Standard BDA Diseqc switching (3 Viewers)

[ColinT]

I am trying to get the Black and Gold card to work with Diseqc.

Looking at the code, I note that the base BDA module does not use any BDA Diseqc interface, and that each of the specific implementations (eg Hauppauge etc) manipulate the BDA buffer dirrectly to produce their desired effects.

I note that BDA now has a fully formed Diseqc switching module, the ibda_DiseqcCommand interface, at least since June, and I wondered if this should now be used to implement a new baseline diseqc switching module which may reduce the need for specific card implementations.

Does anyone think that the existing baseline BDA module is used by anyone, and does it work?

Also does anyone have any views on the BDA specification for Diseqc, and whether BDA driver manyuafctures now support it?

I am happy to try to implement, and have downloaded code etc in order to do so.

Best Regards

ColinT

 

[mm1352000]

Hi there ColinT

I have a Pinnacle 7010ix card and am using Blackgold drivers because they are more stable. I've spent the last month trying to figure out why DiSEqC wouldn't work in most of my TV programs (including MediaPortal). In fact the only programs that could make the card do DiSEqC switching that I have discovered are WMC7 and DVBViewer (you MUST enable the "new tuning method" or "custom network provider")...
Anyhow after a lot of reverse compiling and "hacking" I have discovered why Blackgold DiSEqC switching doesn't currently work in MP. It is easy to fix - it is just that the MP DiSEqC code is a bit of a mess. I am working on a patch which I hope to have submitted in the next two weeks...
I think the existing "GenericBDAS" handler will still be required for some time. I would assume that it works for some cards, which is why it is there in the first place. Having said that I don't think there is any reason why a second "baseline" handler with the Windows 7 DiSEqC interface calls couldn't be developed as well. I can probably save you some effort if I told you that it is unlikely (I have tried it - it didn't work!) to help you get DiSEqC working for Blackgold cards. The thing is that if you start changing the manufacturer specific code or remove the old generic handler you will break the support for hardware which doesn't have new drivers that support the new interface. On top of that, it is my understanding that the new interface has not been back-ported to XP and many people still use MP with XP.

Hope that all makes sense!

 

[ColinT]

Thankyou for replying

My further investigations had shown that the current baseline is an "by default" standard.

For the record, Black and Gold have so far been silent regarding supporting me on this one. I submitted a question back in July, with no reply. I have just asked them again, and followed it up with a phone call to the sales guy, who said (last friday) that he would get them to respond. No response yet.
I suppose it is a case of me being the only Black Gold customer who uses Diseqc and doesnt use MCE. Still, it apeares that their support to customers is not very good.

I look forward to testing your patch, which looks like will save me a lot of effort. Thanks again

ColinT

 

[mm1352000]

ColinT,

Yes, I tried contacting Blackgold, Pinnacle (PCTV Systems) and DVBViewer (which as I mentioned have DiSEqC working as well). No reply from any of them. Completely useless and frustrating! I wish I could call them and let them know what I think, however it probably wouldn't be productive and it would cost me a lot of money as I'd be calling from overseas.

Anyhow if you're interested in trying the "quick and dirty" fix that I have working right now you can download the two dlls attached to this post. Simply replace the two existing dlls in your TV Server install folder with these (I strongly recommend taking a copy of the existing ones first!), restart the TVServer service and you're good to go! Note that this fix applies to the latest version of MediaPortal - MediaPortal 1.1.0 or any SVN nightly build derived from it. I have no idea whether it would work for MediaPortal 1.0.2 or older but I doubt it and I don't recommend trying it either. I'd be interested to know if my patch works for you like it does for me...

[Edit: attachment removed. See this thread for updates.]

 

[ColinT]

Partial success - logs attached
Card 5 is the Black gold DVBS card
First successess at tuneing at 18:36:49 but apparently only every other frequecy

Tryied pretuned channels with first success at 18:49:25 worked quite well then until 18:59, after which nothing worked
Tried a reboot, but still no luck

It is switching, but not reliably

Regards Colin

 

[mm1352000]

Thank you for testing and for providing logs!

I'm only sorry it doesn't work perfectly like it does for me... :sorry:

Straight away I can tell that your card is behaving differently to mine. My card was actually failing to send DiSEqC commands unless I did it in a certain way, however yours appears to succeed when mine fails. What does this mean? Well I'm not sure at this point.

For a start can you tell me a little more about your setup. In particular I want to know what kind of DiSEqC switch you have:
- What brand is it?
- How many input ports does it have?
- If you know, what version of DiSEqC does it support (ie. 1.0, 1.1, 1.2, 1.x, 2.x)?
- What ports are connected (ie. I need information like "Port 1 = Astra 19.2" or whatever...)?
- Do you use a CAM and are you trying to access encrypted channels?
- What is your signal strength and quality usually like?
- I assume you are not trying to use a motor?

I also need to know what kind of Blackgold card you are using:
- What is the model number (eg. BGT3540)?
- What version of the drivers are you using?
- What operating system and service pack (ie. Windows XP SP3, Windows 7 64 bit) are you using?
- What other cards are installed?

I'm sorry for all the questions, however I need to know answers for *all* of the above to help me figure out what was going on.

Finally, I've attached a new versions of the 2 dlls with more debug to help me see what is happening. Same installation instructions as before.

Hope to hear from you soon...

[Edit: attachment removed. See this thread for updates.]

 

[ColinT]

What brand is it? Technomate TM4-S
- How many input ports does it have? 4
- If you know, what version of DiSEqC does it support (ie. 1.0, 1.1, 1.2, 1.x, 2.x)? 1.0 I think, certainly not 2.0
- What ports are connected (ie. I need information like "Port 1 = Astra 19.2" or whatever...)?
Port 1 unconnected
Port 2 (AB) 19.2 Astra 1
Port 3 (BA) 13.0 Hotbird
Port 4 (BB) 28.2 Astra 1

- Do you use a CAM and are you trying to access encrypted channels? No
- What is your signal strength and quality usually like? When using Hauppauge card, it is either ON or OFF so difficult to gauge, however I have never had any picture qualit problems with the Haupauge)

(I too suspect quality, however when tuning as every other frequency was bad, I was not so sure, The ASTRA2 LNC is dual feed, and the secondary feed seemed OK)

- I assume you are not trying to use a motor? No Motor

I also need to know what kind of Blackgold card you are using:
- What is the model number (eg. BGT3540)? BGT3595 (the new one)
- What version of the drivers are you using? The July 2010 issue for that card (the first issue)
- What operating system and service pack (ie. Windows XP SP3, Windows 7 64 bit) are you using? W7 64bit
- What other cards are installed? Hauppauge Splus (Card 9) , which I disabled in MP when doingf these tests. The programmes shortly after midnight use this card.

The system is my main system, and uses the BLACKGOLD card for DVBT (Card 2&3), as I cant get the BG to switch, I continue to use the Hauppage normally for satellite. The BGT DVBS tuners are on Cards 4&5, Tuner 4 is not connected

I will try to run extra tests tonight, but my time is limited.

Thanks for the support

ColinT

 

[mm1352000]

Colin

Great card - I really want one but I can't afford the upgrade! I've got 2 Pinnacle 7010ix cards which are similar to the 3540 model. Anyhow back on topic...

Look, I'm very sorry for messing you around here but your issue got me checking my logs to make sure that everything was working perfectly. Although it looked good from the user interface, I discovered that I couldn't tune 2 channels in a row *on the same tuner* on DiSEqC ports other than port 1. In other words, I could do:

1. start watching channel on port 1
2. switch to another channel on port 1

OR

1. start watching channel on port 2
2. switch to another channel on port 1

But I couldn't do:

1. start watching channel on port 1
2. switch to another channel on port 2

OR

1. start watching channel on port 2
2. switch to another channel on port 2

(I have a 9x8 multiswitch, however it only requires switching between "Simple A" and "Simple B")

Just to be clear: the problem was with sending DiSEqC commands for port 2-4 when *changing to a different channel*. Everything should have worked okay if you stopped TV and started TV again on the channel that you wanted to view.

I've just (10 minutes ago) been able to figure out what was going wrong and I've got another set of DLLs for you to try. I apologise once again for messing you round. As you can tell my fix is still in a very rough state!

[Edit: I've been following the BGT3595 thread over at AVForums. They mentioned there was a new driver available to fix the DVB-S2 issue on satellite tuner 2. You may want to check that out...]

[Edit: attachment removed. See this thread for updates.]

 

[ColinT]

Looks like we may have damaged the card
Nothing has come out of it since the halfway through the last test
Have tried re-installing the driver, and tried it with MCE but nothing

Latest logs attached
Will have a quick go with the new build but am not hopeful

ColinT

 

[ColinT]

No luck Im afraid. DVBS is totally silent.

I will have a good look at it at the weekend

Meantime thanks for your efforts

Colin