2013-03-17, 23:52
TL;DR:
I have a bunch of detailed information about the only 6 channels I care about coming over cable with QAM256 encoding, scanning tools aren't working, so I want to know how I can just build the channels.conf file by hand for my environment.
Long version:
This isn't strictly XBMC related, but it is a step in setting up XBMC, and I hope I have the best chance of finding an answer here.
My environment:
- HDHomeRun 3 ATSC/QAM. These are the sort of newer US units that have dual tuners.
- Ubuntu 12.10, XBMC Frodo from PPA. TvHeadend or VDR from Ubuntu repos, all on the same box.
- Tuning QAM channels from Comcast cable. I care about a really small set of channels, only 6. I know they are all QAM256. I have found them using the HDHomerun-config GUI. For each I know their physical channel/frequency, their program number, etc.
I know the setup can work end-to-end., I successfully setup TVHeadend + XBMC this morning using dvdhdhomerun. I went through the channel scanning, etc and got channels and EPG into XBMC. Watched some live tv. Success! Yea!
What was frustrating was the lack of pause/ff/rew during live TV. I know this isn't supported yet in TVHeadend, so I thought I would try to move to VDR (again on the same box). Where I am stuck is trying to get a valid channels.conf file for VDR from either the dvb-apps "scan" utility or the "w_scan" utility. I didn't have this problem with TVHeadend because it handles the details of scanning for you.
scan from dvb-apps gives me:
The VDR installed with Ubuntu 12.10 is 1.7.28, which should support ATSC/QAM. I tried downloading the latest dvb-apps source and building it, it has the same error.
So, then I tried w_scan. That gives me:
Again, I tried building the latest source, it's from 20121111. That didn't help.
I don't actually need to scan, I think between the information I have already and the information I can get out of the tvheadend GUI, I could hand build a vdr channels.conf file if someone could help me with the format and then where to put it. I need instructions specific to QAM256, not DVB and not ATSC. If I wanted more channels, I wouldn't bother, but since it's only six and I've had to learn so much about the frequency, programs, and services for these six, I really just want to move forward and replace my SageTV setup. I found http://www.linuxtv.org/vdrwiki/index.php...nnels.conf, but for some reason it's not entirely clear to me how to do QAM256 with that. I'll start trying a few things and see if I get anywhere and keep checking back here.
I have a bunch of detailed information about the only 6 channels I care about coming over cable with QAM256 encoding, scanning tools aren't working, so I want to know how I can just build the channels.conf file by hand for my environment.
Long version:
This isn't strictly XBMC related, but it is a step in setting up XBMC, and I hope I have the best chance of finding an answer here.
My environment:
- HDHomeRun 3 ATSC/QAM. These are the sort of newer US units that have dual tuners.
- Ubuntu 12.10, XBMC Frodo from PPA. TvHeadend or VDR from Ubuntu repos, all on the same box.
- Tuning QAM channels from Comcast cable. I care about a really small set of channels, only 6. I know they are all QAM256. I have found them using the HDHomerun-config GUI. For each I know their physical channel/frequency, their program number, etc.
I know the setup can work end-to-end., I successfully setup TVHeadend + XBMC this morning using dvdhdhomerun. I went through the channel scanning, etc and got channels and EPG into XBMC. Watched some live tv. Success! Yea!
What was frustrating was the lack of pause/ff/rew during live TV. I know this isn't supported yet in TVHeadend, so I thought I would try to move to VDR (again on the same box). Where I am stuck is trying to get a valid channels.conf file for VDR from either the dvb-apps "scan" utility or the "w_scan" utility. I didn't have this problem with TVHeadend because it handles the details of scanning for you.
scan from dvb-apps gives me:
Code:
root@xbmc:~# scan /root/us-CA-Comcast-local-QAM256 -ovdr
scanning /root/us-CA-Comcast-local-QAM256
using '/dev/dvb/adapter0/frontend0' and '/dev/dvb/adapter0/demux0'
>>> tune to: 123012:VDR does not support ATSC at this time
WARNING: filter timeout pid 0x1ffb
>>> tune to: 129012:VDR does not support ATSC at this time
WARNING: filter timeout pid 0x1ffb
>>> tune to: 483000:VDR does not support ATSC at this time
WARNING: filter timeout pid 0x1ffb
>>> tune to: 513000:VDR does not support ATSC at this time
WARNING: filter timeout pid 0x1ffb
dumping lists (13 services)
[0001];(null):123012:VDR does not support ATSC at this time1984:1985=eng:0:0:1:0:0:0
[0005];(null):123012:VDR does not support ATSC at this time2048:2049=eng,2050=spa:0:0:5:0:0:0
[0001];(null):129012:VDR does not support ATSC at this time1984:1985=eng,1986=spa:0:0:1:0:0:0
[0002];(null):129012:VDR does not support ATSC at this time2048:2049:0:0:2:0:0:0
[0006];(null):129012:VDR does not support ATSC at this time2112:2113:0:0:6:0:0:0
[0001];(null):483000:VDR does not support ATSC at this time1984:1985=eng,1986=spa,1987:0:0:1:0:0:0
[0002];(null):483000:VDR does not support ATSC at this time2048:2049=eng,2050=fre,2051=spa:0:0:2:0:0:0
[0003];(null):483000:VDR does not support ATSC at this time2112:2113=eng:0:0:3:0:0:0
[0007];(null):483000:VDR does not support ATSC at this time2176:2177=eng:0:0:7:0:0:0
[0008];(null):483000:VDR does not support ATSC at this time2240:2241=eng:0:0:8:0:0:0
[0001];(null):513000:VDR does not support ATSC at this time1984:1985=eng,1986=spa:0:0:1:0:0:0
[0002];(null):513000:VDR does not support ATSC at this time2048:2049=eng,2050=spa:0:0:2:0:0:0
[0003];(null):513000:VDR does not support ATSC at this time2112:2113=spa:0:0:3:0:0:0
Done.The VDR installed with Ubuntu 12.10 is 1.7.28, which should support ATSC/QAM. I tried downloading the latest dvb-apps source and building it, it has the same error.
So, then I tried w_scan. That gives me:
Code:
root@xbmc:~# w_scan -A 2 -c US -f a -I /root/us-CA-Comcast-local-QAM256
w_scan version 20121111 (compiled for DVB API 5.6)
WARNING: VDR up to version 1.7.13 doesn't support ATSC.
Changing output format to 'vdr-1.7.x'
using settings for UNITED STATES
ATSC
QAM US/CA
parsing initial tuning data "/root/us-CA-Comcast-local-QAM256"..
transponder QAM256 f=123012 kHz
transponder QAM256 f=129012 kHz
transponder QAM256 f=483000 kHz
transponder QAM256 f=513000 kHz
scan type TERRCABLE_ATSC, channellist 2
output format vdr-1.7
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 -> TERRCABLE_ATSC "HDHomeRun ATSC 10324875-0": good :-)
Using TERRCABLE_ATSC frontend (adapter /dev/dvb/adapter0/frontend0)
-_-_-_-_ Getting frontend capabilities-_-_-_-_
Using DVB API 5.6
frontend 'HDHomeRun ATSC 10324875-0' supports
INVERSION_AUTO
8VSB
16VSB
QAM_64
QAM_256
FREQ (54.00MHz ... 858.00MHz)
-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_
updating transponder list..
QAM256 f=123012 kHz: (time: 00:00) set_frontend:1843: ERROR: Setting frontend parameters failed (API v5.x)
: 22 Invalid argument
initial_tune:2342: Setting frontend failed QAM256 f=123012 kHz
QAM256 f=129012 kHz: (time: 00:00) set_frontend:1843: ERROR: Setting frontend parameters failed (API v5.x)
: 22 Invalid argument
initial_tune:2342: Setting frontend failed QAM256 f=129012 kHz
QAM256 f=483000 kHz: (time: 00:00) set_frontend:1843: ERROR: Setting frontend parameters failed (API v5.x)
: 22 Invalid argument
initial_tune:2342: Setting frontend failed QAM256 f=483000 kHz
QAM256 f=513000 kHz: (time: 00:00) set_frontend:1843: ERROR: Setting frontend parameters failed (API v5.x)
: 22 Invalid argument
initial_tune:2342: Setting frontend failed QAM256 f=513000 kHz
tune to: QAM256 f=123012 kHz
(time: 00:00) set_frontend:1843: ERROR: Setting frontend parameters failed (API v5.x)
: 22 Invalid argument
tune to: QAM256 f=123012 kHz
(time: 00:00) set_frontend:1843: ERROR: Setting frontend parameters failed (API v5.x)
: 22 Invalid argument
tune to: QAM256 f=129012 kHz
(time: 00:00) set_frontend:1843: ERROR: Setting frontend parameters failed (API v5.x)
: 22 Invalid argument
tune to: QAM256 f=129012 kHz
(time: 00:00) set_frontend:1843: ERROR: Setting frontend parameters failed (API v5.x)
: 22 Invalid argument
tune to: QAM256 f=483000 kHz
(time: 00:00) set_frontend:1843: ERROR: Setting frontend parameters failed (API v5.x)
: 22 Invalid argument
tune to: QAM256 f=483000 kHz
(time: 00:00) set_frontend:1843: ERROR: Setting frontend parameters failed (API v5.x)
: 22 Invalid argument
tune to: QAM256 f=513000 kHz
(time: 00:00) set_frontend:1843: ERROR: Setting frontend parameters failed (API v5.x)
: 22 Invalid argument
tune to: QAM256 f=513000 kHz
(time: 00:00) set_frontend:1843: ERROR: Setting frontend parameters failed (API v5.x)
: 22 Invalid argument
ERROR: Sorry - i couldn't get any working frequency/transponder
Nothing to scan!!Again, I tried building the latest source, it's from 20121111. That didn't help.
I don't actually need to scan, I think between the information I have already and the information I can get out of the tvheadend GUI, I could hand build a vdr channels.conf file if someone could help me with the format and then where to put it. I need instructions specific to QAM256, not DVB and not ATSC. If I wanted more channels, I wouldn't bother, but since it's only six and I've had to learn so much about the frequency, programs, and services for these six, I really just want to move forward and replace my SageTV setup. I found http://www.linuxtv.org/vdrwiki/index.php...nnels.conf, but for some reason it's not entirely clear to me how to do QAM256 with that. I'll start trying a few things and see if I get anywhere and keep checking back here.
