Tvheadend

oliver whittington wrote:

Hi everyone im 4 days in to troubleshooting my MyGica T230 card.

My setup:

Ubuntu 15.04 Vivid + TVHeadend Stable 3.4
MyGica T230 DVB-T + DVB-T2 card
Openelec TVHeadend PVR front end

Firmware files tested:

1. wget https://github.com/OpenELEC/dvb-firmware/tree/master/firmware/dvb-demod-si2168-b40-01.fw -O /lib/firmware/dvb-demod-si2168-b40-01.fw

wget https://github.com/OpenELEC/dvb-firmware/tree/master/firmware/dvb-tuner-si2158-a20-01.fw -O /lib/firmware/dvb-tuner-si2158-a20-01.fw

2. same 2 files from: Openelec 5

3. http://palosaari.fi/linux/v4l-dvb/firmware/Si2168/Si2168-B40.

Im ready to give up quite frankly! I've tried Tvheadend 3.4 and 4.0.5 both on Ubuntu 15.04 and have the same issue with continuity errors on all above firmware. Some channels worse than others using DVB-T broadcasts (SD) but all glitch after around 2seconds.

Previously i ran the EyeTV on 3.4 and ubuntu 14.04 and it was solid, so i doubt it's my reception strength. All seems good there.

Can ANYONE confirm that they have had the Mygica T230 working in there setup??

And if so, can they confirm the following so i can try and recreate there success?

What version of Ubuntu?
What release of TVheadend
Where they got there firmware files from?

Theres a £5 paypal donation in it for anyone that can share there success with the T230!

If anyones got any ideas... I'm all ears!

What are you running on? Is the stick on its own USB bus? I ask because many of these DVB-T2 sticks play up if they don't get the full use of the bus, look at lsusb from terminal, it should output something like..

Bus 003 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0002 Linux Foundation 2.0 root hub
Bus 006 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0001 Linux Foundation 1.1 root hub
Bus 002 Device 002: ID 2013:024f PCTV Systems nanoStick T2 290e
Bus 002 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0002 Linux Foundation 2.0 root hub
Bus 005 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0001 Linux Foundation 1.1 root hub
Bus 001 Device 002: ID 2040:5200 Hauppauge
Bus 001 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0002 Linux Foundation 2.0 root hub
Bus 004 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0001 Linux Foundation 1.1 root hub

You could also try the following (your hardware might not support it but it's worth a go)..

echo "options dvb_usb force_pid_filter_usage=1" > /etc/modprobe.d/options.conf

Don't forget to reboot! Be warned though this option prevents you from streaming a complete mux as it limits the number of pids..

As a last resort you could try installing the latest development media_tree which contain the latest fixes, see here (use the ""Basic" Approach").

HTH!

Have you read the whole post through? https://tvheadend.org/boards/5/topics/15828?r=17263#message-17263

Ubuntu Server 14.04 LTS
Kernel 4.0.8-040008-generic
HTS Tvheadend 4.0.5

FW-files taken from OE 5.08 and placed into /lib/firmware on ubuntu.

As posted in the other topic, I tried both the fw from the GIT-hub and the ones from CrazyCat, and non of them worked. I copied mine directly from an installed OE 5.08 system.

Have you noticed this?
http://www.linuxtv.org/wiki/index.php/Geniatech_T230

"Some problems with high bitrate DVB-C streams. Applies to certain DVB-C operators."

I also suffered from this issue, but after replacing with splitter -3db no more problem. Reason was a to high signal strength.

Mark Hunting Clarkstone

I've tried the new setup running on bare metal and virtualized. My preference is virtualized as i've had no
issues with my old playstation playTV adaptor through ubuntu 12.04 | TVheadend 3.4

I AM using other USB devices on this pc, but wont be able to check whether there on the same bus
until tonight.. i'm assuming if i see nothing else on BUS 002 exceot the root hub driver
and the DVB stick then that would assume it's on it's own bus? for example:

Bus 002 Device 002: ID 2013:024f <My DVB Stick name> 
Bus 002 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0002 Linux Foundation 2.0 root hub

Happy to run the command but What exactly will this prove and what will it do?
echo "options dvb_usb force_pid_filter_usage=1" > /etc/modprobe.d/options.conf

interested in running the development media_tree which contain the latest fixes, but dont have
much experience in this... Im assuming i'd do this from a clean base install of ubuntu?

What version of Ubuntu should i be looking at installing exactly? i've noticed that for my device
the kernel version needs to be 3.19+ and 12.04 comes with a lower kernel hence why i opted for
Ubuntu 15.04 with 3.19 kernel... Can anyone advise?

Jan asd Sage

Thanks for replying Jan, I have read the whole post through and i've also re-read http://www.linuxtv.org/wiki/index.php/Geniatech_T230
many times over! lol.

What's interesting to me is that the link (http://www.linuxtv.org/wiki/index.php/Geniatech_T230)
details the components of the Geniatech\mygica T230 are:

Demodulator: Silicon Labs Si2168-B40
Tuner: Silicon Labs Si2148-A20

but later in the article it references the following firmwares being needed... (si2158 as oposed to the 2148 component!)

dvb-demod-si2168-b40-01.fw
dvb-tuner-si2158-a20-01.fw

Another thing that's interesting is in my 'lsusb' output. The article reference the device usb id
being outputted as:

Bus 002 Device 002: ID 0572:c688 Conexant Systems (Rockwell), Inc. Geniatech T230 DVB-T2 TV Stick

Where as mine (from memory, until i can confirm tonight!) is

Bus 002 Device 002: ID 0572:c688 Conexant Systems (Rockwell)

In regards to ""Some problems with high bitrate DVB-C streams. Applies to certain DVB-C operators."
I dont think that effects me as i'm simply running DVB-T/TVB-T2 streams over the air. Although TVHeadend
fails to pick up any DVB-T2 channels automatically when it scans my muxes after selecting:

United Kingdom - Crystal Palace

Did you have to manually add the muxes for DVB-T2?

To conclude, i'll run the commands in the replies tonight and post the results.

oliver whittington wrote:

Mark Hunting Clarkstone

I've tried the new setup running on bare metal and virtualized. My preference is virtualized as i've had no
issues with my old playstation playTV adaptor through ubuntu 12.04 | TVheadend 3.4

I AM using other USB devices on this pc, but wont be able to check whether there on the same bus
until tonight.. i'm assuming if i see nothing else on BUS 002 exceot the root hub driver
and the DVB stick then that would assume it's on it's own bus? for example:

Yes, if it's just the device and root hub that should be fine.

Bus 002 Device 002: ID 2013:024f <My DVB Stick name>
Bus 002 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0002 Linux Foundation 2.0 root hub

Happy to run the command but What exactly will this prove and what will it do?
echo "options dvb_usb force_pid_filter_usage=1" > /etc/modprobe.d/options.conf

This basically tells the stick to only send the requested service pids in the stream, this usually reduces bandwidth but also limits the number of channels you can stream from the same mux, if your stick supports that option.

interested in running the development media_tree which contain the latest fixes, but dont have
much experience in this... Im assuming i'd do this from a clean base install of ubuntu?

I don't think it matters, you can try it on your current system, the build script usually handles everything anyway.

What version of Ubuntu should i be looking at installing exactly? i've noticed that for my device
the kernel version needs to be 3.19+ and 12.04 comes with a lower kernel hence why i opted for
Ubuntu 15.04 with 3.19 kernel... Can anyone advise?

Some devices require certain kernels, if you use the media_build it'll tell you whether the driver code supports the kernel you're running or not..

Jan asd Sage

Thanks for replying Jan, I have read the whole post through and i've also re-read http://www.linuxtv.org/wiki/index.php/Geniatech_T230
many times over! lol.

What's interesting to me is that the link (http://www.linuxtv.org/wiki/index.php/Geniatech_T230)
details the components of the Geniatech\mygica T230 are:

Demodulator: Silicon Labs Si2168-B40
Tuner: Silicon Labs Si2148-A20

but later in the article it references the following firmwares being needed... (si2158 as oposed to the 2148 component!)

dvb-demod-si2168-b40-01.fw
dvb-tuner-si2158-a20-01.fw

Another thing that's interesting is in my 'lsusb' output. The article reference the device usb id
being outputted as:

Bus 002 Device 002: ID 0572:c688 Conexant Systems (Rockwell), Inc. Geniatech T230 DVB-T2 TV Stick

Where as mine (from memory, until i can confirm tonight!) is

Bus 002 Device 002: ID 0572:c688 Conexant Systems (Rockwell)

It's just a name as long as the hardware id matches it's nothing to worry about..

In regards to ""Some problems with high bitrate DVB-C streams. Applies to certain DVB-C operators."
I dont think that effects me as i'm simply running DVB-T/TVB-T2 streams over the air. Although TVHeadend
fails to pick up any DVB-T2 channels automatically when it scans my muxes after selecting:

United Kingdom - Crystal Palace

Did you have to manually add the muxes for DVB-T2?

I did yes.

To conclude, i'll run the commands in the replies tonight and post the results.

I doubt it's high bitrate as the BBC HD mux from CP is just under 40Mb/s

Please print the output of:

dmesg | grep dvb

This is my output:

dmesg | grep dvb
[ 3.611710] dvb-usb: found a 'Mygica T230 DVB-T/T2/C' in warm state.
[ 3.846492] dvb-usb: will pass the complete MPEG2 transport stream to the software demuxer.
[ 3.853378] dvb-usb: schedule remote query interval to 100 msecs.
[ 3.853575] dvb-usb: Mygica T230 DVB-T/T2/C successfully initialized and connected.
[ 3.853588] dvb-usb: found a 'Mygica T230 DVB-T/T2/C' in warm state.
[ 4.086432] dvb-usb: will pass the complete MPEG2 transport stream to the software demuxer.
[ 4.090568] dvb-usb: schedule remote query interval to 100 msecs.
[ 4.090739] dvb-usb: Mygica T230 DVB-T/T2/C successfully initialized and connected.
[ 4.090752] dvb-usb: found a 'Mygica T230 DVB-T/T2/C' in warm state.
[ 4.326341] dvb-usb: will pass the complete MPEG2 transport stream to the software demuxer.
[ 4.330750] dvb-usb: schedule remote query interval to 100 msecs.
[ 4.330897] dvb-usb: Mygica T230 DVB-T/T2/C successfully initialized and connected.
[ 4.330913] usbcore: registered new interface driver dvb_usb_cxusb
[ 7.288118] si2168 12-0064: downloading firmware from file 'dvb-demod-si2168-b40-01.fw'
[ 7.887752] si2157 13-0060: downloading firmware from file 'dvb-tuner-si2158-a20-01.fw'
[ 9.198751] si2168 10-0064: downloading firmware from file 'dvb-demod-si2168-b40-01.fw'
[ 9.791851] si2157 11-0060: downloading firmware from file 'dvb-tuner-si2158-a20-01.fw'
[ 11.101722] si2168 8-0064: downloading firmware from file 'dvb-demod-si2168-b40-01.fw'
[ 11.692142] si2157 9-0060: downloading firmware from file 'dvb-tuner-si2158-a20-01.fw'

Hi guys, I havnt forgotton about the advice you've shared above... im hoping to have the time today\tomorrow to go through the makebuild process on a fresh instance.

I did however for a test, install the TVHeadend server in Openelec (TVHeadend 3.9 i believe) to validate whether the firmware it uses is working with my firmware. My test system was:

NUC with T230 plugged in locally -> Openelec -> TVheadend Server 3.9 plugin

Worked a treat! very little continuity errors, all channels found, all HD channels auto scanned in!

"uname -r" on openelec reveals the kernel for openelec 5.0.8 is 3.17 on my system. so failing the makebuild advice. Would it work for me to build a Ubuntu 3.17 instance, install TVHeadend 3.9 and copy the firmware files from my working openelec install? can anyone see any issue with that?

As a side note:

Is there a docker file i could utilize to get a similar result?
Will i be able to use 4 x MyGica T230 tuners in my setup easily? as i'd like to add 3 more when i get a working one up and running!

either way... Progress is progress! ... I'll report back soon after trying the makebuild stuff and dumping my output logs.

Now that you have an OE system running. Make a copy of the two files/fw from that system. (like I did)

Sure you can use 4 x Mygica.

Jan asd, i thought i saw instances of the t230 on your "dmesg" output!!

In regards to making a copy of the two files from the working openelec setup, that's what i did last time and the tuners initialize but i get horrific continuity errors and jumping every 2 seconds. which is why i was wondering what the differences were between the openelec system and my tvheadend server. Not sure whether the combintation of the kernel version in openelec (3.17.1) and the TVHeadend version in the plugin (3.91 or 3.95 i believe) are the winning factors.

I cant seem to see any mention of building the version of TVHeadend that openelec uses (3.95) is it simply 3.14 and 4xx available to be built on ubuntu?

I have tvheadend 4.0.5 installed on Linux Mint 17.2 Cinnamon 2.6, MDM 2.0, with Linux kernel 3.16 and an Ubuntu 14.04 package base using an HP Core 2 Duo Desktop.

I updated the firmware and have two August DVB-210v2 (re-branded Geniatech T230) installed. They are both mapped to the same Network (UK - Sandyheath).

If either one is enabled HD reception is as good as it could be.
If both are enabled one or other will consistently report errors and cause problems for the other.

Anyone any ideas on how I can stop them fighting each other?

Colin Brooks wrote:

I have tvheadend 4.0.5 installed on Linux Mint 17.2 Cinnamon 2.6, MDM 2.0, with Linux kernel 3.16 and an Ubuntu 14.04 package base using an HP Core 2 Duo Desktop.

I updated the firmware and have two August DVB-210v2 (re-branded Geniatech T230) installed. They are both mapped to the same Network (UK - Sandyheath).

If either one is enabled HD reception is as good as it could be.
If both are enabled one or other will consistently report errors and cause problems for the other.

Anyone any ideas on how I can stop them fighting each other?

Check they are not on the same bus (use lsusb).

OK - updates on what i've tried!

Moved my working Openelec install to the aerial point being used by the TVHeadEnd server to out-rule that this is signal related - Openelec machine works PERFECTLY on this Aerial.
As per Jan's advice:

----------
Installed Ubuntu 12.04LTS
Upgraded Kernel to 4.0.8 to match Jan's working install.
Installed TVHeadend 4.0.5
installed firmware from my working openelec box (Openelec 5.0.8)
dvb-demod-si2168-b40-01.fw
dvb-tuner-si2158-a20-01.fw

Tested - Not working.
-----------
additional step:

Make_build compiled as per Mark Clarkstones instructions using 'basic' approach

Tested again - Not working. :(
------------

log output matches Jan's perfectly

dmesg | grep dvb

[    5.801684]  4dc102b2f53d63207fa12a6ad49c7b6448bc3301 [media] dvb_core: Replace memset with eth_zero_addr
[    5.929158]  4dc102b2f53d63207fa12a6ad49c7b6448bc3301 [media] dvb_core: Replace memset with eth_zero_addr
[    5.941977] dvb-usb: found a 'Mygica T230 DVB-T/T2/C' in warm state.
[    6.202865] dvb-usb: will pass the complete MPEG2 transport stream to the software demuxer.
[    6.335381] dvb-usb: schedule remote query interval to 100 msecs.
[    6.337247] dvb-usb: Mygica T230 DVB-T/T2/C successfully initialized and connected.
[    6.337312] usbcore: registered new interface driver dvb_usb_cxusb
[    8.535275] si2168 0-0064: downloading firmware from file 'dvb-demod-si2168-b40-01.fw'
[   11.632958] si2157 1-0060: downloading firmware from file 'dvb-tuner-si2158-a20-01.fw'

All looks fine there....

lsusb output:

Bus 001 Device 002: ID 0572:c688 Conexant Systems (Rockwell), Inc.
Bus 001 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0002 Linux Foundation 2.0 root hub
Bus 002 Device 003: ID 0e0f:0002 VMware, Inc. Virtual USB Hub
Bus 002 Device 002: ID 0e0f:0003 VMware, Inc. Virtual Mouse
Bus 002 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0001 Linux Foundation 1.1 root hub

Here's a bit more dmesg output that looks relevant:

[    8.931035] si2168 0-0064: found a 'Silicon Labs Si2168-B40'
[    8.940732] si2168 0-0064: downloading firmware from file 'dvb-demod-si2168-b40-01.fw'
[   10.014385] init: plymouth-upstart-bridge main process ended, respawning
[   12.150697] si2168 0-0064: firmware version: 4.0.4
[   12.211020] si2157 1-0060: found a 'Silicon Labs Si2158-A20'
[   12.213574] si2157 1-0060: downloading firmware from file 'dvb-tuner-si2158-a20-01.fw'
[   18.649907] si2157 1-0060: firmware version: 2.1.6
[   18.649955] usb 1-1: DVB: adapter 0 frontend 0 frequency 0 out of range (55000000..862000000)

Is this line anything to worry about?

[   18.649955] usb 1-1: DVB: adapter 0 frontend 0 frequency 0 out of range (55000000..862000000)

Jan asd - if you just type dmesg on your server do you get references of the firmware versions like above? (2.1.6 & 4.0.4?)

Here's a few screenshots of my setup to help in case anything's glaringly obvious:

http://tinypic.com/r/hvctuh/8
http://tinypic.com/r/2gvopic/8
http://tinypic.com/r/2yoblmv/8
http://tinypic.com/r/28s3gxl/8
http://tinypic.com/r/315laxk/8
http://tinypic.com/r/5vxfrs/8
http://tinypic.com/r/2qs1iu0/8
http://tinypic.com/r/72qaz7/8
http://tinypic.com/r/2z5n4ur/8

Here's my w_scan pastebin: http://pastebin.com/H4w8u3KQ

I'm sooooo stuck at this point Any ideas?

As i know that the openelec version works out the box for my adaptor including all the relevant firmware and drivers etc... How would i look at replicating that success?
As a the longest shot of shots... does anyone have a working VM using the T230 they want to share with me!

I'm all ears guys.

oliver whittington wrote:

OK - updates on what i've tried!

Moved my working Openelec install to the aerial point being used by the TVHeadEnd server to out-rule that this is signal related - Openelec machine works PERFECTLY on this Aerial.
As per Jan's advice:

----------
Installed Ubuntu 12.04LTS
Upgraded Kernel to 4.0.8 to match Jan's working install.
Installed TVHeadend 4.0.5
installed firmware from my working openelec box (Openelec 5.0.8)
dvb-demod-si2168-b40-01.fw
dvb-tuner-si2158-a20-01.fw

Tested - Not working.
-----------
additional step:

Make_build compiled as per Mark Clarkstones instructions using 'basic' approach

Tested again - Not working. :(
------------

log output matches Jan's perfectly

dmesg | grep dvb

[ 5.801684] 4dc102b2f53d63207fa12a6ad49c7b6448bc3301 [media] dvb_core: Replace memset with eth_zero_addr
[ 5.929158] 4dc102b2f53d63207fa12a6ad49c7b6448bc3301 [media] dvb_core: Replace memset with eth_zero_addr
[ 5.941977] dvb-usb: found a 'Mygica T230 DVB-T/T2/C' in warm state.
[ 6.202865] dvb-usb: will pass the complete MPEG2 transport stream to the software demuxer.
[ 6.335381] dvb-usb: schedule remote query interval to 100 msecs.
[ 6.337247] dvb-usb: Mygica T230 DVB-T/T2/C successfully initialized and connected.
[ 6.337312] usbcore: registered new interface driver dvb_usb_cxusb
[ 8.535275] si2168 0-0064: downloading firmware from file 'dvb-demod-si2168-b40-01.fw'
[ 11.632958] si2157 1-0060: downloading firmware from file 'dvb-tuner-si2158-a20-01.fw'

All looks fine there....

lsusb output:

Bus 001 Device 002: ID 0572:c688 Conexant Systems (Rockwell), Inc.
Bus 001 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0002 Linux Foundation 2.0 root hub
Bus 002 Device 003: ID 0e0f:0002 VMware, Inc. Virtual USB Hub
Bus 002 Device 002: ID 0e0f:0003 VMware, Inc. Virtual Mouse
Bus 002 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0001 Linux Foundation 1.1 root hub

Here's a bit more dmesg output that looks relevant:

[ 8.931035] si2168 0-0064: found a 'Silicon Labs Si2168-B40'
[ 8.940732] si2168 0-0064: downloading firmware from file 'dvb-demod-si2168-b40-01.fw'
[ 10.014385] init: plymouth-upstart-bridge main process ended, respawning
[ 12.150697] si2168 0-0064: firmware version: 4.0.4
[ 12.211020] si2157 1-0060: found a 'Silicon Labs Si2158-A20'
[ 12.213574] si2157 1-0060: downloading firmware from file 'dvb-tuner-si2158-a20-01.fw'
[ 18.649907] si2157 1-0060: firmware version: 2.1.6
[ 18.649955] usb 1-1: DVB: adapter 0 frontend 0 frequency 0 out of range (55000000..862000000)

Is this line anything to worry about?

[ 18.649955] usb 1-1: DVB: adapter 0 frontend 0 frequency 0 out of range (55000000..862000000)

Jan asd - if you just type dmesg on your server do you get references of the firmware versions like above? (2.1.6 & 4.0.4?)

Here's a few screenshots of my setup to help in case anything's glaringly obvious:

http://tinypic.com/r/hvctuh/8
http://tinypic.com/r/2gvopic/8
http://tinypic.com/r/2yoblmv/8
http://tinypic.com/r/28s3gxl/8
http://tinypic.com/r/315laxk/8
http://tinypic.com/r/5vxfrs/8
http://tinypic.com/r/2qs1iu0/8
http://tinypic.com/r/72qaz7/8
http://tinypic.com/r/2z5n4ur/8

I'll upload my w_scan to pastebin when it finishes but i'm so stuck at this point Any ideas?

As i know that the openelec version works out the box for my adaptor including all the relevant firmware and drivers etc... How would i look at replicating that success?
As a the longest shot of shots... does anyone have a working VM using the T230 they want to share with me!

I'm all ears guys.

No wonder you're having so many issues!

I've tried using Tvheadend in a VM a few years ago interestingly it worked fine with Esxi 5.0 & some usb tuners until I upgraded to 5.1+>, I had nothing but CC errors when streaming & no matter what I did I could never get it to work correctly. In the end I decided it wasn't worth the hassle, removed exsi & ran it directly, no problems..

VMware and TV tuners (unless you can pass-through) are a pain in the arse!

Hi Mark - The tuner is passed through via USB Passthru (same as my old playtv tuner is to a different VM and working)

My playtv dual tuner (Tvheadend 3.4|Ubuntu 12.04 VM) works lovely, very straight forward! firmware and drivers were found in the 12.04 kernel and TVH without any messing about and it's solid. Dosn't drop a beat... If it wasn't for needing kernel 3.19 for my new tuners as a pre-req i'd have thrown them all into the old VM ages ago.

I'm totally convinced that this tuner can be virtualised just like my playtv tuner VM... I plan on virtualising openelec tonight and running it stock from a VM with the tuner passed through... If that works... it should prove that this is simply a combination of Drivers/firmware/kernels/tvh versions being funky.

Quick Update and a few questions!

I've got the install back to where it was originally. Kernel 4.0.8 | Ubuntu 12.04 | TVheadend 4.0.5 | T230 firmware from openelec. Now all channels play but there are continuity errors in the stream every minute or so some channels worse than others. A few quick questions that i'd like to clear up for my own sanity!

1. What streaming profile should i be using on the backend profile? HTSP? PASS THRU? i want the best quality. motion on news tickers etc always looks very blurry etc…
2. I get MPEG2AUDIO and MPEG2VIDEO errors... any idea why?
3. i notmally get a continuity error every minute or so and they are normally a quick grey bar flash or slight corruption in one area on the screen. What are the common cultprits for these sort of errors?
4. My SNR occasionally fluctuates by 0.2db when a continuity error occurs, not sure if it's related?
5. SNR is always between 25db and 32db is that good? TVH says my signal strength is -37.0dBm is this bordering on weak or strong? is it adequate?

Any info would be awesome.

Mark Clarkstone wrote:

Colin Brooks wrote:

I have tvheadend 4.0.5 installed on Linux Mint 17.2 Cinnamon 2.6, MDM 2.0, with Linux kernel 3.16 and an Ubuntu 14.04 package base using an HP Core 2 Duo Desktop.

I updated the firmware and have two August DVB-210v2 (re-branded Geniatech T230) installed. They are both mapped to the same Network (UK - Sandyheath).

If either one is enabled HD reception is as good as it could be.
If both are enabled one or other will consistently report errors and cause problems for the other.

Anyone any ideas on how I can stop them fighting each other?

Check they are not on the same bus (use lsusb).

Thank you Mark.

They were both on the same bus. I managed to get them on separate USB buses and now they both work... but when tuned to channels on different muxes one will work and the other shows a status of BAD and the client hangs with "No Input Detected". Closing the one that is working causes the other to connect properly. Sysmon on the server shows that the CPUs are running at around 23%

Any ideas?

oliver whittington wrote:

Jan asd - if you just type dmesg on your server do you get references of the firmware versions like above? (2.1.6 & 4.0.4?)

This is my output from the command:

dmesg | grep firmware
[ 7.196324] si2168 12-0064: downloading firmware from file 'dvb-demod-si2168-b40-01.fw'
[ 7.782501] si2168 12-0064: firmware version: 4.0.4
[ 7.793920] si2157 13-0060: downloading firmware from file 'dvb-tuner-si2158-a20-01.fw'
[ 8.862847] si2157 13-0060: firmware version: 2.1.6
[ 9.107291] si2168 10-0064: downloading firmware from file 'dvb-demod-si2168-b40-01.fw'
[ 9.690570] si2168 10-0064: firmware version: 4.0.4
[ 9.701805] si2157 11-0060: downloading firmware from file 'dvb-tuner-si2158-a20-01.fw'
[ 10.768552] si2157 11-0060: firmware version: 2.1.6
[ 11.014200] si2168 8-0064: downloading firmware from file 'dvb-demod-si2168-b40-01.fw'
[ 11.589972] si2168 8-0064: firmware version: 4.0.4
[ 11.601253] si2157 9-0060: downloading firmware from file 'dvb-tuner-si2158-a20-01.fw'
[ 12.661345] si2157 9-0060: firmware version: 2.1.6

Use the streamprofile called "pass" other profiles demand transcoding and will cause higher CPU load.

oliver whittington wrote:

Hi Mark - The tuner is passed through via USB Passthru (same as my old playtv tuner is to a different VM and working)

My playtv dual tuner (Tvheadend 3.4|Ubuntu 12.04 VM) works lovely, very straight forward! firmware and drivers were found in the 12.04 kernel and TVH without any messing about and it's solid. Dosn't drop a beat... If it wasn't for needing kernel 3.19 for my new tuners as a pre-req i'd have thrown them all into the old VM ages ago.

I'm totally convinced that this tuner can be virtualised just like my playtv tuner VM... I plan on virtualising openelec tonight and running it stock from a VM with the tuner passed through... If that works... it should prove that this is simply a combination of Drivers/firmware/kernels/tvh versions being funky.

The PlayTV is a dibcom device which has pid filtering & can only receive SD services which means smaller bandwidth, the DVB-T2 sticks all require much larger bandwidth.

When I tried my Dibcoms (Hauppauge NOVA-T/TD) they worked fine with a VM, my PCTV T2 290e did not & I suffered with CC errors like you're getting now again this is because of the larger bandwidth use.

If you can't stream the complete mux (see the mux tab in Tvheadend for a play link & stream two muxes) from both your PlayTV tuners at the same time (if you use VLC you should see the list of programmes under Playback -> Programmes) then I doubt you'll ever be able to receive one DVB-T2 mux.

Also have you actually tried these sticks outside a VM? Do they work fine?

Colin Brooks wrote:

Mark Clarkstone wrote:

Colin Brooks wrote:

I have tvheadend 4.0.5 installed on Linux Mint 17.2 Cinnamon 2.6, MDM 2.0, with Linux kernel 3.16 and an Ubuntu 14.04 package base using an HP Core 2 Duo Desktop.

I updated the firmware and have two August DVB-210v2 (re-branded Geniatech T230) installed. They are both mapped to the same Network (UK - Sandyheath).

If either one is enabled HD reception is as good as it could be.
If both are enabled one or other will consistently report errors and cause problems for the other.

Anyone any ideas on how I can stop them fighting each other?

Check they are not on the same bus (use lsusb).

Thank you Mark.

They were both on the same bus. I managed to get them on separate USB buses and now they both work... but when tuned to channels on different muxes one will work and the other shows a status of BAD and the client hangs with "No Input Detected". Closing the one that is working causes the other to connect properly. Sysmon on the server shows that the CPUs are running at around 23%

Any ideas?

Have you tried the Linked Input option, not sure that'll help but it's worth trying however I doubt it'll be much use as I think they'll both tune to the same mux!

Mark Clarkstone wrote:

The PlayTV is a dibcom device which has pid filtering & can only receive SD services which means smaller bandwidth, the DVB-T2 sticks all require much larger bandwidth.

When I tried my Dibcoms (Hauppauge NOVA-T/TD) they worked fine with a VM, my PCTV T2 290e did not & I suffered with CC errors like you're getting now again this is because of the larger bandwidth use.

If you can't stream the complete mux (see the mux tab in Tvheadend for a play link & stream two muxes) from both your PlayTV tuners at the same time (if you use VLC you should see the list of programmes under Playback -> Programmes) then I doubt you'll ever be able to receive one DVB-T2 mux.

Also have you actually tried these sticks outside a VM? Do they work fine?

I understand what your saying about the playtv... Not overly sure what PID filtering is but i'll have to read up. The way i see it is an SD stream is going to be the same size regardless of the tuner being DVB-T or DVB-T2 tuner therefore the channels that worked on the PlayTV should work on the Geniatech T230, network dosnt seem to be an issue as everything from server to client is hardwired on 1gb ethernet ports. HD channels dont show any more or less continuity errors than SD broadcasts. If anything, when playing SD broadcasts, it's the playTV that has the potential to cause more bottleneck issues due to it being a dual-tuner and capable of two SD streams at the same time (increased bandwidth)- I never had a problem running 2 x SD streams on my playtv VM.

My working Openelec system which i'd love to be able to create as a VM is not virtualised. It's simply an NUC running openelec with the T230 stuck in the front on a USB2.0 port. Works flawlessly.

@JanSage - Thanks for confirming the firmware versions (my versions are idential) and the pass thru stuff. If you get a chance can you let me know what sort of signal strength your getting under status in TVH when running a channel to a client? Did you have to tinker with your profiles to force pass thru? I'd have expected to have seen a reference to pass-thru when a clint loads a channel in the logs? as whenever i look at the chevron log in TVH when a channel is loaded the log always references an HTSP:\\ connection. I'm assuming this is the normal transport protocol method for TVH regardless of selected profile?? (passthru, htsp)

In regards to my previous post about virtualising my current openelec system, it seems it could be a tough call... openelec havn't supported their virtual image for some time so nothing is available from them. There downloads are .IMG format and ESX will only attach .ISO files during creation and P2V fails as the linux distro openelec is based on is quite custom built and dosn't mount /boot for the conversion to happen.

I've got 4 of these damn T230 sticks! ... I've gotta make it work some how!

oliver whittington wrote:

Mark Clarkstone wrote:

The PlayTV is a dibcom device which has pid filtering & can only receive SD services which means smaller bandwidth, the DVB-T2 sticks all require much larger bandwidth.

When I tried my Dibcoms (Hauppauge NOVA-T/TD) they worked fine with a VM, my PCTV T2 290e did not & I suffered with CC errors like you're getting now again this is because of the larger bandwidth use.

If you can't stream the complete mux (see the mux tab in Tvheadend for a play link & stream two muxes) from both your PlayTV tuners at the same time (if you use VLC you should see the list of programmes under Playback -> Programmes) then I doubt you'll ever be able to receive one DVB-T2 mux.

Also have you actually tried these sticks outside a VM? Do they work fine?

I understand what your saying about the playtv... Not overly sure what PID filtering is but i'll have to read up. The way i see it is an SD stream is going to be the same size regardless of the tuner being DVB-T or DVB-T2 tuner therefore the channels that worked on the PlayTV should work on the Geniatech T230, network dosnt seem to be an issue as everything from server to client is hardwired on 1gb ethernet ports. HD channels dont show any more or less continuity errors than SD broadcasts. If anything, when playing SD broadcasts, it's the playTV that has the potential to cause more bottleneck issues due to it being a dual-tuner and capable of two SD streams at the same time (increased bandwidth)- I never had a problem running 2 x SD streams on my playtv VM.

Not always, some tuners will use the full bandwidth regardless of the size of the mux.

If you can stream the complete mux then view the status -> stream tab you should see something like this.

Notice how it's a perfect line, if yours is waving about then it's data starved. Be sure you're streaming the complete mux though & not just a single channel else it will fluctuate due to variable bitrates.

My working Openelec system which i'd love to be able to create as a VM is not virtualised. It's simply an NUC running openelec with the T230 stuck in the front on a USB2.0 port. Works flawlessly.

@JanSage - Thanks for confirming the firmware versions (my versions are idential) and the pass thru stuff. If you get a chance can you let me know what sort of signal strength your getting under status in TVH when running a channel to a client? Did you have to tinker with your profiles to force pass thru? I'd have expected to have seen a reference to pass-thru when a clint loads a channel in the logs? as whenever i look at the chevron log in TVH when a channel is loaded the log always references an HTSP:\\ connection. I'm assuming this is the normal transport protocol method for TVH regardless of selected profile?? (passthru, htsp)

In regards to my previous post about virtualising my current openelec system, it seems it could be a tough call... openelec havn't supported their virtual image for some time so nothing is available from them. There downloads are .IMG format and ESX will only attach .ISO files during creation and P2V fails as the linux distro openelec is based on is quite custom built and dosn't mount /boot for the conversion to happen.

I've got 4 of these damn T230 sticks! ... I've gotta make it work some how!

thanks for this Mark - So to confirm, DVB-T tuners may\may not simply send the PID of the channel (around 1mb for SD broadcasts) requested where as DVB-T2 send the whole mux's worth of channels at once (around 40mb!) Is there any benefit to loading the whole mux at once? is it necessary? would it not be optimal if it simply sent the PID\Channel requested?

I'll try and create your work above when i get in and see what happens. I'll keep you posted. Thanks for the education thus far!

In terms of my signal strength, would you say my aerial strength is acceptable?

oliver whittington wrote:

thanks for this Mark - So to confirm, DVB-T tuners may\may not simply send the PID of the channel (around 1mb for SD broadcasts) requested where as DVB-T2 send the whole mux's worth of channels at once (around 40mb!) Is there any benefit to loading the whole mux at once? is it necessary? would it not be optimal if it simply sent the PID\Channel requested?

Not quite..

Most newer tuners send the complete mux by default (doesn't matter whether it's T or T2) & some don't support hardware pid filtering (which limits the services sent & there's a limit to the number of hardware pids too).

Some tuners will use the whole bus to send whatever's requested (filling in the unused space) however this is rare, I've only seen this being mentioned with TBS tuners so I don't think this applies here.
------
The benefit to sending the complete mux means that you can stream all services from the same mux using only one tuner.

E.g. BBC One HD & BBC Two HD are on BBC B, client A requests BBC One HD and client B requests BBC Two HD & because they're on the same mux Tvheadend can send both channels to both clients at the same time without using another tuner.

I'll try and create your work above when i get in and see what happens. I'll keep you posted. Thanks for the education thus far!

In terms of my signal strength, would you say my aerial strength is acceptable?

Signal strength can vary, as long as you can receive a picture you're good.

Mark Clarkstone wrote:

Colin Brooks wrote:

Mark Clarkstone wrote:

Colin Brooks wrote:

I have tvheadend 4.0.5 installed on Linux Mint 17.2 Cinnamon 2.6, MDM 2.0, with Linux kernel 3.16 and an Ubuntu 14.04 package base using an HP Core 2 Duo Desktop.

I updated the firmware and have two August DVB-210v2 (re-branded Geniatech T230) installed. They are both mapped to the same Network (UK - Sandyheath).

If either one is enabled HD reception is as good as it could be.
If both are enabled one or other will consistently report errors and cause problems for the other.

Anyone any ideas on how I can stop them fighting each other?

Check they are not on the same bus (use lsusb).

Thank you Mark.

They were both on the same bus. I managed to get them on separate USB buses and now they both work... but when tuned to channels on different muxes one will work and the other shows a status of BAD and the client hangs with "No Input Detected". Closing the one that is working causes the other to connect properly. Sysmon on the server shows that the CPUs are running at around 23%

Any ideas?

Have you tried the Linked Input option, not sure that'll help but it's worth trying however I doubt it'll be much use as I think they'll both tune to the same mux!

I didn't get the chance to try that as one of then died - the other continues to function properly.

Got it working just replacing the demod firmware file from openelec github for this one

http://palosaari.fi/linux/v4l-dvb/firmware/Si2168/Si2168-B40/4.0.11/