[mythtv-users] CI / CI+ / CAM

Sun Apr 15 12:00:13 UTC 2012

Hello Jos,

Thanks for your answer (bedankt voor je antwoord).

If this is indeed such a fuzzy area, then I will stick to that one card I had already found.

Yes, at the moment I record the DVB-T (Digitenne) Free-To-Air channels with MythTV. Since I have a Conax-CAM card for my television set, I will try that one with the DVB-T card I'm planning to buy. If everything works I will buy another CAM card. Digitenne supplies you with up to 4 decryption smart cards for each Digitenne subscription.

Kind regards,
Andre.

-----Original Message-----
From: Jos Hoekstra <joshoekstra at gmx.net>
To: Discussion about MythTV <mythtv-users at mythtv.org>
Sent: Sat, Apr 14, 2012 1:49 am
Subject: Re: [mythtv-users] CI / CI+ / CAM

              Op 13-4-2012 22:20, Andre Hasekamp schreef:    
Please help me with the following            concerning CI (Common Interface) / CI+ / CAM (Conditional            Access Module).

            First of all my compliments for the MythTV program. Really            impressive.

            The same goes for the Wiki documentation. Except for one            point: CI / CI+ /CAM. However I searched on this subject, I            could not find any documentation in the Wiki. Not in the            user manual, not in the Wish List, not in the FAQ, not in            the HOWTO. Did I overlook something? If the issue was clear            to me, I would be glad to contribute some documentation on            it, because I really think this subject deserves            documentation. Also, until there is documentation on the            MythTV CI / CAM support, people will keep coming back on it.

            In this post I'm only talking about hardware CI and hardware            CAM. No software emulation.

            Then there is the mailing list "MythTV-users". That's where            I got confused. Let me explain.

            - At first sight, in 2004 the world was simple. Someone            asked the question "Does MythTV support a CAM module            inserted in my DVB card's CI slot?" and got the            straightforward answer: "Yes". But: no MythTV software, no            drivers required? Not clear from this answer.

            Then, in posts between 2004 and 2011, things start to get            more complicated. Without itemizing different posts, here is            my overall impression.

            - In the posts, now a distinction is made among DVB-C, DVB-S            and DVB-T (necessary?).

            - In the posts, now a distinction among TV signals from            different broadcasters (still being DVB-C, DVB-S or DVB-T)            is made (necessary?).

            - In the posts, now a distinction is made among CA systems            (necessary?).

            - Someone remarks: "they (MythTV developers) want nothing to            do with CAM" (no problem if the first statement above from            2004 remains unconditionally true).

            - It gets tricky when people start mentioning specific            combinations of TV cards and CI / CAM and tell us the CAM is            not recognized by MythTV (but of course these people could            have made mistakes which are not related to CAM).

            - And then, in 2011, someone mentions a kernel patch to make            CI / CAM work. Alternatively, we have to wait until kernel            3.2 (as of yet unreleased) until this patch is included in            the kernel. True, false? Hard for me to judge.

            - Questions on CI / CAM are often not answered.

            So, wouldn't it be useful to have some documentation on when            and how CI / CAM is supported or not supported by MythTV?

            At the moment I use the English language version of MythTV            with an old TV card (only Free-To-Air TV channels). It is            time to acquire a more recent card, but with (maybe only            hardware) support for decrypting channels.

            While looking for DVB-T cards, in the MythTV WiKi, I found 2            cards where it is mentioned that you can add an optional CAM            module. Fortunately, one of these cards is available for            sale in my environment. However, rather I would like to            understand the CI / CAM issue and then select a recent DVB-T            card on the basis of MythTV supported TV-chipsets and            TV-tuners and finally maybe gamble a little with the MythTV            support of the selected card, while the card is available            from different (internet) shops.

            Any reply will be welcome. If the issue remains unclear to            me, I will have to resort to that single DVB-T card I have            found so far in the Wiki documentation, which would support            CI / CAM, while I must hope it will decrypt my DVB-T signal.

            Regards,
            Andre.

          AFAICT you're from the Netherlands like me where using          hardware CAM is allowed by broadcasters. You say you're using          free-to-air now, is that via DVB-T? Or analog cable?
          I know that for DVB-T(or digitenne) you need a CONAX-cam which          you can rent from KPN, with that it is allowed to use all the          channels you're subscribed to.
          In general (AFAIK, I got fiber without any encryption) a tuner          with CI combined with cam just provides an unencrypted stream          to mythtv via it's interface. The only thing the card needs to          be is supported under linux including CI.
          For that I'd like to refer you to:          http://www.linuxtv.org/wiki/index.php/DVB-T_Devices (more          cards might be supported than mentioned on this page) and also          to the mailinglist of them to ask if it is supported, if it          is, generally mythtv will work with it.

          The tricky part of this subject is that it often strays into          grey areas and the devs(a lot of them based in the us) don't          want to hand a stick to whatever media-organization to be          beaten with,

          Best regards,

          Jos

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