Re: DVB-S PCI card regression on 4.19 / 4.20

From: Mauro Carvalho Chehab
Date: Tue Nov 20 2018 - 11:09:05 EST


Em Tue, 20 Nov 2018 14:20:01 +0100
stakanov <stakanov@xxxxxxxxxx> escreveu:

> In data martedà 20 novembre 2018 13:42:17 CET, Mauro Carvalho Chehab ha
> scritto:
> > Em Tue, 20 Nov 2018 13:11:58 +0100
> >
> > "Stakanov Schufter" <stakanov@xxxxxxxxxx> escreveu:
> > > Sorry for the delay. Apparently my smtp exits are blocking me (for
> > > whatever reason). I am trying now via web mailer.
> > >
> > >
> > > In short, no it does not work. Only EPG, no pic no sound.
> > > But the error message in dmesg is gone I think.
> > >
> > > uname -a
> > > Linux silversurfer 4.20.0-rc3-2.gfe5d771-default #1 SMP PREEMPT Tue Nov 20
> > > 09:35:04 UTC 2018 (fe5d771) x86_64 x86_64 x86_64 GNU
> > >
> > > dmesg:
> > >
> > > [ 6.412792] b2c2-flexcop: B2C2 FlexcopII/II(b)/III digital TV receiver
> > > chip loaded successfully
> > > [ 6.416645] flexcop-pci: will use the HW PID filter.
> > > [ 6.416648] flexcop-pci: card revision 2
> > > [ 6.423749] scsi host10: usb-storage 9-3.1:1.0
> > > [ 6.423842] usbcore: registered new interface driver usb-storage
> > > [ 6.426029] usbcore: registered new interface driver uas
> > > [ 6.439251] dvbdev: DVB: registering new adapter (FlexCop Digital TV
> > > device)
> > > [ 6.440845] b2c2-flexcop: MAC address = 00:d0:d7:11:8b:58
> > >
> > > [ 6.694999] dvb_pll_attach: delsys: 0, frequency range:
> > > 950000000..2150000000
> > > [ 6.695001] b2c2-flexcop: found 'ST STV0299 DVB-S' .
> > > [ 6.695004] b2c2_flexcop_pci 0000:06:06.0: DVB: registering adapter 0
> > > frontend 0 (ST STV0299 DVB-S)...
> > > [ 6.695050] b2c2-flexcop: initialization of 'Sky2PC/SkyStar 2 DVB-S rev
> > > 2.6' at the 'PCI' bus controlled by a 'FlexCopIIb' complete
> >
> > Well, the Kernel bug is probably gone. I don't see any other recent
> > changes that would be affecting the b2c2 flexcop driver.
> >
> > If you're successfully getting EPG data from the transponders, then it
> > should also be receiving audio and video channels too, as, for the Kernel,
> > there's no difference if a given program ID (PID) contains EPG, audio or
> > video.
> >
> > At the BZ, you're saying that you're using Kaffeine, right?
> >
> > There are a few reasons why you can't watch audio/video, but you're
> > able to get EPG tables:
> >
> > - the audio/video PID had changed;
> > - the audio/video is now encrypted;
> > - too weak signal (or bad cabling).
> >
> > The EPG data comes several times per second on well known PIDs, via a low
> > bandwidth PID and it is not encrypted. So, it is usually trivial to get
> > it.
> >
> > I suggest you to re-scan your channels on Kaffeine, in order to force
> > it to get the new PIDs. Also, please check that the channels you're
> > trying to use are Free to the Air (FTA).
> >
> > You can also use libdvbv5 tools in order to check if you're not
> > losing data due to weak signal/bad cabling. The newer versions
> > of dvbv5-zap have a logic with detects and report data loses, when
> > started on monitor mode (-m command line option). It also prints
> > the transponder bandwidth, and check what PIDs are received.
> >
> > It is very useful to debug problems.
> >
> > Thanks,
> > Mauro
>
> I checked again and:
> [sudo] password di root:
> [ 6.412792] b2c2-flexcop: B2C2 FlexcopII/II(b)/III digital TV receiver chip
> loaded successfully
> [ 6.440845] b2c2-flexcop: MAC address = 00:d0:d7:11:8b:58
> [ 6.695001] b2c2-flexcop: found 'ST STV0299 DVB-S' .
> [ 6.695004] b2c2_flexcop_pci 0000:06:06.0: DVB: registering adapter 0
> frontend 0 (ST STV0299 DVB-S)...
> [ 6.695050] b2c2-flexcop: initialization of 'Sky2PC/SkyStar 2 DVB-S rev
> 2.6' at the 'PCI' bus controlled by a 'FlexCopIIb' complete
> [ 6265.403360] b2c2_flexcop_pci 0000:06:06.0: DVB: adapter 0 frontend 0
> frequency 10719000 out of range (950000..2150000)
> [ 6265.405702] b2c2_flexcop_pci 0000:06:06.0: DVB: adapter 0 frontend 0
> frequency 10723000 out of range (950000..2150000)
> [ 6265.407120] b2c2_flexcop_pci 0000:06:06.0: DVB: adapter 0 frontend 0
> frequency 10757000 out of range (950000..2150000)
> [ 6265.408556] b2c2_flexcop_pci 0000:06:06.0: DVB: adapter 0 frontend 0
> frequency 10775000 out of range (950000..2150000)
> [ 6265.409754] b2c2_flexcop_pci 0000:06:06.0: DVB: adapter 0 frontend 0
> frequency 10795000 out of range (950000..2150000)
> [ 6399.837806] b2c2_flexcop_pci 0000:06:06.0: DVB: adapter 0 frontend 0
> frequency 12713000 out of range (950000..2150000)
> [ 6399.839144] b2c2_flexcop_pci 0000:06:06.0: DVB: adapter 0 frontend 0
> frequency 12731000 out of range (950000..2150000)

Ok. Now, min/max frequencies are at the same scale. For DVB-S,
dvb_frontend_get_frequency_limits() returns both in kHz, so the frequency
range is now OK.

The tuning frequency is wrong through. 10,719,000 kHz - e. g. 10,719 MHz
seems to be the transponder frequency you're trying to tune, and not the
intermediate frequency used at the DVB-S board.

That sounds to me either a wrong LNBf setting or a bug at libdvbv5 or
at Kaffeine's side. What happens is that the typical European LNBFs are:

1) the "old" universal one:

UNIVERSAL
Universal, Europe
Freqs : 10800 to 11800 MHz, LO: 9750 MHz
Freqs : 11600 to 12700 MHz, LO: 10600 MHz

2) the "new" universal one, with seems to be used by most modern
satellite dishes in Europe nowadays:

EXTENDED
Astra 1E, European Universal Ku (extended)
Freqs : 10700 to 11700 MHz, LO: 9750 MHz
Freqs : 11700 to 12750 MHz, LO: 10600 MHz

Assuming that your satellite dish is equipped with an Astra-1E compatible
LNBf, as you're trying to tune 10,719 MHz, you need to setup Kaffeine
to use the EXTENDED LNBf, with covers the extended frequency range.

Kaffeine/libdvbv5 will subtract this value from the LO frequency:

10719 MHz - 9750 MHz = 969 MHz

And pass the 969 MHz frequency for the Kernel to tune. As this
is between the 950MHz..2150MHz limit, it won't produce any Kernel
messages.

Please notice that there were some bugs at v4l-utils and DVB-S/S2,
so be sure to check the v4l-utils version you're using. The last
one is 1.14.2 (released on Feb, 10 2018). I recommend you to have
at least version 1.12.4 (released on May, 6 2017).

Thanks,
Mauro