DVB-T2 and DVB-S2 PCI-E dual tuner cards that use in kernel drivers and work well with tvheadend - are there any?

Flash

I'd really like to move to tvheadend, there's an awful lot I like about it - not least the fact it runs on Linux, but also the flexibility.

However, coming from Argus TV, I'm desperately missing the reliability in sleep and resume with the same hardware - hardware that has no issue on Windows 7 with Argus TV.

In addition, I base all of my other Linux systems on either Debian Jessie or the current Ubuntu LTS release; I take all updates (including kernel) as they come, and I'd like to do that with my tvheadend install.

With the above in mind, I'm finding I just can't get my current TBS6981, TBS6280 and HVR4000 working reliably with tvheadend at the moment. My main issue is this:

https://github.com/ljalves/linux_media/issues/89

...although I'm hoping there's a simple solution :) .

Putting the above aside, I'm not opposed to replacing my current TBS cards if the replacements tick all the boxes. Scouring the forums though, I can't really get a clear view, so I'm hoping for some advice.

I need separate DVB-T2 and DVB-S2 tuners that:

* Are dual
* Are PCI-E (although one could be PCI)
* Work reliably with tvheadend
* Are known to work with UK Freeview and Freesat
* For the DVB-S2 card, supports DiSEqC
* Use drivers that are supplied as part of the kernel with Ubuntu 14.04 LTS (or don't require a re-build when there are kernel upgrades)
* Don't have any issues with S3 sleep/resume - a custom

sleep.d

script is fine, as long as it works reliably

Any recommendations from the tvheadend experienced that tick those boxes?

Csaba Benedek

I'm using a MYSTIQUE SATECABIX (DVBSKY T9580) card, and I am very satisfied with it. Two of it makes a dual DVB-T2 and DVB-S2 card :)

The only downside is that I need to compile the drivers for my 14.04 LTS, because the drivers are included only from kernel 3.18. But because the driver is open source, it is somehow futureproof.

http://www.linuxtv.org/wiki/index.php/DVBSky_T9580_(PCIe)

Flash

I had recently noticed the DVBSKY range of cards (didn't seem to be around when I originally went for TBS cards).

They look good.

Do you have any experience of successful sleep/resume when using them?

Csaba Benedek

Unfortunately my HP Microserver doesn't support S3 sleep, so I cannot use/test it.
But Tvheadend's Power Save function seems to work, if it matters.

Flash

I think I'm wed to a fully sleeping system, unfortunately, but thanks.

Actually, I did once have ArgusTV running on an HP Microserver (great machines) but used hibernate - took a little too long to come alive each time though ;-). Now my TV server system is a "standard" PC - this has worked really well with ArgusTV over the years with S3.

I guess I hadn't realised that the sleep/resume thing with DVB cards was more of an issue on Linux based systems.

...or maybe I was just lucky with my current cards on Windows, as obviously people do have lots of S3 issues on Windows too.

At least you can debug on Linux (to a degree) but I'm at a loss to dig into my current issues with the TBS6280, and the latest open source drivers - I wouldguess it's related to not being able to unload all the kernel drivers before sleep but, as with the link in my first post, there are a couple that I just can't unload, and I don't know why...

If I could identify a couple of cards that fit most of the criteria above, especially non-problematic sleep/resume, then I think I'd snap them up.

Flash

Coming back to this now - I'm now having problems getting my TBS6981 working on resume (despite relevant module unload/reload and using the OS drivers). My TBS6280 seems to be OK on the standby front but, oddly, HD channels seem to have problems that I never saw on Windows (in a different thread).

So...I think the suggestion about 2 x DVBSky T9580 could be a good one :-) .

It looks like upgrading to the 3.18 kernel, and so getting the supplied drivers, is pretty painless in Ubuntu 14.04:

http://ubuntuhandbook.org/index.php/2014/12/install-linux-kernel-3-18-ubuntu

Has anyone made the kernel shift for DVBSky cards?

Any experiences of successful S3 sleep/resume with DVBSky cards?

Flash

Actually, I'll probably upgrade to 15.04 this week anyway, and that's based on the 3.19 kernel.

Thinking about it, I have 3 questions for DVBSky and T9580 owners, the answers to which would be really useful if you have a moment:

# Is anyone using the 3.18 or 3.19 supplied kernel drivers with DVBSky cards and, if so, what's your experience with them?
# Any experiences of successful S3 sleep/resume with DVBSky cards?

# I see "v3" mentioned in relation (I think) to the T9580 card - are there different versions of the card that differ enough to worry about in terms of driver support?

Thanks.

Csaba Benedek

I'm thinking about the kernel shift, but I haven't done it yet. Thanks for the howto :)
V3: On the PCB mine shows V1.1a...

Flash

Thanks.

I've taken the plunge and ordered 2 T9580s...last straw was a shed-load of continuity errors with the TBS6981 tonight (which I'm only using for HD channels as the TBS6280 was showing similar problems with HD channels).

Think I might have had it with TBS cards - they did work well under Windows on exactly the same hardware, but I'd like to move to tvheadend, so...

Plan is to go Ubuntu 15.04 server over the weekend and see how things go with the supplied 3.19 kernel drivers - my other card, an HVR4000, has been supported in the kernel for some time.

I'll post-back how I get on.

mpmc

c128 m wrote:
> Thanks.
>
> I've taken the plunge and ordered 2 T9580s...last straw was a shed-load of continuity errors with the TBS6981 tonight (which I'm only using for HD channels as the TBS6280 was showing similar problems with HD channels).
>
> Think I might have had it with TBS cards - they did work well under Windows on exactly the same hardware, but I'd like to move to tvheadend, so...
>
> Plan is to go Ubuntu 15.04 server over the weekend and see how things go with the supplied 3.19 kernel drivers - my other card, an HVR4000, has been supported in the kernel for some time.
>

> I'll post-back how I get on.

I have a T9580 (V2 I believe) running on Kernel 4.0.0 / Debian Wheezy along with a Tevii S471 (and various other usb sticks) on a HP Microserver without any issues OOTB. The only things you'll need are the firmware files, you can find those "here" "The V3 has been supported for a while now too!"

I also used a TBS USB tuner [I still have it, but it's in the "junk drawer"], The drivers were awful & until ljalves wrote an open source version it was pretty much useless, I won't be buying anything TBS branded again that's for sure..

Anyway, HTH.

Flash

> Anyway, HTH.

It does - thanks very much.

Good to know the v3 has been there for a while, and thanks for the links to the firmware.

Hoping for a smooth(-ish) transition on the weekend ;-)

Flash

Now moved over to Ubuntu 15.04 server.

tvheadend is the latest from the unstable APT repo (used the trusty package, as there's no vivid counterpart).

I've not sorted out sleep/resume yet (so I suspect I'll have some module loading/unloading "fun" to deal with).

However...both DVBSky cards, so far, seem excellent. The ones that arrived were the v3 versions.

They worked (semi) out of the box with the 3.19 kernel - in the end I plucked the firmware from DVBSky's own download, but that was the only thing I needed to do.

Can't say I've exercised the install much, yet, but HD channels have been flawless up to now - not a single error. Quite pleased to see the TBS cards behind me...

Thanks for the recommendation - looking like a good move :-) .