Getting GenericTunerPlugin to work in linux

[roymcd]

OS=Ubuntu 10.10
SageTV=V7.1.9.1

I've downloaded, built and followed the instructions for GenericTunerPlugin from https://github.com/jwittkoski/GenericTunerPlugin. I'm trying to debug tuner problems and this seemed like it could be a good solution because it should allow me to use tzap from the dvb-apps package to tune my four tuners. tzap seems to work no problems, but SageTV seems to have problems getting locks once I have more than one tuner defined in Setup Video Sources.

However, I must be missing something. The instructions for GenericTunerPlugin are straightforward, but I was expecting to see new sources appear in Setup Video Sources after installing the plugin in the irtunerplugins directory but I don't see any change. Moreover, it occurs to me that I don't see any reference to the other plugins in that directory either in Setup Video Sources. Is there a switch in Sage.properties I need to set before any of those plugins are loaded? If I turn on debugging in SageTV I don't see any references in sagetv_0.txt to any of the plugins in irtunerplugins.

[stuckless]

unfortunately it's been a very long time since I set this up But, if I recall, when you are setting up the video source, you choose the "External" tuner plugin. I'm not at home right now, but when I get back (in a week) I can see more definiately as to what I did.

Also be sure that the tuner plugin is compiled the same as sagetv, ie, 32bit or 64bit. If you are using my unraid/docker image, then it downloads the 64bit and installs it.

[roymcd]

Originally Posted by stuckless

unfortunately it's been a very long time since I set this up But, if I recall, when you are setting up the video source, you choose the "External" tuner plugin. I'm not at home right now, but when I get back (in a week) I can see more definiately as to what I did.

Also be sure that the tuner plugin is compiled the same as sagetv, ie, 32bit or 64bit. If you are using my unraid/docker image, then it downloads the 64bit and installs it.

Thanks for the reply. I compiled with CFGLAGS=-m32 and with no CFLAGS set. It didn't make any difference. The External tuner plugin doesn't appear. In fact, I don't see any tuner plugins. In what part in the GUI does that option appear? In Setup Video Sources, if I Add New Source, it lists my 4 dvb-t tuners and thats it. The only device option for those is Digital TV Tuner.

[EnterNoEscape]

Originally Posted by roymcd

Thanks for the reply. I compiled with CFGLAGS=-m32 and with no CFLAGS set. It didn't make any difference. The External tuner plugin doesn't appear. In fact, I don't see any tuner plugins. In what part in the GUI does that option appear? In Setup Video Sources, if I Add New Source, it lists my 4 dvb-t tuners and thats it. The only device option for those is Digital TV Tuner.

I know this isn't what you want to hear, but the crossbar Digital TV Tuner implies that the source is exactly that and not some kind of analog encoder which means you will not get any options to configure a tuning plugin because the Digital TV Tuner is the tuning and capture device. I would think that DVB-T wouldn't require any tuning plugins.

[roymcd]

Originally Posted by EnterNoEscape

I know this isn't what you want to hear, but the crossbar Digital TV Tuner implies that the source is exactly that and not some kind of analog encoder which means you will not get any options to configure a tuning plugin because the Digital TV Tuner is the tuning and capture device. I would think that DVB-T wouldn't require any tuning plugins.

I don't know what you mean by crossbar Digital TV Tuner. I want to try using tuning outside of SageTV on my DVB-T tuners because tzap (from the linuxtv dvb-apps package) doesn't seem to have a problem tuning the 4 tuners I have, but SageTV does when I add more than one Video Source. Maybe what I'm trying to do won't actually work. I'm making an assumption that the GenericTunerPlugin will allow me to tune the DVB-T tuners using tzap. If that's not a valid assumption then I guess I'm wasting my time.

I've just discovered that the Predefined frequencies in the 7.1.9 sage distribution have got the wrong frequency for one network and missing another for my region. That's been confounding my confusion. After manually editing PredefinedScan.frq and PredefinedDVBT.frq I've got improved tuning within sage on the four tuners, but some delays (many seconds) in getting locks some of the time.

I've spent way too long trying to sort this out and I'm going through another loop of frustration with sage. I need an off-the-shelf solution but I know I've got little chance of finding one that does everything I'd like.

[EnterNoEscape]

Originally Posted by roymcd

I don't know what you mean by crossbar Digital TV Tuner. I want to try using tuning outside of SageTV on my DVB-T tuners because tzap (from the linuxtv dvb-apps package) doesn't seem to have a problem tuning the 4 tuners I have, but SageTV does when I add more than one Video Source. Maybe what I'm trying to do won't actually work. I'm making an assumption that the GenericTunerPlugin will allow me to tune the DVB-T tuners using tzap. If that's not a valid assumption then I guess I'm wasting my time.

I've just discovered that the Predefined frequencies in the 7.1.9 sage distribution have got the wrong frequency for one network and missing another for my region. That's been confounding my confusion. After manually editing PredefinedScan.frq and PredefinedDVBT.frq I've got improved tuning within sage on the four tuners, but some delays (many seconds) in getting locks some of the time.

I've spent way too long trying to sort this out and I'm going through another loop of frustration with sage. I need an off-the-shelf solution but I know I've got little chance of finding one that does everything I'd like.

Your situation looks to be a little complex. When a capture device only gives you the option Digital TV Tuner, you will not see any tuner plugins. This behavior can be modified, but I happen to know the source code behind that piece pretty well and SageTV will actually ignore the tuning plugin even if it's defined when the capture device is a Digital TV Tuner.

If you would like to see this behavior changed you can post an issue on GitHub. I would also keep an eye on this thread since it looks like routerunner might be putting something together that would make posting an issue on Github unnecessary.

[roymcd]

Originally Posted by EnterNoEscape

Your situation looks to be a little complex. When a capture device only gives you the option Digital TV Tuner, you will not see any tuner plugins. This behavior can be modified, but I happen to know the source code behind that piece pretty well and SageTV will actually ignore the tuning plugin even if it's defined when the capture device is a Digital TV Tuner.

If you would like to see this behavior changed you can post an issue on GitHub. I would also keep an eye on this thread since it looks like routerunner might be putting something together that would make posting an issue on Github unnecessary.

Thanks again for your reply and insight. It looks like the GenericCaptureDevice plugin won't work for me then.

I seem to have made progress after fixing my .frq files. I'll see how that goes for now.

Re the routerunner plugin. It looks like Eddie is doing this using DirectShow which is Windows. I'm using linux.

[EnterNoEscape]

Originally Posted by roymcd

Re the routerunner plugin. It looks like Eddie is doing this using DirectShow which is Windows. I'm using linux.

The thread I linked to is actually asking if anyone is interested in a Linux version being written. That's why I said to keep an eye on that thread. Otherwise I would have said try this.

[roymcd]

My tuning problems appear to have been caused by the SageTV V7 PredefinedScan.frq and PredefinedDVBT.frq files being out of date for my region (Australia-Adelaide). Channel 9 had the wrong frequency (was 191625, should be 191500) and SBS was missing (should be 184500). I manually updated the two files and successfully scanned channels on one of the DVBT adapters. Now all the tuners seem to be working OK modulo some minor issues on one of them.

[Fuzzy]

Originally Posted by roymcd

My tuning problems appear to have been caused by the SageTV V7 PredefinedScan.frq and PredefinedDVBT.frq files being out of date for my region (Australia-Adelaide). Channel 9 had the wrong frequency (was 191625, should be 191500) and SBS was missing (should be 184500). I manually updated the two files and successfully scanned channels on one of the DVBT adapters. Now all the tuners seem to be working OK modulo some minor issues on one of them.

Blame Austrailia's ridiculously always changing frequency bands for those issues.. ;-) regarding the .FRQ file, though, 191500 kHz should be in your list. The list of all frequencies SageTV will scan through SHOULD include everything under the "Australia" AND the "Australia-Adelaide" group (so it should check 191500 AND 191625) - at least that's how I understand the .FRQ file to work.