Possible problem with decoding of encrypted dvb file

[OrakelJos]

Sometimes I have the problem that a a recorded show from an encrypted channel cannot played back. It just seems to go on high speed through the TS file. The file size looks o.k. After testing the TS output with the PVAstrumento program it came with this log:

***
*** PVAStrumento 2.1.0.22
*** running at 01-06-2010 22:14
***

Pre-Scanning input. May take some time.

Packet found tagged "SCRAMBLED".
Trying to process packets anyway.

Stream info for
E:\MyPVR\Little house on the Prairie\Little house on the Prairie_20100106_17051800.ts

Found 1 video stream.
Found 1 MPEG audio stream.

VIDEO #1, PID 0xdd
ALERT> No sequence header found for info.
MPEG AUDIO #1, PID 0xde
ALERT> No audio frame (mpa) found. ("WHAT ??")

PIDs in TS
PAT: found
TSID: 0x1
PMTID: 0xdc
VPID: 0xdd
APID[1]: 0xde
TXTID: 0xea

** these pids were found but it doesnot denote
** that all content are really available!


==SCANNING==
Input: E:\MyPVR\Little house on the Prairie\Little house on the Prairie_20100106_17051800.ts
ALERT> Cannot sync. Not enough data.
Last fileset:
0 total bytes read

Sync estimate at EOF:
MPEG Audio #1 : sync

Needed time for the job (hh.mm.ss)

(Autosaving log to E:\MyPVR\Little house on the Prairie\Little house on the Prairie_20100106_17051800.ts.txt)

It seems that the stream was not decrypted.
At the moment I am using one Technotrend 1501C DVB-C card with CI and an Alphacrypt Classic CAM with the original smartcard from the cable provider. Multirecord support is NOT enabled and this behaviour is not consistent. This is the second time this happened in about two weeks.
The log does not show anything unusual (as far as I can see) at the moment of the recording.

[sub]

Unfortunately I cant tell from the logs.

Is it always specific channels?

[OrakelJos]

It is from different channels. I was already afraid that the logs were not helpful to find the problem. Only info I can give you that all channels are encrypted.
Could it be possible that it has something to do with renewing keys or so and that it takes a certain time before it is issued? When a new key is not received in time and the recording is already started it could explain this behaviour. Just a wild guess?

[sub]

Could it be possible that it has something to do with renewing keys or so and that it takes a certain time before it is issued? When a new key is not received in time and the recording is already started it could explain this behaviour. Just a wild guess?

To be honest I dont know. I just ask the device to "decrypt channel 123" and it takes care of the rest.

[OrakelJos]

To be honest I dont know. I just ask the device to "decrypt channel 123" and it takes care of the rest.

Is it possible to introduce a variable time delay between issuing this command and actualy starting the recording?

[sub]

No, not easily. Talk to me about it again when 1.5 is out though, because I'll at least be in a position to supply patches you can try, or add additional logging etc.

[OrakelJos]

O.k. will do that. Any idea when 1.5 will be out (of course you have an idea )?

[sub]

We'll probably be starting pre-release testing a couple of weeks. It'll probably be publically available about four weeks later.

[OrakelJos]

Thanks Sub for this information. Will come back after the new release. I will also test if another smartcard is making a difference. There seem to be newer versions which react quicker to renewing keys.

[OrakelJos]

Sub: just added the same card to the end of the line so I can use it for Live TV. When watching Live TV it first comes with a black screen and the message "This channel is currently encrypted". After a couple of seconds the decrypted show is displayed. Perhaps this is the reason a recording can sometimes not watched back because the starting part of the recording is still encrypted?

Edit 1: the recording can still be played back so that is not the reason. What I have just noticed that sometimes the message "This channel is currently encrypted" does NOT disappear. I presume that in that case the whole show is recorded encrypted.
Any suggenstions?

Edit 2: the message appears only once when starting Live TV. Subsequent switching to other channels are immediately without the message.