[Wolves] Ott request building PVR with Linux

Tue Mar 2 12:45:05 UTC 2021

There's a kernel driver so it should work:

https://www.linuxtv.org/wiki/index.php/Compro_VideoMate_S350

It looks like there are 3 revisions of the card and you may need to set
a kernel module argument for one particular variant:

https://forum.mxlinux.org/viewtopic.php?t=48872

If you get to that point then you might be better off coming back and
asking for help. If you saw John's talk the other week you will remember
you can use commands like dmesg, lspci, lsmod and modinfo to find out
information about the card and its driver.

So that's the driver end, what you need next is a front-end to scan for
channels and switch between them. I don't know much about this kind of
thing but it looks like Kaffeine (the KDE media player) supports DVB and
manages the scanning and tuning all in one. Outside of Kaffeine it's
normally a 2-stop process to scan for channels and write them out to a
file then use some other tool to watch them:

https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/DVB-S

https://www.linuxtv.org/wiki/index.php/TV_Related_Software

If you're using Kodi or Libreelec then you'll need to look into how to
get it up and running with those rather than Kaffeine.

As an aside there's no need to gamble on whether some bit of hardware
will work. I figured out whether the S350 will work on Linux just by
Googling "Linux videomate s350" and what to watch it with using "Linux
dvb-s software". You can do that with pretty much any bit of hardware
before purchasing. The messy gap between definitely will work and
definitely won't work should be pretty thin these days.

As for whether any particular card can output 720p is down to whether
the tuner in the card supports it, rather the interface it uses. In this
case, it looks like the one your bought should:

http://docs.xenex.co.uk/box/videomate/S350.pdf

https://docplayer.net/31095363-Videomate-s350-dvb-s-pci-tv-tuner-card-start-up-guide-compro-technology-inc.html

It supports 1080i, which is 720p upscaled to 1080. I note it recommends
a 2.6 GHz CPU for watching HD. That's based on a Windows XP/Vista PC
spec so might not be relevant with the advancement in CPU multimedia
extensions since then, but it presumably comes down to the CPU's ability
to decode the AV stream. It looks like the PC you have comes with either
a second gen Core-i5, i3 or Pentium processor so you should be fine with
those, though it may come with a Celeron which may not be up to it.

In the case of USB transfer speeds then given the age of the respective
technologies I'd be surprised if there were any USB 1.1 DVB-S tuners
that support HD. USB 2.0 came out in 2000 and supports 480Mb/s. DVB-S2
came out in 2003 so as long as you don't connect a USB 2.0 tuner to an
old USB 1.1 port it should work fine.

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On 01/03/2021 20:16, Mark Croft Redditch Linux Mint via Wolves wrote:
> Sorry bad request n English poor..
> 
> Need a dvbs card too fit the dell optiplex 3010..
> 
> I got one on route from eBay took a gamble it will work.. 
> 'Videomate s350 Digital Satellite TV Tuner and Capture Card - No Remote"
> 
> Got old hp computer that PCI slots..
> Dual core CPU I can not remember exact specifications if the hp tower..
> 
> Maybe try out usb dvb satellite dongle .. are they fast enough too do
> 720p TV?
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> On Sat, 27 Feb 2021, 12:44 pm Adam Sweet via Wolves,
> <wolves at mailman.lug.org.uk <mailto:wolves at mailman.lug.org.uk>> wrote:
> 
>     On Sat, 27 Feb 2021 at 09:44, Ron Wellsted via Wolves
>     <wolves at mailman.lug.org.uk <mailto:wolves at mailman.lug.org.uk>> wrote:
>     >
>     > Take a look at https://libreelec.tv/ <https://libreelec.tv/> This
>     is a lightweight distribution
>     > that has Kodi (formerly XBMC) bundled and is designed for building a
>     > media centre including DVB support.
>     >
>     > I have it running on a Raspberry Pi B+ successfully.
> 
>     Yup, LibreElec is what I was going to suggest too.
> 
>     Ad
> 
> 
>     > On 27/02/2021 03:55, Mark Croft Redditch Linux Mint via Wolves wrote:
>     > > I have dell optiplex 3010 turning into tv header server.
>     > > Need dvb satellite that will fit it..
>     > >
>     > > You got spare dvb satellite card "PCI-e 16x Connector (SLOT1)"
>     > > Trying too build PVR.
> 
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