Device Ini Editor

[whurlston]

WARNING: USE AT YOUR OWN RISK. BACK UP YOUR BDA.INI BEFORE USING.

I created a utility for adding devices to the bda.ini mainly for readding my HDHomeRuns after upgrades but you can use it to add any bda device. The "Analog" and "Analog HD" tabs are non functional. If someone else wants to add those features, the source is included.

To use, place the extracted folder in your "devnz\gbpvr\Third Party" folder and run the exe. Vista users who have not disabled UAC will need to "Run As Administrator".

All fields are read-only until you click "Edit". Clicking "Add" will pop up an input box for you to enter the device name. The device is then added to the list in edit mode so you can enter the appropriate settings.

Selecting "Save" will copy the existing bda.ini to bda.ini.sav and write the new bda.ini immediately. bda.ini.sav will be overwritten if it exists. If you select/add another device before saving, your changes to the current device will be lost.

The list is displayed and saved in alphabetical order of the device name. If you just want to sort the bda.ini, simply select "Edit" on any device and then select "Save" without making any changes.

HDHomeRun users:
When adding a device, use a name that ends with "HDHomeRun XXXXXXXX-Y" or "HDHomeRun Tuner XXXXXXXX-Y" where XXXXXXXX is your device id and Y is the tuner number. The appropriate settings will automatically be entered and you can simply select "Save" or "Cancel".


http://www.epgtools.com/gb_devs/DeviceIniEditor.zip

[sub]

Awesome - looks great.

Forever I've been meaning to add section to the bottom of filtercheck.log that lists what the bda.ini and direct.ini sections most likely are of the cards identified in the users machine. This will be even easier (for BDA at this stage). Well done!

[whurlston]

Thanks. It's something I had been tinkering with on and off for some time and finally decided to wrap it up (the BDA side anyway).

[whurlston]

Before I post the updated build, I wanted to double check they TUNING_SPECIAL settings: Here's what I have come up with but I wanted to make sure I'm on the right track:

Code:

0 - Other/None
1 - OnAir GT QAM mechanism
2 - Hauppauge/Generic QAM mechanism
3 - VistaView QAM mechanism
4 - FireDTV DVB-S/S2 mechanism
5 - Hauppage DVB-S/S2 mechanism
6 - Reseved for future use
7 - Reseved for future use
8 - Reseved for future use
9 - Reseved for future use

I may put these in a config xml as well so they can be updated without having to rebuild the executable.

[kwrobel]

I am entirely new to QAM. I recently bought the (cheap) KWorld PlusTV 340U USB ATSC/QAM tuner, and ran into the same problems many have run into when buying a device that's too new.

My question is: what is exactly the difference between TUNING_SPECIAL 1,2 and 3? I have tried all 3 of these QAM tuning mechanisms, and neither of them yields any results when scanning. I also fiddled around with the qam.ini file, and can't seem to be able to get that right either. So if somebody knowledgable could shed some light on how the qam.ini file is supposed to work, that would be great.

On the good side, I found that the software that came with the dongle, Arcsoft's TotalMedia 3 is perfectly able to tune the cable frequencies, and I am able to pick up many clearQAM local stations, like WTTWDT. However, their software's EPG with TitanTV seems broken, on my Vista box anyway.

In Arcsoft's directories, I found a file called atsc.set, which, when opened with a text editor, reveals all the QAM frequencies it scans. These frequencies seem to be the same as those listed in the qam.ini file in GBPVR\BDA\ATSC\HVR1600. I can post that file here if anybody wants to see it.

Again, my most pressing question is: why does none of the three tuning mechanisms defined in bda.ini under TUNING_SPECIAL work with this particular USB device? (Btw. that's an EMPIA em2870 chip, aka BDA 2870 USB Device).

Thanks.

Kay

[sub]

My question is: what is exactly the difference between TUNING_SPECIAL 1,2 and 3? I have tried all 3 of these QAM tuning mechanisms, and neither of them yields any results when scanning. I also fiddled around with the qam.ini file, and can't seem to be able to get that right either. So if somebody knowledgable could shed some light on how the qam.ini file is supposed to work, that would be great.

'1' is proprietary to OnAir and wont do anything on any other manufacturers device. '3' is proprietary to VistaView, so also wont work on other manufacturers devices. '2' is the most generic method, but was only really intended to support the Hauppauge HVR1600/1800, so compatibility with other manufacturers devices can be a bit hit or miss (up to manufacturer if this method works or not).

If '2' doesnt work with your KWorld device, then its likely they have some other proprietary method for QAM tuning on their devices, and ArcSoft have most likely be given information about this. Unless kworld supplied me that info, there isnt much likelihood of getting this device working with GB-PVR.

[sub]

Before I post the updated build, I wanted to double check they TUNING_SPECIAL settings: Here's what I have come up with but I wanted to make sure I'm on the right track:

Code:

0 - Other/None
1 - OnAir GT QAM mechanism
2 - Hauppauge/Generic QAM mechanism
3 - VistaView QAM mechanism
4 - FireDTV DVB-S/S2 mechanism
5 - Hauppage DVB-S/S2 mechanism

Sorry, I didnt see this post earlier or I would habe responded earlier. Yes that list is correct.

[whurlston]

No problem. I just figured it was correct or you would have corrected me. Thanks for confirming.

[kwrobel]

'1' is proprietary to OnAir and wont do anything on any other manufacturers device. '3' is proprietary to VistaView, so also wont work on other manufacturers devices. '2' is the most generic method, but was only really intended to support the Hauppauge HVR1600/1800, so compatibility with other manufacturers devices can be a bit hit or miss (up to manufacturer if this method works or not).

If '2' doesnt work with your KWorld device, then its likely they have some other proprietary method for QAM tuning on their devices, and ArcSoft have most likely be given information about this. Unless kworld supplied me that info, there isnt much likelihood of getting this device working with GB-PVR.

Thank you. That is kind of what I have figured thus far. I can see when GB-PVR is scanning for stations that signal strength/quality indicators actually blip to non-zero values. To me, that would indicate that a signal was found. Yet, it doesn't "find" the stations. Which brings me to another question I had for this forum:

How exactly does the qam.ini file work? I mean, what is its field description? I figure that the first number right to the equal symbol represents the actual frequency on the cable signal. But what do the other two numbers after that stand for? I saw on a separate post where whurlston posted alternative qam.ini files with the note "virtual stations". Could one of the developers please elaborate a bit more on the qam.ini file?

Thanks,

Kay

[sub]

I figure that the first number right to the equal symbol represents the actual frequency on the cable signal

Correct.

But what do the other two numbers after that stand for?

These other two numbers arent used. They're there for historic reasons.

I can see when GB-PVR is scanning for stations that signal strength/quality indicators actually blip to non-zero values.

Does it ever say "locked=1" in your config.exe.log?