Sky TV on HTPC (legally!) without a STB

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4032 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted

#164316 14-Sep-2008 11:08

You'd need his version for 17XX cards it seems.

the HD channels require of course a HD subscription, and also a DVB-S2 card.

WaffleMakerMan

138 posts

Master Geek

#164326 14-Sep-2008 12:48

djaggar: And now for some good news - HD channels work.

MyTheatre 4 Beta, NDSCAM 0.0.0.7, 45x sky card (of course for HD), old Jaycar reader

I can't get ATI HW acceleration to work with MyTheatre (can't see any option in the menus, and hacking the registery didn't seem to work either), so picture was very jumpy on old P4 Presecot 3.2 GHz - CPU maxed out at 100%. Audio OK ...

Watched Sport 1 HD, TV3 HD & Aux HD (cartoon network in SD???). The version of MyTheatre is very unstable with S2 cards so runs for about one minute and dies ... I didn't look further as I doubt it is anything more than beta s2 code.

Now scratching my head over GBPVR (hopefully more stable S2 support) and a manual S2 setup

Ofcourse you need to get Mysky HDi for a subscription. Too bad they don't just let anyone subscribe to the HD channels lol.

fieryblast

18 posts

Geek

#164334 14-Sep-2008 14:17

I know that you need a dvb-s2 card which i have but I am not able to find the channels. Even when they aren't decrypted you should be able to find them when you scan the satelite unless they weren't in the config file for the satelite itself.

djaggar

78 posts

Master Geek

Lifetime subscriber

#164403 14-Sep-2008 21:29

fieryblast: I know that you need a dvb-s2 card which i have but I am not able to find the channels. Even when they aren't decrypted you should be able to find them when you scan the satelite unless they weren't in the config file for the satelite itself.

With sn HVR4000 (S2) I needed to force the modulation to 8psk and the error correction to 2/3 (I think) in MyTheatre. GBPVR has a shortcoming that meams is doesn't set uo the s2 devce properly yet ...

WaffleMakerMan

138 posts

Master Geek

#164405 14-Sep-2008 21:45

fieryblast: Hi, ive just finished building mysef one of those smartcard readers (and i did the mod to it, didnt work otherwise). Im able to decode with ndscam 0.0.0.7 but not version 0.0.0.5. Im using an 17xx card unfortunately and even tho it decodes fine for like 10-30 seconds then dies and have to reselect the ca stream i ndscam monitor. btw i cant get it to stick on 0x96A for some reason. This is using altdvb as mediaportal for some reason wont decode at alll. One thing I noticed is that my insterted card led almost fully turns off when the card is being read.

Any ideas? I would love to fix this problem. ATM in not even sure if I get at 45xx card that it will make any difference as I think it may be the card reader but it seems to be built right.

Did you try setting cmd=12 in NDSCAM.ini? just a thought. The LED getting dim might indicate a problem with the mod perhaps? as my unmodded on has N/C (thats with a 45XX card though), does it progressivly get dimmer or just go's a continous "dim" when reading?

fieryblast

18 posts

Geek

#164411 14-Sep-2008 23:12

The mod doesnt do anything bad, maybe helps a little but definately doesnt break anything. The LED's go dim once you start reading and stay that way, no flickering or anythin. I dont think the leds matter all that much anyway as long as the card works. Once you change the voltage regulator to a bigger 7805 or bypass it completely and use a computers 5v from the atx plug then its fine.

Ive got gareths version of ndscam and will test it soon. a bit busy atm with exams and such.

Also Ive tryed CMD=12 and it helps a little but doesnt fix it fully. I dont think its the card and card reader at fault here but the software itself not sending the right data to the card.

anyways will let you know of my progress. BTW does anyone know how to add the nz channels to Vista TV Pack 2008? That is the satelite freeview ones. I only get the australian ones for some reason but haven't had the time to really look into it.

fieryblast

18 posts

Geek

#164507 15-Sep-2008 13:28

Ive just tested with gareths version on ndscam and it works quite well. Still have the 10 sec bug but otherwise its stable. CMD=12 doesnt seems to do anything. I still cant get MediaPortal running with it. When I look at NDScam logs it says something about invalid code. As far as ive mangaed to debug it its the MDAPI filter that doesnt proccess the data from NDS cam right but I guess this could all be fixed if I can get a 45xx card.

A workaround for the 10second bug for 17xx cards might be to timeshift the file for say 5-10 seconds then decode the file on the fly and prefetch the codes in advance after that so that there isnt any delay in decoding. Problem with this approach is that there isnt any program that timeshifts an encrypted stream to file then decodes it for playback, all in one app.

For a gapless playback we need to prefetch the next set of codes about a second before(for 17xx cards, not sure about 45xx cards) we need them as currently the it takes about a second to get the codes and proccess them and start decoding. NDScam does this already but for some reason it doesnt work very well with the 17xx cards. And without the source code to ndscam we cant try to fix it, and without a small timeshift we can't get the next set of codes from the data stream to send to the card earlier to compensate for the proccesing time.

thats my opinion anyway

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taylorit

73 posts

Master Geek

#164512 15-Sep-2008 13:34

fieryblast: Ive just tested with gareths version on ndscam and it works quite well. Still have the 10 sec bug ?but otherwise its stable. CMD=12 doesnt seems to do anything. I still cant get MediaPortal running with it. When I look at NDScam logs it says something about invalid code. As far as ive mangaed to debug it its the MDAPI filter that doesnt proccess the data from NDS cam right but I guess this could all be fixed if I can get a 45xx card.

A workaround for the 10second bug for 17xx cards might be to timeshift the file for say 5-10 seconds then decode the file on the fly and prefetch the codes in advance after that so that there isnt any delay in decoding. Problem with this approach is that there isnt any program that timeshifts an encrypted stream to file then decodes it for playback, all in one app. ?

For a gapless playback we need to prefetch the next set of codes about a second before(for 17xx cards, not sure about 45xx cards) we need them as currently the it takes about a second to get the codes and proccess them and start decoding. NDScam does this already but for some reason it doesnt work very well with the 17xx cards. And without the source code to ndscam we cant try to fix it, and without a small timeshift we can't get the next set of codes from the data stream to send to the card earlier to compensate for the proccesing time.

thats my opinion anyway

Just a thought have you tried booting the card up at 6mhz rather than 3.75mhz and chaging the baud rate to reflect this, if you can get the comms working faster then maybe it will then deliver the codes at the required rate. As the 45xx cards have no probs running at 3.75mhz and a slower baud rate. I'm sure I read somewhere the rev 1 & 2 cards worked at a faster odd ball clock and baud rate

fieryblast

18 posts

Geek

#164618 15-Sep-2008 20:42

Ive tryed 6mhz with auto baud rate and it didnt recognise the card. what baud rate should I try?

PS the actual error I get in mediaportal is:

(Phoenix)Invalid SW: E0 E0

Any ideas?

graemer

29 posts

Geek

#165499 18-Sep-2008 22:30

cranz: Ok here you go then. Quick job put up, will have another crack at a better guide *hopefully* this weekend when I have some more time to play around (and run another coax cable to this room!)

Hmmm.. this is getting annoying.
I have a HVR-4000 and am using the satellite connection as I don't have a decent Freeview signal.

The guide above says to tune to a freeview channel to get the MDPlugins stuff created, problem is that I can't do this and no channel that I tune to seems to create the directory and required files.

Am I doing something wrong or is there something missing or an alternative that people can think of?

Thanks

fieryblast

18 posts

Geek

#165506 18-Sep-2008 22:46

Yes. I know what the mods were for. However they dont hurt so no harm done. For the folders to be created you need to install mdapi. For some the automated install fails so you have to do it by hand then it works. Basicly copy all the files to the tv server directory and then do regsvr32 on the or ax files (forgot what they were exactly). then it should work.

idkpmiller

24 posts

Geek

#165524 18-Sep-2008 23:32

I see someone was tinkering with GBPVR any luck?

1. I am trying to see if I could get my Dreambox with a 45xx card to stream the unencrypted channel to GBPVR. Easy part - done
2. Want the dreambox to share the 45xx key - think this is done, need next step to confirm.
3. Need GBPVR to receive the key and use it to decrypt a local DVB-S signal

Is this possible? any clues on how to acheive steps 3 would be great

Cheers

graemer

29 posts

Geek

#165564 19-Sep-2008 09:17

fieryblast: Yes. I know what the mods were for. However they dont hurt so no harm done. For the folders to be created you need to install mdapi. For some the automated install fails so you have to do it by hand then it works. Basicly copy all the files to the tv server directory and then do regsvr32 on the or ax files (forgot what they were exactly). then it should work.

Thanks for the pointer fieryblast..
Scary stuff - Unix guy playing with cmd and install files in Vista 64!

Anyway, as you can tell, Vista in't my forte, so when trying to register the mdapifilter.ax from the cmd tool, I get an error box saying the register server has stopped working. Is there something special I have to do to make it work? I have just copied the step out of the install script.

Thanks

djaggar

78 posts

Master Geek

Lifetime subscriber

#165605 19-Sep-2008 11:45

idkpmiller: I see someone was tinkering with GBPVR any luck?

1. I am trying to see if I could get my Dreambox with a 45xx card to stream the unencrypted channel to GBPVR. Easy part - done
2. Want the dreambox to share the 45xx key - think this is done, need next step to confirm.
3. Need GBPVR to receive the key and use it to decrypt a local DVB-S signal

Is this possible? any clues on how to acheive steps 3 would be great

Cheers

I'm waiting on the author of GBPVR to look at why GBPVR does not work with the HVR4000's DVB-S2 mode in New Zealand (where I believe we have to force the modulation, FEC etc). It works fine for DVB-S ...

What software are you using to share your card? Presumably you want a MDAPI plugin for that software and install that in GBPVR ...

fieryblast

18 posts

Geek

#165624 19-Sep-2008 12:59

graemer:
fieryblast: Yes. I know what the mods were for. However they dont hurt so no harm done. For the folders to be created you need to install mdapi. For some the automated install fails so you have to do it by hand then it works. Basicly copy all the files to the tv server directory and then do regsvr32 on the or ax files (forgot what they were exactly). then it should work.

Thanks for the pointer fieryblast..
Scary stuff - Unix guy playing with cmd and install files in Vista 64!

Anyway, as you can tell, Vista in't my forte, so when trying to register the mdapifilter.ax from the cmd tool, I get an error box saying the register server has stopped working. Is there something special I have to do to make it work? I have just copied the step out of the install script.

Thanks

Thats what i did as well. Theres nothing special to it except you need to install visual c++ sp1 from microsoft first. Then for the regsvr32 to work right you need to be in the same folder as the file your trying to register otherwise vista sometimes does random crap. Also you need all the files like mfc80.dl and msvc*.dll and Microsoft.VC80.CRT.manifest in the same folder for it to work.So folder structure should be like so:
TV Server Dir -All tv server files including setup.exe and tvserver.exe and so forth
-mdapifilter.ax
-Microsoft.VC80.CRT.manifest
-mfc80.dll
-all the msvc*.dll files
-VistaTrayIcon folder
-VistaTrayIcon.cmd file (you dont need this unless you wan the icon in the system tray.

Hopefully you can get it working

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