[mythtv-users] pcHDTV 3000: Questions from a MythTV newbie

Mon Jul 25 22:51:01 EDT 2005

All,
   So, I am starting to wonder if MythTV has support
for HD broadcasts on a pcHDTV.  Here's what I've
done...
   I've tried to get it to say that it was trying to
tune to channel 3.1 again, but I can't figure out what
I did.  I used the DVB drivers, the atsc drivers, you
name it.  MythTV doesn't recognize the HD side of the
card.  I decided to jump ship from FC3 and installed
KnoppMyth hoping that it would just work.  No again. 
This time, luckily, it detected the card and set it up
correctly in the Card setup.  However, when I try to
add an input connection to the card, there is no card
listed.  If I were to add the NTSC side of the card,
then I am able to match my listings to the inputs on
the NTSC card, but not when I am using the DVB drivers
or the ATSC drivers.
   I have tried almost every major Linux distro
(Debian, FC, SuSE, KnoppMyth, Ubuntu) and I can't get
MythTV to care about the card.  I am positive that
this is because I am missing some paradigm that
everyone else seems to get.  I've followed every HOWTO
with the pcHDTV in it and Myth still won't run HD. 
Like I said earlier in this thread, I can tune with
xine, so I know it works and it isn't a hardware
problem.  
   Can anyone PLEASE tell me if they have an OTA
pcHDTV setup working at all and if they are actually
viewing HDTV output?  (If so, please describe what you
did, not just a "Mine works!"  Also, I am just stuck
on how to configure MythTV to work with the pcHDTV
3000.  So telling me how to get the packages with apt
or yum, won't help).  I guess what I am asking is what
Myth is looking for because it is obviously something
different than either the pcHDTV drivers are making
available, or  an inability of Myth to correctly read
the card.

I'm really stuck, so if anyone has any suggestions,
I'm all ears.

Thanks,
Brandon
--- Brandon Rogers <blrogers at ieee.org> wrote:

>   Thanks.  It seems like I've done this, but I'll
> try
> this when I get a chance.  By the way, 
> can anyone post what device nodes are created for a
> working pcHDTV 3000 DVB driver (one that you are
> actually capturing OTA HD broadcasts on).  Maybe
> some
> specs as well?  Also, maybe exactly which options
> you
> chose in mythtvsetup? (ie Video Device is
> /dev/dvb0.frontend0 or dvr0 or whatever).  
>   I also adding in the DVB drivers earlier today and
> selected pcHDTV in the capture card setup, but I
> DIDN'T mention a device (just left it blank) and the
> Television input showed up.  Myth seemed to like it,
> but mythfrontend freezes when I "Watch TV".  The
> message on the backend is that it was tuning to
> channel 3 subchannel 1 (which no one is broadcasting
> on, possibly explaining the freeze and if I can
> figure
> out how to change to a known working frequency, I
> might have a good DVB setup).  It was early this
> morning, however, so I'll double check all this just
> in case.
>   Anyway, is this correct?  Seems strange that I
> *don't* have to specify a device for it to work. 
> Maybe it's just a problem with me not understanding
> the UI.  Then again, maybe it's FC3 that isn't
> playing
> nicely with the DVB drivers.  It could be that Myth
> is
> not looking at the correct device (and just thinks
> that it is), which is causing the freeze up.
> 
> Any thoughts?
> -B
> 
> --- Jack Perveiler <perveilerj at yahoo.com> wrote:
> 
> > Is the backend running when you enter
> mythtv-setup? 
> > If so, I've found that it
> > "owns" the DVB device and won't let mythtv-setup
> > access it.  Killing the
> > backend and trying again worked.
> > 
> > --Jack
> > 
> > --- Brandon Rogers <blrogers at ieee.org> wrote:
> > 
> > > David,
> > >   Thanks for the reply.  I think my question was
> > HOW
> > > to use the DVB drivers in Myth.  When I install
> > the
> > > DVB drivers, several DVB device nodes appear,
> but
> > when
> > > I tell Myth that I have a DVB card installed it
> > tells
> > > me that it couldn't open the card.  I believe
> the
> > > reason for this is simply that Myth is looking
> for
> > > certain device nodes set up in a certain way and
> I
> > > have no idea how Myth is trying to read the
> card. 
> > Any
> > > ideas?
> > > 
> > > Thanks,
> > > Brandon
> > > 
> > > --- David Maher <dm at netsol.com.au> wrote:
> > > 
> > > > I think you should use the DVB driver, don't
> > worry
> > > > about testing it with
> > > > another program, if it's working myth will
> > recognise
> > > > it when you select
> > > > the right card type in mythtvsetup and allow
> you
> > to
> > > > scan for channels.
> > > > One tip though, make sure mythbackend is not
> > running
> > > > when you set the
> > > > card up in mythtv, or else it won't be able to
> > scan
> > > > for channels, the
> > > > card will be busy.
> > > > 
> > > >  
> > > > Regards
> > > >  
> > > > David Maher
> > > >  
> > > > 
> > > > 
> > > > -----Original Message-----
> > > > From: mythtv-users-bounces at mythtv.org
> > > > [mailto:mythtv-users-bounces at mythtv.org] On
> > Behalf
> > > > Of David Sims
> > > > Sent: Friday, 22 July 2005 12:03 PM
> > > > To: Discussion about mythtv
> > > > Subject: Re: [mythtv-users] pcHDTV 3000:
> > Questions
> > > > from a MythTV newbie
> > > > 
> > > > 
> > > > Take a look at this thread:
> > > > 
> > > >
> > >
> >
>
http://www.gossamer-threads.com/lists/mythtv/users/135131?
> > > > 
> > > > do=post_view_threaded
> > > > 
> > > > Sounds like you might have the same problem.
> > > > 
> > > > I think the long term answer is to figure out
> > how to
> > > > use the dvb  
> > > > drivers.  I'm still using the v4l drivers with
> > my
> > > > hd-3000, because  
> > > > that's what I got working first and haven't
> > taken
> > > > the time to get the  
> > > > dvb drivers working.  I've had difficulty like
> > you
> > > > have with them, but  
> > > > I honestly haven't spent much time on it.
> > > > 
> > > > - David Sims
> > > > 
> > > > On Jul 21, 2005, at 10:14 AM,
> blrogers at ieee.org
> > > > wrote:
> > > > 
> > > > > All,
> > > > >    I've been scanning the archives of this
> > list
> > > > for
> > > > > quite some time now and I had a few
> questions
> > > > > regarding the pcHDTV 3000 and it's
> > compatibility
> > > > with
> > > > > Myth on Fedora Core 3.
> > > > >    I've compiled the drivers xine-hd (comes
> > with
> > > > the
> > > > > pcHDTV card) and tested HDTV reception and
> > NTSC
> > > > > reception.  Both work great.  I used xine to
> > test
> > > > the
> > > > > HDTV (ATSC) signals and tvtime to test NTSC.
> 
> > I am
> > > > > using the v4l drivers, not the DVB drivers
> for
> > > > reasons
> > > > > I'll discuss in a second.
> > > > >    When I load the v4l drivers (modprobe
> > > > cx88_atsc)
> > > > > the cx88xx drivers (NTSC) load as well as
> the
> > ATSC
> > > > > drivers.  This creates several devices
> (duh),
> > > > namely /dev/vbi0, 
> > > > > /dev/video0, and (I think) /dev/audio0. The
> > ATSC
> > > > device is created as 
> > > > > /dev/video1.  To get xine to recognize
> > /dev/video1
> > > > as the ATSC driver,
> > > > 
> > > > > I made a symbolic link to /dev/video1 called
> > > > /dev/dtv.
> > > > > This works great.  However, when I try to
> set
> > up
> > > > Myth
> > > > > to read this card (I am using Myth 0.18.1),
> > the
> > > > ATSC
> > > > > card is not recognized.  I can set up NTSC,
> > but if
> > > > I
> > > > > erase all those card settings and try to set
> > up an
> > > > > ATSC card, mythsetup just tells me that it
> > > > couldn't
> > > > > find inputs for the device (I know that they
> 
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