[mythtv-users] Linux shell command to check I can tune to MythTV channel (DVB/no vid or aid)?

Stephen Worthington stephen_agent at jsw.gen.nz
Sun Nov 4 05:35:38 UTC 2018


On Sat, 3 Nov 2018 19:36:07 +0100, you wrote:

>Does anyone know of a single Linux shell command that can use to check if given the appropriate tuning details it is a valid channel and should be tunable by MythTV?  
>
>A major problem is that MythTV doesn't seem to use Video PIDs or Audio PIDs (I can't find them in the mythconverg database) so most utilities do not work and then if these apps could work (e.g. tzap) it still needs a further app to see if the tzap is actually viewing a proper channel.
>
>Thanks

You can use other programs with tzap and the like - one program that
does everything is counter to the Linux philosophy, so you do not find
so many of them.

What you do with tzap and szap is to use the -r option to set up the
tuner to be able to be used for a recording, then you can just use a
cp command to create a recording file, or use mplayer from the command
line.  See "Recording a program" here:

https://www.linuxtv.org/wiki/index.php/Zap

If you want an all-in-one program, VLC will do it, but I find it
difficult to set up properly (but I was using it for DVB-S - DVB-T is
much easier).  And I was using its GUI, but I believe you can do it
all from its command line, if you can find the documentation to tell
you how.

The programs that you looked at that need PIDs specified are likely
for streaming, rather than direct use of a tuner.  Normally, to use a
tuner, you need the frequency and the service ID only.  The service ID
is used to access the table that tells the software what streams
(PIDs) it needs to record for a channel.  That table is broadcast
regularly so it does not cause a noticeable delay using it instead of
the PIDs, and if the broadcaster changes the PIDs (eg changes from AC3
audio to something else), using the service ID means your recording
does not get broken.  The service IDs are in the MythTV database.


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