Possible to view PowerVu channel without using external additional software?

downbythestream

The question is, can you go to Configuration/CAs and click "Add" and then select one of the choices from the dropdown and then fill in the requested info without having to reference any additional software? Most of the posts you see on the topic of PowerVu are from people using something else, such as a "CAM" program. And I've read things that suggest you don't need to use those anymore, that the functionality is now included in the main program. But if so I can't find anything explaining how to set it up.

If it can be done, which selection should be made in the dropdown that comes up immediately after you click the ADD button, and then, assuming you can find keys, what is the expected format for the PV keys in the "ADD" dialog?

On a more general level, is they any way to get the Provider ID and Transporter ID for a given channel out of the web interface? I see the Service ID but not those other ID's.

If it absolutely cannot be done without using external software then what is the best, easiest to configure software and are there any good instructions for using it, preferably that are not so old that you need to figure out which parts are still applicable and that don't require creating a dozen configuration files? If it makes any difference, I'm wanting to view a single local channel that is a free OTA signal in its local community, but I am a bit out of range to receive it so I'm wanting to try the satellite feed.

DeltaMikeCharlie

downbythestream On a more general level, is they any way to get the Provider ID and Transporter ID for a given channel out of the web interface? I see the Service ID but not those other ID's.

Directly in the WebUI, this could be difficult. Sometimes there is a dropdown showing 'Read-only info'. Sometimes the information that you need may be there, sometimes not. Being in 'Expert' view will give the the best chance.

Failing that, there is the JSON API:

Each 'Channel' is fed by 1 or more 'Services' and each service originates from a 'Mux'.

You can use the JSON API to get the UUID(s) (32 character code) of the service(s) supplying a channel.
https://docs.tvheadend.org/documentation/development/json-api/api-description/channel
Using those UUID(s), you can get the Service details either directly or by scanning all of the services.
https://docs.tvheadend.org/documentation/development/json-api/api-description/idnode
https://docs.tvheadend.org/documentation/development/json-api/api-description/mpegts#mpegts-service-grid
Using those UUID(s), you can get the Mux details either directly or by scanning all of the muxes.
https://docs.tvheadend.org/documentation/development/json-api/api-description/idnode
https://docs.tvheadend.org/documentation/development/json-api/api-description/mpegts#mpegts-mux-grid

Example:
http://[TVH_IP_ADDRESS]:9981/api/channel/grid

http://[TVH_IP_ADDRESS]:9981/api/idnode/load?uuid=e32e627dcbd60a5eb60e68edbb750b0d

http://[TVH_IP_ADDRESS]:9981/api/idnode/load?uuid=5dd5f590d5963f844b1ca5a89b5f89b2

downbythestream

DeltaMikeCharlie Thank you, I much appreciate that!

Chris G Got your Docker images and installed them, now would you be so kind as to provide an example of how to use it with TVH? Any help in that regard would be MUCH appreciated!

Chris G

External software: OSCam EMU or NCam.
I have an auto build Docker image for both.
https://hub.docker.com/r/chris230291/oscam-emu
https://hub.docker.com/r/chris230291/ncam

Chris G

downbythestream

They configure the same, but the file names are slightly different.

oscam.conf:

[dvbapi]
enabled                       = 1
au                            = 1
pmt_mode                      = 4
request_mode                  = 1
listen_port                   = 9001
delayer                       = 60
user                          = dvbapi
read_sdt                      = 2
write_sdt_prov                = 1
extended_cw_api               = 1
boxtype                       = pc

oscam.user:

[account]
user                          = dvbapi
au                            = emulator
group                         = 1

oscam.server:

[reader]
label                         = emulator
protocol                      = emu
device                        = emulator
disablecrccws_only_for        = 0E00:000000
caid                          = 0500,0604,0D00,0E00,1010,1801,2600,2602,2610
detect                        = cd
ident                         = 0500:020A00,021110;0604:000000;0D00:0000C0;0E00:000000;1010:000000;1801:000000,001101,002111,007301;2600:000000;2602:000000;2610:000000
group                         = 1
emmcache                      = 2,1,2,1
emu_auproviders               = 0604:010200;0E00:000000;1010:000000;2610:000000`

Put your keys in SoftCam.Key
I think it might be against the forum rules to share the already publicly available keys, so I wont.

In TVH:

downbythestream

Thank you, that was a big help. The problem now is I can't seem to get the channel to actually use the OSCAM server, do you know how to do that? And, I was not wanting you to share actual keys but my question is really this, let's say you have a key that is in this format:

P 12345678 00 123456789ABCDE;2345:04444:09876:H

What part of that key actually goes into OSCAM and does it need to be formatted in any particular way?

Thanks again!

Chris G

downbythestream

TVH should automatically query OSCam for the key, assuming it's connected?
Remember to use either host network mode in Docker or map any ports for the DVBAPI (9001 in my example).
Something I forgot to mention is that you shouldn't replace what was in your oscam.conf file with what I shared, you should add it to the existing file. With the other files, you can replace the entire contents.

As for the key, that would go in the softcam.key file as is.

Which channel on which satellite are you trying to open?

downbythestream

Well it sounds like I did everything right, it connects to the server but acts like it can't decrypt. I am trying to get Galaxy 19 at 97W, 4032H 9600. Thank you.

Chris G

Sorry, I can't help with that sat, it's c-band and well below the horizon for me.
Assuming it's connected properly, you should see something in the web UI log section for both TVH and OSCam?

This is BISS, not PowerVU, but you should see something similar:

    2025/04/27 20:55:13 4CCE68FE c   (dvbapi) Demuxer 0 ecmpid 0 CAID: 2600 ECM_PID: 1FFF PROVID: 000000 
    2025/04/27 20:55:13 4CCE68FE c   (dvbapi) Demuxer 0 found 1 ECM pids and 3 STREAM pids in CA PMT
    2025/04/27 20:55:13 4CCE68FE c   (dvbapi) Demuxer 0 found channel in cache and matching prio -> start descrambling ecmpid 0 
    2025/04/27 20:55:13 4CCE68FE c   (dvbapi) Demuxer 0 trying to descramble PID 0 CAID 2600 PROVID 000000 ECMPID 1FFF ANY CHID PMTPID 0102 VPID 008D
    2025/04/27 20:55:13 10A1C12A r      (emu) Key not found: F BFE37DDD
    2025/04/27 20:55:13 10A1C12A r      (emu) Key found: F 0002212C 00000000
    2025/04/27 20:55:13 4CCE68FE c      (ecm) dvbapi (2600@000000/0000/0028/15:A3453E264FAEC8498134138CEC456307): found (1 ms) by emulator - ERT 1 HD (lg)

downbythestream

Chris G Thanks for the tip about that forum thread. So now I have a question that you may or may not be able to answer. In Tvheadend it seems you do not need any external software for BISS because that can be configured in the CA section. But for other types you do, specifically OSCam. But the problem is that if you have configured a channel in Tvheadend using BISS and then you add a channel that requires the OSCam server, when you play the BISS channel even though it is using the internal decoder in Tvheadend it seems to also think it needs to send something to OSCam. Therefore if you look at the log in OSCam you see a continual stream of errors even though OSCam isn't actually being used. My question is whether there is any way to prevent this from happening, for example is there any way to tell OSCam to ignore a particular channel even if (for some inexplicable reason) Tvheadend is sending data to OSCam about that channel?

downbythestream

Well I think I finally got OSCAM working and Tvheadend connecting to it, but the key I had was either bad or expired and I have been unable to locate a newer one, so I think I am out of luck. It was worth a try, though. Thanks again, and maybe this thread will be useful to someone else, maybe in a part of the world where this form of encryption is more common.

Chris G

downbythestream
I don't know of any NA specific forums, but there was one or 2 guys sharing NA PV keys on the linuxsat-support forum.

Chris G

downbythestream

Sorry, I have no idea about using the built-in decoding functionality in TVH.
I have access to many packages and most require OSCam, so I use that for everything.
You could always use the dvbapi file to ignore services: https://wiki.streamboard.tv/wiki/OSCam/en/Config/oscam.dvbapi
I think TVH will still send the request to OSCam, but OSCam will ignore it.

downbythestream

Chris G Thank you, I'll see if I can get that to work.