ceton eth6 channel problem (1 Viewer)

gpnash

Portal Pro
March 2, 2015
70
16
65
Linden, Michigan
Home Country
United States of America United States of America
I'm a charter cable customer using a ceton eth6 with MP1.15.0. It took charter over 3 years to finally get my cable card configured correctly.
which is why I'm starting here instead of with them in looking at this issue. Chiller is supposedly in my cable package. when I select it the MP client freezes for between 2 and 5 minutes. I can see, using the ceton web interface each of the 6 tuners being tried in turn (which is probably why it takes so long). The channel appears to be successfully tuned from ceton's point of view (I see "Playing" in its status) eventually the client pops up a error saying it can't find the channel and I'm clear to try again or select a different station. I've sent the NO PMT message come up from time to time and have looked at some of the channel related parameters but I can't pinpoint what should be fixed.
 

mm1352000

Retired Team Member
  • Premium Supporter
  • September 1, 2008
    21,577
    8,224
    Home Country
    New Zealand New Zealand
    Hello

    Thanks for all the info - makes it much easier to try to assist you. (y)

    Question: do you have a tuning adapter/resolver (TA / TR) connected to your Ceton ETH 6?
    [A TA/TR is a "little black box" used to enable CableCARD-equipped receivers to receive channels that are delivered using switched digital video (SDV).]

    My guess is that the answer is yes, because the tuning details for "Chiller" show as:
    [2016-10-10 13:22:45,970] [Log ] [25 ] [INFO ] - Controller: channel #1 ATSC:tv:Cable Chiller Freq:999000 ONID:15580 TSID:0 SID:15580 PMT:0x0 FTA:False LCN:158 phys:158 maj:125 min:0 mod:Mod256Qam

    From what I've been told, cable providers don't actually use that frequency (999 MHz); and when they put that frequency in their lineup details, it means that the channel is delivered using SDV.

    If I'm right, the "no PMT" message you mentioned would make sense... because for CableCARD tuners, a "no PMT" message usually means one of two things:
    1. The channel is copy-once protected, and therefore MediaPortal can't access it.
    2. Your cable provider has moved the channel and/or changed some of its technical reception parameters.
    By definition, SDV channels are moved very frequently - much more than other channels. Therefore I strongly suspect that the channel has simply moved. You can expect that to happen from time to time.

    If I'm still right so far, the least technical way to fix it would be to rescan. Rescanning should pick up Charter's changes. If you're clever and/or want to avoid rescanning for some reason, you should also be able to fix it by updating the channel's service ID value:
    1. Open TV Server Configuration.
    2. Go to the TV Channels section.
    3. Find and select the channel.
    4. Click "edit".
    5. In the "edit channel" window that pops up, select the tuning detail (there should only be one) in the bottom list and click "edit".
    6. Set the "service ID" value.
    7. Click OK and OK again to save and close the channel details.
    The obvious question when you get to step 6 will be: what is the correct value. Tricky question. You mentioned that you can see TV Server trying each of the tuners in turn through the Ceton web interface. Well, somewhere in there you should also be able to find the channel's "program number", and that's the value that you need to plug in as the TV Server channel's service ID value. Sorry, I can't be more specific about where/how to get that value. Like I said though, it should be there somewhere.

    Regards,
    mm
     

    gpnash

    Portal Pro
    March 2, 2015
    70
    16
    65
    Linden, Michigan
    Home Country
    United States of America United States of America
    spot on! Chiller is working! woohoo!
    Had three issues.
    1) old map on the ceton box. on it's website I did a clear map under cablecard. took a while to get the new map. The old one looked terrible, lots of ...moved and other comments. new map looks like a channel map.
    2) did a rescan of my channels in tv server.. this has always scared the heck out of me. but you talk about it so casually it couldn't be as evil as I feared.
    600 channels updated with 20 new ones. Went and mapped the channels onto the other 5 tuners
    3) the service id was still wrong so, noting your relation between service id and program number I went back to the ceton website and found two program numbers associated with channel 125, 62351 and 34. The map had 15580, so I tried 62351 first (no joy) and the 34. 34 did the trick.
    I've got a method now to try and fix the others AND something to talk to charter support about.
     

    Attachments

    • Capture.JPG
      Capture.JPG
      72 KB

    mm1352000

    Retired Team Member
  • Premium Supporter
  • September 1, 2008
    21,577
    8,224
    Home Country
    New Zealand New Zealand
    spot on! Chiller is working! woohoo!
    Great! :)

    1) old map on the ceton box. on it's website I did a clear map under cablecard. took a while to get the new map. The old one looked terrible, lots of ...moved and other comments. new map looks like a channel map.
    I don't think this would affect TV Server... but it does give you an indication that Charter had moved stuff around.

    this has always scared the heck out of me. but you talk about it so casually it couldn't be as evil as I feared.
    Ha! :D
    Yes, generally scans should be no big deal. I admit on the odd occasion they have been known to go pear-shaped, but in my experience that's rare so don't let it put you off.

    600 channels updated with 20 new ones. Went and mapped the channels onto the other 5 tuners
    Sounds perfect. (y)

    ...and found two program numbers associated with channel 125, 62351 and 34.
    Actually, those two programs are associated with 561000 kHz (which is physical channel 80).
    Physical channels (AKA frequencies) carry zero or more programs (AKA [virtual] channels).

    In that web interface, when you enter the channel number and click "set channel", it looks like the corresponding program number should be listed in the "program number" row below.

    I've got a method now to try and fix the others AND something to talk to charter support about.
    :)
    Don't hesitate to ask if you come up with more questions.
     

    Users who are viewing this thread

    Top Bottom