INPUT NEEDED: Newbie PVR guide
#31
I'm still experimenting with pogoplug as tvheadend server.
The main disadvantage of tvheadend that stopped me from choosing it as the default backend was that raspberry pi as a frontend didn't worked well, this looks to be almost solved (only experiencing an aspect rasio issue).

Pogoplug got no rtc so the last thing that I wanted to solve was how to get the time when no internet connection is available so pogoplug would be stable solution which work without errors all the time.

Luckily dvb (and atsc) services transmit also the time, google direct me to the tvheadend wiki and here 2 approach to solve this, I prefer the latter, running a script on boot before starting tvheadend
https://tvheadend.org/projects/tvheadend...ckDrifting
https://tvheadend.org/projects/tvheadend...ing/diff/3
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#32
I know this thread is aimed to the low cost solutions, but I just wanna ask you guys a question.

Can this product AvediaStream TVgateway g4215 with a CAM CI [it supports SIM smartcards] do the job? Even with tv providers that block other STB ?


EDIT: It isnt a low cost solution, but in fact it is an easy solution, at least it seems to be...

EDIT2: This MOI is another alternative, it costs $ 138 USD w/o the CAM Ci module wich can be found for about 25 USD. The good thing is it can deliver to 7-8 clients...
[Xgimi Z6 Polar]
[Xiaomi Mi Box]
[Raspberry Pi 3 B]
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#33
I'm attempting to get my raspberry pi and hauppauge 950q to work together and even though I don't have it solved yet, this is the most helpful thread I've found.

After installing the dvb-apps package and downloading dvb-fe-xc5000-1.6.114.fw to /lib/firmware, the device shows up in dmesg and the blue light comes on. However, "scan"ning doesn't work. The output says "tuning failed" over and over and produces 0 channels despite the same tuner + antenna being able to pick up lots of channels on my laptop. The orange "working"/"busy" light never comes on.

Trying to record a file with gnutv gives "cannot query frontend" or some such error.

If anyone is able to get the 950q working with raspberry pi, please let me know the exact details of your setup. Here are mine:

kernel 3.6.11+
distro: raspbian
tuner: hauppauge 950Q revision B4F0
power: 1A but with wired ethernet
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#34
(2013-04-30, 08:00)schtinky Wrote: I'm attempting to get my raspberry pi and hauppauge 950q to work together and even though I don't have it solved yet, this is the most helpful thread I've found.

After installing the dvb-apps package and downloading dvb-fe-xc5000-1.6.114.fw to /lib/firmware, the device shows up in dmesg and the blue light comes on. However, "scan"ning doesn't work. The output says "tuning failed" over and over and produces 0 channels despite the same tuner + antenna being able to pick up lots of channels on my laptop. The orange "working"/"busy" light never comes on.

Trying to record a file with gnutv gives "cannot query frontend" or some such error.

If anyone is able to get the 950q working with raspberry pi, please let me know the exact details of your setup. Here are mine:

kernel 3.6.11+
distro: raspbian
tuner: hauppauge 950Q revision B4F0
power: 1A but with wired ethernet

First, IMHO the Raspberry Pi cant provide enough power [mA] to your Hauppauge card.

Maybe a USB powered hub and this thread on RasPi Forums could help!? Let me know, I am going for this kind of solution if it works for you. =D
[Xgimi Z6 Polar]
[Xiaomi Mi Box]
[Raspberry Pi 3 B]
Reply
#35
(2013-04-30, 08:00)schtinky Wrote: I'm attempting to get my raspberry pi and hauppauge 950q to work together and even though I don't have it solved yet, this is the most helpful thread I've found.

After installing the dvb-apps package and downloading dvb-fe-xc5000-1.6.114.fw to /lib/firmware, the device shows up in dmesg and the blue light comes on. However, "scan"ning doesn't work. The output says "tuning failed" over and over and produces 0 channels despite the same tuner + antenna being able to pick up lots of channels on my laptop. The orange "working"/"busy" light never comes on.

Trying to record a file with gnutv gives "cannot query frontend" or some such error.

If anyone is able to get the 950q working with raspberry pi, please let me know the exact details of your setup. Here are mine:

kernel 3.6.11+
distro: raspbian
tuner: hauppauge 950Q revision B4F0
power: 1A but with wired ethernet

If you plug power directly into the USB ports of a second revision model B, then you can get enough power to it. You're probably still borderline on 1amp, though. I would go with a 2 amp power supply, if you can. The tuner will fail without enough power, and it seems to like a lot of it (it gets hot as hell during operation, too).

I've had all sorts of driver issues getting my 950Q to work, and only recently have I been successful. I haven't done a lot of testing yet to see what exactly works or doesn't work, but I can tell you what I did:

I gave up on both Raspbian and Arch linux. Instead, I used rjeb's OpenELEC test build for XBMC v13 "Gotham": http://forum.xbmc.org/showthread.php?tid...pid1393759 This is where I mean that I haven't done a lot of testing, because I'm not sure which of rjeb's tweaks did the trick. Obviously, the XBMC-side of things didn't matter for me, I only wanted the TVHeadend server, but I think the success here came from the newer kernel compared to my previous attempts. There's been a bug or two for the drivers that the 950Q uses on past kernels.

I can either use a powered hub or use a male-to-male USB A adapter to provide power to the USB ports of the R-Pi, that powers both the tuner and the R-Pi, but only on Model B rev2 (the one with 512 ram).

Did my scan, but had the "services with no name won't map" bug. So I had to manually create channels and then from the channels tab, map services to channels.

After many many attempts on different OSes, downloading drivers individually, even trying to compile both drivers and TVheadend, this is the farthest I've gotten, and it works and doesn't crash (a few times I had working set ups, but they would crash all the time). At least for TVheadend, the 950Q, and the Raspberry Pi.
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#36
Hi Ned,

I just built my first HTPC and I agree that a better guide is badly needed. For me, OTA PVR with EPG is the most important part, but there are so many choices and dead-ends. Fortunately, a friend recommended SchedulesDirect, which I think is probably the best EPG solution in the US. I worked backwards from there. SchedulesDirect only supports open source projects, like XBMC and MediaPortal, so that is what I am using (on Windows7).

The MediaPortal plugin for SchedulesDirect makes it easy once you know where to get all the right plugins. I had to do a lot of searching to put it all together. The process was way more confusing than it should have been. It would be better to just make some assumptions about hardware and software and list the links to all the required plugins.. I am writing a guide for anyone that wants to duplicate my HTPC (both hardware and software) and I would be glad to share it here.

The most important software components are:

MediaPortal (MediaPortal_Setup_1.2.3_FINAL.exe) http://www.team-mediaportal.com/mediaportal-download
XBox MediaCenter (xbmc-12.1.exe (Frodo)) http://xbmc.org/download/
Schedules Direct Plugin for MediaPortal (SchedulesDirectPlugin-1.2.3.2.mpe1) http://code.google.com/p/mp-schedulesdirect/
MediaPortal Plugin for XBMC (MediaPortal_v123_TVServerXBMC_plugin_bin_rev120.rar) http://www.scintilla.utwente.nl/~marcelg...rxbmc.html
NetFlix Plugin for XBMC (XBMC-Flicks-master.zip) https://github.com/spudsdude/XBMC-Flicks

Regards, Clay
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#37
Where are you from Clay?
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#38
Hey Ned,

I wrote the initial version of DVB support in MythTV, 10 years ago.

In Europe, we have DVB-S (sat), DVB-C (cable) and DVB-T (terrestrial, antenna, OTA). All of them are widely used: maybe 40% of the households use sat (DVB-S), maybe 40% have cable (analog and DVB-C) and 5-10% use only DVB-T. Many are using a combination of e.g. DVB-S and DVB-T, because DVB-T is cheap and easy, but lower quality (less bitrate), so it's a good 2. tuner. Most people who use DVB-S have only 1 satellite.

Thus, all of DVB-S, DVB-C and DVB-T, including several tuners, including any combination of it, is common and help with such setups is important for Europe.

That said, why should that bother XBMC? Setting up reception methods, tuners and channels, and tuner scheduling, is a matter of the backend. XBMC can assume that the channels are already there, no?

Ben Bucksch
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#39
This is how I set up a standalone PVR "appliace" for Australia where we have DVB-T.

Main PC is a Giada i35GB Atom D2550 Nvidia GT610
Wifi card was an Azurewave AW-NB037
I put in 4G of RAM and a 1TB 2.5" hard drive. I think 4GM is overkill, in the system info its never been over 1 used.
For the TV reception I went for a Sony PlayTV. One arial plug with two tuners

Total Cost: $490 = $270 (PC) + $30 (Wifi) + $40 (Mem) + $80 (HD) + $70 (PlayTV)

Software is OpenELEC Stable - ION x86_64 Version:3.0.6
Using TVHeadend as the backend installed through the openElec UI.
All the hardware was auto detected and worked. I did everything just with the openElec UI, no terminal access or manually editing configs required.
OpenElec's default Samba setup is working fine, and can use it to load up movies and TV shows, as well as access the recordings.
I had to use the tvheadend web UI
- to scan for the chanels Don't forget to do for each tuner
- Set up the EPG. I chose the OTA option of "OpenTV: Ausat" and disabled all the rest.
- Hi F5 on the EPG sceen to initially populate

Only issues I've found are:
- When recording HD (SBS HD) the .mkv does not have audio in VLC. But plays fine in XBMC. The .ts recordings and SD .mkv recordings all work in VLC.
- Its a little bit noisier than I'd like. Not sure if its the hard drive or the CPU fan
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#40
I just published my new HTPC Guide which is geared specifically for those who are new to XBMC and want Live TV/DVR features in the USA. This guide is not intended to be comprehensive, but will get beginners up and running quickly. Check it out:

The Best HTPC Solution for Internet and Live HDTV in America

http://montgomery1.com/htpc/

Regards, Clay
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#41
(2013-09-16, 00:30)ClayMontgomery Wrote: I just published my new HTPC Guide which is geared specifically for those who are new to XBMC and want Live TV/DVR features in the USA. This guide is not intended to be comprehensive, but will get beginners up and running quickly. Check it out:

The Best HTPC Solution for Internet and Live HDTV in America

http://montgomery1.com/htpc/

Regards, Clay

Nice. I am trying to find something that works in Brazil, but found nothing, for now...
[Xgimi Z6 Polar]
[Xiaomi Mi Box]
[Raspberry Pi 3 B]
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#42
(2013-09-16, 00:30)ClayMontgomery Wrote: I just published my new HTPC Guide which is geared specifically for those who are new to XBMC and want Live TV/DVR features in the USA. This guide is not intended to be comprehensive, but will get beginners up and running quickly. Check it out:

The Best HTPC Solution for Internet and Live HDTV in America

http://montgomery1.com/htpc/

Regards, Clay

Looks awesome! I've added a to it on the PVR (wiki) page.
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#43
I've been using a stable OTA PVR config for the last 5 months without any issues with the following setup:

Location:

Ottawa, Ontario, Canada

PVR Configuration:

- configured on a standalone PC (Win7 Home Premium, Core2 duo 2.4ghz CPU, 4 GB memory, 500 GB HDD)
- using ArgusTV v2.1 with MySQL

OTA Configuration:

- TERK amplified antenna (tabletop compact one, ~$60)
- SiliconDust HDHomerun dual tuner

EPG Configuration:

- ScheduleDirect XML based EPG


I was going to install the ArgusTV services on my HP Mediasmart Home Server as it is always on and contains all my media content that feeds my XBMC TV, but figured that I may want to expand later and add Hauppage card(s) to integrate satellite/cable units in the future. So I have an older Win7 Core 2 system on my home network that does other automation tasks that I decided to put ArgusTV on.

I had mucked around with serveral PVR addons and ran into issues getting them all working, almost all others I had no problem installing the s/w but getting the video feeds to work just wouldn't happen. ArgusTV was the only one I successfully got to work 100%. I encountered issues getting the s/w installed as well, mostly due to incomplete documentation, detail and the crude GUI for it. But managed to figure it all out without too much fuss and once it was installed, boom...video feeds worked right off the bat with no fuss. If anything, the EPG configuration stuff gave me the most headache. Up in this region, we have OTA channels in both english and french. I don't care for the french channels, so tweaking the setup to include some channels, remove others and then get the EPG data to sync with exactly the channels I wanted to appear onscreen in XBMC was what I messed around with the most. But after a few days of tweaking, finally nailed it all down.

For me, this setup wasn't that expensive. I already had the Win7 PC acting as a server in my basement, so just had to buy the antenna, the HDHomerun device and then install the ArgusTV s/w on the PC.

ScheduleDirect works perfectly for my locale and actually lists more channels in the area than I can pull in with the basic antenna I have, so I have tweaked that Schedule config and have it pull down the EPG data nightly using a batch CMD file and the Windows Scheduler service to run it every night at 4am.

Other than the messing around to make it work, now that it is functional I have had no issues whatsoever with this setup in XBMC. I watch channels live (not often but on occassion), but mostly record stuff using wildcard program title patterns (averaging about 4 or 5 shows daily) and watch them at my leisure. No problems and no integration issues with XBMC (ie. hangs, freezes, etc) as it just consistently works. Same goes for the backend Argus services on the PC, just works... never have to touch it.
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#44
Since the release of the ServerWMC backend and pvr.wmc XBMC client, I have found the solution that works best for me in a Windows / OTA (ATSC) environment is running Windows Media Center to control the PC-based tuner card (I use the Hauppauge 2250 dual-ATSC card). Anything that MS WMC can configure should be able to work. ServerWMC is a windows desktop exe that serves as a wrapper for WMC. It needs very little configuration and uses WMC for live tv, recording (including series-recording), and EPG. The main wrinkle is that WMC buffers/records to the MS format .wtv container, and for streaming to XBMC clients ServerWMC will transcode to .ts.

scott s.
.
maintainer of skin  Aeon MQ5 mods for post-Gotham Kodi releases:
Matrix see: Aeon MQ5 Mod Matrix release thread
Nexus see: Aeon MQ5 Mod Nexus release thread
Aeon MQ 5 skin and addon repo 11.1.0
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#45
I just finished setting up my raspberry pi as an all-in-one PVR solution. I can even watch live tv on it and stream to my iPad at the same time.

I had it up and running on the official Openelec 3.2 image for a few hours this past Saturday but then the SD card got corrupted and I couldn't get it working again. But today I tried out the official Raspbmc image and got it all working again. It's only been a couple hours but it seems to be stable. It was super easy and I'm pretty sure anyone could get it up and running. I just followed the official guide from Raspbmc and installed tvheadend from the add-ons. I did need to overclock my raspberry pi to "super" to smooth out the play back, but that's also really easy in Raspbmc.

The only major problem I ran into was with mapping services to channels. For some reason tvheadend doesn't give channel names when it finds muxes so they all appear to be unmapped. But I just manually gave each channel a name; tested them out in xbmc; and then renamed them to their correct names and channel numbers. There's only 7 channels in my city so it wasn't that hard but I could see it being pretty annoying for others.

My next step is to get the EPG working. Anyone have a suggestion on what I should use?

Location: Winnipeg, Canada
OTA: Terk HDTVa with HDHomeRun 3
PVR: Raspberry Pi with Raspbmc
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INPUT NEEDED: Newbie PVR guide3