How to watch Open Digital TV on Linux

In this mini-tutor explains how to do to to receive la signal full open digital television (Brazilian standard) in its computer. Everything is explained for the tuner model PixelView PlayTV USB SBTVD, which is very similar to the one that comes with the Plan Conectar Igualdad computers. It is very likely that this tutorial will only serve Argentines and Brazilians, although the steps are very similar when using other plates and standards.

Steps to follow

1.- lsusb

The first thing to do is connect the tuner. Then, check that the system recognizes it correctly:

lsusb

It will return something like the following:

Bus 005 Device 001: ID 1d6b: 0001 Linux Foundation 1.1 root hub Bus 004 Device 001: ID 1d6b: 0001 Linux Foundation 1.1 root hub Bus 003 Device 001: ID 1d6b: 0001 Linux Foundation 1.1 root hub Bus 002 Device 002: ID 0a12: 0001 Cambridge Silicon Radio, Ltd Bluetooth Dongle (HCI mode) Bus 002 Device 001: ID 1d6b: 0001 Linux Foundation 1.1 root hub
Bus 001 Device 006: ID 1554: 5010 Prolink Microsystems Corp.
Bus 001 Device 005: ID 058f: 6362 Alcor Micro Corp. Flash Card Reader / Writer Bus 001 Device 003: ID 0cf3: 9271 Atheros Communications, Inc. AR9271 802.11n Bus 001 Device 001: ID 1d6b: 0002 Linux Foundation 2.0 root hub

What appears in bold is the tuner, which the kernel recognized correctly.

2.- Install the drivers

Open the menu System> Administration> Additional Drivers and install «Firmware for DVB card». In newer versions of Ubuntu, you can access this screen directly from Dash by typing Additional Drivers.

When finished, reboot.

3.- Install tools to detect channels

sudo apt-get install dvb-apps

4.- Create the channel list

For this step, create a blank document in your HOME that you must call channels.conf.

gedit channels.conf

Paste the following information into the file:

# UHF channels 14 to 69
T 473142857 6MHz 3/4 AUTO AUTO AUTO AUTO NONE # channel 14
T 479142857 6MHz 3/4 AUTO AUTO AUTO AUTO NONE # channel 15
T 485142857 6MHz 3/4 AUTO AUTO AUTO AUTO NONE # channel 16
T 491142857 6MHz 3/4 AUTO AUTO AUTO AUTO NONE # channel 17
T 497142857 6MHz 3/4 AUTO AUTO AUTO AUTO NONE # channel 18
T 503142857 6MHz 3/4 AUTO AUTO AUTO AUTO NONE # channel 19
T 509142857 6MHz 3/4 AUTO AUTO AUTO AUTO NONE # channel 20
T 515142857 6MHz 3/4 AUTO AUTO AUTO AUTO NONE # channel 21
T 521142857 6MHz 3/4 AUTO AUTO AUTO AUTO NONE # channel 22
T 527142857 6MHz 3/4 AUTO AUTO AUTO AUTO NONE # channel 23
T 533142857 6MHz 3/4 AUTO AUTO AUTO AUTO NONE # channel 24
T 539142857 6MHz 3/4 AUTO AUTO AUTO AUTO NONE # channel 25
T 545142857 6MHz 3/4 AUTO AUTO AUTO AUTO NONE # channel 26
T 551142857 6MHz 3/4 AUTO AUTO AUTO AUTO NONE # channel 27
T 557142857 6MHz 3/4 AUTO AUTO AUTO AUTO NONE # channel 28
T 563142857 6MHz 3/4 AUTO AUTO AUTO AUTO NONE # channel 29
T 569142857 6MHz 3/4 AUTO AUTO AUTO AUTO NONE # channel 30
T 575142857 6MHz 3/4 AUTO AUTO AUTO AUTO NONE # channel 31
T 581142857 6MHz 3/4 AUTO AUTO AUTO AUTO NONE # channel 32
T 587142857 6MHz 3/4 AUTO AUTO AUTO AUTO NONE # channel 33
T 593142857 6MHz 3/4 AUTO AUTO AUTO AUTO NONE # channel 34
T 599142857 6MHz 3/4 AUTO AUTO AUTO AUTO NONE # channel 35
T 605142857 6MHz 3/4 AUTO AUTO AUTO AUTO NONE # channel 36
# channel 37 not used
T 617142857 6MHz 3/4 AUTO AUTO AUTO AUTO NONE # channel 38
T 623142857 6MHz 3/4 AUTO AUTO AUTO AUTO NONE # channel 39
T 629142857 6MHz 3/4 AUTO AUTO AUTO AUTO NONE # channel 40
T 635142857 6MHz 3/4 AUTO AUTO AUTO AUTO NONE # channel 41
T 641142857 6MHz 3/4 AUTO AUTO AUTO AUTO NONE # channel 42
T 647142857 6MHz 3/4 AUTO AUTO AUTO AUTO NONE # channel 43
T 653142857 6MHz 3/4 AUTO AUTO AUTO AUTO NONE # channel 44
T 659142857 6MHz 3/4 AUTO AUTO AUTO AUTO NONE # channel 45
T 665142857 6MHz 3/4 AUTO AUTO AUTO AUTO NONE # channel 46
T 671142857 6MHz 3/4 AUTO AUTO AUTO AUTO NONE # channel 47
T 677142857 6MHz 3/4 AUTO AUTO AUTO AUTO NONE # channel 48
T 683142857 6MHz 3/4 AUTO AUTO AUTO AUTO NONE # channel 49
T 689142857 6MHz 3/4 AUTO AUTO AUTO AUTO NONE # channel 50
T 695142857 6MHz 3/4 AUTO AUTO AUTO AUTO NONE # channel 51
T 701142857 6MHz 3/4 AUTO AUTO AUTO AUTO NONE # channel 52
T 707142857 6MHz 3/4 AUTO AUTO AUTO AUTO NONE # channel 53
T 713142857 6MHz 3/4 AUTO AUTO AUTO AUTO NONE # channel 54
T 719142857 6MHz 3/4 AUTO AUTO AUTO AUTO NONE # channel 55
T 725142857 6MHz 3/4 AUTO AUTO AUTO AUTO NONE # channel 56
T 731142857 6MHz 3/4 AUTO AUTO AUTO AUTO NONE # channel 57
T 737142857 6MHz 3/4 AUTO AUTO AUTO AUTO NONE # channel 58
T 743142857 6MHz 3/4 AUTO AUTO AUTO AUTO NONE # channel 59
T 749142857 6MHz 3/4 AUTO AUTO AUTO AUTO NONE # channel 60
T 755142857 6MHz 3/4 AUTO AUTO AUTO AUTO NONE # channel 61
T 761142857 6MHz 3/4 AUTO AUTO AUTO AUTO NONE # channel 62
T 767142857 6MHz 3/4 AUTO AUTO AUTO AUTO NONE # channel 63
T 773142857 6MHz 3/4 AUTO AUTO AUTO AUTO NONE # channel 64
T 779142857 6MHz 3/4 AUTO AUTO AUTO AUTO NONE # channel 65
T 785142857 6MHz 3/4 AUTO AUTO AUTO AUTO NONE # channel 66
T 791142857 6MHz 3/4 AUTO AUTO AUTO AUTO NONE # channel 67
T 797142857 6MHz 3/4 AUTO AUTO AUTO AUTO NONE # channel 68
T 803142857 6MHz 3/4 AUTO AUTO AUTO AUTO NONE # channel 69

Save the changes.

With this information you will be able to scan the channels that are available in our area.

scan channels.conf> channels.conf

In this new file channels.conf the final list of available channels will remain after the program verifies the available frequencies.

With this we conclude the general configuration.

In case you have to install everything by hand

It is supposed that in new versions of Ubuntu that alone should be enough. However, in case you have an older version or the previous guide does not work for you, you can try the following:

1.- Download drivers

First of all, I disconnected the tuner (in case it was connected), opened a terminal and wrote:

hg clone http://www.linuxtv.org/hg/v4l-dvb cd v4l-dvb make sudo make rmmod sudo make install

In Arch and derivatives, you can install them using AUR:

yaourt -S v4l-dvb-git

2.- Install firmware

wget http://linuxtv.org/downloads/firmware/dvb-usb-dib0700-1.20.fw / lib / firmware

We connect the tuner again.

3.- Lower tools

hg clone http://linuxtv.org/hg/dvb-apps cd dvb-apps make sudo make install

In Arch and derivatives, you can install them using AUR:

yaourt -S linuxtv-dvb-apps

Once all this is done, you can continue from point 4 of the previous guide to create the channel list.

To watch TV!

I opened a media player, VLC being the most recommended for its simplicity and power. Once open, navigate to Media> Open Advanced File and select the channels.conf file that you created earlier.

Then navigate to View> Playlist or (Ctrl + L). Available channels should be listed.

These are some of the channels that are currently available in Argentina:

As you can see, it is a good number of channels, totally free and with a fairly good quality. It is assumed that as time passes more channels will be added, so it is a good option for those who find cable expensive, want to see the fulbo 'and do not mind a bit of official advertising of so much while =).

Additional recommendation: this usb dongle comes with an external antenna whose base is magnetized. Try to put it on some metal object as this improves reception a lot.

Source: ubuntuforums


16 comments, leave yours

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  1.   Carlos said

    Is it possible to use a Pixelview BT878 capturer?

  2.   Let's use Linux said

    Interesting!

  3.   Darumo said

    For DTT I think Kaffeine is more attractive, you install the DTT firmware if necessary (which may not be necessary for the card) and then Kaffeine can now scan channels, you do not need commands in the terminal.

    Before I used Me-TV but since the program in its old version does not work now and that its current versions give more problems than what it manages to work (because it always gives configuration problems or gets caught when redoing the file), because when trash can with forgiveness from the author, a shame because Me-TV was the best before.

  4.   Eduardo said

    This post tempted me to buy a tuner 🙂
    I suppose that what you put in the section: «install everything by hand»
    it will work for Debian or Fedora. Did anyone try it on those distros?

  5.   plerzk said

    Miguel sifnes, this is because the driver is proprietary, and they do it in their own way, and the free driver, is made by people like us and they do it to work, efficiently, and effectively, something that those of ATI, they make drivers because it is their job; they are not doing it to help the community.

  6.   miguel signs said

    hey and why does ubuntu work worse for me with the ATI driver activated than without it? Without the driver activated, everything goes faster and the movies look better

  7.   crafty said

    I have a SIANO DVB, but I still haven't been able to make it work.
    When I do a scan, I recognize a lot of channels, even Venus: p, but I can't see anything. The error that throws me is CRC in the coding, I don't know if someone has the same problem.
    In win2s it works fine 🙁

    Very good info

  8.   Francisco Pérez said

    Dear, I followed the tutorial step by step and everything went perfect, without errors.
    I used an ISDB-T tuner MyGica S870 for Argentina DTT on Kubntu 14.04. With the antenna that comes with the device, it captures 27 signals out of the little more than 30 that are available in Buenos Aires (only the test ones have faults). The firmware was the only thing I had a hard time finding because it wasn't in the driver manager, but I easily installed it with the terminal.

    Fun fact: installing the application and drivers on a PC and a netbook with Windows 7 (both) did not raise any signal.

    Thank you very much and regards, you do a great job.

  9.   Erick said

    Greetings friend,

    What is in the file that we must call "channels.conf" Where do you get it from? I am from Venezuela and I would like to know how to scan the channels for the city where I am, but I don't know if that content will serve me, and much more importantly, I would like to know how to obtain it.

    I will be grateful for your answer.

  10.   Erick said

    Greetings again,

    I ran the commands to scan the channels using the file "channels.conf", but it generated this output for me, it does not find any channels.

    https://www.paste.to/WkhV3iPl

    Is there any reason you know why that happens?

    I am from Venezuela.

    1.    let's use linux said

      Hello! To be honest, I do not know. Has anyone a clue?

      1.    Erick said

        Greetings mate,

        The truth is that your blog was the first of many references that I visited during three days to understand what this digital television was like and how to configure it in Linux. Thanks for the contribution, it helped me to get a suitable route and not be so lost lol.

        😀

        The problem was due to the fact that the usb device model that I use is only activated by taking the firmware files from the driver for Windows. That is, the kernel was holding the device correctly, but it did not know how to communicate with it.

        The details I just documented today on my personal website.

        http://erickcion.wordpress.com/2014/06/13/configurar-television-digital-en-canaima-gnulinux/

        Thanks again.

        1.    let's use linux said

          Good! Thanks for leaving the solution!
          Hug! Paul.

  11.   Marcelo said

    Hello brothers! There is a problem / doubt that arises and that I cannot find a solution. All very well if when we list USB devices (lsusb) the capturer appears. But what if only the brand numbers appear: model and you don't recognize it? You say that installing the drivers anyway will work? I doubt it but I want to put it for everyone's consideration.

  12.   nen said

    I watch and record TV channels perfectly. But I don't see the option to choose the destination folder for the recordings, does anyone know where it is located?

  13.   aeohypo said

    It also works for Peru! I attest that I can view TV on Ubuntu 16.04 LTS. I have an Encore brand tuner model ENUTV-DITF4, which supports 1-SEG and FULL-SEG signals. Ubuntu detects it as Siano Mobile Silicon and does not require applying proprietary drivers.