Connection to TV-server broken (1 Viewer)

[mm1352000]

Actually .log1 tuned to SVT1, which is FTA. .log2 tuned to the Science Fiction channel, for which I need a subscription card to watch. Why it is reported as FTA, I don't know. It shouldn't be.

Strange. Maybe it was temporarily being broadcast as FTA. Doesn't really matter...

subch:0 SendPMT: Channel FTA information changed to True according to CAIDs in PMT.

Previously when I started the MP client it took only a few seconds, say 5 seconds, before I lost connection to TV-server. But during my last try I could watch two pay tv channels (TV4 science fiction and Channel One Russia) with the CAM inserted. I could also record two shows from the TV4 Science Fiction channel. It worked like a charm. But then all of a sudden I received a MP Client crash at 20:55 yesterday when House and Desperate housewives were set to be recorded. So I had to pull out the CAMs this morning to get tonights shows recorded from my other five tuners, that work really stable when the CAM is not inserted...
...I have to disappoint you on this one. After I pulled out my CAMs and restarted the TV-server the black screen after stopping a watched recording, was gone. Somehow the CAMs trigger this behaviour as a side effect when they are not working properly.
...the CAMs were not stable in FireDTV viewer from the beginning, so it might be a CAM - FloppyDTV incompatibility. Or is MP replacing the CI.exe with its own CI/CAM software? I am really stuck here.

No, TV Server does not replace the CI.exe. I am really stuck too! I will ask the other members of the team if they can offer any advice...

 

[hassegubben]

I wonder - FloppyDTV1 has both CAM and smartcard. FloppyDTV2 has only a CAM(no smartcard). Could there be an issue with Mediaportal if one card is missing the smartcard? I have a spare smartcard that I could insert tonight so that both FloppyDTVs have the same hardware configuration. I was thinking this could be a problem:

11. At 2053 recording of Desperate Housewives (20:53-21:55 Kanal 5) starts on FireDTV tuner 1 (successful).
12. At 2053 recording of Star Trek (20:53-21:50 TV4 Science Fiction) tries to start on FireDTV tuner 2 (FAILED!!!).

If FireDTV tuner 2 could not descramble TV4 Science Fiction(no smartcard), there would ideally be e popup window saying "Channel scrambled" or "No card inserted" - right? And next tuner card in the priority list would be tested to see if it was free and could tune that channel and so on. But now MP Client crashed instead. But then again, if you say that TV4 Science Fiction was reported as a FTA channel, a smartcard would make no difference.

 

[tontsa]

You can set from card properties in tv-server if particular card has CAM/CI. Also don't map the pay channels to the card that doesn't have smartcard in the CAM.

 

[mm1352000]

I wonder - FloppyDTV1 has both CAM and smartcard. FloppyDTV2 has only a CAM(no smartcard).

Ahhhhh, this is important information - it would have been helpful for you to mention it earlier!
Like Tontsa said, the solution is to not map the scrambled channels to the tuner that doesn't have a smart card.

As for "TV4 Science Fiction", it only seemed to be unencrypted for that one tune. It is encrypted every other time it is mentioned in the logs. I guess it was just a temporary glitch by the provider.

If FireDTV tuner 2 could not descramble TV4 Science Fiction(no smartcard), there would ideally be e popup window saying "Channel scrambled" or "No card inserted" - right? And next tuner card in the priority list would be tested to see if it was free and could tune that channel and so on.

Each card that has a CAM is tried. If none of them can tune the channel then a popup appears saying "channel is scrambled". The popup is only shown for live TV, not for recordings...

But now MP Client crashed instead.

I'm not sure what the crash is caused by, but I do know it is not caused by MediaPortal failing to find a tuner that can tune the channel. There is a warning like I explained above...

 

[hassegubben]

I am sorry if I misled you with the hardware setup. I thought it was obvious from the FloppyDTV support tool log(attached thumbnail) that only one CAM provided a smartcard Id. And YES - I have mapped all pay channels to the tv-card with CAM without smartcard. I believed MP would just try to descramble and then move on to next tuner if "channel scrambled" popup was shown.

I will add another smartcard tonight and try to record multiple simultaneous recordings to see if I still get crashes. But the implementation should handle a scrambled channel that was tuned with a CAM without a valid smartcard. At least in Sweden we have subscriptions where we can exchange one or more channels each month for free. So that would mean I have to re-map channels in MP every time I change my subscription, which could be quite often.

Anyway - thank you all for providing such good support! I hope this last clue can solve my issues. I'll report back!

 

[hassegubben]

More logs. Inserted two CAMs, both with smartcards. Restarted computer(removed all power cables and restarted). Tried recording 4 channels (2 DVB-C, 1 DVB-T, 1 analog). Channel One Russia=scrambled pay tv(DVB-C), TV4 Science Fiction=scrambled pay tv(DVB-C), TV6=FTA(DVB-T) and Kanal 5=analog. I have only mapped the channels the cards should be able to tune to and descramble. Result:

Lost connection to TV-server in MPClient. MPClient crashed.

I don't understand this...

Added: Could this be my problem?
https://forum.team-mediaportal.com/television-mytv-frontend-tv-server-90/floppydtv-fix-propblems-cam-stop-working-89726/#post681733

 

[mr viggo]

Here's a lot of info that you requested from me in the pm. Hope it help you in your struggle.

 

[hassegubben]

Thanks! I was sad to hear that you had to sell one of your two Floppys because Mediaportal does not allow two FloppyDTVs with CAMs and smartcards cards to work together. Despite yours and DieBagger's efforts in trying to solve the problem. I have scanned the forums for possible solutions and come up with six possible candidates that cause the problems:

1. New FloppyDTV drivers may not be stable in XP SP3 (from one forum thread)
2. Exchange the Mediaportal CI.exe to Digital Everywheres CommonInterface.exe solved the problem, but with annoyances (another thread)
3. Two FloppyDTV can not co-exist in Mediaportal (forum thread)
4. CAM handling in Mediaportal buggy (DieBagger's debug thread)
5. Turn off teletext in Mediaportal Client keep the FloppyDTVs happy (forum thread)
6. Do not use latest firmware for the FloppyDTVs keeps CAM handling stable (forum thread)

I will try this weekend:
1. Revert to version 4.5 of the FloppyDTV integrated drivers
2. Try Digital Everywheres CI.exe
3. Remove one FloppyDTV
4. Try DieBaggers patch
5. Turn off Teletext (I still hope the subtitles work)
6. I'm not sure about this one. Newer firmware should support newer CAMs i guess

Comments on this?

There are so many reports about FloppyDTV CAM problems. It should be incuded in the BUGs list in Mantis.

 

[mm1352000]

Hi again

All of those sound like good ideas...
I apologise for your struggles. At least for me it is really hard to test anything further or improve the FloppyDTV support because I don't have one myself. Not only that, I don't even have access to channels that can be decrypted with a CI/CAM on a computer (Sky NZ uses NDS videoguard)!

I hope testing goes well!

 

[hassegubben]

I hope I can contribute to a better MP with the findings of my testing. I will keep adding logs when things stop working. Eventually there MUST be an explanation to why this happens. Reading in the forums have made me aware about similar problems that I experience. Perhaps DieBagger is on to something when he found issues in the code. I hope so.