Sky TV on HTPC (legally!) without a STB

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495 posts

Ultimate Geek

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#188776 11-Jan-2009 13:24

Satch: Righto, got the error message again. It is the 'Service is Unavailable' message. I left it on that message while I went to get pen and paper to write it down, and when I got back it had turned into the 'No TV Signal' message.

Incidentially, I got this error (lost the Sky signal) after I logged off and back onto my HTPC while trying to do something else with watched folders. Note that I just logged off and back on and did not actually reboot.

Does this give you any helpful info Rusty?

Helps a bit...

I think I've finally figured out whats causing the issue - it seems to be SoftCSA within DVBViewer - what version are you using? ie v2.4 or v3.0.

The reason I say this is that using 2.4 I can get it to lose signal changing from channel 32 to 31 ie Sky Sport 3 (non HD), to Sky Sport 2 (HD. h.264). Under 3.0 it makes the change, but 3.0 has some other issues.

If it is this it will be a hard one to fix - not alot of support of this stuff around...

Klathman

301 posts

Ultimate Geek

#188785 11-Jan-2009 13:49

Just a couple of gotchas that I've recently found with MediaPortal and this setup.

I've had major audio codec issues with getting all the sky channels to consistently play. If I used the Microsoft audio decoder then all of the SD channels worked but the HD channels didn't but if I used the cyberlink or ffdshow codecs then the HD channels worked but some of the SD ones didn't.

These included:

Nick
Cartoon Network
Sky News
CNN
MGM

I'm sure there's others but can't remember all of them.

Anyway I found that upgrading to a new test release of the FFDshow filter seems to have worked as long as I set prefer AC3. The HD MPEG audio channel seems to be a new codec (MPEG2:ANG) which nothing seems to like but the AC3 sound on those channels works fine. Don't know why the MS decoder doesn't like the AC3 channel though.

Another bit of news is that I found on the help web site for the inifinity card reader that you can start VCP using switches. Unfortunately this doesn't currently support increasing boost to 2x but at least it works if the machine is ever rebooted while I'm away. Helps the WAF a bit.

Overall I've found that if I leave things alone that all works fine but every so often if I play requiring the TVService to be restarted lots that eventually it won't like talking to the sky card any more requiring a reboot to fix. But now that the audio is fixed all seems sweet.

Satch

1985 posts

Uber Geek

#188834 11-Jan-2009 19:15

Rusty I'm running v2.4 of SoftCSA. Should I upgrade to v3.0? What other issues does it introduce?

RustyGonad

495 posts

Ultimate Geek

Trusted

#188845 11-Jan-2009 20:46

Satch: Rusty I'm running v2.4 of SoftCSA. Should I upgrade to v3.0? What other issues does it introduce?

Stay with 2.4 for now. 3.0 reacts differently, but I can't say its any more stable, especially with h.264.

When you install SoftCSA did you install CSA.dll, MakroCSA.dll and FFdeCSA.dll as well?

If you did something to try - Stop the DVBSBridge service then delete CSA.dll, MakroCSA.dll and FFdeCSA.dll from the DVBViewer directory. Reboot and see if this makes any difference.

Cheers,

Satch

1985 posts

Uber Geek

#188951 12-Jan-2009 12:37

RustyGonad:When you install SoftCSA did you install CSA.dll, MakroCSA.dll and FFdeCSA.dll as well?

If you did something to try - Stop the DVBSBridge service then delete CSA.dll, MakroCSA.dll and FFdeCSA.dll from the DVBViewer directory. Reboot and see if this makes any difference.

Cheers,

Hmm, I remember MakroCSA.dll, but not the other two. I'll give that a go (deleting them/moving them) tonight when I get home. Thanks yet again!

NickDvB

1 post

Wannabe Geek

#189081 12-Jan-2009 21:13

SoftCSA v3 now seems to handle CSA internally (you can delete all the CSA dlls and it still clears)

even so it is still very inefficient, I would ditch SoftCSA and NCE/NDScam and use the Acamd plugin instead,

it supports the native DVBViewer plugin API and should give you much faster channel changes and lower CPU usage.

But it does not support NDS cards internally so you will have to run a local NewCS server in the background.

I have uploaded everything you should need here:

http://www.megaupload.com/?d=CZR0INZF

I pre-configured it for $kyUK but all you should have to do is open cardclient.conf and edit the last line,

just change “0961” to whatever CAID value is displayed in NewCS for your NZ smartcards.

NewCS is configured for a phoenix on COM1 but you can change that in newcs.xml,

If v1.6 won't detect your smartcard try v1.62, if that doesn't work you are out of luck I’m afraid.

Remember to start NewCS *before* running DVBViewer, (but NewCS does not need restarting each time)

Unfortunately I had to disable EMMs updates because they just reset NewCS,

so you will still need to put the card back in a Sky decoder to update it and keep it active.

If you have a linux PC around you could use CCcam + EmuBox to keep the card updated,

many people run CCcam on windows though Virtualbox / VMware but it's not for the faint hearted.

PS - as long as you are running the NewCS server on the same PC that you are watching on

then I see no reason why this method is any less "legal" than using NDScam... ; )

I hope that lot makes sense, good luck with it.

Nick [D]vB

RustyGonad

495 posts

Ultimate Geek

Trusted

#189085 12-Jan-2009 21:34

Satch:
RustyGonad:When you install SoftCSA did you install CSA.dll, MakroCSA.dll and FFdeCSA.dll as well?

If you did something to try - Stop the DVBSBridge service then delete CSA.dll, MakroCSA.dll and FFdeCSA.dll from the DVBViewer directory. Reboot and see if this makes any difference.

Cheers,

Hmm, I remember MakroCSA.dll, but not the other two. I'll give that a go (deleting them/moving them) tonight when I get home. Thanks yet again!

Done some more testing and came up with another solution - Throw DVBViewer/SoftCSA away...

I've been playing around with DVBDream - simply because I couldn't get DVBViewer/SoftCSA stable with h.264. Anyway to cut a long story short using Windows 7 its seems bulletproof.

Current setup:

Hardware:
AMD Dual 4600
2 GB
Nivida 9400GT
1 x HVR 2200 - Freeview DVB-T only
1 x HVR 4000 - PPV (incl HD) via DVBViewer
1 x HVR 3000 - Guide card only ie it does nothing other than provide a clean source for the guide, using a similar method to what your currently using.

Software
Windows 7 .7000
DVBDream 1.4i
NDSCam 0.007 with DCW (not sure if this does much but its working well so its staying)
DVBSBridgePro for DVBDream
Hauppauge 4.6b

PPV Channel changes are near instant, CPU useage is low <30% on PPV HD vs 60-70% using DVBViewer. Best of all I can't get it to crash - need to run it for a few days to pass the long term test, but given the way its going it seems all good. However it records Freeview h.264 at the same time as PPV h.264, and lets me watch another channel at the same time which is a pretty solid test of stability.

I'll schedule some recording tonite to test it out some more.

The only downside is the lack of the simple EPG solution (this should improve once the guide download solutions are in place).

The other downside for you is that I don't think you'll get it this stable on the TV Pack... Time to download the 7 beta...

It should however be a relatively easy changeover to test - DVBViewer is freeware and you can install it alongside your existing setup to see if it improves things.

Let me know if you need any help.

Equinox IT

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sbiddle

30853 posts

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Retired Mod

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Biddle Corp

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#189119 13-Jan-2009 06:47

wally5: Hello Nick[D]vB, Are you the same Nick from Happysat org. I am very interested about cardsharing, maybe if have a good read of your forums at Happysat, i might learn something, its not easy when you don't understand anything. thanks Wally.

Just be warned that any discussions on card sharing on here may be edited or deleted. Sharing cards between users is essentially theft which is illegal.

Satch

1985 posts

Uber Geek

#189173 13-Jan-2009 12:17

wally5: Hello Nick[D]vB, Are you the same Nick from Happysat org. I am very interested about cardsharing, maybe if have a good read of your forums at Happysat, i might learn something, its not easy when you don't understand anything. thanks Wally.

Can someone please delete this ________'s post as I don't want my thread shut down!

Satch

1985 posts

Uber Geek

#189177 13-Jan-2009 12:27

RustyGonad: The other downside for you is that I don't think you'll get it this stable on the TV Pack... Time to download the 7 beta...

Whooaa! This is a complete change of direction! Please do let me know over the next few days how stable it proves.

I was trying to avoid downloading the beta as it will result in a full set up again. Is it possible to use Win 7 on my HTPC as a dual boot so I don't have to trash my existing Vista setup?

Also, why wouldn't I get this stable on the TV Pack?

P.S. Glad to see you got the trusted tick. :)

RustyGonad

495 posts

Ultimate Geek

Trusted

#189209 13-Jan-2009 14:07

Satch:
RustyGonad: The other downside for you is that I don't think you'll get it this stable on the TV Pack... Time to download the 7 beta...

Whooaa! This is a complete change of direction! Please do let me know over the next few days how stable it proves.

I was trying to avoid downloading the beta as it will result in a full set up again. Is it possible to use Win 7 on my HTPC as a dual boot so I don't have to trash my existing Vista setup?

Also, why wouldn't I get this stable on the TV Pack?

P.S. Glad to see you got the trusted tick. :)

Shoudn't be too hard to setup alongside your DVBViewer setup ie using the TV Pack, in effect you need to do the following:

1. Download and install DVBDream 1.4i. Use your 1600.ini - put it in the Transponder folder in the DVBDream directory.
2. Setup, install NDSCam 0.007 into the plugins folder. Install DCW in here as well (I'll send it to you)
3. Tune, and sort channels etc in DVBDream (I did this without using ffdshow as the codec, although you could just as easily do it blind ie with no codecs)
3. Install DVBSBridge for DVBDream Pro (just to DVBDream specific piece, you don't need to reinstall the DVBSBridge tuners again). Point it to the application directory and DVBDream.exe, this will switch DVBSBridge over from DVBViewer, however both will still be selectable in the DVBSBridge config utility.
4. Map the channels in DVBDream
5. And like you said in the PM, spend a few hours reorganising the media center guide :)

Only issues I had were making sure that DVBDream and Media Center were using seperate DVB-S cards (ie not the same tuner card which will lock Media Center).

As for Windows 7:
1. Bugs - 7 MCE has fixed many of the bugs the TV Pack still has. I know its a beta, but calling the TV Pack a stable release it optomistic to say the least.
2. Functionality - h.264 enuff said
3. Better multi tuner support (see point 1)

With the DVBViewer/TV Pack setup, you kinda moved around the things you knew would trip it up.

With my current setup stability is the best I've ever had from any Media Center build I've done - recorded 4 shows last nite, all h.264, all went without a hitch. Also done a couple of hundred test "channel flicks" without so much as a hickup.

sbiddle

30853 posts

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#189214 13-Jan-2009 14:26

Satch:
wally5: Hello Nick[D]vB, Are you the same Nick from Happysat org. I am very interested about cardsharing, maybe if have a good read of your forums at Happysat, i might learn something, its not easy when you don't understand anything. thanks Wally.

Can someone please delete this ________'s post as I don't want my thread shut down!

It's really just more of a warning. I reread this whole thread again the other day and it's certainly a very valuable resource. There is certainly a fine line however between what is legal and what could be seen as potentially illegal in NZ.

taylorit

73 posts

Master Geek

#189216 13-Jan-2009 14:36

Has anyone figured out how to get multiple channel recording for sky yet.? as I'm running one Nova-S card with ProgDVB (which is a dog) and running ok at present but would like to either add another sat card and be able to record multiple channels at once like I used to do with my MCE 500 and dual decoders.

I'm guessing the limitation is in the DVBSBridge only presenting one virtual DVB turner stream. and being you can only run one instance of ProgDVB also.

Any help would be great.

Also, I've updated my vbs file that I schedule for late at night to launch media center and goto live TV then cycle through every channel for 30secs to populate the TV guide when using TV Pack. Works Great...

'Create the shell object

Set WshShell = WScript.CreateObject("WScript.Shell")
Set oShell = CreateObject("WScript.Shell")

'Launch Media Center Application
WshShell.Run "%SystemRoot%\ehome\ehshell.exe", 9

'Set to Live TV
WScript.Sleep 10000
oShell.SendKeys("^t")

'Set to First TV Channel

WScript.Sleep 10000
oShell.SendKeys("1")

'Start Channel Change Process

WScript.Sleep 30000
oShell.SendKeys("{PGUP}")
WScript.Sleep 30000
oShell.SendKeys("{PGUP}")