Installing TVHeadend and PCTV 292e DVB USB Stick

[Satsearching]

I have installed TVHeadend under Ubuntu 16.04 desktop, but same applies to headless version, if installing headless then worth selecting ssh and samba server during Ubuntu installation.

If using desktop version, then worth installing openssh-server so it is easier to copy and paste over the commands.

sudo apt-get install openssh-server

First, a bit about the driver for the PCTV tripplestick 292e usb tuner.

After googling, many seem to have problems with the driver for this (especially with ESXI), so if you have problems, the below link lists various drivers for this USB stick

http://palosaari.fi/linux/v4l-dvb/firmware/Si2168

Below link is to the latest single driver that many report works well for them, it certainly works for me after testing with DVB-T, DVB-T2 and DVB-C.

http://palosaari.fi/linux/v4l-dvb/fi...68-B40/4.0.25/

The driver needs to go into /lib/firmware/ on your Ubuntu install, to make it easy, the below command should grab that driver and put it into the correct place.

sudo wget http://palosaari.fi/linux/v4l-dvb/firmware/Si2168/Si2168-B40/4.0.25/dvb-demod-si2168-b40-01.fw -O /lib/firmware/dvb-demod-si2168-b40-01.fw

Now, to install TVHeadend

sudo apt-key adv --keyserver hkp://keyserver.ubuntu.com:80 --recv-keys 379CE192D401AB61

echo "deb https://dl.bintray.com/tvheadend/deb xenial stable-4.2" | sudo tee -a /etc/apt/sources.list

sudo apt-get update

sudo apt-get install tvheadend

During the download and installation, you should be prompted to enter a default admin username and password.

When complete, point a browser to your Ubuntu install local IP but ending with the port number :9981/

Login with the user and pass you set during install and go through the setup wizard.

A bit about this line though

echo "deb https://dl.bintray.com/tvheadend/deb xenial stable-4.2" | sudo tee -a /etc/apt/sources.list

xenial is for Ubuntu 16.04, if using Ubuntu 14.04 then replace this with trusty

As for stable-4.2, you could replace this with release-4.2 or unstable versions.

But if new to this (like myself), just stick to stable....

SS

[Satsearching]

Below screen shot of the user interface

tvheadend.jpg

[Satsearching]

Just to add to this.

I was having a lot of freezing on certain muxes, some muxes have a weaker signal, the TVHeadend logs kept showing "Continuity Counter Errors" which after googling reveals a mine field of issues/fixes.

You can try older versions of the 292e Linux firmware driver, below commands to try all versions.


Version 4.0.4

sudo wget http://palosaari.fi/linux/v4l-dvb/firmware/Si2168/Si2168-B40/4.0.4/dvb-demod-si2168-b40-01.fw -O /lib/firmware/dvb-demod-si2168-b40-01.fw

Version 4.0.7

sudo wget http://palosaari.fi/linux/v4l-dvb/firmware/Si2168/Si2168-B40/4.0.7/dvb-demod-si2168-b40-01.fw -O /lib/firmware/dvb-demod-si2168-b40-01.fw

Version 4.0.11

sudo wget http://palosaari.fi/linux/v4l-dvb/firmware/Si2168/Si2168-B40/4.0.11/dvb-demod-si2168-b40-01.fw -O /lib/firmware/dvb-demod-si2168-b40-01.fw

Version 4.0.19

sudo wget http://palosaari.fi/linux/v4l-dvb/firmware/Si2168/Si2168-B40/4.0.19/dvb-demod-si2168-b40-01.fw -O /lib/firmware/dvb-demod-si2168-b40-01.fw

And again, latest 4.0.25

sudo wget http://palosaari.fi/linux/v4l-dvb/firmware/Si2168/Si2168-B40/4.0.25/dvb-demod-si2168-b40-01.fw -O /lib/firmware/dvb-demod-si2168-b40-01.fw

Ensure you Reboot the TVHeadend box every time you try a different driver!


But sometimes you have to go back to basics!
In my case the issue was weak signal, it appears the PCTV Triplestick 292e USB tuner really needs a good signal where as other tuners do not, so after removing attenuators, reducing splitters and changing to shorter lengths of good quality coax, I have got rid of the Continuity Counter Errors and moved back to the latest firmware driver.

An improvement of just 5 dBm in the TVHeadend status screen makes a big difference.

SS

[Wurztha]

I've got TVHeadend setup on Linux Mint 19 and the 292e card is detected and enabled. However I am new to TVHeadend and can't seem to find channels. Here is what I have tried if anyone can help?

DVB Inputs > TV Adapters > Enable Silicon labs Si2168 #0 : DVB-C #0
Networks > Add > Virgin Media > Charachter Set AUTO
Muxes > Add (I suspect this is where I am going wrong?):
Delivery System = DVB-C (Also Tried DVB-C/ANNEX C)
Frequency = 66750000 (Bolton Ex C&W)
Symbol Rate = 6887000
Character Set = Auto

Everything else default here

I then go back to TV Adapters and add the Virgin Media network I created to the 292e card but I get Scan Result Failed in Muxes... What am I doing wrong?

Edit: OK I got this working yesterday using an older version of TVHeadend. I am using Linux Mint 19 so here's what I did if anyone else comes across this with the same issue I had:

Use firmwares from Attis Blog here (Apologies if this isn't allowed to be linked, adding to give credit to the author only please remove link if not allowed) Makes a very nice reading for the hardware inside these little things!
http://blog.palosaari.fi/2014/04/nak...tick-292e.html

Code to add all three

sudo wget http://palosaari.fi/linux/v4l-dvb/fi...2168-a20-01.fw -O /lib/firmware/dvb-demod-si2168-a20-01.fw

sudo wget http://palosaari.fi/linux/v4l-dvb/fi...2168-a30-01.fw -O /lib/firmware/dvb-demod-si2168-a30-01.fw

sudo wget http://palosaari.fi/linux/v4l-dvb/fi...2168-b40-01.fw -O /lib/firmware/dvb-demod-si2168-b40-01.fw

Add Bintray's GPG key

 sudo apt-key adv --keyserver hkp://keyserver.ubuntu.com:80 --recv-keys 379CE192D401AB61

Add TVHeadend, Stable branch official release

 sudo echo deb https://dl.bintray.com/tvheadend/ubuntu stable main | sudo tee -a /etc/apt/sources.list

My TVHeadend setup was the same as above but with the older software it allowed me to select AnnexA, AnnexB or AnnexC. I chose AnnexA

Only problem now is "Continuity counter error" all the time resulting in:

CCError.png

I have redone all the wiring and even run a single fresh cable from the brown box on the wall direct to the PCTV 292e but made no difference at all... My trusty old Genuine DM500C works fine on the same lines... Any ideas how to fix this as I believe I am done once I correct it?

[Satsearching]

I had similar issues, "continuity errors" is normally a signal issue, the 292e dongle does seem a bit odd about signal levels.

Have you tried removing all splitters, or even try an attenuator, you may be swamping the tuner with too much signal.

SS