[mythtv-users] Problem getting AverTVHD A180 going.

[R. G. Newbury]

mike wrote:
>> Hve you tried using the dvb-apps and scanning for your channels?
>>
>> I have had problems with the myth scanner not prodicuing any output. I
>> had to use the long route which is:
>>
>> You have to either a) know what the dtv_multiplex, serviceid and
>> xmltvids are for your channels, or b) have a channels.conf which
>> contains enough of that info for myth to figure it out and put the right
>> stuff in the right places, so mythfilldatabase can complete things.
>>
>> So (and all of this is on the wiki). get the dvb-apps.
>> Run atscscan -c US-Cable-Standard-Frequencies-QAM256 -a 0 -f 0 -d 0 or
>> whatever is required for your setup, and grab the output. This is a raw
>> channels.conf.
>>
>> Using azap to tune a partciualr channel+serviceid combo, use mplayer to
>> see if it is a watchable channel. Delete if not. This produces a real
>> channels.conf which can be (if yoo are lucky) imported into myth.
>>
>> At present, you probably get nothing, because your card is tuned to
>> nothing.
>>
>> Geoff
> 
> Thanks Geoff,
>  
> I actually have dvb-utils, as it's called here in Debian land. The programs 
> are :
> 
> av7110_loadkeys - tool to load keyfiles of ir-remotes
> evtest - find out events-keys to generate a keyfile for your remote
> femon  - monitor the signal-strength... of your card
> scan   - scan all transponders and generate a channels.conf
> czap   - simple zapping tool for the Linux DVB API (DVB-C-Cards)
> szap   - simple zapping tool for the Linux DVB API (DVB-S-Cards)
> tzap   - simple zapping tool for the Linux DVB API (DVB-T-Cards) 
> 
> I have tried this, which doesn't get anywhere... It's likely I'm not doing 
> this right, since the commands are nothing like what you just described:
> ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
> mike at localhost:~$ scan
> initial tuning data files:
> 
> usage: scan [options...] [-c | initial-tuning-data-file]
>         atsc/dvbscan doesn't do frequency scans, hence it needs initial
>         tuning data for at least one transponder/channel.
>         -c      scan on currently tuned transponder only
>         -v      verbose (repeat for more)
>         -q      quiet (repeat for less)
>         -a N    use DVB /dev/dvb/adapterN/
>         -f N    use DVB /dev/dvb/adapter?/frontendN
>         -d N    use DVB /dev/dvb/adapter?/demuxN
>         -s N    use DiSEqC switch position N (DVB-S only)
>         -i N    spectral inversion setting (0: off, 1: on, 2: auto [default])
>         -n      evaluate NIT-other for full network scan (slow!)
>         -5      multiply all filter timeouts by factor 5
>                 for non-DVB-compliant section repitition rates
>         -o fmt  output format: 'zap' (default), 'vdr' or 'pids' (default 
> with -c)
>         -x N    Conditional Axcess, (default 1)
>                 N=0 gets only FTA channels
>                 N=xxx sets ca field in vdr output to :xxx:
>         -t N    Service select, Combined bitfield parameter.
>                 1 = TV, 2 = Radio, 4 = Other, (default 7)
>         -p      for vdr output format: dump provider name
>         -e N    VDR version, default 2 for VDR-1.2.x
>                 ANYTHING ELSE GIVES NONZERO NIT and TID
>                 Vdr version 1.3.x and up implies -p.
>         -l lnb-type (DVB-S Only) (use -l help to print types) or
>         -l low[,high[,switch]] in Mhz
>         -u      UK DVB-T Freeview channel numbering for VDR
> 
>         -P do not use ATSC PSIP tables for scanning
>             (but only PAT and PMT) (applies for ATSC only)
>         -A N    check for ATSC 1=Terrestrial [default], 2=Cable or 3=both
>         -U      Uniquely name unknown services
> mike at localhost:~$
> 
> mike at localhost:~$ scan -c
> using '/dev/dvb/adapter0/frontend0' and '/dev/dvb/adapter0/demux0'
> WARNING: filter timeout pid 0x0000
> WARNING: filter timeout pid 0x1ffb
> dumping lists (0 services)
> Done.
> 
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
> 
> At this point, I'm thinking I have a bad A-180 card. It doesn't get anything 
> on a windows box I tried, either. 
> That, or we just don't get high definition TV.
> Thanks again.

OK. atscscan is a synonym for 'scan' as far as I can tell.
I presume that you have the card and its driver installed properly... 
that is, no error messages in  dmesg... and it reports that it is 
installing, and then has installed the firmware. And there is a set of 
folders under /dev/dvb/adapter0

Unless you can positively state those things, all bets are off.

The commnand line you have given DOES NOT DO WHAT YOU WANT!

scan -c only scans the card for services on the channel already tuned. 
You  have never, as far as I can tell, actually tuned the card to 
anything, so you are getting nothing...Think of it as tuning to 'channel 1'.


You need to use:

scan -a 0 -f 0 -d 0 -U US-Cable-Standard-Frequencies-QAM256

This tells scan to try every frequency in that file...I may have the 
name of the file wrong... its so long, I immediately shortened it on my 
machine...The other switches force the use of adapter0, frontend 0, 
demux0 (in case you have multiple cards). The rest of the defaults are 
acceptable for your purposes. This will take quite some time to run. The 
summary is what you want.

This will scan for *every* available service. Some will be encrypted, 
some will be radio. You can play with the command line switches to see 
what happens if you restrict the search, later. At the moment you want 
to get SOMETHING... ANYTHING.

NOTE that this card will not decrypt encrypted HD channels. I presume 
you mention that fact, to confirm that you think you should be getting 
some QAM256 encoded, but unencrypted channels with this card. It also 
appears that you may be confusing digital with HD...Digital is a 
transport method. SD and HD are quality levels. With your card, you can 
get digital streams. In the US, you should get a number of SD streams, 
and a few HD streams, being the cable equivalents of the local (OTA) HD 
broadcasts which the FCC mandates that the cableco distribute 
*unencrypted*. In Canada, anything HD is encrypted on cable... dammit.



Goeff

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