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photon2000 · 2013-10-03, 13:05

Hi gauche,

in order to connect tvheadend with the HDHomerun device you need to have the dvbhdhomerun driver package installed.

Have a look into http://forum.xbmc.org/showthread.php?tid=141981, or
http://forum.xbmc.org/showthread.php?tid...pid1483145 e.g.

After installing you have to edit the config file. On ubuntu it is /etc/dvbhdhomerun .

The most important entry is the XXXXYYYY-Z. This is a kind of identifier of your hdhomerun device. (see logfile of synology or get it by the windows tool)

Here ist my config file (on Ubuntu, DVB-T tuner). Replace the 1210EBE9 with your device ID:

# Remember to exchange the XXXXYYYY-Z with the serial number of your HDHomeRun
# tuner:

# Auto detect tuner type is not possible in all cases, so you can force it
# DVB-C
DVB-T
# ATSC

[1210EBE9-0]
tuner_type=DVB-T

[1210EBE9-1]
tuner_type=DVB-T

# You can use a full name including tuner ID. Meaning the tuner will appear as
# "HDHomeRun DVB-C 1234EA3D-0" instead of just "HDHomeRun DVB-C" in for example
# TVHeadend.

[1210EBE9-0]
use_full_name=true
[1210EBE9-1]
use_full_name=true

# You can disable certain tuners. As default all detected hdhomeruns are used

[XXXXYYYY-2]
disable=true

# Enable additional logging from libhdhomerun itself
[libhdhomerun]
#enable=true
#logfile=/var/log/dvbhdhomerun_libhdhomerun.log

nickr · 2013-10-03, 21:26

I have found the dvbhdhomerun to be unstable and unsupported. Better to use mythtv which has native support for hdhomerun - ie no dvbhdhomerun shim needed.

gauche · 2013-10-04, 10:17

@photon2000: thanks, but I'm really bummed now that there's no pre-built package for HDHR on Synology w/ TVHE Sad

The number of people having issues with this in that thread is very off-putting. I'm hesitant to install a bunch of crap on my synology when it's likely to end in failure.

Now I'm thinking of changing tact, yet again. Now I'm wondering whether my OpenElec can itself connect to my HDHR without going through a middleman...

nickr · 2013-10-04, 10:23

Yes it can, but it will only stream to your openelec, not record or pause etc.

gauche · (This post was last modified: 2013-10-04, 10:24 by gauche.)

@nickr: just saw your post. Indeed, I actually looked into using MythTV last night for this very purpose, but again I got hopelessly lost. I couldn't find any way to run MythTV on Synology. At this point, I'm ready to concede defeat and just go for something that is workable.

To reiterate, my setup is:

- Synology DS410 (PPC) back-end. This is probably not important anymore, unless there's a stable way of running something like tvheadend of MythTV on it
- HDHomeRun (Australian version)
- OpenELEC 3.2.2 front-end

Any advice would be appreciated.

@nickr: ha, I keep replying and then seeing your reply Smile

OK, that makes sense - kind of (not sure why it wouldn't be able to use my local storage for recording, but whatever). Hmmmm....I am disappoint.

nickr · 2013-10-04, 22:04

Get a real pc as your pvr backend.

gauche · 2013-10-21, 09:35

(2013-10-04, 22:04)nickr Wrote: Get a real pc as your pvr backend.

OK, I did. I tried setting it up on my laptop, which is running Linux Mint 15. I jumped through a hundred hoops to get the adapter to even show up in TVHE, but even then it refused to do anything with it.

In frustration, I switched to trying MythTV. I jumped through several hoops with that too, but actually got it working. So the next step will be to see whether I can get it running on Synology, even if I have to purchase an x86-based Synology. I don't care at this point - I just want something that works, and works well.

photon2000 · 2013-10-21, 10:54

I'm using tvheadend with the dvbhdhomerun driver since a couple of years. Successfully.
It's installed on a headless HP ProLiant MicroServer N40 with Ubuntu LTS 12.10 and is running 24x7.
Last version of dvbhdhomerun is of June (https://launchpad.net/~tfylliv/+archive/dvbhdhomerun).

Indeed it is the bottle neck of that installation. But I wouldn't call it "unsupported".

If HDHomerun is natively supported in MythTV, then it is probably the better choice.

gauche · 2013-10-23, 11:17

(2013-10-21, 10:54)photon2000 Wrote: I'm using tvheadend with the dvbhdhomerun driver since a couple of years. Successfully.

I'm not disputing that is possible to get TVHE working. I just value my time too much to spend endless hours on attempting to get it running, and worry too much that it'll all just break again if I ever need to update it. This may be partly to do with my inexperience with linux, but I think it has more to do with poor documentation and even poorer error reporting/feedback from TVHE. MythTV wasn't entirely painless, but I got it going in a couple of hours compared to spending probably 10 or 12 messing about with TVHE.

This may sound harsh regarding "free" software, but as a developer myself I'd be embarrassed to put something out so poorly documented and unpolished. And yes, I have put out several FOSS projects.

That said, I appreciate all the help. I've been testing MythTV out with respect to recordings and the likes, and I'm really pleased with the combination of OpenElec+HDHomeRun+MythTV. Hopefully I can add Synology into that equation.

nickr · 2013-10-23, 20:47

Both mythtv and xbmc contain millions of lines of code. If you don't like the documentation, I suggest you add to it.

gauche · 2013-10-24, 04:41

(2013-10-23, 20:47)nickr Wrote: Both mythtv and xbmc contain millions of lines of code. If you don't like the documentation, I suggest you add to it.

This comment (and general attitude) is wrong on so many levels, it's hard to know where to start. Firstly, it assumes I have the time (I don't - I'm too busy writing and documenting my own FOSS projects). Secondly, it assumes I know their system well enough for my documentation to benefit others (I don't - their product would be worse off if an outsider like me documented it). Thirdly, I wasn't complaining about MythTV or XBMC, both of which I am quite happy with. Rather, I was talking about TVHE.

nickr · 2013-10-24, 06:35

(2013-10-24, 04:41)gauche Wrote:
(2013-10-23, 20:47)nickr Wrote: Both mythtv and xbmc contain millions of lines of code. If you don't like the documentation, I suggest you add to it.

This comment (and general attitude) is wrong on so many levels, it's hard to know where to start. Firstly, it assumes I have the time (I don't - I'm too busy writing and documenting my own FOSS projects). Secondly, it assumes I know their system well enough for my documentation to benefit others (I don't - their product would be worse off if an outsider like me documented it). Thirdly, I wasn't complaining about MythTV or XBMC, both of which I am quite happy with. Rather, I was talking about TVHE.

Thanks for the clarification, and yes you make valid points about FLOSS projects and their documentation. Yes the doco for TVHE are pretty bad, although setting up I have found relatively intuitive if you know how digital TV works. I have also found TVHE support to be pretty non existent. I think a lot of the problem is that it has a very small dev crew - maybe only one programmer?

Unfortunately many programmers don't write a lot of docs, and it is left to forums and wikis to provide the howtos. When a forum gets as large as this, finding the right answer can take some time. At least the wiki is reasonably good.

andrewfa · 2013-10-24, 20:36

(2013-10-23, 11:17)gauche Wrote:
(2013-10-21, 10:54)photon2000 Wrote: I'm using tvheadend with the dvbhdhomerun driver since a couple of years. Successfully.

I'm not disputing that is possible to get TVHE working. I just value my time too much to spend endless hours on attempting to get it running, and worry too much that it'll all just break again if I ever need to update it. This may be partly to do with my inexperience with linux, but I think it has more to do with poor documentation and even poorer error reporting/feedback from TVHE. MythTV wasn't entirely painless, but I got it going in a couple of hours compared to spending probably 10 or 12 messing about with TVHE.

This may sound harsh regarding "free" software, but as a developer myself I'd be embarrassed to put something out so poorly documented and unpolished. And yes, I have put out several FOSS projects.

That said, I appreciate all the help. I've been testing MythTV out with respect to recordings and the likes, and I'm really pleased with the combination of OpenElec+HDHomeRun+MythTV. Hopefully I can add Synology into that equation.

Sorry i didn't see your post earlier but it should only take about 10 minutes to install and configure TVHeadend+HDHomerun on an openelec installation, that is both the back and front end on the same machine, it is a very basic thing to setup. Not that it matters but i am also in Australia and this is what i personnaly use (Openelec+TVHeadend+HDHomerun) as it has been very reliable for me in recent times but my Live TV requirements are fairly basic. Anyway it sounds like you have MythTV setup now which is more featured so you probably won't want to install it now.

You are correct in that documentation is lacking but that should be up to the rest of the community who are familliar with the configuration procedures to get in and help out with as nickr has pointed out.

photon2000 · 2013-10-28, 18:23

Hi gauche,

I'm interested in your findings. Did you get OpenElec+HDHomeRun+MythTV running properly? Could you integrate the 24/7 NAS approach (Synology) in your scenario?
Since I decided to use Openelec/XBMC+HDHomerun+TVHeadend in a similar environment it is interesting to compare the pros and cons.

@documentation of tvh
I am not a developer but experienced in linux. Maybe the documentation of the code is not state of the art (for sure it isn't). But there are other facts: Tvheadend is the most active thread in the XBMC PVR section. Example: there is a sticky thread for tvheadend+hdhomerun on Synology (ARM). The tvheadend forum itself is active as well (try IRC; so you can instantly chat with the developers). A hudge source of knowlege around tvheadend. Or have a look at https://tvheadend.org/projects/tvheadend/activity . Last code changes Yesterday. From my point of view thats the nature of open source projects.

If you are not such experienced in linux, please try the standard way first: Take a standard pc, put a natively supported tv-card in, install ubuntu 12.10 lts, install the tvheadend package (as described), log (from your windows pc) into the tvh webui, scan the channels and you will watch the first tv channel in less than one hour. All fancy details: Tvheadend on RaspberryPi or Synology, HDHomerun support, channel descrambling, etc.will take more time...

Just my two cents...

**negge** · 2013-10-29, 07:57

Watching live TV on a Linux computer requires what every thing that concerns Linux and hardware do - that you buy supported hardware. Sure the Synology NAS is a fairly supported device these days, but it's not a PC so there's bound to be less tested working scenarios out there. If you buy a well supported tuner (preferably a good one too) you'll find that most PVR software is relatively straight-forward to setup and use.