[mythtv-users] Satix S2 Dual regular dropouts / poor signal quality? [SOLVED]

Andre mythtv-list at dinkum.org.uk
Mon Nov 29 12:08:59 UTC 2010


On 9 Oct 2010, at 22:14, Robert Longbottom wrote:

> Hi list,
> 
> I've just bought a Satix-S2 Dual to replace my existing HVR3000 and Technotrend S-1500.  I've set it up using the ngene driver from kernel 2.6.35.4 and the firmware linked to from the linuxtv wiki (http://linuxtv.org/wiki/index.php/Mystique_SaTiX_S2_Dual).  My plan was to retire the 2 PCI cards for a single dual PCIe card to free up some space in my case (for other cards ;-) ).
> 
> However after just a days testing of the Satix card I've had numerous failed recordings and dropouts mid recording (where recording just stops).  Also livetv regularly freezes and kicks me back to the main menu.

As an update for any Myth people interested in the Satix S2 dual satellite card, Robert & I have just been testing an update of the driver for this card from Oliver Endriss.

http://linuxtv.org/hg/~endriss/ngene-test2

Has been working well for me for both tuners in simultaneous multirec with many multiple HD recordings for a week or so, the driver creates 5 nodes instead of 2 but the extra ones can be ignored for now.

Andre










> 
> I've turned on the "record" log option for the backend and it the log when a recording stops half way through it reports:
> 2010-10-09 12:02:00.631 DevRdB(/dev/dvb/adapter103/frontend0) Error: Poll giving up
> 2010-10-09 12:02:00.640 DevRdB(/dev/dvb/adapter103/frontend0): fill_ringbuffer: error state
> 2010-10-09 12:02:00.648 DVBSH(/dev/dvb/adapter103/frontend0) Error: Device error detected
> 2010-10-09 12:02:00.648 DVBSH(/dev/dvb/adapter103/frontend0): RunTS(): shutdown
> 2010-10-09 12:02:00.648 PIDInfo(/dev/dvb/adapter103/frontend0): Closing filter for pid 0x0
> <snip>
> 2010-10-09 12:02:00.660 DVBSH(/dev/dvb/adapter103/frontend0): RunTS(): end
> 2010-10-09 12:02:00.701 DVBRec(1:/dev/dvb/adapter103/frontend0) Error: Stream handler died unexpectedly.
> Googling around, this looks like it's a signal problem, so I kicked off 'femon' against the dvb card.  It's reports values for Signal strength around 80%, SNR around 70%, UNC=0, BER is usually zero for one of the inputs and seems to be always 1 for the other input(?)  In comparison the HVR and the Technotrend report SNR values of >95%.  I'm using exactly the same two feeds from my dish into Satix as I have been for the past two years into the HVR and the Technotrend and in the past two years I don't think I've had a single failed recording due to a signal problem.
> 
> I'm also getting the following errors repeating quite a lot for the BBC channels in my logs, but that also happens with the old cards and it doesn't seem to matter there, so I'm guessing it isn't directly related to the problem:
> 2010-10-09 21:10:38.219 DVBRec(8:/dev/dvb/adapter101/frontend0): PID 0x138c discontinuity detected
> 2010-10-09 21:10:38.250 DVBRec(8:/dev/dvb/adapter101/frontend0): PID 0x13f0 discontinuity detected
> 2010-10-09 21:10:38.709 DVBRec(8:/dev/dvb/adapter101/frontend0): PID 0x138c discontinuity detected
> 2010-10-09 21:10:38.753 DVBRec(8:/dev/dvb/adapter101/frontend0): PID 0x13f0 discontinuity detected
> 2010-10-09 21:10:39.238 DVBRec(8:/dev/dvb/adapter101/frontend0): PID 0x138c discontinuity detected
> 
> 
> So the questions are...
> 
> Is anyone else using the Satix S2 Dual successfully?  If so, what values do you get for SNR? (I don't believe there is anything wrong with my dish / cabling because it's been working fine with the other two cards for a long time now)  Is the Satix just not as good at picking up the signal?
> 
> According to a thread from back in April [1] there has been some success, but there was a lot of work pending on patches to the drivers.  Does anyone know if these patches have made it into the kernel yet?  Or should I try switching to the linux-dvb drivers rather than using the in-kernel drivers?
> 
> Is there anything else I can do to work out why the signal seems to be so much worse on this card than on my other (old) cards?
> 
> I noticed on the digital devices site [2] there is what looks like a newer version of the firmware (ngene_17.fw).  I tried to use it, but it didn't work.  Presumably it's somehow tied to the driver version in the kernel?
> 
> How do I/can I fix the "discountinuity" errors?
> 
> Thanks!
> Robert.
> 
> [1] http://www.mythtv.org/pipermail/mythtv-users/2010-April/286115.html
> [2] http://www.digitaldevices.de/pageID_9262549.html
> 
> System Info:
> mythtv-0.23.1_p25496 on Gentoo Linux, kernel version 2.6.35.4
> 
> 
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