and "Low Noise Amplifier"
• selected the network and forced a scan, with the following result:

018-02-03 21:15:52.105 subscription: 00A1: "scan" subscribing to mux "770MHz", weight: 6, adapter: "DiBcom 3000MC/P #0 : DVB-T #0", network: "Kippure", service: "Raw PID Subscription"
2018-02-03 21:15:52.105 mpegts: 738MHz in Kippure - tuning on DiBcom 3000MC/P #1 : DVB-T #0
2018-02-03 21:15:52.106 subscription: 00A2: "scan" subscribing to mux "738MHz", weight: 6, adapter: "DiBcom 3000MC/P #1 : DVB-T #0", network: "Kippure", service: "Raw PID Subscription"
2018-02-03 21:16:09.990 mpegts: 738MHz in Kippure - scan no data, failed
2018-02-03 21:16:09.990 subscription: 00A2: "scan" unsubscribing
2018-02-03 21:16:09.990 mpegts: 770MHz in Kippure - scan no data, failed
2018-02-03 21:16:09.990 subscription: 00A1: "scan" unsubscribing

The parameters for the muxes look good from what I have read of correct values (bandwidth 8Mhz through to transmission mode 8k)

Since there is a signal on the cable, unless I've gotten something wrong I'd suspect a problem with the tuner card, but it worked on Windows 7. It's a while since I used it so I will need to verify that it's still ok, but I can do this later tonight by swapping the original HD with Windows Media Centre on it back in.

Suggestions welcome.

• [1] Channel 58 on Kippure transmitter: 770 Mhz; also transmits on Channel 54, 738 MHz
• [2] dvb-usb-dib0700-1.20.fw
• [3] within a few miles of us people are 2 different primary transmitters, 4 secondary ones, and some still have no terrestrial signal at all--all because: mountains

Going from ukfree.tv - the values in my screenshot (except the frequency) should work.

So, nothing obviously wrong with the sequence of steps I took? The only thing that was different from the above, from memory, was the coding rate. As I recall, the default was 3/4 but somewhere I saw an indication that it should be 2/3 in Ireland. As it was a maximum value I opted to leave it unchanged.

I have since reverted to the Windows 7 drive and found:

1. The tuner was no longer showing up (at least, there were no terrestrial stations in the list of stations)
2. It was found ok when I rescanned the stations and correctly reported the identities of terrestrial stations as it found them
3. However, they (terrestrial channels) still didn't show up in the station guide / onscreen menu
4. Rebooting and removing the DVB-S tuner, then repeating step 2, resulted in a working live TV view -- the tuner works

I have certainly had both tuners working with Windows Media Centre in the past but I don't recall when the most recent occasion was.

It all seems a bit reminiscent of the days of IRQ conflicts needing to be resolved with dipswitches. I will try the DVB-T tuner with Linux (LibreElec) on its own, in case there is somehow an interaction / coexistence problem. All very strange! I have no idea why tuners that used to coexist would cease to do so. Must be something else, surely?!

BTW the output from dmesg once I installed the right firmware was

[ 13.458048] dvbdev: DVB: registering new adapter (cx88⁰)
[ 13.458060] cx88-mpeg driver manager 0000:06:00.2: DVB: registering adapter 1 frontend 0 (Conexant CX24116/CX24118)...
[ 13.711565] dvb-usb: will pass the complete MPEG2 transport stream to the software demuxer.
[ 13.711773] dvbdev: DVB: registering new adapter (Hauppauge Nova-T 500 Dual DVB-T)
[ 13.721015] usb 4-1: DVB: registering adapter 2 frontend 0 (DiBcom 3000MC/P)...
[ 13.729661] MT2060: successfully identified (IF1 = 1218)
[ 14.331747] rc rc1: IR-receiver inside an USB DVB receiver as /devices/pci0000:00/0000:00:15.2/0000:05:00.0/0000:06:01.2/usb4/4-1/rc/rc1
[ 14.362432] Registered IR keymap rc-dib0700-rc5
[ 14.366098] input: IR-receiver inside an USB DVB receiver as /devices/pci0000:00/0000:00:15.2/0000:05:00.0/0000:06:01.2/usb4/4-1/rc/rc1/input15
[ 14.366186] dvb-usb: schedule remote query interval to 50 msecs.
[ 14.366190] dvb-usb: Hauppauge Nova-T 500 Dual DVB-T successfully initialized and connected.

Use w_scan on libreelec (without tvh enabled). If that finds channels then so can tvh.

If that fails - I'll take a look over teamviewer with you if you like.

That's very kind of you.

I'll resume tomorrow.

Mark Clarkstone wrote:

Use w_scan on libreelec (without tvh enabled). If that finds channels then so can tvh.

If that fails - I'll take a look over teamviewer with you if you like.

w_scan not found

how do I install it?

I found http://wirbel.htpc-forum.de/w_scan/index2.htm and http://www.wetekforums.com/v/discussion/345/tutorial-using-w-scan-on-dvb-t-t2-c but not yet anything for LibreElec.

Should be available from the addon dvb-tools https://github.com/LibreELEC/LibreELEC.tv/tree/master/packages/addons/tools/dvb-tools

Got it, thanks. Results appended. Note: My TVs are on Channel 58 on Kippure, using 770Mhz and also tuned to Channel 54 on 738Mhz.

w_scan -c IE
w_scan version 20170107 (compiled for DVB API 5.10)
using settings for IRELAND
Country identifier IE not defined. Using defaults.
scan type TERRESTRIAL, channellist 4
output format vdr-2.0
WARNING: could not guess your codepage. Falling back to 'UTF-8'
output charset 'UTF-8', use -C <charset> to override
Info: using DVB adapter auto detection.
    /dev/dvb/adapter0/frontend0 -> TERRESTRIAL "DiBcom 3000MC/P": good :-)
    /dev/dvb/adapter1/frontend0 -> TERRESTRIAL "DiBcom 3000MC/P": good :-)
Using TERRESTRIAL frontend (adapter /dev/dvb/adapter0/frontend0)
-_-_-_-_ Getting frontend capabilities-_-_-_-_ 
Using DVB API 5.10
frontend 'DiBcom 3000MC/P' supports
INVERSION_AUTO
QAM_AUTO
TRANSMISSION_MODE_AUTO
GUARD_INTERVAL_AUTO
HIERARCHY_AUTO
FEC_AUTO
BANDWIDTH_AUTO not supported, trying 6/7/8 MHz.
FREQ (48.00MHz ... 860.00MHz)
-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_ 
Scanning DVB-T...
Scanning 8MHz frequencies...
474000: (time: 00:00.423) 
482000: (time: 00:03.136) 
490000: (time: 00:05.890) 
498000: (time: 00:08.636) 
506000: (time: 00:11.386) 
514000: (time: 00:14.123) 
522000: (time: 00:16.873) 
530000: (time: 00:19.626) 
538000: (time: 00:22.370) 
546000: (time: 00:25.120) 
554000: (time: 00:27.863) 
562000: (time: 00:30.610) 
570000: (time: 00:33.346) 
578000: (time: 00:36.070) 
586000: (time: 00:38.783) 
594000: (time: 00:41.500) 
602000: (time: 00:44.220) 
610000: (time: 00:46.913) 
618000: (time: 00:49.603) 
626000: (time: 00:52.306) 
634000: (time: 00:55.016) 
642000: (time: 00:57.740) 
650000: (time: 01:00.426) 
658000: (time: 01:03.126) 
666000: (time: 01:05.850) 
674000: (time: 01:08.566) 
682000: (time: 01:11.260) 
690000: (time: 01:13.986) 
698000: (time: 01:16.696) 
706000: (time: 01:19.393) 
714000: (time: 01:22.116) 
722000: (time: 01:24.806) 
730000: (time: 01:27.523) 
738000: (time: 01:30.240) 
746000: (time: 01:35.490) 
754000: (time: 01:38.196) 
762000: (time: 01:40.916) 
770000: (time: 01:43.636)         signal ok:    QAM_AUTO f = 770000 kHz I999B8C999D999T999G999Y999 (0:0:0)
        Info: no data from PAT after 2 seconds
        deleting (QAM_AUTO f = 770000 kHz I999B8C999D999T999G999Y999 (0:0:0))
778000: (time: 01:46.556) 
786000: (time: 01:49.263) 
794000: (time: 01:51.983) 
802000: (time: 01:54.703) 
810000: (time: 01:57.416) 
818000: (time: 02:00.153) 
826000: (time: 02:02.860) 
834000: (time: 02:05.583) 
842000: (time: 02:08.296) 
850000: (time: 02:10.986) 
858000: (time: 02:13.690) 

ERROR: Sorry - i couldn't get any working frequency/transponder
 Nothing to scan!!

Previously I had just just scanned without giving a country code, result:

w_scan 
w_scan version 20170107 (compiled for DVB API 5.10)
WARNING: could not guess your country. Falling back to 'DE'
guessing country 'DE', use -c <country> to override
using settings for GERMANY
DVB aerial
DVB-T Europe
scan type TERRESTRIAL, channellist 4
output format vdr-2.0
WARNING: could not guess your codepage. Falling back to 'UTF-8'
output charset 'UTF-8', use -C <charset> to override
Info: using DVB adapter auto detection.
    /dev/dvb/adapter0/frontend0 -> TERRESTRIAL "DiBcom 3000MC/P": good :-)
    /dev/dvb/adapter1/frontend0 -> TERRESTRIAL "DiBcom 3000MC/P": good :-)
Using TERRESTRIAL frontend (adapter /dev/dvb/adapter0/frontend0)
-_-_-_-_ Getting frontend capabilities-_-_-_-_ 
Using DVB API 5.10
frontend 'DiBcom 3000MC/P' supports
INVERSION_AUTO
QAM_AUTO
TRANSMISSION_MODE_AUTO
GUARD_INTERVAL_AUTO
HIERARCHY_AUTO
FEC_AUTO
BANDWIDTH_AUTO not supported, trying 6/7/8 MHz.
FREQ (48.00MHz ... 860.00MHz)
-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_ 
Scanning DVB-T...
Scanning 8MHz frequencies...
474000: (time: 00:00.420) 
482000: (time: 00:03.153) 
490000: (time: 00:05.896) 
498000: (time: 00:08.640) 
506000: (time: 00:11.360) 
514000: (time: 00:14.113) 
522000: (time: 00:16.856) 
530000: (time: 00:19.606) 
538000: (time: 00:22.346) 
546000: (time: 00:25.100) 
554000: (time: 00:27.857) 
562000: (time: 00:30.597) 
570000: (time: 00:33.323) 
578000: (time: 00:36.013) 
586000: (time: 00:38.743) 
594000: (time: 00:41.453) 
602000: (time: 00:44.170) 
610000: (time: 00:46.863) 
618000: (time: 00:49.587) 
626000: (time: 00:52.287) 
634000: (time: 00:55.004) 
642000: (time: 00:57.720) 
650000: (time: 01:00.414) 
658000: (time: 01:03.107) 
666000: (time: 01:05.794) 
674000: (time: 01:08.490) 
682000: (time: 01:11.210) 
690000: (time: 01:13.910) 
698000: (time: 01:16.604) 
706000: (time: 01:19.317) 
714000: (time: 01:22.014) 
722000: (time: 01:24.734) 
730000: (time: 01:27.447) 
738000: (time: 01:30.147)         signal ok:    QAM_AUTO f = 738000 kHz I999B8C999D999T999G999Y999 (0:0:0)
        Info: no data from PAT after 2 seconds
        deleting (QAM_AUTO f = 738000 kHz I999B8C999D999T999G999Y999 (0:0:0))
746000: (time: 01:35.651) 
754000: (time: 01:38.354) 
762000: (time: 01:41.051) 
770000: (time: 01:43.751)         signal ok:    QAM_AUTO f = 770000 kHz I999B8C999D999T999G999Y999 (0:0:0)
        Info: no data from PAT after 2 seconds
        deleting (QAM_AUTO f = 770000 kHz I999B8C999D999T999G999Y999 (0:0:0))
778000: (time: 01:47.661) 
786000: (time: 01:50.364) 
794000: (time: 01:53.078) 
802000: (time: 01:55.771) 
810000: (time: 01:58.468) 
818000: (time: 02:01.161) 
826000: (time: 02:03.851) 
834000: (time: 02:06.551) 
842000: (time: 02:09.264) 
850000: (time: 02:11.958) 
858000: (time: 02:14.691) 

ERROR: Sorry - i couldn't get any working frequency/transponder
 Nothing to scan!!

A subsequent identical scan resulted in nothing being found at all.

Do you install Hauppauge kernel modules?
http://www.hauppauge.com/site/support/linux.html

currently I install Hauppauge quadHD dvb-c on Ubuntu 16.04 Server x64

# uname -a
Linux tvserv2 4.4.0-103201712311231-generic #0+mediatree+hauppauge-Ubuntu SMP Sun Dec 31 21:15:04 UTC 2017 x86_64 x86_64 x86_64 GNU/Linux

474000: sr6900 (time: 00:00.059)         signal ok:     QAM_AUTO f = 474000 kHz S6900C999  (0:0:0)    Info: no data from PAT after 2 seconds    deleting (QAM_AUTO f = 474000 kHz S6900C999  (0:0:0))
482000: sr6900 (time: 00:02.631)         signal ok:     QAM_AUTO f = 482000 kHz S6900C999  (0:0:0)    Info: no data from PAT after 2 seconds    deleting (QAM_AUTO f = 482000 kHz S6900C999  (0:0:0))
570000: sr6900 (time: 01:08.987)         signal ok:     QAM_AUTO f = 570000 kHz S6900C999  (0:0:0)    Info: no data from PAT after 2 seconds    deleting (QAM_AUTO f = 570000 kHz S6900C999  (0:0:0))
578000: sr6900 (time: 01:12.623)         signal ok:     QAM_AUTO f = 578000 kHz S6900C999  (0:0:0)    Info: no data from PAT after 2 seconds    deleting (QAM_AUTO f = 578000 kHz S6900C999  (0:0:0))
586000: sr6900 (time: 01:15.623)         signal ok:     QAM_AUTO f = 586000 kHz S6900C999  (0:0:0)    Info: no data from PAT after 2 seconds    deleting (QAM_AUTO f = 586000 kHz S6900C999  (0:0:0))
594000: sr6900 (time: 01:18.627)         signal ok:     QAM_AUTO f = 594000 kHz S6900C999  (0:0:0)    Info: no data from PAT after 2 seconds    deleting (QAM_AUTO f = 594000 kHz S6900C999  (0:0:0))
602000: sr6900 (time: 01:21.631)         signal ok:     QAM_AUTO f = 602000 kHz S6900C999  (0:0:0)    Info: no data from PAT after 2 seconds    deleting (QAM_AUTO f = 602000 kHz S6900C999  (0:0:0))
610000: sr6900 (time: 01:24.631)         signal ok:     QAM_AUTO f = 610000 kHz S6900C999  (0:0:0)    Info: no data from PAT after 2 seconds    deleting (QAM_AUTO f = 610000 kHz S6900C999  (0:0:0))
618000: sr6900 (time: 01:27.635)         signal ok:     QAM_AUTO f = 618000 kHz S6900C999  (0:0:0)    Info: no data from PAT after 2 seconds    deleting (QAM_AUTO f = 618000 kHz S6900C999  (0:0:0))
634000: sr6900 (time: 01:33.735)         signal ok:     QAM_AUTO f = 634000 kHz S6900C999  (0:0:0)    Info: no data from PAT after 2 seconds    deleting (QAM_AUTO f = 634000 kHz S6900C999  (0:0:0))
650000: sr6900 (time: 01:41.711)         signal ok:     QAM_AUTO f = 650000 kHz S6900C999  (0:0:0)    Info: no data from PAT after 2 seconds    deleting (QAM_AUTO f = 650000 kHz S6900C999  (0:0:0))
658000: sr6900 (time: 01:44.639)         signal ok:     QAM_AUTO f = 658000 kHz S6900C999  (0:0:0)    Info: no data from PAT after 2 seconds    deleting (QAM_AUTO f = 658000 kHz S6900C999  (0:0:0))
666000: sr6900 (time: 01:47.639)         signal ok:     QAM_AUTO f = 666000 kHz S6900C999  (0:0:0)    Info: no data from PAT after 2 seconds    deleting (QAM_AUTO f = 666000 kHz S6900C999  (0:0:0))
674000: sr6900 (time: 01:50.643)         signal ok:     QAM_AUTO f = 674000 kHz S6900C999  (0:0:0)    Info: no data from PAT after 2 seconds    deleting (QAM_AUTO f = 674000 kHz S6900C999  (0:0:0))
682000: sr6900 (time: 01:53.643)         signal ok:     QAM_AUTO f = 682000 kHz S6900C999  (0:0:0)    Info: no data from PAT after 2 seconds    deleting (QAM_AUTO f = 682000 kHz S6900C999  (0:0:0))
690000: sr6900 (time: 01:56.627)         signal ok:     QAM_AUTO f = 690000 kHz S6900C999  (0:0:0)    Info: no data from PAT after 2 seconds    deleting (QAM_AUTO f = 690000 kHz S6900C999  (0:0:0))
698000: sr6900 (time: 01:59.635)         signal ok:     QAM_AUTO f = 698000 kHz S6900C999  (0:0:0)    Info: no data from PAT after 2 seconds    deleting (QAM_AUTO f = 698000 kHz S6900C999  (0:0:0))
706000: sr6900 (time: 02:02.639)         signal ok:     QAM_AUTO f = 706000 kHz S6900C999  (0:0:0)    Info: no data from PAT after 2 seconds    deleting (QAM_AUTO f = 706000 kHz S6900C999  (0:0:0))
722000: sr6900 (time: 02:11.179)         signal ok:     QAM_AUTO f = 722000 kHz S6900C999  (0:0:0)    Info: no data from PAT after 2 seconds    deleting (QAM_AUTO f = 722000 kHz S6900C999  (0:0:0))
730000: sr6900 (time: 02:13.635)         signal ok:     QAM_AUTO f = 730000 kHz S6900C999  (0:0:0)    Info: no data from PAT after 2 seconds    deleting (QAM_AUTO f = 730000 kHz S6900C999  (0:0:0))
738000: sr6900 (time: 02:16.623)         signal ok:     QAM_AUTO f = 738000 kHz S6900C999  (0:0:0)    Info: no data from PAT after 2 seconds    deleting (QAM_AUTO f = 738000 kHz S6900C999  (0:0:0))
746000: sr6900 (time: 02:19.631)         signal ok:     QAM_AUTO f = 746000 kHz S6900C999  (0:0:0)    Info: no data from PAT after 2 seconds    deleting (QAM_AUTO f = 746000 kHz S6900C999  (0:0:0))
754000: sr6900 (time: 02:22.639)         signal ok:     QAM_AUTO f = 754000 kHz S6900C999  (0:0:0)    Info: no data from PAT after 2 seconds    deleting (QAM_AUTO f = 754000 kHz S6900C999  (0:0:0))
762000: sr6900 (time: 02:25.623)         signal ok:     QAM_AUTO f = 762000 kHz S6900C999  (0:0:0)    Info: no data from PAT after 2 seconds    deleting (QAM_AUTO f = 762000 kHz S6900C999  (0:0:0))
770000: sr6900 (time: 02:28.631)         signal ok:     QAM_AUTO f = 770000 kHz S6900C999  (0:0:0)    Info: no data from PAT after 2 seconds    deleting (QAM_AUTO f = 770000 kHz S6900C999  (0:0:0))
778000: sr6900 (time: 02:31.635)         signal ok:     QAM_AUTO f = 778000 kHz S6900C999  (0:0:0)    Info: no data from PAT after 2 seconds    deleting (QAM_AUTO f = 778000 kHz S6900C999  (0:0:0))
786000: sr6900 (time: 02:34.623)         signal ok:     QAM_AUTO f = 786000 kHz S6900C999  (0:0:0)    Info: no data from PAT after 2 seconds    deleting (QAM_AUTO f = 786000 kHz S6900C999  (0:0:0))
794000: sr6900 (time: 02:37.623)         signal ok:     QAM_AUTO f = 794000 kHz S6900C999  (0:0:0)    Info: no data from PAT after 2 seconds    deleting (QAM_AUTO f = 794000 kHz S6900C999  (0:0:0))
802000: sr6900 (time: 02:40.631)         signal ok:     QAM_AUTO f = 802000 kHz S6900C999  (0:0:0)    Info: no data from PAT after 2 seconds    deleting (QAM_AUTO f = 802000 kHz S6900C999  (0:0:0))
810000: sr6900 (time: 02:43.635)         signal ok:     QAM_AUTO f = 810000 kHz S6900C999  (0:0:0)    Info: no data from PAT after 2 seconds    deleting (QAM_AUTO f = 810000 kHz S6900C999  (0:0:0))
818000: sr6900 (time: 02:46.623)         signal ok:     QAM_AUTO f = 818000 kHz S6900C999  (0:0:0)    Info: no data from PAT after 2 seconds    deleting (QAM_AUTO f = 818000 kHz S6900C999  (0:0:0))
826000: sr6900 (time: 02:49.635)         signal ok:     QAM_AUTO f = 826000 kHz S6900C999  (0:0:0)    Info: no data from PAT after 2 seconds    deleting (QAM_AUTO f = 826000 kHz S6900C999  (0:0:0))
834000: sr6900 (time: 02:52.639)         signal ok:     QAM_AUTO f = 834000 kHz S6900C999  (0:0:0)    Info: no data from PAT after 2 seconds    deleting (QAM_AUTO f = 834000 kHz S6900C999  (0:0:0))
842000: sr6900 (time: 02:55.647)         signal ok:     QAM_AUTO f = 842000 kHz S6900C999  (0:0:0)    Info: no data from PAT after 2 seconds    deleting (QAM_AUTO f = 842000 kHz S6900C999  (0:0:0))
858000: sr6900 (time: 03:01.719)         signal ok:     QAM_AUTO f = 858000 kHz S6900C999  (0:0:0)    Info: no data from PAT after 2 seconds    deleting (QAM_AUTO f = 858000 kHz S6900C999  (0:0:0))

No, I didn't see any reference to this on the support page for the tuner (here https://www.linuxtv.org/wiki/index.php/Hauppauge_WinTV-NOVA-T-500#All_relevant_kernel_modules_options) and I came across several posts which I took as meaning just adding the right firmware was sufficient to get this card to work. Clearly there are additional things that can be done with re IR and remote control (which I'll look it later if I can get the card to work). What should I do?

I found this:

The haupauge drivers are heavily borked at the moment, if you like to use them pls try LibreELEC 8.x images for additional dvb drivers (https://forum.libreelec.tv/thread/130-libreelec-8-x-images-for-additional-dvb-drivers/)

here: https://forum.libreelec.tv/thread/9720-libreelec-krypton-v8-1-0-beta-breaks-my-hauppauge-1191-wintv-hvr-955q-usb-tv-tun/

If I understand correctly this is a custom version of LE which can't be auto-updated, which is not something I really want to do if I can avoid it.

Did you mean that you have similar errors but your tuners work?

Wondering if it's time to retire this tuner and buy a DVB-T2 that works out of the box with LibreElec?

No channels found in my case

ERROR: Sorry - i couldn't get any working frequency/transponder
 Nothing to scan!!

 w_scan -f c -F -t 3 -e 1

Problem retrieving frontend information: Unknown error 524

status       | signal   0% | snr   0% | ber 0 | unc 1 |
Problem retrieving frontend information: Unknown error 524
status SCVYL | signal   0% | snr   0% | ber 0 | unc 1 | FE_HAS_LOCK
Problem retrieving frontend information: Unknown error 524
status SCVYL | signal   0% | snr   0% | ber 0 | unc 1 | FE_HAS_LOCK
Problem retrieving frontend information: Unknown error 524
status SCVYL | signal   0% | snr   0% | ber 0 | unc 1 | FE_HAS_LOCK
Problem retrieving frontend information: Unknown error 524
status SCVYL | signal   0% | snr   0% | ber 0 | unc 1 | FE_HAS_LOCK
Problem retrieving frontend information: Unknown error 524
status SCVYL | signal   0% | snr   0% | ber 0 | unc 1 | FE_HAS_LOCK
Problem retrieving frontend information: Unknown error 524
status SCVYL | signal   0% | snr   0% | ber 0 | unc 1 | FE_HAS_LOCK
Problem retrieving frontend information: Unknown error 524
status       | signal   0% | snr   0% | ber 0 | unc 1 |

I scan DVB-C
but 100% driver problem

Harmless Drudge wrote:

The haupauge drivers are heavily borked at the moment, if you like to use them pls try LibreELEC 8.x images for additional dvb drivers (https://forum.libreelec.tv/thread/130-libreelec-8-x-images-for-additional-dvb-drivers/)

here: https://forum.libreelec.tv/thread/9720-libreelec-krypton-v8-1-0-beta-breaks-my-hauppauge-1191-wintv-hvr-955q-usb-tv-tun/

I'm no expert, but I think this is related to the Hauppague drivers that saen acro referenced.
I have tried those because I'm desperate to get this working but I don't think they have anything of use for this card.
I'm essentially in the same boat as you. I get the same errors with w_scan, it finds the MUX (actually it finds the MUX several times at the given frequency) and give the PAT error. Once it did actually return values from the strongest MUX in TVH but gave errors and wouldn't give channels.
Under windows the cards work fine and I can stream the entire MUX to VLC at the same time.

Wondering if it's time to retire this tuner and buy a DVB-T2 that works out of the box with LibreElec?

I get the impression that they have been broken in the kernel for a long time but given they are a very old card those using them are having no problems or working it out as they go.
No one has been doing regression testing for such an old card (10years!) and at some point it died.
I'm running ubuntu 16.04 but I'm on kernel 4.15 at the moment as of last night tho I've tried several versions. It's probably time to nuke my install and start over since I've made so many changes to it, but everything else running on it is fine.

My next plan is to spin up a spare box and try older kernels till I find a working solution and then try coming newer until I don't.

I'm been on a long road with these cards, they served me well under winMCE and haven't the heart to bin them.
But I've had no end of trouble with them so far, including a PCI-X bridge which had IRQ conflicts on the first mobo which I figured out only for it to die and now on PC2 having taken my ubuntu install from UFEI to MBR boot the cards seemingly are recognised fine but dont work.
I've got about 30hrs+ invested so don't want to give up and just buy new usb sticks at this point, despite all the limitations of the dib3000 cards.

Wow. You're making me feel better about having cut my losses sooner. I ordered a couple of USB sticks (RTL2832 devices) with full size coax connectors. First one, and then I read a post from someone who'd bought two similar things, as it was always good to have a spare. Which caused me to say "Good idea; should have thought of that". They have new drivers and I know they work.

So what did you replace MCE with?

I wish I'd cut my losses on WinMCE earlier too. I had looked at Kodi a couple of times in the past but wasn't particularly taken with it (having no interest in pirating content, just occasional timeshifting of TV with the ability to replay on other devices), I can't really recall why now or whether TVheadend was the stumbling block. The latest version is pretty nice and what a refreshing change it is to be able to record something in a few moments. Glad I finally got around to it.

However, I have sacrified Plex (Media Server) which ran alongside WinMCE and let me stream to a 7" tablet, or my Chromebook, with transcoding. So I wondered if I should have looked to run Plex Media Server on Ubuntu and try and run Kodi in a VM or something like (no idea if the cards would work), but it sounds like it would be time down the drain and that I'd be better off running Plex MS on a separate box, which is kind of annoying as what is now the KODI box can transcode easily. I know running them in Docker containers could work and will get around to trying that sometime.

Harmless Drudge wrote:

.. snip ..

An alternative to Kodi (at least on Windows) is SichboPVR - I asked the developer to add tvh/htsp support & assisted with the testing.

You may want to consider going for a DVB-T2 capable tuner too.

My house is going to be a Microsoft-free zone this year (very belatedly). I'd never heard of SchiboPVR and while it looks nice I've already committed to being open source only as far as is reasonably possible.

Yes, agree on DVB-T2, certainly if I was buying a card (that might last another 11 years!) rather than cheap USB device.

Forgot to come back here. Been hectic.
First mobo that died I was just throwing it out and noticed the bios chip was removable. So game for a laugh I swapped in a replacement with burnt bios on a prommer and bingo, it's back to life again.

Found the issue with my DVB cards.
Wait for it.

Over amplification.
Yep, the TV aerial distribution block up in the loft whilst fine for boosting signal around the house was giving too much beans (or the wrong flavour of them) to teh Hauppague cards and whilst they were geting a lock that was causing them to find no channels.
Tested by plugging the card directly into an indoor aerial which I had consigned to the junk pile ages ago and fitted distribution due to the TV in one room getting no signal on an indoor.

So how's that for backwards thinking.
Not a driver problem, just too much power.
All channels scanned, tho sadly it's been on a back burner since I got it working (proof of concept, other jobs need doing).

To answer the MCE question we've been to date using USB sticks in TV and recording very little.
SInce I had 3 cards in MCE I recorded a heck of a lot, perhaps too much, and we've not been short of things to watch.
Plus kodi and the internet...
But times change, needs must and would quite like having distributed TV around the house over the network and externally.
So cracking on with the spares and trying to make something useful.