Help with DVB-T multiple setup and questions

[dogstar]

Hi, I’ve been reading the threads on the “dreaded” Freecom DVB-T but have not seen anything relating specifically to my current problem, although personally, up until now, I have not had any problems with Freecom’s USB DVB, due to the vast amount of hard work put in by you guy’s. (Thanks BTW.)

I’m in the UK and have been running a combined Hauppauge 350 and Freecom DVB-T set up for some time now with no problems whatsoever. I recently upgraded to version 09912 and also decided to upgrade my PC with no problems. However I then came into possession of two more Freecom USB DBT sticks (type 3), which I attempted to set up as a multiple system when I discovered there was a problem.

On testing the sticks by replacing them individually in my original set up they all work fine. If I set them up as a single DVB in my new set up they work fine, but if I add a second DVB-T in config as device #2 (Type 3) I find that scanning for channels the second device remains inactive and picks up nothing. (I use XMLT EPG.)

Freecom’s stick has a small led which starts off yellow during boot, turning to green when detected and green when receiving channels. They are also known to get quite warm when actively receiving digital, yet when adding a second device during mapping and scan for channels I find that it is the first stick, device #1 that appears to get warm, while the second stick, device #2 remains cold as if GBPVR is attempting to access device #1 for the scan instead of device #2.

Both are set up as Freecom “type3” from the“only show available,” box which identify’s them with no problem and I have also tried VGear BDA drivers and Yakumo BDA drivers which all work fine on a single device set up, but both have the exact same result on a second Freecom DVB-T set up.

I’m probably doing something very obviously wrong that I haven’t figured out yet but from an observational standpoint GBPVR seems to be having a problem identifying that there are two USB devices installed and is attempting to use #1 in both instances. Therefore:

1) Is there any way to check to see if GBPVR has set up and identified two separate DVB devices and is correctly calling to each device in turn?

2) How and where does GBPVR identify and call on each device individually, especially when using identical DVB devices and when Windows assigns a (device 0) to the driver for each device?

GBPVR version 09912 on Windows XP service pack 2
Intel Core 2 Duo 2.13 Ghz, 1066MHz,
Gigabyte 965P-DS3 motherboard,
2 Gig DDR2 Ram,
ASUS EAX1050 128Mb (1Gb HuperMemory)
x3 Freecom DVB-T sticks,

Brian (Angel Isle)

[sub]

When you ticked the 'only show devices detected in this machine' checkbox, what is the exact name of the device that match? I want to check how that device is defined in BDA.ini.

Do you know for sure the drivers support multiple devices in one machine? Some dont - they'll install, but just plain work work. Have you been able to confirm they're functioning in any other software?

[dogstar]

They show as Freecom (type 3)

As for multiple support I hadn't even thought of that so I'm not sure. I assumed they were, but I'll try and see if I can get them running with something else. Showshifter, on another machine, did show them up as two separate entities but there was no apparent way to select and utilize more than one DVB device in the software. I'm not even sure if I have anything apart from GBPVR that'll accept and use multiple devices.

I think I saw some mention of multiple Freecom DVB-T concerning Myth TV, but obviously that’s Linux, so it could be that Windows won't accept more than one due to there being no separate device identifier, (device 0) for both.

Either way I'll have a look and see what I can find, then get back to you. That way everyone will know for future reference.

Brian (Angel Isle)

[sub]

They show as Freecom (type 3)

According to bda.ini, you should have the devices set as device #1, #2 and #3 respectively. With it set like this, and assuming the drivers support multiple devices, then it should work.

[dogstar]

I tried that and set them as #1, #2, #3, but the result was the same it seemed to chose USB #1 to try and tune in #2, #3, that’s why I was wondering how GBPVR identifies each stick.

I tried a trial version of Sage TV which uses WDM drivers on another PC and both USB sticks showed up in the config as USB Digital – TV Capture Source and USB Digital – TV Capture Source #2, but locked up when attempting to generate a video preview while setting up USB #1. (For some reason Sage has to generate this preview, even though no channels have been scanned for as yet. It didn’t generate a preview with one a single card installed so I can’t see the point of this manoeuvre.) Anyhow like GBPVR it obviously had difficulty distinguishing between the two and locked up.

Most everything else doesn’t appear to support USB DVB-T so it’s looking like Windows doesn’t support more than one of these puppies. Shame really.

Anyhow as a last resort I've tried contacting Freecom to see what they say, not holding my breath for a decent reply though.

I did find something interesting during my search, a nice piece of sofware in the form of a UK Digital XMLTV Guide that captures the Electronic programming guide data from the digital broadcast frequencies on-the-fly and converts it into XMLTV format. It’s a free Windows command line utility that’s pretty simple to use. I’ve tried it and I haven’t been able to fault it so far, better than the Radio Times XMLTV which appears to have several channels missing, although time could possibly prove me wrong. Not sure where I should post the link though, although most of the queries on EPG seem to be in “support.”

With a bit of work, a few batch files and XML code I’m pretty sure someone could automate their updates and possibly combine XMLTV files to complete any missing channels if they wanted to.

Anyhow let me know where and I’ll type up a brief with the link and post it. UK users might find it useful.

(BTW GBPVR is far superior to everything else I tried, on setup, appearance, maintenance, support and advice. One hell of a software kit you have here guys.)

Thanks for the assist.

Brian (Angel Isle)

[sub]

I tried that and set them as #1, #2, #3, but the result was the same it seemed to chose USB #1 to try and tune in #2, #3, that’s why I was wondering how GBPVR identifies each stick.

Anyhow like GBPVR it obviously had difficulty distinguishing between the two and locked up.

No, its not related to this. GB-PVR uses the device number to differentiate between them. If you run GraphEdit, and select Insert Filters, then expand the BDA categories, you'll see the various filters for your device. Device #1 means use the first one listed, device #2 the second one and device #3 the third one.

This scheme works fine for other device, so I'm leaning towards it being some problem with the drivers for this device.

[dogstar]

Sorry taking so long getting back but my new PC went on the blink and I had to wait for replacements before getting back up and running.

Yep, you were right. According to Freecom, under Windows you can only use one USB DVB-T stick per PC, (what a bummer.) I don't know if that applies for Linux, but it solves the multiple Freecom USB DVB-T problem in GBPVR.

Thanks for the assistance.