8-channel SAT>IP LNB very successfully installed in tvh!

ullix · 2014-10-11T20:13:08+00:00

I finally received my Inverto "8 channel SAT>IP LNB with PoE Adapter" (330€ in Germany after some discount) and got it working after some fiddling. Today,...

C K

> question with positions: it think it should be like that: #1 is for lowband/vertical #2 for LB/H #3 for HB/V and #4 for HB/H. but it is not like this, probably because thv handles them wrongly in the GUI (but only there !)

Ahhmm, no. Every Network (with DVB-S) is a Satellite. You definately don't need to seperate LowVert/HighVert/LowHor/HighHor. You only have ONE position with an iLNB ;-)

Back to topic: You need to set "Force pilot for DVB-S2: enabled" for DVB-S2. Just tested.

C K

Okay... no real improvements... Did somebody got contact to Inverto already?

In my iLNB settings I disabled "Smart Tune Modus". And in Tvh I set "Force teardown delay" to all Tuners and "Next tune delay in ms (0-2000)" to 2000.

C K

Okay Boys and Girls, iLNB works here for ~10 hours atm.

I updated my Digital Device Octopus Net Rack Firmware (to which the iLNB is connected). In Tvheadend I unchecked Configuration > DVB Inputs > Networks > Network Discovery, Skip Initial Scan an Idle Scan Muxes. For each Tuner in Configuration > DVB Inputs > TV adapters I unchecked Initial Scan, Idle Scan and Send full PLAY cmd. For Configuration > Channel / EPG > EPG Grabber I set scan timeout to 5000 and unchecked Force initial EPG scan at startup.

Here are some Screenshots: http://imgur.com/a/h3qRm#0

ullix

Indeed, the "positions" in the tvheadend TV Adapter SAT>IP configuration have nothing to do with the low/high vert/horiz settings of the classical LNBs. I am attaching a clip from the "SAT>IP Protocol Specification Version 1.2.1" (page 44) downloadable from here: http://www.satip.info/resources

And by testing I found that ONLY position #1 must be enabled - no further transponder / channel can be found on either one of the positions #2, #3, #4. Those positions #2, #3, #4 can also NOT be used in lieue of position #1!

Makes me wonder why the configuration of tvheadend for the TV Adapter is offering a default of 4 Satellite positions for each tuner? Shouldn't the default be 1, as the likelyhood of having 4 (IP-)LNBs in one single SAT>IP system seems to be rather small.

Or am I missing something else?

Jaroslav Kysela

ullix tv wrote:
> Makes me wonder why the configuration of tvheadend for the TV Adapter is offering a default of 4 Satellite positions for each tuner? Shouldn't the default be 1, as the likelyhood of having 4 (IP-)LNBs in one single SAT>IP system seems to be rather small.
>

> Or am I missing something else?

I started with GSS.BOX and compatible. These devices are probably used by more people and they support up to 4 diseqc positions.. So, basically, it's my default, but you can change the satellite positions value, so everyone are happy..

I can add a hack to the code for this iLNB (using the strings in the XML description to identify it) to offer only one position by default... But.. Do we need it ? This device is a bit specific.

BTW: Waiting for someone who will want to use iLNB with rotor ;-))) Kidding, I don't plan to add this feature to tvh.

C K

ullix tv wrote:

> Makes me wonder why the configuration of tvheadend for the TV Adapter is offering a default of 4 Satellite positions for each tuner? Shouldn't the default be 1, as the likelyhood of having 4 (IP-)LNBs in one single SAT>IP system seems to be rather small.

I wrote this in the IRC days ago ;-)

But for other SAT>IP Devices this is very useful: One sat cable connected to a 2-sat multiswitch means, you have 2 positions.

Edit: anyone got a response from Inverto support?

Edit2: the iLNB works perfect now, just setup Tvheadend being less aggressive in scanning and grapping epg data with your iLNB.

rü kuk

ullix tv wrote:

> Indeed, the "positions" in the tvheadend TV Adapter SAT>IP configuration have nothing to do with the low/high vert/horiz settings of the classical LNBs.

yes, you are right

> And by testing I found that ONLY position #1 must be enabled - no further transponder / channel can be found on either one of the positions #2, #3, #4. Those positions #2, #3, #4 can also NOT be used in lieue of position #1!

you are right again, sorry about my wrong info

I now have some problems: when more then 2-3 devices are connecting to TVH then there is 1 sec stuttering (1-2 times/min), though CPU-load is less then 50%. With dvbviewer directly connecting to iLNB there is no stuttering. Maybe its because the in- and outgoing traffic of TVH use the same lan-device, TVH is connected to iLNB via 1 GB/s, but to the LAN only with 100Mbit/s.

C K

I discovered some problems with iLNB and Tvheadend: the iLNB doesn't like "Idle scan" enabled for more than 2-3 tuners. This definately should be fixed by Inverto because my Octopus can handle Idle Scans without any problems. I also get a lot of "Uncorrected Blocks" and "Continuity Errors". It doesn't work as stable as expected.

Jaroslav Kysela

C K wrote:

> I discovered some problems with iLNB and Tvheadend: the iLNB doesn't like "Idle scan" enabled for more than 2-3 tuners. This definately should be fixed by Inverto because my Octopus can handle Idle Scans without any problems. I also get a lot of "Uncorrected Blocks" and "Continuity Errors". It doesn't work as stable as expected.

I wrote exactly this to Inverto about their 400s boxes (GSS.BOX compatible). But it seems that this hw goes unstable when some temperature is crossed (probably in the tuner block?). When I opened the box and added the fan, all those errors went away.. Unfortunately, Inverto doesn't talk with me..

But for the outdoor hw I would expect more stability..

C K

Indeed, the hw is a bit warm. Just checked the temperature: 3.6 degrees outside, 23.2 degrees iLNB! But the iLNB is a closed and waterproof device, so i don't want to open it and add a fan ;-)

ullix

C K wrote:

What are the "problems" and how do you know they are caused by "Idle scan"?

I have all 8 tuners of the iLNB enabled for both "Initial Scan" and "Idle scan", and while the iLNB is running, I don't see problems. However, as mentioned previously the iLNB occasionally hangs so badly that only the power switch helps. Of course, I can't say that this is or isn't due to any enabled scan feature.

Since I have set the "Satellite positions" for each tuner to 1 (instead of the default 4), the iLNB is now running fine for 3 days. Of course, this also is no proof for any effect of the positions settings.

Is there a debug option for tvheadend which would give info when the hang occurs, both with respect to time-of-day and with respect to the action just taken or initiated by tvh?

ullix

@Jaroslav:

I take it from your comments that you are the author of the SAT>IP driver (is it a driver in tvh lingo?) so a well deserved compliment first! After all, it works and setup is still amazingly simple, despite some of my/our struggle!

You might then be the best person for this question: please, help me to understand the meaning of the term "Master tuner". Each one of my 8 tuners is configured with "This tuner", and overall it does work.

When or why would I set anything else?

Does it have to do with the "Static Operation" mentioned in the "SAT>IP Protocol Specification Version 1.2.1" (page 58, http://www.satip.info/resources ). If so, I still don't understand what the most appropriate setting should be.

ullix

This tuner thingy is not looking very good at the moment. See here:

https://github.com/tvheadend/tvheadend/pull/369#issuecomment-66629394

I need some help.

gary tan

folks, what is the consensus now on the inverto ilnb? Is it working now without issues? And what speed are channel changes compared to normal dvb-s2 pci-e tuner?

Interested in purchasing one so would be good to know.

Thanks

C K

It works for me.

ullix

gary tan wrote:
> folks, what is the consensus now on the inverto ilnb? Is it working now without issues? And what speed are channel changes compared to normal dvb-s2 pci-e tuner?
>
> Interested in purchasing one so would be good to know.
>
> Thanks

To misuse Bill Clinton's famous words: "It depends on what the meaning of the 'is working' is" :)

We know for sure that there is a bug in the firmware, as the IPLNB can go in a hanging-state, out of which only the power switch helps. And as this happens solely due to commands (or lack thereof) from the clients, and as a server should never crash because of a client command, that qualifies it as a bug.

However, this hanging IPLNB issue, which had plagued me, seems to have been overcome, see https://tvheadend.org/issues/2555#note-50

So, as of today, using tvheadend 3.9.2410~g3077ffa~precise on Ubuntu 12.04, and Kodi on FireTV as frontend, the IPLNB is running smoothly on day 13 X 24h with no indication of anything going wrong. Enough time? You decide if it is enough to say it "is working":) . I'd buy the IPLNB again.

The channel switching in LIVE-TV in the above setup from a running channel to another running channel with sound (first you see picture, then you hear sound) is 2.0-2.5 sec; it is as fast or faster than the swithicng of the DVB-T tuner built into the television set. That surely is not an issue for me.

It think it would be great if others could be more specific and say what system they use and what IPLNB uptime they have, and what, if any, issues have surfaced.

ullix

I had barely finished posting the above, when the IPLNB hung again...

New bug report here: https://tvheadend.org/issues/2638

ullix

ullix tv wrote:
> I had barely finished posting the above, when the IPLNB hung again...
>

> New bug report here: https://tvheadend.org/issues/2638

... and I had barely posted that one, when a fix was issued. Running again.

Ben Tod

I see that issue 2638 is closed as fixed but last post indicates there is still a problem?

I just stumbled upon this:

http://forum.kodi.tv/showthread.php?tid=165707&pid=1910495#pid1910495

"Don' t use tvheadend at all. Go with vdr and vnsi. Tvh was removed from OpenELEC, cause it is broken and unsupportable by a distribution."

I am planing to use openelec - anyone fresh experience with it? Maybe kodibuntu might be the better choice?

ullix

Ben Tod wrote:
>
> "Don' t use tvheadend at all. Go with vdr and vnsi. "
>

Well, tvh and IPLNB are running again for a couple of days, periodically changing from with stress test (idle scan, heavy recordings), to without, and it is going smoothly, no hangs

That categoric statement of not using tvh seems to be far away from reality. On this vdr-forum (in German) they also discuss the problems with their installaion with the iplnb ( http://www.vdr-portal.de/board16-video-disk-recorder/board85-hdtv-dvb-s2/124390-kurzreview-inverto-ilnb-sat-ip/index4.html ). So don't count on vdr being free of problems!

Part of the problem lies in the iplnb firmware, another part in the tvh/vdr/whatever software. Some problems may result from imprecise definitions of the SAT>IP specifications , where the iplnb views itself following the specs, when client software, like tvh, views it as requiring a workaround.

Is anyone surprised that in new technology some bugs may be waiting?

I had used mythtv before for many years, but this isn't even able to handle SAT>IP (https://forum.mythtv.org/viewforum.php?f=3, see SAT>IP topic, the most viewed of all). On top mythtv is soooo much more difficult to configure, in that regard tvheadend is a whole new world! It is almost simple by comparison, and output file names in human readable form makes it easier than going through a mysql database translation just to know where/what a file is. And for frontends Kodi is much simpler than mythtv's own frontend.

One has to use the 3.9 series of tvh, as the older ones don't support SAT>IP. And overall 3.9, although in development, had been very (!) stable, except for the IPLNB issues.

I had once tried vdr and failed in configuring it. No need any more, I stick with tvh. The others may work, too. Try it.

But such a categoric exclusion of tvh sounds less based on facts and more on something like a personal vendetta of some kind.

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