[mythtv] 6100 series STB boxes - Update

Joe Borne joe.borne at gmail.com
Thu Oct 18 16:24:52 UTC 2007


On 10/18/07, Joe Borne <joe.borne at gmail.com> wrote:
>
>
> Kelly Campbell wrote:
> > > Encrypted 5C channels is one problem, but it's a pain to even get the
> > > non-encrypted channels to work consistently. I'm not sure this is
> > > actually a problem with the motorola's or if it's a linux driver/libs
> > > issue. I've never tried capturing on MacOS or windows.
> > >
> > > I've been able to get my firewire working mostly consistently by
> > > building from svn for myth, libraw1394, libiec61883, and libavc1394.
> > > They recently made a new release of libraw1394 which included a
> > > segfault bugfix.
> > >
> > > For me this is what I've found is required to get a stable connection:
> > >
> > > 1. The motorola box has to be powered off (power cable unplugged,
> > > firewire is still live even if the) and then plugged back in with the
> > > linux system online and firewire connected.
> > >
> > > 2. I have to run firewire_tester -B -n <node> until it's stable.
> > >
> > > 3. configure mythtv to connect in broadcast mode.
> > >
> > > Once in a while it will lose stability for some reason, and just
> > > running firewire_tester -B -n once or twice will usually fix it. If
> > > not I have to reset the stb power.
> > >
> > > Hope that helps.
> > >
> > > -Kelly
> > >
> > > On 10/17/07, Steven Adeff <adeffs.mythtv at gmail.com> wrote:
> > >
> > >> On 10/17/07, Joe Borne < joe.borne at gmail.com> wrote:
> > >>
> > >>> I have a very cooperative cable company (Insight) who is willing to
> > help
> > >>> resolve the issues some users have with tuning in HD channels on the
> > >>> Motorola set top boxes. They feel that I should be able to watch
> > every
> > >>> channel I pay for out of the firewire ports on the back,
> > unencrypted. They
> > >>> would like to work with us as testers.
> > >>>
> > >>> Who is currently working on the code used to communicate with these
> > Motorola
> > >>> STBs? I'd like to get them involved so we can work this out. I'm
> > running the
> > >>> current SVN.
> > >>>
> > >> all they have to do is turn off 5C in the Motorola software. Normally
> > >> this signal is sent by the cable company in the channel/show's
> > digital
> > >> stream to the cablebox and is passed through from the network but it
> > >> can be intercepted/changed/ignored at any step along that process.
> > >>
> > >> --
> > >> Steve
> > >> Before you ask, read the FAQ!
> > >> http://www.mythtv.org/wiki/index.php/Frequently_Asked_Questions
> > >> then search the Wiki, and this list,
> > >> http://www.gossamer-threads.com/lists/mythtv/
> > >> Mailinglist etiquette -
> > >> http://www.mythtv.org/wiki/index.php/Mailing_List_etiquette
> > >> _______________________________________________
> > >> mythtv-dev mailing list
> > >> mythtv-dev at mythtv.org
> > >> http://mythtv.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/mythtv-dev
> > >>
> > >>
> > > _______________________________________________
> > > mythtv-dev mailing list
> > > mythtv-dev at mythtv.org
> > > http://mythtv.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/mythtv-dev
> > >
> > if you're paying for the channels why would they be 5C encrypted on the
> > firewire port?
>
>
>
> The problem I am seeing is the same as Kelly is indicating. I have several
> channels that will not tune in despite  NOT being 5C encrypted. I have
> checked them by doing the following:
>
> 1. Powering off the STB with the power button while tuned to the channel
> that refuses to work.
> 2. Hitting "setup" on the front of the STB within 2 seconds of power off.
> 3. Checking the setup screen that appears for the "5C" or "%C" flag. (I
> don't remember the exact line, but it was pretty obvious to me.)
>
> I came across a thread in a silicondust forum via google that discussed a
> similar problem for folks using a digital tuner card on QAM channels. They
> reported almost 100% success if they unchecked a checkbox for "unencrypted
> channels only" under the mythtv backend setup >> 4. Input connections menu.
>
>
> http://www.silicondust.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=24438&sid=3695300530c53326eb14ab4affba59d4
>
> Apparently, some channels can carry a 5C flag even if not encrypted and
> Myth picks up on this and doesn't even try to tune them. I did wonder if
> this could be a similar issue, but that seems illogical as the STB does
> change to the channel but the signal never locks. Unless the two are
> unrelated, and what's happening is that the STB changes channels, but then
> Myth never really attempts to lock on the signal. I don't know enough about
> the firewire connection to even speculate. (Are channels transmitted through
> the firewire on different frequencies, or are they all just raw MPEG2 feeds
> of whatever channel the STB is on?)
>
> I'm going to attempt Kelly's solution and compile libraw1394, libiec61883,
> and libavc1394 from source.
>
> I'll post the results.
>
>
> Thanks
>
> Joe
>

Update: Compiling the libraw, libie and libavc from source has not fixed the
problem. I took some time and mapped out which channels do and do not work
using 6200ch and test-mpeg2. (With many, many, MANY restarts of mythbackend
and running "firewire_tester -n 0 -p 0 -B -r 5" in between. Interestingly,
if firewire-tester cannot fix a broken connection, a restart of mythbackend
seems to help.)

Does anyone know how to query out the Motorola's configuration through the
firewire connection? It sure would be nice to be able to look at the config
for each channel in a flat file so I can compare and find what's different.
Otherwise I have to wait til I get home and do the power off/setup button
trick on every channel in question.

Also, just out of curiosity, what's the difference between the internal
channel changer code MythTV uses for the Motorola and 6200ch?


Thanks

Joe
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: http://mythtv.org/pipermail/mythtv-dev/attachments/20071018/96f8a5fe/attachment.htm 


More information about the mythtv-dev mailing list