[mythtv] dvb question

Ben Bucksch linux.news at bucksch.org
Wed May 21 08:24:55 EDT 2003


Oscar Carlsson wrote:

>since dvb  support  is  being  worked on by you, i think i'll go with a DVB-C solution here.
>
Note that it's *not* working yet. There are still things to be worked 
out. You are the first one I hear talking about DVB-C at all. So, don't 
buy a card yet in anticipation of MythTV support unless you're willing 
to get your hands dirty and/or (worst case) get no MythTV support at 
all. That said, every helping hand is welcome :).

>wouldn't it be possible to make a dump  of my card (the one that goes into my normal decoder) and somehow software emulate  with  my  real keys? once i get this working, i want to use the decoder
>with  the card in the bedroom instead, and ComHem (the cable provider) won't let me get another card without paying double the price.
>
I'm not sure what you refer to. I assume you mean bouquet (a set of 
channel) which is encrypted and you need a decoder and a card (with 
corresponding subscription) to decode it.

If so, then I am not aware of any "software-only" solutions. Even if 
such a solution exists, it would be legally in the grey or black area, 
because it would be totally easy to use it for "piracy" (watching and 
not paying, just copying the card of your friend) in combination with 
DVB-S. At least that's how many legislatives and providers see it (my 
personal opinion is vastly different.)

There are specialized hardware solutions, called Common Access / Common 
Interface (CA/CI). You card must provide a CI/CA slot, you must buy a 
CA/CI module that matches the type of your card and you must then insert 
the card there whenever you want to see encrypted channels.

So, no, what you want is not possible, to my knowledge. Yes, this sucks. 
Not being able to have 2 TVs sets to watch the channels you paid so much 
for really sucks, but that's a contractual affair between you and your 
provider (not that you could change much :-( ).

In any case, this is offtopic for MythTV. I don't think that the 
software notices the card and encrption at all, this is all 
hardware-based. (Or would probably be implemented as a driver, if a 
"software" solution were implemented.)

>is  this  possible  at all?
>
In short: no.

>without this solution, it will be a real pain in the ass + 89 EUR more to pay for all this :\
>
Note that the hardware solutions I mentioned are not cheap either. I 
think about 120 Eur for DVB card with CI module, plus 70-150 eur for the 
decryption module (matching your card type), plus your card (subscription).



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