Need help with digital TV setup

[Reddwarf]

After a major upgrade of my htpc I'v installed a Cinergy C HD dvb-c card wich works (!), I can watch the free cable channels fine.

Now, I did not buy a CAM for the dvb-c card, but I have a smartcard reader (CardMan 3021) and a smartcard from the cable provider. Is there a piece of software to be found somewhere that can read the card, store the data and act like a CAM for the mdapi filter or whoever needs data from the smartcard to decrypt the encrypted channels?

I'v tried to set up EmuNation according to the guide found elsewhere in the forum, but no luck, I'd expect to see some cpu load while trying to watch an encrypted channel, but windows task manager indicates no load. Does this mean that the plugin is not working? Am I missing something here?

Any help would be much apperciated, I'm pretty muck in the dark when it comes to digital tv.

[sub]

This isnt really the best place to get started on using multidec etc. Its a complicated topic. Other forums like DVBN (http://dvbn.happysat.org/) have much more info on multidec plugins, their configuration, etc. It might even be best to try getting it going in some other app first (ike mytheatre etc) then try and apply what you've learnt to your GB-PVR setup.

Once you know you've got a working newcs/plugins/configuration then I can help you with the mechanics of getting those same settings working in GB-PVR.

[dennit]

I'v tried to set up EmuNation according to the guide....
Any help would be much apperciated...

I'll give you a basic overview that may help.

DVB transmits a stream of TS packets. If encrypted, the stream is encrypted with CSA encryption, which needs Control Words to decrypt. CSA encryption is standard for DVB around the world. Some tuner cards even have a CSA decryption chip. The Control Words are encrypted with encryption schemes that differ around the world (Nagra2/Nagra3 is used for DVB-S in North America). A tuner card that you could put a CAM smartcard into would have a CSA decryption capability and the CAM smartcard would handle decrypting the Control Words for channels you paid for.

None of that applies to GBPVR directly.


GBPVR uses DirectShow filters. Agarwal's MDAPI filter is a directshow filter that can handle unencrypted TS streams. To decrypt CSA encrypted streams, Agarwal's MDAPI filter uses FFDECSA (apparently it stands for Fast F*cking decryption of CSA) to decrypt the stream if it has Control Words.

Emunation's job is to provide the CWs to MDAPI who gives them to FFDECSA who decrypts the TS stream, which is then passed to GBPVR via MDAPI/DirectShow for display. For Nagra2, Emunation can simply calculate them. For Nagra3, it can't, but it can talk to a Card Server who can use a legitimate card (but there are many difficult hoops to jump through). This is all DVB-S and North America, and I really am not familiar with the DVB-C process, but I think it's the same (and if it's not perhaps someone will chime in).

I'm pretty sure there is no direct way to use your Smartcard CAM with GBPVR (for example by buying a tuner card that you plug your CAM into or by using your CAM reader). If the encryption scheme for the Control Words you need is supported by emunation (as in emunation can calc the CWs itself), then the setup is pretty straight forward for GBPVR. The Control Words change every 15 secs, so you either need emunation to provide them by calculating them, or you need a Card Server setup. I haven't heard of anyone using a Card Server setup with GBPVR.

Sorry I can't help more, but I find that having a background framework helps me figure out what I'm looking for.

Sub is right that there is not a lot of basic info here. The happysat site has very few GBPVR users, so that's why he's suggesting you might want to start there with another program where there are some tutorials.

Good Luck!

[Reddwarf]

Thanks a ton, I realize I'll have to learn more about this, but again; It's never too late to learn an old dog new tricks