DVB-S2 PCTV 460e (tda10071) usb issues

[H.Vincent]

Hi,


This is my first post here but unfortunately, it's in the troubleshooting category !
Anyway, I'm currently working on making my RPi to be a DVB-S server (not displaying).

So i managed to buy this :

- USB DVB-S2 dongle from Pinnacle/PCTV (model 460e) that has it own power supply.
- Belking powered USB 7 port

My configuration :

- 1x RPi
- One port from the RPi connected to the usb hub
- USB DVB-S2 connected to the powered hub (and the usb dongle has it's external power for the LNB too)

The USB dongle isn't working when i connect it directly to the RPi (it's detected, drivers are loaded, firmware is loaded, but i can't get any signal OK).
However, it does work when i connect the dongle to the powered HUB.

Great... Let's try to install vdr + stream server or tvheadend on a fresh raspbian image

Unfortunately, i'm getting the same results when streaming to a PC, using VLC or MPlayer...

- Scan is OK
- Signal is OK
- Picture has a lot of artefacts & most of time there is no sound at all.

Firmware is the latest version (from today 2012-11-06), kernel too.

But the more verbose is tvheadend, see some log (on an FTA channel) :

Code: Select all

Nov 06 22:05:05 [WARNING]:TS: NXP TDA10071/ASTRA 1: 12,581,000 kHz Vertical (Default (Port 0, Universal LNB))/A LA DEMANDE: MPEG2VIDEO @ #163: Continuity counter error, 8274 duplicate log lines suppressed
Nov 06 22:05:05 [WARNING]:TS: NXP TDA10071/ASTRA 1: 12,581,000 kHz Vertical (Default (Port 0, Universal LNB))/A LA DEMANDE: MPEG2AUDIO @ #92: Continuity counter error, 705 duplicate log lines suppressed
Nov 06 22:05:05 [ERROR]:parser: transport stream MPEG2AUDIO, DTS discontinuity. DTS = 7314315742, last = 7312153582
Nov 06 22:05:06 [WARNING]:TS: NXP TDA10071/ASTRA 1: 12,581,000 kHz Vertical (Default (Port 0, Universal LNB))/A LA DEMANDE: MPEG2VIDEO @ #163: Continuity counter error, 8485 duplicate log lines suppressed
Nov 06 22:05:06 [WARNING]:TS: NXP TDA10071/ASTRA 1: 12,581,000 kHz Vertical (Default (Port 0, Universal LNB))/A LA DEMANDE: MPEG2AUDIO @ #92: Continuity counter error, 720 duplicate log lines suppressed
Nov 06 22:05:06 [ERROR]:mkv: Live stream: Write failed -- Broken pipe
Nov 06 22:05:06 [WARNING]:webui: Stop streaming /stream/channelid/112, muxer reported errors

uname :

Code: Select all

Linux raspberrypi 3.2.27+ #257 PREEMPT Mon Nov 5 00:01:55 GMT 2012 armv6l GNU/Linux

lsusb -t :

Code: Select all

/:  Bus 01.Port 1: Dev 1, Class=root_hub, Driver=dwc_otg/1p, 480M

lsusb -v here : http://pastebin.com/uzu2AwVQ

I can't try to use the dongle with the usb 1.1 trick as the dongle require USB 2.0 ...
Also, with the previous firmware, i was experiencing a lot of messages into /var/log/messages about some eth0 issues... Now it seems to be fixed with the latest fimware.

I see that sundtek is on the forum in order to help on similar issues, but i don't know if they have any devices that are using the tda10071 chipset too.

I'm available for testing any firmware/kernel if that can help the community.

Else, if you have any suggestions... I'm open


Regards !
Vincent

[sundtek]

Our issues are all solved, we had to do some tricks here and there but it works well, including streaming (the driver includes a streaming server which can stream to windows/linux and for advanced users also to Mac (mac should become easier within the next few weeks)).

One issue that arises with the 460e is that the TS stream is limited to 58mbit (chipset limitation), while our device goes beyond 90mbit (we learned from our mistakes in the past as we used the same chipset previously).

[H.Vincent]

Hi sundtek and thanks you for you answer !


You are talking about a streaming driver, does this mean that your product is not usable with vdr/tvheadend features ?

I do not think that the chipset max BW to 58 Mbit/s is a problem because the dongle perfectly works on a classic htpc (intel ion board).
This is specific to the RaspberryPi

I follow the kernel updates via Twitter, I've see a lot of fix on the usb drivers thoses day...

I hope that this will be fixed soon...


Regards,

[sundtek]

Hi sundtek and thanks you for you answer !


You are talking about a streaming driver, does this mean that your product is not usable with vdr/tvheadend features ?

vdr and tvheadend are supported but we are working on our own which takes full advantage of all device features.

[H.Vincent]

vdr and tvheadend are supported but we are working on our own which takes full advantage of all device features.

Nice, and do you plan to make is usable with xbmc ?

[oskreso]

Hello guys,

what distro are you talking about?

[H.Vincent]

Hello guys,

what distro are you talking about?

Hi,

Talking about Raspbian.

Regards,

[H.Vincent]

Hi,


I've ordered & tried a new usb hub (one that is already tested and marked OK into the RPi verified peripherals)... And this is the same troubles...

As my DVB-S2 works on any other "classic" linux pc (like ion board), it may be a RPi hardware/software problem.


Is there any way to contact the hardware support team ? Do I've to enable a high debug level somewhere ?
What do to ?


Thanks you,

Vincent

[H.Vincent]

Hi all,


It seems that linux-media has done some patch in order to add usb bulk transfer for the em28xx driver (that would fix the artefacts problems on the RaspberryPi).

Is anyone able to apply theses patch to the kernel source and compile the drivers again with the latest kernel available ?

The patches are in attachment (zip file with all the patches).

Latest linux-media is available here : http://linuxtv.org/downloads/drivers/li ... ST.tar.bz2


Hope it will help...

Regards,

[Amorsen]

It seems that linux-media has done some patch in order to add usb bulk transfer for the em28xx driver (that would fix the artefacts problems on the RaspberryPi).

They only help if the device supports bulk transfer. Do a lsusb -v, find your device in the output, and look for "Transfer Type". It should say either "Isochronous" or "Bulk". If you are lucky the device provides both types, but it is likely that it only says "Isochronous". The driver unfortunately cannot create a bulk endpoint if the device does not provide one.

It is quite possible that I am the original source of the misconception about the bulk transfer patches. I am sorry for that.

[H.Vincent]

Hi Amorsen and thank you for the reply,


You can access to the lsusb -v at my first post :

lsusb -v here : http://pastebin.com/uzu2AwVQ

Starting at line 318, there is 2 endpoint and they are both set as "Transfer Type Isochronous"

Does this mean that this device will never work, at least until the team fix thoses usb issues ?


Regards,

[rspitz]

I may be well off track here, but my Sundtek DVB-T/C USB stick can be switched from isochronous to bulk transfer mode with a command line program. Maybe something similar is available for your device?

I don't know about PCTV systems, but Sundtek's support for Linux devices is known to be very good. Might be worth thinking about getting one of their DVB-S2 devices.

On the other hand, the Pi's braindead USB implementation remains and might be the killer issue in your problem.

[H.Vincent]

I may be well off track here, but my Sundtek DVB-T/C USB stick can be switched from isochronous to bulk transfer mode with a command line program. Maybe something similar is available for your device?

I don't know about PCTV systems, but Sundtek's support for Linux devices is known to be very good. Might be worth thinking about getting one of their DVB-S2 devices.

On the other hand, the Pi's braindead USB implementation remains and might be the killer issue in your problem.

Hey rspitz,

I'm planning to use a DVB-C device soon, do you have any link where i can buy the same stick as you (as it works well on the RaspberryPi ?).

I will sell mine on ebay or somewhere else

Regards,

[rspitz]

This is Sundtek's own shop:

http://sundtek.com/shop/Digital-TV-Sticks/

I have the "Media TV Digital Home", which supports DVB-T and -C. You'll need the "SkyTV Ultimate" for DVB-S/S2.

There are other sources for these sticks, too. Might be worthwhile to check to save on shipping costs.

A word of caution: Sundtek claims that streaming works without problems. I cannot verify this since I'm not using the stick to watch TV, but for monitoring bandwidth usage on my cable internet connection. This is NOT working reliably, but I blame that on the Pi's well known very problematic USB implementation. Be aware that you can only operate the stick via a powered USB hub, the Pi itself cannot deliver sufficient power to the device.

[MastaG]

I have the PCTV nanostick 520e (DVB-C/T).
It works very well on every platform (ion/adm64 even my old alix pc-engine with geode lx800 cpu...) running linux 3.6 or newer, except for the Pi because of broken isochronous usb tranfers.
I tried to apply all the bulk mode patches for the em28xx but no luck.
According to lsusb -v the device only supports isoc so no dice...

Is there any hope the usb host drivers for the Pi will get better in the future supporting proper isoc tranfers?

[ladidaaa]

A new Kernel might solve your Problem:

http://forum.stmlabs.com/showthread.php?tid=8093