Differences between version 5 and predecessor to the previous major change of FreeViewHDMythTvNotes.
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| Newer page: | version 5 | Last edited on Tuesday, October 20, 2009 8:51:40 am | by GerardSharp | Revert |
| Older page: | version 3 | Last edited on Monday, October 19, 2009 10:38:25 pm | by GerardSharp | Revert |
@@ -1,89 +1,110 @@
-FreeView | HD and MythTv, setup notes
+!
FreeView|HD and MythTv, setup notes
(GerardSharp, October 2009)
-This has been very difficult to get this far, requiring quite a lot of fiddling and surfing past several dozen websites to garner pieces of clues; so I want to write it all down and hopefully save someone else some of the pain.
+This has been very difficult to get this far, requiring quite a lot of fiddling and surfing past several dozen websites to garner pieces of clues; so I want to write it all down and hopefully save someone else some of the pain.<br>
-Very
-much work-in-progress. I got
"record TV
" working for the first time since starting on this Thursday night. Will edit Wiki later
with more details
and try
to fix some of the rambling
. Now I must dash off to Work in the RealWorld
+I've now moved my back
-end onto a
"real
" server (
with actual disk space)
and set up another front-end using these instructions, so I hope they are helpful
to other people too
.<br>
+----
!! Overview
-FreeView HD is a DVB-T, Terrestrial Digital TV using UHF. In hamilton
this signal comes from Te Aroha and good frequencies are
+FreeView|
HD is a DVB-T, Terrestrial Digital TV using UHF. In Hamilton
this signal comes from Te Aroha and good frequencies are
* 674 MHz = TVNZ
-* 690 MHz = MediaWorks? (TV3, C4, etc)
+* 690 MHz = ~
MediaWorks? (TV3, C4, etc)
* 706 MHz = Kordia (Prime, Parliament TV, Radio, etc)
-I'm going to use the Hauppauge HVR-2200; supported since about May 2009. Drivers
from _link_needed_
<br>
+I'm going to use the Hauppauge HVR-2200; supported since about May 2009. This is a regional variant of the HVR-2250 (US version), and the same driver works for both.
+I followed instructions
from the [Ubuntu Forums|http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=1167640], and the official homepage for the driver is [here|http://www.kernellabs.com/blog/?page
_id=17]
<br>
Also consider getting VDPAU to work your GPU and save your CPU; requires an nvidia card and their binary blob, alas.<br>
-I'm going to use mythbuntu 9.04 and JYP
's patches to get VDPAU and h.264 working, _link_check_
[here | http://www.avenard.org/media/MythTV_&_VDPAU/MythTV_&_VDPAU.html]<br>
+I'm going to use mythbuntu 9.04 and JYA
's patches to get VDPAU and h.264 working, [here | http://www.avenard.org/media/MythTV_&_VDPAU/MythTV_&_VDPAU.html]<br>
+----
!! Installation
The magic CD had some issues with my monitor, causing the bottom of the screen with the back/okay/next/cancel buttons to be cut off; this caused me some problems with disk formatting, but otherwise I proceeded by the magical trick of "guessing" where the button might be.<br>
Didn't see options for disk-encryption or LVM; might need these on a more serious backend; but ext3 is fine for my play-around box<br>
+----
!! Slog
-Installed, aptitude run to get updates, installed new editor (<tt>Insert HolyWar
</tt>)<br>
+Installed, aptitude run to get updates, installed new editor (<tt>Insert ReligiousWar here
</tt>)<br>
+You also need to grab
+ * "mercurial" (command line version is "hg"), a revision control system some of the tools use
+ * "dvb-apps" from http://www.linuxtv.org/wiki/index.php/LinuxTV_dvb-apps
+ * "dvbtune" is very good for telling you the signal strength and thus how good your aerial is. sudo apt-get install dvbtune
+ * Any non-free software you need. JYA's repository rebundles the nVidia driver with VDPAU support. Handy.
+ * Kernel Headers, maybe even kernel sources
+ * Medibuntu has a nice repository of Media-related things for Ubuntu. Note, again, not all of this is Free.
+
HVR-2200 is the NZ(/EU?) version of the HVR-2250 (US). Same driver. I got it working following instructions from
http://www.linuxtv.org/wiki/index.php/Hauppauge_WinTV-HVR-2200<br>
-the program "hg" it refers to is mercurial, which comes in handy.<br>
Every time you update your kernel, you have to re-run the make / make install. Check when you update your kernel that this make is actually running against the *new* kernel, not the old one<br>
"dvb-apps" from http://www.linuxtv.org/wiki/index.php/LinuxTV_dvb-apps<br>
-("hg" = mercurial, you'll want to install that)<br>
-<br>
-
-dvb-apps can't access the tuner / card if mythbacked-setup has been configured to use it; so stop the backend first.
+dvb-apps lets you check your signal and even pipe TV to mplayer / vlc. Good for getting signal strength numbers.<br>
+dvb-apps can't access the tuner / card if mythbacked-setup has been configured to use it; so stop the backend first.<br>
the util "scan" can be fed a file from /usr/share/dvb/dvb-t/, and it will look for channels on those frequencies. Check out the one I added for TeAroha at the bottom of this page.<br>
-scan will give you a channels.conf file, mine is at the bottom of this page.<br>
-vlc can be run with channels.conf and it will load it like a playlist. This can be used to check your card works.
<br>
-Note that TVNZ is using the h.264 codec for their channels; this requires a new codec to play and
good signal strength (or the player dies with segfaults and the like)<br>
+scan will give you a channels.conf file as output
, mine is at the bottom of this page. This file can be put in /etc/channels.conf, /etc/mplayer/channels.conf, ~mythtv/.mythtv, ..
.<br>
+vlc can be run with channels.conf and it will load it like a playlist. This can be used to check your card works; but only locally to the machine with the tuner - vlc doesn't work over ssh -X
<br>
+Note that TVNZ is using the h.264 codec for their channels; this requires a new codec to play as well as
good signal strength (or the player dies with segfaults and the like)<br>
-"
dvbtune" is very good for telling you the
signal strength and thus how good your aerial is
<br>
-sudo apt
-get install dvbtune<br>
-(numbers/settings below
from channels.conf)
+Running
dvbtune to check
signal.
<br>
+(qam, gi, cr, bw, tm are properties of the DVB
-T signal, values here
from channels.conf are good for freeview nz
)
<verbatim>
dvbtune -f 674000 -I 0 -qam 64 -gi 16 -cr 3_4 -bw 8 -tm 8 -m 1
FE_STATUS: FE_HAS_SIGNAL FE_HAS_LOCK FE_HAS_CARRIER FE_HAS_VITERBI FE_HAS_SYNC
-Signal=65535, Verror=2552dB
, BlockErrors=11, (S|L|C|V|SY|)
-Signal=65448, Verror=1
, SNR=2553dB
, BlockErrors=15, (S|L|C|V|SY|)
+Signal=65535, Verror=100
, SNR=252dB
, BlockErrors=11, (S|L|C|V|SY|)
+Signal=65448, Verror=123
, SNR=230dB
, BlockErrors=15, (S|L|C|V|SY|)
</verbatim>
All the letters in brackets refer to the FE_ line above; all is good, some missing = bad signal<br>
The scale on the Signal and SNR columns seems a bit .. weird. Must be my card.<br>
Ideally, Verror should be as small as possible. 10000 or higher upsets MPEG2, 5000 or higher upsets h.264<br>
-Ideally, BlockErrors should be as small as possible.<br>
+Ideally, ~
BlockErrors should be as small as possible.<br>
-I found by removing a splitter, I could go from trashy high Verror, no TVNZ and only just TV3/4 to working TVNZ.<br>
-Check your aerial
<br>
+I found by removing a splitter, I could go from trashy high Verror, no TVNZ and only just TV3/4 to working TVNZ. I then found that adding a mast-head amp would get me nice low Verror, zero ~BlockErrors. The mast-head amplifier can only really compensate for cable losses. You still need to point the aerial at the transmitter to get good signal
.<br>
+Roofs are dangerous, scary places, so be careful! (or hire someone who _isn't_ afraid of heights to do it for you!)
<br>
+----
!! MythTV
-running late for work, will have to finish this later.
-
What A Mess. the EIT (over-the-air TV guide) only has "now" and "next"; no 8-day forecast.<br>
Most of the EPG sites and latest.xml offerings on the internet have *gone*<br>
Including that freeware windows-only (mono!) one mentioned in FreeViewMythTvSetup. They ask a "donation" now and the demonstration version don't work no more.<br>
-I eventually found http://www.gossamer-threads.com/lists/mythtv/mythtvnz/290834 which lead me to
+I eventually found a [forum thread|
http://www.gossamer-threads.com/lists/mythtv/mythtvnz/290834]
which lead me to
http://nice.net.nz/scripts/tv_grab_nz-py<br>
-Put
it in a system path and run mythbackendsetup and it
will find
this script and it will download stuff
.<br>
-You have
to configure it
in the terminal that started mythbackendsetup, so I hope you ran it from a terminal! (mythbuntu spawns a terminal using a tiny font and runs the setup from that; so you're okay)<br>
+Download it, put
it in a system path and run mythtv-setup. "3. Video Sources" option
will let you pick
this script as your grabber
. When selected as your grabber it has
to be configured
in the terminal that started mythbackendsetup, so I hope you ran it from a terminal! (mythbuntu spawns a terminal using a tiny font and runs the setup from that; so you're okay). My configuration comprised of picking which channels I wanted (freeview) and which I didn't (sky); so it will work with DVB-S (satellite) as noted over in FreeViewMythTvSetup. I called my Video Source "freeview".<br>
+
+While we're in mythtv-setup, play with the rest of the settings. Under "4. Input Connections", you can assign your tuner(/s, HVR-2200 has Dual tuners) to the "freeview" video source you just created. Also you can scan for the transmitted channel to populate the channel list with the "EIT channels".<br>
+
+When you leave mythtv-setup, it will ask to run mythfilldatabase. You probably don't want to run this automatic version, as you may want to run it by hand with the --manual option as noted below, to populate the channel list with the "XMLTV channels".
<br>
Now, I found that the EIT channels and the XMLTV channels promptly "fight" and the "watch tv" option in the front-end don't work anymore. Great.<br>
-I solved this by going into the Channel editor and disabling the XMLTV channel
- giving them no channel number and unmarking the "visible" flag.<br>
+I solved this by going into the Channel editor and disabling the XMLTV channels
- giving them no channel number and unmarking the "visible" flag.<br>
Then, use the Channel editor on each of the EIT channels, fix the channel number (Prime on 10? really?) and add the XMLTV ID field; it'll be something like <tt>~tv3.freeviewnz.tv</tt>.
+You can "cheat" and pull the XMLTV ID out of <tt>~~/.mythtv/freeview.xmltv</tt>, after you have run the grabber setup as noted above.<br>
* the XMLTV-found channels have good XMLTV ID, so they get "what's on" information correctly; but have incorrect Callsign / Channel details; so the Tuner can't tune to them
-* the EIT-found channels have good Callsign / Channel details, so you can tune to them; but they have no "what's on" information, so mythfrontend refuses to load
.
+* the EIT-found channels have good Callsign / Channel details, so you can tune to them; but they have no "what's on" information, so mythfrontend refuses to watch them / record them
.
Once all the channels are good and real, run mythfilldatabase. Maybe with the --manual like the xmltv_grabber suggested.<br>
-If you click "Watch tv" on the front end
, and get nothing and kicked straight back to
the menu, either
the default
channel (Backendsetup) is illegal
, or the default channel has no program guide - no "what's
on" information
. Fiddle with your setup a lot; re-run mythfillbackend; fiddle some more
.<br
>
-Additionally, I have now learned that unless
the myth
-tv
-backend can write to
the directories setup (in the backend setup)
, you will also get a blank screen and kicked back to the menu. Nothing logged;
and you can
't record anything either<br>
+Subsequent to all of this, I have built a second backend
, and I have learned that if you:
+* setup
the grabber
+* setup
the EIT channels
+* assign each EIT
channel an appropriate channel number
(up to you
, I like Prime
on 5 myself) and the correct XML ID (look in <tt>~~/
.mythtv/freeview
.xmltv
</tt
>)
+* delete
the channel number and mark not Visible any channel you don't want to see
+* quit mythtv
-setup and run <tt>mythfilldatabase
--manual</tt> - Now all
the discovered channels will have correct details filled out
, and you won
't get "XMLTV channels" and "EIT channels" and life is good.
+Once you have a program guide ("what's on" information) and a valid channel list, you can fire up mythfrontend and try to "Watch TV". If Watch TV does nothing / goes blank briefly and kicks you back to the menu:
+* the default channel (Backendsetup) might be illegal,
+* the default channel has no program guide - no "what's on" information.
+* the mythtv-backend might be unable to write to the Storage Directories
+* Fiddle with your setup a lot; re-run mythfillbackend; fiddle some more.
-!! Organise Me
-Okay
, this needs work
.
+In the case where write permissions are incorrect
, you will also be unable to schedule a recording; which might be possible in the first two cases
.
+----
!! Appendices
My /usr/share/dvb/dvb-t/nz-TeAroha:
+----
<verbatim>
# TeAroha, Waikato NZ
#
# Channel allocation details for NZ can be found at
@@ -97,10 +118,12 @@
T 690000000 8MHz 3/4 NONE QAM64 8k 1/16 NONE
# Multiplex DC?
T 706000000 8MHz 3/4 NONE QAM64 8k 1/16 NONE
</verbatim>
+----
My channels.conf:
+----
<verbatim>
TV ONE:674000000:INVERSION_AUTO:BANDWIDTH_8_MHZ:FEC_3_4:FEC_AUTO:QAM_64:TRANSMISSION_MODE_8K:GUARD_INTERVAL_1_16:HIERARCHY_NONE:260:310:1200
TV2:674000000:INVERSION_AUTO:BANDWIDTH_8_MHZ:FEC_3_4:FEC_AUTO:QAM_64:TRANSMISSION_MODE_8K:GUARD_INTERVAL_1_16:HIERARCHY_NONE:261:311:1201
TVNZ 6:674000000:INVERSION_AUTO:BANDWIDTH_8_MHZ:FEC_3_4:FEC_AUTO:QAM_64:TRANSMISSION_MODE_8K:GUARD_INTERVAL_1_16:HIERARCHY_NONE:262:312:1202
@@ -120,4 +143,5 @@
Radio NZ Concert:706000000:INVERSION_AUTO:BANDWIDTH_8_MHZ:FEC_3_4:FEC_AUTO:QAM_64:TRANSMISSION_MODE_8K:GUARD_INTERVAL_1_16:HIERARCHY_NONE:0:621:2001
BaseFM:706000000:INVERSION_AUTO:BANDWIDTH_8_MHZ:FEC_3_4:FEC_AUTO:QAM_64:TRANSMISSION_MODE_8K:GUARD_INTERVAL_1_16:HIERARCHY_NONE:0:622:2002
tvCentral:706000000:INVERSION_AUTO:BANDWIDTH_8_MHZ:FEC_3_4:FEC_AUTO:QAM_64:TRANSMISSION_MODE_8K:GUARD_INTERVAL_1_16:HIERARCHY_NONE:560:610:1408
</verbatim>
+----
