Problems with DVB-S

[geoff.house]

Hi.

All the documentation I can find suggests that you can't stream DVB under windows, but I'm assuming this refers to an old version?

I'm based in the UK, and all I want to do is show BBC One in VLC. I'm using a Hauppauge Nova-S PCI card, and I get a great picture using their supplied app (WinTV). I've tried to get it working in VLC and failed completely.

I've used various combinations of the following commands:

"C:\Program Files\VideoLAN\VLC\vlc.exe" dvb-s:// :dvb-frequency=10773250 :dvb-srate=22000 :dvb-voltage=18 :sout=#duplicate{dst=std{access=udp,dst=239.1.1.1:1234}} :program=6301

"C:\Program Files\VideoLAN\VLC\vlc.exe" dvbs:// :dvb-frequency=10773250 :dvb-srate=22000 :program=6301

"C:\Program Files\VideoLAN\VLC\vlc.exe" dvb-s:// :dvb-frequency=10773250 :dvb-srate=22000

"C:\Program Files\VideoLAN\VLC\vlc.exe" dvbs:// :pol=H :dvb-frequency=10773250 :dvb-srate=22000

If anybody has any ideas I'd be really appreciative! I've been working on this for 4 days now and am getting nowhere!

Here's a copy of my message window:
------------------------------------------------------------------------

main debug: starting new item
main debug: processing request item dvbs:// node Playlist skip 0
main debug: resyncing on dvbs://
main debug: dvbs:// is at 0
main debug: creating new input thread
main debug: Creating an input for 'dvbs://'
main debug: thread started
main debug: waiting for thread initialization
main debug: `dvbs://' gives access `dvbs' demux `' path `'
main debug: thread 4656 (input) created at priority 1 (input/input.c:370)
qt4 debug: Updating the stream status: 3
main debug: creating demux: access='dvbs' demux='' path=''
main debug: looking for access_demux module: 0 candidates
main warning: no access_demux module matched "dvbs"
main debug: TIMER module_Need() : 0.230 ms - Total 0.230 ms / 1 intvls (Avg 0.230 ms)
main debug: creating access 'dvbs' path=''
main debug: looking for access module: 1 candidate
bda debug: FindFilter: Connected Hauppauge WinTV 88x DVB-S Tuner/Demod
bda debug: FindFilter: Connected Hauppauge WinTV 88x TS Capture
bda debug: FindFilter: Connected BDA MPEG2 Transport Information Filter
bda debug: Register: registered Graph: VLC BDA Graph 00d61438 Pid 00000ac8
main debug: using access module "bda"
main debug: TIMER module_Need() : 1587.466 ms - Total 1587.466 ms / 1 intvls (Avg 1587.466 ms)
qt4 debug: New Event: type 1103
main debug: Using AStream*Block
main debug: pre buffering
qt4 debug: Updating the stream status: 2
bda warning: BDA GetBufferSize: Timed Out waiting for sample
main error: cannot pre fill buffer
main warning: cannot create a stream_t from access
qt4 debug: New Event: type 1103
qt4 debug: Updating the stream status: 9
main debug: finished input
main debug: dying input
qt4 debug: Updating the stream status: 8
main debug: dying input
main debug: dying input
main debug: dying input
main debug: dying input
main debug: removing module "bda"
main debug: thread ended
main debug: dead input
main debug: thread times: real 0m4.156250s, kernel 0m1.031250s, user 0m0.000000s
main debug: thread 4656 joined (playlist/engine.c:244)
main debug: TIMER input launching for 'dvbs://' : 4200.962 ms - Total 4200.962 ms / 1 intvls (Avg 4200.962 ms)
main debug: starting new item
main debug: changing item without a request (current 0/1)
main debug: nothing to play

------------------------------------------------------------------------

Thank you!

Geoff House

[Jean-Baptiste Kempf]

bda warning: BDA GetBufferSize: Timed Out waiting for sample

Doesn't help much to debug, I am afraid.

[geoff.house]

Is there anything else I can do to find out more?

Thanks!

[VLC_help]

You might want to try a driver update for your BDA device.

[geoff.house]

Thanks for that!

I'm pretty sure I've got the latest drivers. I've also managed to get vlc to work with the Hauppauge Nova-T, so I know it's not a problem with my system.

I've tried a few other programs like ProgDVB and DVBDream, which all seem to work fine. This leads me to think it's just(ha!) a tuning issue. Is there any way I can confirm that vlc is receiving the frequency and symbol rate settings I'm giving it?

Is there any other way that I can get debug messages or anything that would help? At the moment, I'm running vlc from the command line, then having to open the message window before pressing 'play' again to get the error messages. Is this the right thing to do?

Thanks for your help so far!!



Geoff

[Jean-Baptiste Kempf]

Which Nova-T , btw?

Well, the issue is clearly on the BDA DVB-S coding side, but well... You have to debug this new module, sorry.

[KenS]

Have a look at my response here

[KenS]

Did some testing with Lorni and have established that vlc 0.9.8a works on DVB-S in a situation with a LNB connected directly to the receiver and with linear polarisation. Lorni can switch frequency, symbolrate and polarisation and receive signals.
When he switched to a different LNB with circular polarisation we could not get a signal.

There are a huge number of parameters used in the DVB-S module and it seems to be sensitive to the physical setup of DiSQqC, LNB etc...
Any info on your setup plus screenshots of the parameters used in DVBDream, WinTV or ProgDVB would help.

[KenS]

I am beginning to understand how DVB-S works.

For any questions on DVB-S (for now) the critical information is:
1) Are you using DISEqC?
2) What model of LNB (or LNBs) are you using?

If you know the Local Oscillator Frequency (LOF or LO Frequency) of your LNB you need to specify on the command line :dvb-lnb-lof1=<your LNB's LOF>

[KenS]

We have success. VLC 0.9.8a DVB-S module is working just fine.

It is critical to include :dvb-lnb-lof1 (and :dvb-lnb-lof2 and :dvb-lnb-slof for dual band LNBs) matching the Local Oscillator Frequency (LOF) of the LNB you are using. You should also be able to set these in Preferences to save them.
You also need to specify :dvb-frequency :dvb-srate and :dvb-polarisation relevant to the transponder in the command line or on the input form.
Please note that the default value for :dvb-srate is not suitable - it has 3 zeroes (000) too many.

DISEqC switching is not yet supported and is not handled in a standard way in BDA - each manufacturer is different.

[SteveBickell]

Hi Kens

Do you have an example of the command line you use?

What's the name of the VLC source file for DVB-S?

Thanks

Steve.

[geoff.house]

Thank you so much for all this. I'll give it a try.
In the meantime I switched to Fedora, which has taken me the last few weeks to figure out. Maybe I'll go back to windows now...



Geoff

[KenS]

Hi Kens
Do you have an example of the command line you use?
What's the name of the VLC source file for DVB-S?

So much depends on your hardware setup but here is an example:
vlc.exe dvb-s:// :dvb-frequency=12153000 :dvb-srate=27500 :dvb-polarisation="L" :dvb-lnb-lof1=10600000

Source code is in modules/access/bda - main module is bdagraph.cpp

[KenS]

Thank you so much for all this. I'll give it a try.
In the meantime I switched to Fedora, which has taken me the last few weeks to figure out. Maybe I'll go back to windows now...

The latest fixes are not in the 0.9 nightlies - just in 1.0
But so far 1.0 does not work for me. However, we can get the new features working if I compile for 0.9 and replace the plugin on a 0.9.8a installation

[SteveBickell]

Hi KenS

Thanks for the information.

To tune to a specific station (eg TVNZ One which has a SID of 1035) do you need to specify the 'dvb-network-id' parameter?

Steve

[ikusat]

We have success. VLC 0.9.8a DVB-S module is working just fine.

It is critical to include :dvb-lnb-lof1 (and :dvb-lnb-lof2 and :dvb-lnb-slof for dual band LNBs) matching the Local Oscillator Frequency (LOF) of the LNB you are using. You should also be able to set these in Preferences to save them.
You also need to specify :dvb-frequency :dvb-srate and :dvb-polarisation relevant to the transponder in the command line or on the input form.
Please note that the default value for :dvb-srate is not suitable - it has 3 zeroes (000) too many.

DISEqC switching is not yet supported and is not handled in a standard way in BDA - each manufacturer is different.

(Kind of an old thread, but it was the only one I could find that actually helped me get my DVB-S stream working.)

I just wanted to note that I had to enter the full number for dvb-srate in order to get it to work; 27500000 for a 27500k symbol rate. If I did not, when I tried to do anything else with VLC, I'd just get a dying input loop which required a reboot to clear.