Strange 'no signal' issue (1 Viewer)

dkoscak

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January 30, 2011
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MediaPortal Version: 1.1.2
Windows Version: Windows 7 Ultimate 64 bit
1. TV Card: TBS 8921
1. TV Card Type: DVB-S(2)
1. TV Card Driver: 1.0.0.3
2. TV Card: BGT-3500
2. TV Card Type: Dual DVB-T/Analogue (Hybrid)
2. TV Card Driver: 7.6.9.0
MPEG2 Video Codec: MPC-MPEG2 (Gabest)
MPEG2 Audio Codec: MPC-MPA
h.264 Video Codec: CoreAVC Video decoder

Until yesterday I only had DVB-S card and everything was just fine. Then I added DVB-T card and some strange stuff started to happen. I open random DVB-S channel, it works fine, then I open random DVB-T channel, still ok, but when I want to return to DVB-S channel, tv server says: No signal ?!? I cannot open any DVB-S channel with the same error but DVB-T channels are working all the time... After I restart TV service, everything is back to normal. DVBDream also works ok (with the TV service stopped), signal is all the time ok for sure.

From log, when it's ok
2011-02-12 21:57:33.055084 [(6)]: subch:0 OnGraphStart
2011-02-12 21:57:33.055084 [(6)]: dvb: RunGraph
2011-02-12 21:57:33.991086 [(6)]: dvb: LockedInOnSignal ok
2011-02-12 21:57:33.991086 [(6)]: subch:0 OnGraphStarted

And when it's not:
2011-02-12 23:15:43.888867 [(20)]: subch:0 OnGraphStart
2011-02-12 23:15:43.888867 [(20)]: dvb: RunGraph
2011-02-12 23:15:55.594888 [(20)]: dvb: LockedInOnSignal waiting 20ms
2011-02-12 23:15:55.626088 [(20)]: dvb: LockedInOnSignal waiting 20ms
2011-02-12 23:15:55.657288 [(20)]: dvb: LockedInOnSignal waiting 20ms
2011-02-12 23:15:55.688488 [(20)]: dvb: LockedInOnSignal waiting 20ms
2011-02-12 23:15:55.719688 [(20)]: dvb: LockedInOnSignal waiting 20ms
2011-02-12 23:15:57.648892 [(20)]: dvb: LockedInOnSignal could not lock onto channel - no signal or bad signal
2011-02-12 23:15:57.648892 [(20)]: tvcard:FreeSubChannel: subchannels count 1 subch#0 keep graph=False

I doubt this log helps, others would even less ... But maybe someone will have idea what's going on :)

BTW, as I was installing new card, I changed cards in PCI slots and maybe DVB-S card is not in the same slot like before. Does it matter somehow to Mediaportal. I haven't done any re-scaning of transponders ...

Tnx!
 

dkoscak

Portal Member
January 30, 2011
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Croatia Croatia
After the reinstalation of mysql database y full DVB-T & DVB-S rescan which didn't help, I looked at the logs more carefully and noticed one more thing that's strange - for DVB-T (Black Gold card) channels I always get signal level 0% and signal quality nearly 100% which is obviosly not correct because DVB-T runs perfectly. And maybe, after I switch to DVB-S channel from DVB-T channel, Mediaportal somehow 'remembers' the value 0% from the previous channel and says 'no signal'. Is this scenario possible ? For DVB-S (TBS card) channels I see normal readings for signal level and quality.

Why is this DVB-T signal level set at 0% - is it a problem with Black Gold card driver or MP ? BGT-3500 drivers are up-to-date.
Could this be somehow fixed, faked, whatever, just to make this dvb-t -> dvb-s switch possible...

Tnx!
 

madcart

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January 20, 2011
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dkoscak

It's my understanding that the signal level and quality are only set if the card supplies this information through the drivers - so if you see signal level=0 all the time, it doesn't necessarily imply there is no signal.

I have a recurring issue such as yours - see this thread:
https://forum.team-mediaportal.com/tv-cards-333/kworld-pe3552t-pcie-dual-dvb-t-74396/

I suspect that it is a PCIe issue. However i doubt that MediaPortal cares - the issue is at the OS(driver) or BIOS level.
I'd try moving the cards to different PCIe slots.

It'd also be interesting to see if you can get the signal back by restarting the card.
You can do this at the command line using devcon.exe
The DevCon command-line utility functions as an alternative to Device Manager
 

dkoscak

Portal Member
January 30, 2011
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Croatia Croatia
I see you had various issues with your card but my card runs pretty much normally except it's not showing 'signal level' at any time, like this feature is not supported by the card or the driver. It scans normally (showing no signal), plays normally, I even get faster zapping than on my Sony TV with built-in DVB-T :) And all that time 'signal quality' is almost at 100% :)

The only problem is switching from DVB-T to DVB-S when I get error from tv server 'no signal detected' and I suspect it's because it looks for the signal level of the previous channel. I'll take a look at source when I catch some free time ... I think that tvserver generally shouldn't rely on the 'signal leve'l value from the card when starts playing livetv because it seems that sometimes this value doesn't reflect real situation. Or it should look at 'signal qualit'y :)
 

dkoscak

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January 30, 2011
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I did further investigation and concluded that most probably there is nothing wrong with the DVB-T card although it shows no signal - problem is in DVB-S card, most probably in running graph after a switch from DVB-T and because of that it cannot get signal lock.

Activating the 'rebulid graph' in TV Server's debug options solves the problem, but then TV service sometimes crashes usually removing some filters from the graph on dispose ... :( so this couldn't be an overall solution ... where could be the problem ? My DVB-T card is recognised as Generic BDA card, and DVB-S as a ProfRed BDA card - I suppose this is ok for TBS cards ...
 

mm1352000

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    Please post full logs like SilentException says. It is a requirement for getting support in this part of the forum...

    I did further investigation and concluded that most probably there is nothing wrong with the DVB-T card although it shows no signal...
    I'd guess that you are right about this. TV Server uses the "tuner locked" indicator from the driver to determine whether the tuner has signal or not. The signal strength and quality measures are only shown as extra information. They are not particularly useful because each tuner card and STB manufacturer measures strength and quality differently - some use a scale of 0 - 100, some do not provide it at all, some use the mdB scale, some base it on a nominal signal level... A complete mess, which is why we don't use them for determining whether the tuner has signal. ;)

    The important thing to look for is the section I highlighted below:

    2011-02-19 03:39:52.515625 [(15)]: card: Tuner locked: True
    2011-02-19 03:39:52.515625 [(15)]: **************************************************
    2011-02-19 03:39:52.515625 [(15)]: ***** SIGNAL LEVEL: 82, SIGNAL QUALITY: 100 *****
    2011-02-19 03:39:52.515625 [(15)]: **************************************************


    ...problem is in DVB-S card, most probably in running graph after a switch from DVB-T and because of that it cannot get signal lock.

    Activating the 'rebulid graph' in TV Server's debug options solves the problem, but then TV service sometimes crashes usually removing some filters from the graph on dispose ... :( so this couldn't be an overall solution ... where could be the problem ? My DVB-T card is recognised as Generic BDA card, and DVB-S as a ProfRed BDA card - I suppose this is ok for TBS cards ...
    Yes, ProfRed and Turbosight/TBS are very closely related. It is normal for TBS cards to be recognised as ProfRed...
    Do you use DiSEqC?

    Once again, please post your *complete* TV Server logs so we can actually help you.
     

    dkoscak

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    January 30, 2011
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    ok, no problem, I attached the logs, tried to make all of them the smallest they can be so one could easier see what's going on. I didn't use Mediaportal client, only Preview feature of TV server configuration appliacation, hope this is ok.

    Here's what I've done:
    1. Tuned to Astra 1 DVB-S FTA channel Kika - everything's OK
    2. Tuned to DVB-T channel RTL (regional Croatian) - still OK
    3. Tuned back to DVB-S channel Kika - no signal (?)

    Thanks for any clue... :) It's not a problem for me to look into the sources, even I've done a support for mini display od my HTPC case - hope I'll post a patch to development section soon, but BDA arhitecture is still a little bit complicated to me and therefore it's pretty hard to conclude something clever ... but I'm sure you'll do ;)
     

    mm1352000

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    Hi again

    Thanks for the logs, but you didn't answer my question: do you use DiSEqC? It is really important...

    Also, what happens if you try to do:
    1. Tune Kika.
    2. Tune RTL.
    3. Tune Das Erste (or any channel on a different transponder).
    Does Das Erste work?
     

    dkoscak

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    January 30, 2011
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    Sorry, forgot - yes, I have DiSEqC 4/1 and 4 LNB-s (19.2, 13, 16 and 28.5).

    I don't know what happened today but just after I wrote my last post everything started to work fine. After a couple of days constantly with the problem... And I didn't do anything - set options, (re)install ... I hate when something like this happens and I don't know what caused it :) And therefore it may start happening again :( Now I'm able to switch channels in all combinations regardless which DVB-T MUX or DVB-S transponder was tuned before... And without need of restarting graph it's pretty fast ...

    I have now some other problems, e.g. client (on the same machine with server) won't start playing some channels (but really just a few) although they run just fine in server's preview, but I'll try to figure out what's wrong by myself first ... or unless you could tell me right away what could be wrong :)

    But I'm curious, in case 'switching problems' start to happen again - what role in all this has to do the fact I'm using DiSEqC or not ?
     

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