[SOLVED] Problem Identifying/Installing Proper 'Flavor' of Tvheadend

Mike Whalon

OS: Linux Mint 20.3 (Clean Install)
Front End: Kodi 19.3
TV Tuner Card: Hauppauge HVR2250

Tvheadend: 4.2.8

Somewhat a Linux Noob. I have assumed that Linux Mint 20.3 (based on Ubuntu 20.04) requires the 'focal' Tvheadend build. Am I correct? Repeated attempts to install Tvheadend ('focal') according to the Tvheadend Wiki have failed (in my hands). I have noted 'Bug 6131' indicating problems, and have attempted (unsuccessfully) to implement. Regretfully, I have resorted to loading Tvheadend using 'Snap'. Snap installs Tvheadend '4.2.8-dirty'. This is painless, and it is working, but would prefer to be utilizing more current versions. Can someone assure me that I am chasing the correct 'flavor' of Tvheadend for my system, and perhaps provide some additional guidance re: installation.

Hiro Protagonist

Mike Whalon wrote:

> Repeated attempts to install Tvheadend ('focal') according to the Tvheadend Wiki have failed (in my hands).

Perhaps detailing what the above means would be helpful - document each step you're taking to install, and what exactly 'failed' entails.

Mike Whalon

Attempting to install Tvheadend (focal) from source files on Tvheadend Wiki--APT Repositories. Still assuming that 'focal' is the correct version for LinuxMint 20.3.
1. sudo apt-get -y install coreutils wget apt-transport-https lsb-release ca-certificates
All good
2. sudo wget -qO- https://doozer.io/keys/tvheadend/tvheadend/pgp | sudo apt-key add -
returns value of 'OK'
3. sudo sh -c 'echo "deb https://apt.tvheadend.org/unstable focal main" | tee -a /etc/apt/sources.list.d/tvheadend.list'
returns value of 'deb https://apt.tvheadend.org/unstable focal main'
4. sudo apt-get update
returns...
Ign:1 https://apt.tvheadend.org/unstable focal InRelease
Hit:2 https://apt.tvheadend.org/unstable focal Release
Ign:4 http://packages.linuxmint.com una InRelease
Hit:5 http://packages.linuxmint.com una Release
Hit:6 http://archive.canonical.com/ubuntu focal InRelease
Hit:8 http://security.ubuntu.com/ubuntu focal-security InRelease
Hit:9 http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu focal InRelease
Hit:10 http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu focal-updates InRelease
Hit:11 http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu focal-backports InRelease
Reading package lists... Done
W: Target Packages (main/binary-amd64/Packages) is configured multiple times in /etc/apt/sources.list.d/additional-repositories.list:1 and /etc/apt/sources.list.d/tvheadend.list:1
W: Target Packages (main/binary-i386/Packages) is configured multiple times in /etc/apt/sources.list.d/additional-repositories.list:1 and /etc/apt/sources.list.d/tvheadend.list:1
W: Target Packages (main/binary-all/Packages) is configured multiple times in /etc/apt/sources.list.d/additional-repositories.list:1 and /etc/apt/sources.list.d/tvheadend.list:1
W: Target Translations (main/i18n/Translation-en_US) is configured multiple times in /etc/apt/sources.list.d/additional-repositories.list:1 and /etc/apt/sources.list.d/tvheadend.list:1
W: Target Translations (main/i18n/Translation-en) is configured multiple times in /etc/apt/sources.list.d/additional-repositories.list:1 and /etc/apt/sources.list.d/tvheadend.list:1
W: Target DEP-11 (main/dep11/Components-amd64.yml) is configured multiple times in /etc/apt/sources.list.d/additional-repositories.list:1 and /etc/apt/sources.list.d/tvheadend.list:1
W: Target DEP-11 (main/dep11/Components-all.yml) is configured multiple times in /etc/apt/sources.list.d/additional-repositories.list:1 and /etc/apt/sources.list.d/tvheadend.list:1
W: Target CNF (main/cnf/Commands-amd64) is configured multiple times in /etc/apt/sources.list.d/additional-repositories.list:1 and /etc/apt/sources.list.d/tvheadend.list:1
W: Target CNF (main/cnf/Commands-all) is configured multiple times in /etc/apt/sources.list.d/additional-repositories.list:1 and /etc/apt/sources.list.d/tvheadend.list:1
W: Target Packages (main/binary-amd64/Packages) is configured multiple times in /etc/apt/sources.list.d/additional-repositories.list:1 and /etc/apt/sources.list.d/tvheadend.list:2
W: Target Packages (main/binary-i386/Packages) is configured multiple times in /etc/apt/sources.list.d/additional-repositories.list:1 and /etc/apt/sources.list.d/tvheadend.list:2
W: Target Packages (main/binary-all/Packages) is configured multiple times in /etc/apt/sources.list.d/additional-repositories.list:1 and /etc/apt/sources.list.d/tvheadend.list:2
W: Target Translations (main/i18n/Translation-en_US) is configured multiple times in /etc/apt/sources.list.d/additional-repositories.list:1 and /etc/apt/sources.list.d/tvheadend.list:2
W: Target Translations (main/i18n/Translation-en) is configured multiple times in /etc/apt/sources.list.d/additional-repositories.list:1 and /etc/apt/sources.list.d/tvheadend.list:2
W: Target DEP-11 (main/dep11/Components-amd64.yml) is configured multiple times in /etc/apt/sources.list.d/additional-repositories.list:1 and /etc/apt/sources.list.d/tvheadend.list:2
W: Target DEP-11 (main/dep11/Components-all.yml) is configured multiple times in /etc/apt/sources.list.d/additional-repositories.list:1 and /etc/apt/sources.list.d/tvheadend.list:2
W: Target CNF (main/cnf/Commands-amd64) is configured multiple times in /etc/apt/sources.list.d/additional-repositories.list:1 and /etc/apt/sources.list.d/tvheadend.list:2
W: Target CNF (main/cnf/Commands-all) is configured multiple times in /etc/apt/sources.list.d/additional-repositories.list:1 and /etc/apt/sources.list.d/tvheadend.list:2
N: Skipping acquire of configured file 'main/binary-i386/Packages' as repository 'https://apt.tvheadend.org/unstable focal InRelease' doesn't support architecture 'i386'
W: Target Packages (main/binary-amd64/Packages) is configured multiple times in /etc/apt/sources.list.d/additional-repositories.list:1 and /etc/apt/sources.list.d/tvheadend.list:1
W: Target Packages (main/binary-i386/Packages) is configured multiple times in /etc/apt/sources.list.d/additional-repositories.list:1 and /etc/apt/sources.list.d/tvheadend.list:1
W: Target Packages (main/binary-all/Packages) is configured multiple times in /etc/apt/sources.list.d/additional-repositories.list:1 and /etc/apt/sources.list.d/tvheadend.list:1
W: Target Translations (main/i18n/Translation-en_US) is configured multiple times in /etc/apt/sources.list.d/additional-repositories.list:1 and /etc/apt/sources.list.d/tvheadend.list:1
W: Target Translations (main/i18n/Translation-en) is configured multiple times in /etc/apt/sources.list.d/additional-repositories.list:1 and /etc/apt/sources.list.d/tvheadend.list:1
W: Target DEP-11 (main/dep11/Components-amd64.yml) is configured multiple times in /etc/apt/sources.list.d/additional-repositories.list:1 and /etc/apt/sources.list.d/tvheadend.list:1
W: Target DEP-11 (main/dep11/Components-all.yml) is configured multiple times in /etc/apt/sources.list.d/additional-repositories.list:1 and /etc/apt/sources.list.d/tvheadend.list:1
W: Target CNF (main/cnf/Commands-amd64) is configured multiple times in /etc/apt/sources.list.d/additional-repositories.list:1 and /etc/apt/sources.list.d/tvheadend.list:1
W: Target CNF (main/cnf/Commands-all) is configured multiple times in /etc/apt/sources.list.d/additional-repositories.list:1 and /etc/apt/sources.list.d/tvheadend.list:1
W: Target Packages (main/binary-amd64/Packages) is configured multiple times in /etc/apt/sources.list.d/additional-repositories.list:1 and /etc/apt/sources.list.d/tvheadend.list:2
W: Target Packages (main/binary-i386/Packages) is configured multiple times in /etc/apt/sources.list.d/additional-repositories.list:1 and /etc/apt/sources.list.d/tvheadend.list:2
W: Target Packages (main/binary-all/Packages) is configured multiple times in /etc/apt/sources.list.d/additional-repositories.list:1 and /etc/apt/sources.list.d/tvheadend.list:2
W: Target Translations (main/i18n/Translation-en_US) is configured multiple times in /etc/apt/sources.list.d/additional-repositories.list:1 and /etc/apt/sources.list.d/tvheadend.list:2
W: Target Translations (main/i18n/Translation-en) is configured multiple times in /etc/apt/sources.list.d/additional-repositories.list:1 and /etc/apt/sources.list.d/tvheadend.list:2
W: Target DEP-11 (main/dep11/Components-amd64.yml) is configured multiple times in /etc/apt/sources.list.d/additional-repositories.list:1 and /etc/apt/sources.list.d/tvheadend.list:2
W: Target DEP-11 (main/dep11/Components-all.yml) is configured multiple times in /etc/apt/sources.list.d/additional-repositories.list:1 and /etc/apt/sources.list.d/tvheadend.list:2
W: Target CNF (main/cnf/Commands-amd64) is configured multiple times in /etc/apt/sources.list.d/additional-repositories.list:1 and /etc/apt/sources.list.d/tvheadend.list:2

W: Target CNF (main/cnf/Commands-all) is configured multiple times in /etc/apt/sources.list.d/additional-repositories.list:1 and /etc/apt/sources.list.d/tvheadend.list:2

And,
4. sudo apt-get install tvheadend
returns...
Reading package lists... Done
Building dependency tree
Reading state information... Done
tvheadend is already the newest version (4.3-1995~g1d0b5e89d~focal).

0 upgraded, 0 newly installed, 0 to remove and 34 not upgraded.

This appears to have installed properly. I rebooted my system and attempted to initiate Tvheadend configuration (http://localhost:9981), and received a request to logon ??? No matter what I seem to enter, I receive a '403 Forbidden' screen. So, not sure what my next move is.

Mike Whalon

Sorry. Not sure why some text is 'lined through'. All text should be good.

Mike Whalon

Although Tvheadend 4.3-1995 appears to have installed correctly. I cannot login to the ui. System continues to demand userID and password. Superuser ID and password do not work. Usually throws '403 Forbidden' error. I've attempted to 'stop' and 'restart' tvheadend with -C and/or --noacl (as recommended in FAQ #2) to no avail. I'm being 'stonewalled' by request for ID & password. Not opposed to purging Tvheaded and starting again. But, hate to keep repeating the same error - hoping for different results. Thanks for any advice you can offer.

Mike Whalon

Linux Noob. Not sure how to interpret grep...

mike@MediaCenter:/home$ sudo ps aux | grep tvheadend
hts 6314 0.0 0.1 786268 10916 ? Ssl 13:52 0:01 /usr/bin/tvheadend -f -p /run/tvheadend.pid -u hts -g video

mike 6842 0.0 0.0 9032 728 pts/0 S+ 14:29 0:00 grep --color=auto tvheadend

Does this imply that I have two competing instances of tvheadend? Can someone help me interpret what this result means.

Thanks

Hiro Protagonist

No, you only have once instance of tvheadend - grep is finding two instances of 'tvheadend' in the output from 'ps' - one is the actual instance of tvheadend, the other is from the '| grep tvheadend'.

To avoid this use 'pgrep':

$ pgrep -a tvheadend

10805 /usr/bin/tvheadend -f -p /var/run/tvheadend.pid -u pi -g video

pgrep -a will show you the pid and the commandline, pgrep on its own will just show you the pid.

Now to your problem - you appear to have TVH installed & running.

Can I give you a little bit of advice? When asking for technical help, it's far, far more useful to document than to decribe - e.g. "I've attempted to 'stop' and 'restart' tvheadend with -C and/or --noacl (as recommended in FAQ #2) to no avail." Tells me you've tried something [good], but doesn't tell me exactly how you've done that - and details can be important.

Relaying the exact commands you've entered, and their output will give me [and anyone else reading] a lot more to go on.

BTW, w.r.t "Superuser ID and password do not work." Are you referring to a TVH superuser name entered during installation, or something else? [TVH doesn't know your system superuser details].

Ron L

It sounds like it didn't get configured correctly with the login credentials for the web server when you installed it.

you might try

sudo dpkg-reconfigure tvheadend

and try entering desired info again.

It will ask for a username for administer and a password. Remember these and use them to log into the web server at port 9981.

Tvheadend itself should be running as user hts and group video and it's config files should be in /home/hts/.hts

Mike Whalon

Thanks for response Ron L. I think I've solved this. Tried to download/install tvheadend focal unstable several times (expecting different results). Turns out (I think) there is no 'unstable' (developmental) version of the focal version. When I simply changed to the 'stable' version, tvheadend (4.2.8-36) downloaded and installed fine. The 'stable' version requested ID & password as advertised. I am now configured and running.

Hiro Protagonist

You should now be able to install the later version without problems - your existing config should be retained [but a backup beforehand is always a good idea].

Ron L

That is odd. I build deb packages from git master using the Autobuild.sh. I just tested installing a package and it asked for admin username and password. I tested dpkg-reconfigure and it also asks for admin username and password only in this case admin user is prefilled with the username I had previously configured.

Where are you downloading packages from?

I believe that git master is the best version to be running. I use this and my system is run 24/7 without issue. The only crash I've had with tvheadend is when my TBS usb tuner overheats and shuts down. I've solved that by sticking some massive heat sinks that i had kicking around onto the TBS tuner.

Any way as Hiro mentioned once configured you can install newer or older versions at will and your config will always be backed up and converted to the currently installed version.

Mike Whalon

I'm pretty light on experience here. OK with a little 'Google style' research, and cut/paste commands. Tvheadend was downloaded/installed using instructions found on Tvheadend web page:

Ref: https://tvheadend.org/projects/tvheadend/wiki/AptRepositories

sudo apt-get -y install coreutils wget apt-transport-https lsb-release ca-certificates
sudo wget -qO- https://doozer.io/keys/tvheadend/tvheadend/pgp | sudo apt-key add -
sudo sh -c 'echo "deb https://apt.tvheadend.org/stable focal main" | tee -a /etc/apt/sources.list.d/tvheadend.list'
sudo apt-get update

sudo apt-get install tvheadend

This sequence seemed to work once I changed unstable to stable. Originally, I was hoping to implement the most recent working version, but was hitting a wall. It is my understanding that the Tvheadend stable version is a bit outdated, and the unstable (development) versions are more up to date. I'm not very deep in my new LinuxMint 20.3 installation, and have no problem starting anew. If you can provide some recommendations to the above set of commands that might get me there, it would be appreciated.

Ron L

Not sure why that failed for unstable.

Here is a direct link for the latest unstable if you just want to download and install it manually.

https://apt.tvheadend.org/artifacts/v5/04mtuctt/tvheadend_4.3-2005~ga0bbcc055~focal_amd64.deb

Mike Whalon

mike@MediaCenter:~$ sudo dpkg -i https://apt.tvheadend.org/artifacts/v5/04mtuctt/tvheadend_4.3-2005~ga0bbcc055~focal_amd64.deb

dpkg: error: cannot access archive 'https://apt.tvheadend.org/artifacts/v5/04mtuctt/tvheadend_4.3-2005~ga0bbcc055~focal_amd64.deb': No such file or directory

???

Mike Whalon

Thanks for help Ron L. Second attempt using Gdebi successful. 4.3-2005 installed with all my config in tact.
Forced me to learn something new.
Thanks, Mike952