Trouble with Terratec H7 and CAM (4 Viewers)

[mm1352000]

Hi paalkr

Or are you suggesting that in my particular case (setup and hardware), the terratec H7 card is not supported by MP?

Not at all! I'm here to try and help to solve the problem if it is at all possible. I have to admit that it is a tricky one though. The best we can do might be to find a way to work around the problem since the root cause seems to be peculiar behaviour by the tuner driver.

Anything else I can do?

Yes!
I think the first thing you should do is read the comments from chrholm, ogir_xx and aj1405 -->here<-- (have you read that thread before?). If you ask me it sounds like aj1405 was experiencing similar issues to you - even also using a Conax CAM. The solution for him was to install the patch that I provided and use the older driver.

So the first thing that you can do is check the behaviour of each of the drivers since 1.00.05.601 - it would be really valuable to know which versions (if any) are stable for you. You'll need the patch from the other thread for some versions (the older ones) but not for others.

Even if the 5.601 version is stable there are lots of other things that I would like you to test.

First, it would also be helpful if you can try the latest driver with different software too (especially DVBLink). If the tuner is stable in different software then it is obvious that there must be something we can do in MP to solve the problem.

It would also help if you can give more detail about the problem:
1. Does the problem occur even after shutdown + reboot? With this test I'm trying to eliminate standby + resume as a factor.
2. What happens if you try to tune to a channel on a different frequency? In your logs all the channels that you failed to tune were on a single frequency (554000 kHz). The channel that succeeded (Bliss) was on a different frequency (570000 kHz). Perhaps tuning to a new frequency (not replacing the CAM) was the thing that "fixed" the problem.

In all your MP tests please make 100000% certain that you are testing with "stop card" selected. Logs would also be appreciated - better to have too many logs than not enough.

In the meantime I have managed to figure out how to get the CI menus working for my Skystar.
I've just got a few more things that I want to do to tidy up the Twinhan code before I release a public test build. You would be *very* welcome to try it. Hopefully it will be ready by this weekend.

So in summary: I think I was spreading a little too much "doom and gloom" on Monday - apologies for that. There is plenty that we can do to try and find a solution, or at least find a workaround for the problem.

mm

PS: older drivers can be found -->here<--.

 

[paalkr]

Hi paalkr

Or are you suggesting that in my particular case (setup and hardware), the terratec H7 card is not supported by MP?

Not at all! I'm here to try and help to solve the problem if it is at all possible. I have to admit that it is a tricky one though. The best we can do might be to find a way to work around the problem since the root cause seems to be peculiar behaviour by the tuner driver.

Anything else I can do?

Yes!
I think the first thing you should do is read the comments from chrholm, ogir_xx and aj1405 -->here<-- (have you read that thread before?). If you ask me it sounds like aj1405 was experiencing similar issues to you - even also using a Conax CAM. The solution for him was to install the patch that I provided and use the older driver.

So the first thing that you can do is check the behavior of each of the drivers since 1.00.05.601 - it would be really valuable to know which versions (if any) are stable for you. You'll need the patch from the other thread for some versions (the older ones) but not for others.

Even if the 5.601 version is stable there are lots of other things that I would like you to test.

First, it would also be helpful if you can try the latest driver with different software too (especially DVBLink). If the tuner is stable in different software then it is obvious that there must be something we can do in MP to solve the problem.

It would also help if you can give more detail about the problem:
1. Does the problem occur even after shutdown + reboot? With this test I'm trying to eliminate standby + resume as a factor.
2. What happens if you try to tune to a channel on a different frequency? In your logs all the channels that you failed to tune were on a single frequency (554000 kHz). The channel that succeeded (Bliss) was on a different frequency (570000 kHz). Perhaps tuning to a new frequency (not replacing the CAM) was the thing that "fixed" the problem.

In all your MP tests please make 100000% certain that you are testing with "stop card" selected. Logs would also be appreciated - better to have too many logs than not enough.

In the meantime I have managed to figure out how to get the CI menus working for my Skystar.
I've just got a few more things that I want to do to tidy up the Twinhan code before I release a public test build. You would be *very* welcome to try it. Hopefully it will be ready by this weekend.

So in summary: I think I was spreading a little too much "doom and gloom" on Monday - apologies for that. There is plenty that we can do to try and find a solution, or at least find a workaround for the problem.

mm

PS: older drivers can be found -->here<--.

Hi mm1352000!

Thanks for not giving up on me I'm determined to get a stable MP installation up running!

I have already tried a lot of the things you are suggesting, I will summarize my findings so far.

Tests done with the release version (1.2.1) of TVlibrary (not patched)

1. Driver: 1.00.05.601 -> Unable to build graph
2. Driver: 1.00.06.801, 1.00.07.201 and 1.00.07.601 -> no difference in behavior, same issue
3. Reboot the computer (without removing the CAM) solves the issue (until tuner being idle again). For me this is pointing to a software driver issue, and not a hardware or MP issue. But getting Terratec to release a fixed driver seems like dead end given the current history of their driver development/release, finding a workaround in MP seems like the only option to me. :sorry:
4. Only restarting the TVservice does not affect the problem
5. Tuning to a channel on an other mux does not help. Same message about channel being encrypted.

I will do some more testing now with the patched TVlibrary, and try different version of the driver. I do only have one Terratec tuner hooked up to my system, so the newer driver that supports more than one tuner is not vital to me.

EDIT:
I have now tested all driver with the patched TVlibrary and there is no difference from the not patched TV library. So the above list is valid for this case as well. Please find attached log files from all the test.

I have tried other software as well to reproduce the issue there, but I have encountered some issues

1. DVBviewer Trial: I'm not able to tune other channels than FTA. I'm not familiar with the software, so it could be me missing a setting or something. All channels where found during channel scan though.
2. Terratech Home Cinema 6.22 crashes on my computer, version 6.35.06 beta that should fix issues with Win7 sp1 also crashes

So, unfortunately I have not been successful in trying the tuner in other software, sorry.

PS! All the test are performed with manual control in the TV server config application.

I'm happy that you have a solution to the CI menu, and looking forward to a "test run"

Regards,
PK

 

[paalkr]

Hi mm1352000

I have now installed and tested DVBlink 4.1 trial, and I do have some news. I'm not sure if it's good or bad news though The Terratec H7 tuner works perfect in DVBLink TVsource, as long as I clear the stop stream option mentioned in the other thread I linked to.

I have tried many different scenarios

• Watch a FTA channel for some time and then swap to an encrypted channel -> OK
• Watch a FTA channel and then turn off TV. Leave it of for a long period of time. Tune directly to an encrypted channel -> OK
• Watch an encrypted channel and then turn of TV. Leave off for some time and tune directly to an other encrypted channel -> OK
• Watch an encrypted channel and then turn of TV. Leave off for some time and tune directly to the same encrypted channel -> OK

I leave for you to conclude, but there might be some stop/pause TV card code that needs a revisit? Agree?

Regards,
PK

 

[mm1352000]

Hi again

I leave for you to conclude, but there might be some stop/pause TV card code that needs a revisit? Agree?

What can I say - I think your test is pretty conclusive. I don't know whether to be happy or sad about this since it could be quite a lot of work trying to track down the cause. I have one idea at this point but let's talk again over the weekend after I have released the CI menu patch.

Until then...
mm

 

[paalkr]

Hi again

I leave for you to conclude, but there might be some stop/pause TV card code that needs a revisit? Agree?

What can I say - I think your test is pretty conclusive. I don't know whether to be happy or sad about this since it could be quite a lot of work trying to track down the cause. I have one idea at this point but let's talk again over the weekend after I have released the CI menu patch.

Until then...
mm

Hi there!

Thanks! I let the case rest till over the weekend It's going to be interesting to try the CI menu. I have high expectation regarding this issue , specially since you say that you have at least one idea to go after.

I would like to say thanks to all the team members and contributers. I have discussed several issue with many of you over the time, and I have always felt that everybody do their best to help out.


Talk to you later, and have a nice weekend!

Regards,
PK

 

[blindcoder]

Hello.

I'm using a Technisat Cablestar Combo HD which as I've read is practically identical to the H7.
I'm also using that patched TVlibrary.dll file from here to be able to scan for channels.

I have a WinXP setup with an Alphacrypt Lite module. With the bundled TV viewer application I can access the CAM and encrypted channel, but with MP it does not work.
If I can help in getting this to work I'd be glad to do so!


Kind regards,
Benjamin

 

[mm1352000]

Hi again paalkr

I've been working hard on the code all weekend but I have to say that my results haven't been entirely successful. A "pre-release" for alpha testing is attached.

Installation instructions:
1. Stop TV Server.
2. Take a backup of the TVLibrary.dll in your TV Server install folder (typically C:\Program Files (x86)\Team MediaPortal\MediaPortal TV Server).
3. Download and extract the attached TVLibrary.dll into your TV Server install folder.
4. Start TV Server.
5. Test!

First on the topic of the stop/pause graph thing: I went to implement my idea then discovered what I think is a bit of a bug in TV Server related to the "allow stop graph" logic. I had always assumed it worked fine but now it looks like the logic is entirely ignored (!!!). I obviously fixed it immediately D). The change doesn't seem to make any difference for my Skystar 2 HD but let's see if it is important for your H7.

On the topic of the CI menus: I have it working really nicely when I use the latest TechniSat and Azurewave/Twinhan drivers, but when I hack the Cinergy driver installation script to use the TerraTec driver it doesn't work. Very frustrating. Same behaviour in DVBViewer 4.9. I guess TerraTec has some customisations in their drivers. I have emailed them (again) to request a copy of their SDK but in the meantime let's hope the CI menu works for you with the standard TerraTec drivers. If not you could try the TechniSat CableStar Combo HD drivers - they'd probably only need a small tweak in the installation script before you could use them.

The other thing: neither of my CAMs are able to decrypt channels regardless of driver. I'm hoping I haven't received a semi-broken CI slot. At least it works enough to allow me to test CI menus. The only Twinhan documentation that I found (here - page 8) says that they only support Irdeto 1 so that could be the problem - my CAMs are both Irdeto 2 - however the comment at the bottom of -->this page<-- for the Azurewave AD-SP400 (another version of the same card) says Irdeto 1/2 CAMs should be able to decrypt Aurora services (which is the service I'm testing with).

Benjamin: a big *welcome* to you!

I'm using a Technisat Cablestar Combo HD which as I've read is practically identical to the H7.

Yep, that is my understanding.

I have a WinXP setup with an Alphacrypt Lite module. With the bundled TV viewer application I can access the CAM and encrypted channel, but with MP it does not work.

The fact that the bundled software works is a good sign. I might have to try the TechniSat software myself. In any case, have you enabled the CAM in the tuner properties in TV Server configuration: -->here<--.

mm

 

[paalkr]

Hi mm1352000!

thanks for the satus report and your effort with the patch. I will be out most day tomorrow, but I will for sure test the patched tv library as soon as possible. The fact that you found a bug in the pause stop code seems promising I talk to you tomorrow.

Thanks

Regards,
PK

 

[blindcoder]

@Benjamin: a big *welcome* to you!

Thank you.

The fact that the bundled software works is a good sign. I might have to try the TechniSat software myself. In any case, have you enabled the CAM in the tuner properties in TV Server configuration: -->here<--.

Yes, that is set up. I have the "CI Menu" tab available, also.

I have attached a tv.log for trying to open the ci module, but I guess you know all that already
If there's anything I can do to help, let me know.

 

[ogir_xx]

Hello again MM1352000
Thanks for your effort!
Although my double H7 tuner setup works 95% atm, it's always good to get things working more smoothly.

The only trouble I have is that approx 50% of the time I start Live TV, the screen is black - sometimes with sound and sometimes without sound from the tuned channel.
If I choose another channel, the channel often shows but not always.
The most certain fix is to enter TV meny and to turn TV off and then on again - and the channel showing only a black screen then shows.

As im having sync problems with my remote and Idle/sleep setup, my computer is ALWAYS ON. So often its ilde for hours before I tune and experience the black screen.

I dont know if this may be related to the bug with the start/stop TV card functionality you just found....

@ paalkr
Sad to hear about your difficulties.
Im a Canal Digital user, and in my experiences the H7 and the cam works fine.

Hope my input may be helpful for MM1352000 and fixing your problems with the H7