[mythtv-users] USB2 DVB-T available on the Market

[Stephen Worthington]

On Mon, 1 Jul 2013 20:05:06 +0200, you wrote:

>Dear Linux user,
>
>
>
>Who can advice me about a USB2 DVB-T device under Linux?
>
> 
>
>I know that there are good sites
>(http://linuxtv.org/wiki/index.php/DVB-T_USB_Devices) but my goal is to find
>an available device that is already compatible in the Kernel (I have a
>Gentoo linux distribution)
>
> 
>
>I already make a list of devices, but I can't find a device that is
>compatible with Kernel and available on the market in Belgium.
>
> 
>
>- AF9015 based chips are well supported onto Linux, but I can't find a
>available device
>
>AVerTV Volar Black HD (A850)       DVB-T            USB 2.0          => no
>more available
>
>Cinergy T Stick RC     can be a choice, but now it's delivered with a
>RTL2832U
>
> 
>
>- AF9035 based chips : is supported directly into the Kernel ? following
>some forum discussion, it's not clear.
>
>Sony My Cinema U3100 Mini Plus : there are several model and I don't know
>which chips are used.
>
>AVerTV Volar Green HD (A835)       DVB-T            USB 2.0          ~
>Partial           Tested on Ununtu with 3.5 kernel and firmware [3] =>
>doesn't seems to be fully supported ?
>
>AVerMedia AVerTV AverTV Volar HD & HD PRO => As it is also a AF9035 like the
>"Green HD" will it be supported (seems supported under linux, but not
>officially)? 
>
> 
>
>- it9135 : I don't know if it is a better choice and which device it
>contains ?
>
> 
>
>- rtl2832u : I must avoid this chips as it is not supported for DVB-T ?
>
> 
>
>Here a list a device available in my country :
>http://www.ldlc.be/informatique/peripherique-pc/tuner-tnt-usb/c4286/
>
> 
>
>Thanks for your help.

Of the tuners on that site, I would pick the Pinnacle PCTV DVB-T Flash
Stick.  I have several of the Pinnacle PCTV nano stick tuners, and
they are the best ones I have - they have the best sensitivity, full
support in the kernel, and have never given me any problems.  However,
the Flash Stick is a newer? model I have never used, so it might be
different.  But that one is listed as supported in the kernel for
quite a while, like my nano sticks, and my experience with mine was
that they just worked as soon as they were plugged in.  You might need
to install the required firmware file (dvb-usb-dib0700-1.20.fw), but
in my case with Mythbuntu even that was installed by default as part
of the linux-firmware package.

Linux support for AverMedia products is a bit hit and miss - you need
to check the exact model on the AverMedia site to know if it is
supported or not.  It has always seemed to me that AverMedia are not
bothered much with supporting Linux, but they are happy to list on
their site whether there is a driver that works or not.  I have an
ancient AverMedia AverTV DVB-T Volar USB stick that works just fine
with Linux, but it is long since off the market.  The old AverMedia
AverTV Duo Hybrid PCIe card I have in my Windows box is not supported
in Linux and never will be, as it would take AverMedia's active
support to get drivers working for it.

The Hauppauge products can be problematic finding out if they have
drivers or not.  Hauppauge has often slipstreamed in new versions of
products that use different hardware without changing the name of the
product.  I have a Hauppauge WinTV HVR-900 hybrid DVB-T/analogue USB
stick, and for a long time it did not have Linux drivers, as when it
arrived it turned out it was a Revision 2 model with quite different
hardware from Revision 1 which always had Linux drivers.  It was only
last year that proper driver support arrived in the kernel.  So if you
choose one of them, you need to make sure that you can return it if it
is not the version with Linux drivers.

BTW Pinnacle now seems to be owned by Hauppauge, but seems to be
operated as a separate division and as far as I know has not started
slipstreaming new hardware versions the way Hauppauge does.

I would avoid the Asus My Cinema-U3100Mini PLUS, even if it does have
Linux drivers.  I had an Asus My Cinema U3100 Mini, and it just died
for no obvious reason after a very short period of use.  It did work
fine with the drivers in the kernel, while it was working.

However, you really do not need to limit yourself to tuners available
only in Belgium - there are plenty of web sites that can sell from
anywhere in the world, and DVB-T USB tuners are generally cheap enough
that they are a throw away item if they stop working, so having local
support is not a real issue.