Bug 390934 - Kaffeine 2.0.14 doesn't find leadtek DTV1800h and DTV1000-T PCI tuner cards
Summary: Kaffeine 2.0.14 doesn't find leadtek DTV1800h and DTV1000-T PCI tuner cards
Status: RESOLVED NOT A BUG
Alias: None
Product: kaffeine
Classification: Applications
Component: general (show other bugs)
Version: 2.0.14
Platform: Other Linux
: NOR normal
Target Milestone: ---
Assignee: Mauro Carvalho Chehab
URL:
Keywords:
Depends on:
Blocks:
 
Reported: 2018-02-23 03:08 UTC by Potomac
Modified: 2019-05-03 20:27 UTC (History)
0 users

See Also:
Latest Commit:
Version Fixed In:


Attachments
combobox "name" should have a different name for each device (32.67 KB, image/png)
2018-02-23 20:57 UTC, Potomac
Details
missing item in the combobox (76.71 KB, image/png)
2018-02-23 21:07 UTC, Potomac
Details

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Description Potomac 2018-02-23 03:08:14 UTC
Hello,

I use archlinux 64 bits and kaffeine 2.0.14,

when I want to use my 2 PCI tuner TV cards ( leadtek winfast DTV1800-H and leadteak winfast DTV1000-T ) then I notice that kaffeine doesn't find these 2 tuners, they are not on the combo-box "sources" in kaffeine options,

these 2 TV tuners cards work without problems with others software like vlc and mplayer, 

so it's a bug related to kaffeine 2.0.14, I tried to delete kaffeine configuration in ~/.local/share/kaffeine but it doesn't solve the problem,

with a previous version of kaffeine there is no problem,

the console output of kaffeine 2.0.14 :
$ kaffeine

kaffeine.dvb: Using built-in dvb device manager
kaffeine.dev: Found dvb device P14f18802107d665f: Conexant CX22702 DVB-T
kaffeine.dev: Found dvb device P14f18802107d6654: Zarlink ZL10353 DVB-T
QObject::connect: No such slot DvbTab::hideCursor()

in this output kaffeine seems to found 2 TV tuner cards but kaffeine doesn't show these 2 cards in the GUI, so I can not start a channel search
Comment 1 Potomac 2018-02-23 03:27:58 UTC
I found the explanation,

when I go to the menu "television, configure television" I notice than in tab "Device 1" and tab "Device 2" the combobox "source" is set to "no source" instead of "autoscan",

and no name are set to these device, I can see the information "terrestrial" greyed in the GUI,

I have to select "autoscan" for the source for each tab ( "Device 1" and "Device 2" ) and I have to put a name for each device in the textbox "Name",

I think an improvement for Kaffeine would be to automatically select "autoscan" and put a random name ( "tuner#1", "tuner#2" etc... ) when kaffeine autodetect a TV tuner card, it's not normal to force the user to manually select "autoscan" and force him to put a name, these things should be automatically done by kaffeine
Comment 2 Mauro Carvalho Chehab 2018-02-23 19:11:02 UTC
(In reply to Potomac from comment #1)
> I found the explanation,
> 
> when I go to the menu "television, configure television" I notice than in
> tab "Device 1" and tab "Device 2" the combobox "source" is set to "no
> source" instead of "autoscan",
> 
> and no name are set to these device, I can see the information "terrestrial"
> greyed in the GUI,
> 
> I have to select "autoscan" for the source for each tab ( "Device 1" and
> "Device 2" ) and I have to put a name for each device in the textbox "Name",
> 
> I think an improvement for Kaffeine would be to automatically select
> "autoscan" and put a random name ( "tuner#1", "tuner#2" etc... ) when
> kaffeine autodetect a TV tuner card, it's not normal to force the user to
> manually select "autoscan" and force him to put a name, these things should
> be automatically done by kaffeine

That's not doable. The problem is that autoscan frequencies are both Country and standard-dependent.

What I did for 2.0.15 is that the error message will now say that the issue could be due to a configuration error and will point to the TV configuration dialog.
Comment 3 Mauro Carvalho Chehab 2018-02-23 19:14:22 UTC
(In reply to Potomac from comment #1)

> I think an improvement for Kaffeine would be to automatically select
> "autoscan" and put a random name ( "tuner#1", "tuner#2" etc... ) when
> kaffeine autodetect a TV tuner card, it's not normal to force the user to
> manually select "autoscan" and force him to put a name, these things should
> be automatically done by kaffeine

Kaffeine already suggests a name, with is based on the TV standard. Btw, you could use the same source name for both DVB-T tuners. It only makes sense to use different names if you have, for example, two DVB-S devices, each connected to a different dish.
Comment 4 Mauro Carvalho Chehab 2018-02-23 19:16:32 UTC
As the reported issue is not a bug, and there isn't much that we could do to improve, except for what's there on this patch:

https://cgit.kde.org/kaffeine.git/commit/?id=f83a71be4a1e86a118cdd7b1357c29d67b8c7546

I'm closing this bug.
Comment 5 Potomac 2018-02-23 20:54:03 UTC
(In reply to Mauro Carvalho Chehab from comment #3)
> (In reply to Potomac from comment #1)
> Kaffeine already suggests a name, with is based on the TV standard. Btw, you
> could use the same source name for both DVB-T tuners. It only makes sense to
> use different names if you have, for example, two DVB-S devices, each
> connected to a different dish.

the name must be different if we have 2 TV tuner card pci, the problem is that kaffeine by default uses the same name for both TV tuner pci card ( "terrestrial" ), which brings a bug when we want to select the second TV card for the channel search ( as the name is the same then only one card would appear in the combo-box --> "terrestrial" ),

in my case if I set the same name for both cards then I can not chose the second card in the combobox "name" when I want to select the card
Comment 6 Potomac 2018-02-23 20:57:15 UTC
Created attachment 110947 [details]
combobox "name" should have a different name for each device

here is a screenshot of the problem :

- by default with kaffeine 2.0.14 the combobox "source" is not set

- and the combobox "name" is set to the same name for both TV cards, which is not good, because the second card will not be present in the combobox "source" when we want to do a channel search ( menu television --> channel, combobox : source )
Comment 7 Potomac 2018-02-23 21:07:12 UTC
Created attachment 110948 [details]
missing item in the combobox

Here is another screenshot which shows the bug when the same name is set for both TV tuner cards PCI :

- the 2 devices has the same name : "terrestrial"

- I go to the menu "television -> channels", I notice that there is only one item ( the first TV card ) in the combobox "source"

- the solution is to set a different name for each device ( "tuner#1", "tuner#2" ), it's the only way for having 2 items in the combobox "source"
Comment 8 Mauro Carvalho Chehab 2018-02-24 01:35:57 UTC
(In reply to Potomac from comment #5)
> (In reply to Mauro Carvalho Chehab from comment #3)
> > (In reply to Potomac from comment #1)
> > Kaffeine already suggests a name, with is based on the TV standard. Btw, you
> > could use the same source name for both DVB-T tuners. It only makes sense to
> > use different names if you have, for example, two DVB-S devices, each
> > connected to a different dish.
> 
> the name must be different if we have 2 TV tuner card pci, the problem is
> that kaffeine by default uses the same name for both TV tuner pci card (
> "terrestrial" ), which brings a bug when we want to select the second TV
> card for the channel search ( as the name is the same then only one card
> would appear in the combo-box --> "terrestrial" ),
> 
> in my case if I set the same name for both cards then I can not chose the
> second card in the combobox "name" when I want to select the card

If you have more than one card with the same source name, what Kaffeine should do is to use both for the same source. So, if you're watching TV with one board, you should still be able to record a show with the second one. Or, if you're not watching any show, you can record two ones.

So, under normal circumstances, using the same name for both tuners is a good idea.

That's said, it has been a while since the last time I used this feature, as I don't use to plug two boards of the same type there. Are you saying that his is not working like that?
Comment 9 Mauro Carvalho Chehab 2018-02-24 01:48:09 UTC
(In reply to Potomac from comment #6)
> Created attachment 110947 [details]

> - by default with kaffeine 2.0.14 the combobox "source" is not set

It shouldn't, as Source is standard/Country dependent. 

For example, just for DVB-T and DVB-T2, Kaffeine supports those different "auto" frequency sets:

   AUTO-T2-Australia
   AUTO-T2-Italy
   AUTO-T2-Normal
   AUTO-T2-Offsets
   AUTO-T2-Taiwan
   AUTO-T-Australia
   AUTO-T-Italy
   AUTO-T-Normal
   AUTO-T-Offsets
   AUTO-T-Taiwan

Depending on the country, a different "auto" is needed for DVB-T/T2.

It doesn't support any auto for DVB-S/S2 nor DVB-C. It supports another Auto for ISDB-T mode, but just for 6 MHz-spaced channels.

> - and the combobox "name" is set to the same name for both TV cards, which
> is not good, because the second card will not be present in the combobox
> "source" when we want to do a channel search ( menu television --> channel,
> combobox : source )

The "name" there is actually "source name". Perhaps I should rename it on Kaffeine 2.0.15, to make it clearer.

Anyway, the "source name" is meant to identify the frequency set and the TV cabling used by a digital TV board. If you have two boards connected to the same source, a single name is usually what's desired, as the tuners will be dynamically allocated as needed.

(In reply to Potomac from comment #6)

> - and the combobox "name" is set to the same name for both TV cards, which
> is not good, because the second card will not be present in the combobox
> "source" when we want to do a channel search ( menu television --> channel,
> combobox : source )

Why do you need to distinguish between the two, if both are connected to the same TV source, provided that you can use both at the same time?
Comment 10 Potomac 2018-02-24 05:04:05 UTC
(In reply to Mauro Carvalho Chehab from comment #9)
> 
> Why do you need to distinguish between the two, if both are connected to the
> same TV source, provided that you can use both at the same time?

Because each card is connected to a different antenna :

- my fisrt card is connected to an indoor antenna, in order to receive regulars TV channels of my country, 27 TV channels :
https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liste_des_cha%C3%AEnes_de_t%C3%A9l%C3%A9vision_en_France

- my second card is connected to a cable antenna ( but it is still a DVB-T signal ), which provides one additional channel ( sport channel : "sfr sport 2" ) and also the 27 TV channels but this 27 TV channels are broadcasted on different channels with this second antenna

that's why I need to be able to select the 2 cards in the combobox "source" when I want to do a channel search :

- First I need to select the first card in order to have the 27 TV channels in DVB-T

- Then I need to select the second card in order to have the additionnal TV channel provided by my cable antenna ( in DVB-T )
Comment 11 Mauro Carvalho Chehab 2018-02-24 16:47:24 UTC
(In reply to Potomac from comment #10)
> (In reply to Mauro Carvalho Chehab from comment #9)
> > 
> > Why do you need to distinguish between the two, if both are connected to the
> > same TV source, provided that you can use both at the same time?
> 
> Because each card is connected to a different antenna :
> 
> - my fisrt card is connected to an indoor antenna, in order to receive
> regulars TV channels of my country, 27 TV channels :
> https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/
> Liste_des_cha%C3%AEnes_de_t%C3%A9l%C3%A9vision_en_France
> 
> - my second card is connected to a cable antenna ( but it is still a DVB-T
> signal ), which provides one additional channel ( sport channel : "sfr sport
> 2" ) and also the 27 TV channels but this 27 TV channels are broadcasted on
> different channels with this second antenna
> 
> that's why I need to be able to select the 2 cards in the combobox "source"
> when I want to do a channel search :
> 
> - First I need to select the first card in order to have the 27 TV channels
> in DVB-T
> 
> - Then I need to select the second card in order to have the additionnal TV
> channel provided by my cable antenna ( in DVB-T )

Ah! Yeah, as I said, you only need two different source names there when the sources are different, like on your case :-)
Comment 12 Mauro Carvalho Chehab 2019-05-03 20:27:16 UTC
As on the previous close, this is not a bug. Yet, if you want that this deserves a better explanation or a different interface, feel free to send us patches.