Freecom USB DVB-T tuner compatibility (1 Viewer)

[Ken Turner]

I have a Freecom USB DVB-T tuner, which I have been using for some years with the supplied software, ArcSoft TotalMedia 3.5.

I'm not very happy with TotalMedia, and liked the look of MediaPortal, so I've just installed MediaPortal 1.4.0.

I went to the TV Server Configuration screen and found an entry DVB-T USB Digital TV Receiver, from which I assumed that my device had been recognised. I set Country to UK, Region/Provider to All regions and hit the Scan button. However after a long wait, no radio and/or TV stations were found.

As a complete newcomer to MediaPortal, am I missing something here? Alternatively, are there any workarounds?

 

[mm1352000]

Hello and welcome Ken

I went to the TV Server Configuration screen and found an entry DVB-T USB Digital TV Receiver, from which I assumed that my device had been recognised.

Yep - that's correct.

I set Country to UK, Region/Provider to All regions and hit the Scan button.

Sounds good to me.

However after a long wait, no radio and/or TV stations were found.

As a complete newcomer to MediaPortal, am I missing something here? Alternatively, are there any workarounds?

It sounds like you've done everything right. Channels not being found can mean a variety of things - we'll need more info to narrow down what is going on. So, couple of questions for you:

1. What region of England are you actually in?
2. Do you remember, did you install drivers for the tuner from a CD, or did you download them from a website, or did the tuner just work in TotalMedia when you plugged it in?
3. Could you please post your TV Server log files:
   • Open TV Server configuration.
   • Click "open log directory" in the top left corner.
   • Zip up all the files you see in that folder and post/attach the zip file here.

Thanks,
mm

 

[Ken Turner]

To answer your points:

1. I'm just outside Henley-on-Thames, in Oxfordshire.
2. I don't think I installed any special drivers, it just worked in TotalMedia when I plugged it in.
3. I got a couple of errors when I zipped up the files:

! C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\Team MediaPortal\MediaPortal TV Server\log\log.zip: Cannot open C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\Team MediaPortal\MediaPortal TV Server\log\TVService.log​

The process cannot access the file because it is being used by another process.​

! C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\Team MediaPortal\MediaPortal TV Server\log\log.zip: Cannot open C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\Team MediaPortal\MediaPortal TV Server\log\TVService-Error.log​

The process cannot access the file because it is being used by another process.​

​

However, I attach the zip file; TVService-Error.log has size zero so can be ignored, and am uploading TVService.log separately.

 

[Ken Turner]

The silence is deafening! Any comments/suggestions?

 

[mm1352000]

The silence is deafening!

Some of us work full time and live on the other side of the world. A little patience would be appreciated.

Any comments/suggestions?

Sure.
Your log files show really strange behaviour. The tuner says it locks on every frequency, but it never finds any channels. To me that suggests that the tuner is not actually responding when MP tells it to tune. That could be because other software is running in the background and preventing TV Server from controlling the tuner (only one application can use/control the tuner at any given time), or it could mean that TV Server has compatibility issues with this particular tuner. I've done a little bit of googling, and the first few links suggest the drivers are... not so great... so I suspect there are compatibility issues...

 

[Ken Turner]

Sorry - I didn't mean to be a nag - you spoiled me by responding so rapidly first time round .
Thanks for your comments. I think I'll try one thing: maybe TotalMedia doesn't let go of the device completely, so I'll try again by rebooting and not firing up TotalMedia at all. I'll post again when I have any progress.

 

[Ken Turner]

Just noticed this when I fire up MediaPortal TV Server configuration:

​

Could this have a bearing on the problem?

Not sure what the Microsoft SI/PSI parser is, or how to rectify the problem - couldn't find any reference to it in your documentation. Can you advise on this?

Meanwhile, I have rerun the scan, limiting the Region/Provider to Crystal Palace (which I think is my nearest source) in order to save time. Result: still nothing found

 

[mm1352000]

Just noticed this...

I don't see anything... but I can guess what you're referring to.

​

Could this have a bearing on the problem?

Maybe.

Not sure what the Microsoft SI/PSI parser is, or how to rectify the problem - couldn't find any reference to it in your documentation. Can you advise on this?

See the "required updates" section, "BDA/DVB Hotfix":
https://www.team-mediaportal.com/mediaportal/requirements

 

[Ken Turner]

Woops! I pasted a graphic into the previous reply but it disappeared when I posted, so here it is as an upload instead.[DOUBLEPOST=1374754876][/DOUBLEPOST]Wow - such a fast reply this time - I didn't even get a chance to rectify the omission. I'll try the BDA/DVB Hotfix and get back to you.

 

[Ken Turner]

OK, I've done the BDA/DVB Hotfix and no longer get the error message

Now I've re-run the Crystal Palace scan - still no joy

So maybe it is a driver issue, as you suggested:

I've done a little bit of googling, and the first few links suggest the drivers are... not so great... so I suspect there are compatibility issues...

Are there any alternative drivers that I could use? Or do I have to give up the idea of using MediaPortal?