TBS6281SE DVB-T not tuning.

[drifting]

Hello,

Hopefully someone can help?
I have installed all the drivers as recommended on the TBS site, and the hardware can be detected.
sudo dmesg | grep 'DVB: registering'
[ 7.216714] dvbdev: DVB: registering new adapter (TBSECP3 DVB Adapter)
[ 7.365413] TBSECP3 driver 0000:07:00.0: DVB: registering adapter 0 frontend 0 (TurboSight TBS 6281SE DVB-T/T2/C )...
[ 7.365487] dvbdev: DVB: registering new adapter (TBSECP3 DVB Adapter)
[ 7.573088] TBSECP3 driver 0000:07:00.0: DVB: registering adapter 1 frontend 0 (TurboSight TBS 6281SE DVB-T/T2/C )...

sudo dmesg | grep i2c
[ 0.431560] i2c_dev: i2c /dev entries driver
[ 7.354153] i2c i2c-2: Added multiplexed i2c bus 5
[ 7.568038] i2c i2c-3: Added multiplexed i2c bus 6

lspci | grep Multimedia
07:00.0 Multimedia controller: TBS Technologies DVB Tuner PCIe Card

sudo lsdvb

lsdvb: Simple utility to list PCI/PCIe DVB devices
Version: 0.0.4
Copyright (C) Manu Abraham

TBSECP3 driver (544:6178 6281:2) on PCI Domain:0 Bus:7 Device:0 Function:0
DEVICE:0 ADAPTER:0 FRONTEND:0 (TurboSight TBS 6281SE DVB-T/T2/C )
FE_OFDM Fmin=48MHz Fmax=870MHz
DEVICE:0 ADAPTER:1 FRONTEND:0 (TurboSight TBS 6281SE DVB-T/T2/C )
FE_OFDM Fmin=48MHz Fmax=870MHz

Finally tried a tune.
sudo scan /usr/share/dvb/dvb-t/uk-Dover | tee channels.conf
scanning /usr/share/dvb/dvb-t/uk-Dover
using '/dev/dvb/adapter0/frontend0' and '/dev/dvb/adapter0/demux0'
ERROR: cannot parse'[C50 BBC A]
'
ERROR: cannot parse' DELIVERY_SYSTEM = DVBT
'
ERROR: cannot parse' FREQUENCY = 706000000
'
ERROR: cannot parse' BANDWIDTH_HZ = 8000000
'
ERROR: cannot parse' CODE_RATE_HP = 2/3
'
ERROR: cannot parse' CODE_RATE_LP = NONE
'
ERROR: cannot parse' MODULATION = QAM/64
'
ERROR: cannot parse' TRANSMISSION_MODE = 8K
'
ERROR: cannot parse' GUARD_INTERVAL = 1/32
'
ERROR: cannot parse' HIERARCHY = NONE
'
ERROR: cannot parse' INVERSION = AUTO
'
ERROR: cannot parse'[C51 D3&4]
'
ERROR: cannot parse' DELIVERY_SYSTEM = DVBT
'
ERROR: cannot parse' FREQUENCY = 714000000
'
ERROR: cannot parse' BANDWIDTH_HZ = 8000000
'
ERROR: cannot parse' CODE_RATE_HP = 2/3
'
ERROR: cannot parse' CODE_RATE_LP = NONE
'
ERROR: cannot parse' MODULATION = QAM/64
'
ERROR: cannot parse' TRANSMISSION_MODE = 8K
'
ERROR: cannot parse' GUARD_INTERVAL = 1/32
'
ERROR: cannot parse' HIERARCHY = NONE
'
ERROR: cannot parse' INVERSION = AUTO
'
ERROR: cannot parse'[C35 SDN]
'
ERROR: cannot parse' DELIVERY_SYSTEM = DVBT
'
ERROR: cannot parse' FREQUENCY = 586000000
'
ERROR: cannot parse' BANDWIDTH_HZ = 8000000
'
ERROR: cannot parse' CODE_RATE_HP = 3/4
'
ERROR: cannot parse' CODE_RATE_LP = NONE
'
ERROR: cannot parse' MODULATION = QAM/64
'
ERROR: cannot parse' TRANSMISSION_MODE = 8K
'
ERROR: cannot parse' GUARD_INTERVAL = 1/32
'
ERROR: cannot parse' HIERARCHY = NONE
'
ERROR: cannot parse' INVERSION = AUTO
'
ERROR: cannot parse'[C59 ARQ A]
'
ERROR: cannot parse' DELIVERY_SYSTEM = DVBT
'
ERROR: cannot parse' FREQUENCY = 778000000
'
ERROR: cannot parse' BANDWIDTH_HZ = 8000000
'
ERROR: cannot parse' CODE_RATE_HP = 3/4
'
ERROR: cannot parse' CODE_RATE_LP = NONE
'
ERROR: cannot parse' MODULATION = QAM/64
'
ERROR: cannot parse' TRANSMISSION_MODE = 8K
'
ERROR: cannot parse' GUARD_INTERVAL = 1/32
'
ERROR: cannot parse' HIERARCHY = NONE
'
ERROR: cannot parse' INVERSION = AUTO
'
ERROR: cannot parse'[C48 ARQ B]
'
ERROR: cannot parse' DELIVERY_SYSTEM = DVBT
'
ERROR: cannot parse' FREQUENCY = 690000000
'
ERROR: cannot parse' BANDWIDTH_HZ = 8000000
'
ERROR: cannot parse' CODE_RATE_HP = 3/4
'
ERROR: cannot parse' CODE_RATE_LP = NONE
'
ERROR: cannot parse' MODULATION = QAM/64
'
ERROR: cannot parse' TRANSMISSION_MODE = 8K
'
ERROR: cannot parse' GUARD_INTERVAL = 1/32
'
ERROR: cannot parse' HIERARCHY = NONE
'
ERROR: cannot parse' INVERSION = AUTO
'
ERROR: cannot parse'[C53 BBC B HD]
'
ERROR: cannot parse' DELIVERY_SYSTEM = DVBT2
'
ERROR: cannot parse' FREQUENCY = 730000000
'
ERROR: cannot parse' BANDWIDTH_HZ = 8000000
'
ERROR: cannot parse' CODE_RATE_HP = 2/3
'
ERROR: cannot parse' CODE_RATE_LP = NONE
'
ERROR: cannot parse' MODULATION = QAM/256
'
ERROR: cannot parse' TRANSMISSION_MODE = 32K
'
ERROR: cannot parse' GUARD_INTERVAL = 1/128
'
ERROR: cannot parse' HIERARCHY = NONE
'
ERROR: cannot parse' STREAM_ID = 0
'
ERROR: cannot parse' INVERSION = AUTO
'
ERROR: initial tuning failed
dumping lists (0 services)
Done.

Did try a tune with Myth, showed 100% signal, but found not channels?

Now please bear in mind I have just followed the instructions on here, and one other site. And am now at a loss. Thes signal is fine, the TV next to my Mythserver has 100% signal, even went so far as to take the aerial out of the TV and plug it in direct to the card.

One suggestion was to use scan-s2, but to be honest I would not know where to start with:- T <frequency> [bandwidth] [HP fec] [LP fec] [modulation] [transmission mode] [guard] [hierarchy] None of which I understand. Please forgive any typo's my eyesight is pretty bad.

Thanks
Paul.

[dnalorernst]

It looks like your are using a dvbv3 application with configuration data for dvbv5.
The program you are looking for is 'dvbv5-scan', and is on Ubuntu part of the package 'dvb-tools'.
HTH, Roland

[drifting]

Thanks for the reply Roland.
It was on advice from the TBS website to use the scan-s2, of which I have no clue how to use.
I have in the past use the past :- scan /usr/share/dvb/dvb-t/uk-Dover | tee channels.conf
However that was a very long while ago, and have since always managed to get Myth to tune.
I am totally lost now, and have not a single clue on how to resolve this. So any help really welcome.

Regards
Paul.

[dnalorernst]

Well, if you did
>>I have in the past use the past :- scan /usr/share/dvb/dvb-t/uk-Dover | tee channels.conf
>> However that was a very long while ago
then I need more information about
- Operating System and version and
- How you used the DVB-T device in the past

[kmdewaal]

It could be that the card needs firmware and that this is not present. Check in the dmesg output for either failure or confirmation that it has loaded firmware.

[drifting]

Thanks for the reply.

Does my previous post not show that?

sudo dmesg | grep 'DVB: registering'
[ 7.216714] dvbdev: DVB: registering new adapter (TBSECP3 DVB Adapter)
[ 7.365413] TBSECP3 driver 0000:07:00.0: DVB: registering adapter 0 frontend 0 (TurboSight TBS 6281SE DVB-T/T2/C )...
[ 7.365487] dvbdev: DVB: registering new adapter (TBSECP3 DVB Adapter)
[ 7.573088] TBSECP3 driver 0000:07:00.0: DVB: registering adapter 1 frontend 0 (TurboSight TBS 6281SE DVB-T/T2/C )...

sudo dmesg | grep i2c
[ 0.431560] i2c_dev: i2c /dev entries driver
[ 7.354153] i2c i2c-2: Added multiplexed i2c bus 5
[ 7.568038] i2c i2c-3: Added multiplexed i2c bus 6

lspci | grep Multimedia
07:00.0 Multimedia controller: TBS Technologies DVB Tuner PCIe Card

sudo lsdvb

lsdvb: Simple utility to list PCI/PCIe DVB devices
Version: 0.0.4
Copyright (C) Manu Abraham

TBSECP3 driver (544:6178 6281:2) on PCI Domain:0 Bus:7 Device:0 Function:0
DEVICE:0 ADAPTER:0 FRONTEND:0 (TurboSight TBS 6281SE DVB-T/T2/C )
FE_OFDM Fmin=48MHz Fmax=870MHz
DEVICE:0 ADAPTER:1 FRONTEND:0 (TurboSight TBS 6281SE DVB-T/T2/C )
FE_OFDM Fmin=48MHz Fmax=870MHz

[kmdewaal]

I am assuming, but not certain, that the TBS6281SE has the same or similar chips as the TBS6281.

According to the LinuxTV wiki page https://www.linuxtv.org/wiki/index.php/TBS6281 this card has Silicon Labs si2168 and si2158 chips and these chips do need firmware to function. This firmware is found, or not, and you get a message in either case.
The dmesg log snippets that you provide do only show lines with DVB or i2c in them, so they do not tell if the firmware is found and loaded or if the firmware is not found

The following is part of the dmesg output I get when attaching a MyGica tuner; this is a different tuner but it also uses Silicon Labs chips and there are a few happy messages from the tuner chips.

Code: Select all

[2608652.900002] dvbdev: DVB: registering new adapter (MyGica Mini DVB-(T/T2/C) USB Stick T230)
[2608652.900012] usb 1-2: media controller created
[2608652.900805] dvbdev: dvb_create_media_entity: media entity 'dvb-demux' registered.
[2608652.923321] i2c i2c-9: Added multiplexed i2c bus 10
[2608652.923332] si2168 9-0064: Silicon Labs Si2168-B40 successfully identified
[2608652.923339] si2168 9-0064: firmware version: B 4.0.2
[2608652.932393] si2157 10-0060: Silicon Labs Si2157 successfully attached
[2608652.932453] usb 1-2: DVB: registering adapter 0 frontend 0 (Silicon Labs Si2168)...
[2608652.932469] dvbdev: dvb_create_media_entity: media entity 'Silicon Labs Si2168' registered.

In your dmesg log there should be similar messages indicating success or messages about firmware that cannot be found.
When the firmware is not found the card can still be identified by the system, as this is handled by other chips, but the card will not function correctly.

Note that I am not certain that this is your problem but I recommend it should be checked before investigating further.

[drifting]

Thank you so much for trying to help.

You are right the 6281 and the SE are the same, except the SE is a dual tuner.

I understood to a certain degree as to what you were saying. Is this right?

sudo dmesg | grep si2168
[ 7.524625] si2168 1-0064: Silicon Labs Si2168-B40 successfully identified
[ 7.524628] si2168 1-0064: firmware version: B 4.0.2
[ 7.766848] si2168 2-0064: Silicon Labs Si2168-B40 successfully identified
[ 7.766851] si2168 2-0064: firmware version: B 4.0.2

Says identified? but no mention of installed?

Kindest regards
Paul.

[kmdewaal]

Code: Select all

sudo dmesg | grep si2168
[ 7.524625] si2168 1-0064: Silicon Labs Si2168-B40 successfully identified
[ 7.524628] si2168 1-0064: firmware version: B 4.0.2

I think this means that it is OK, otherwise there would have been an error given.

You might want to check for another Silicon Labs device, usually a si2157 or a si2158.
It should be in the log very near the lines for hte si2168.
FYI one of them is for the tuner (receiving the waveform) and the other is for decoding (converting the waveform into bits and bytes).

I do not really have a clue why your system does not work, but most likely it is a misconfiguration.
I suggest that you read the Wiki guide https://www.mythtv.org/wiki/Channel_Scanning carefully and do the configuration with mythtv-setup, either the classic version or the Web App, again from scratch. You should then be able to do a channel scan and then you are OK.
If it all really fails there are more details needed, such as the MythTV version and log files.

[drifting]

You were right, had to have a rest from this, but for some reason the firmware for the second device gave this :-
Think you are on the right track.

sudo dmesg | grep si2168
[ 9.131653] si2168 2-0064: Silicon Labs Si2168-B40 successfully identified
[ 9.131655] si2168 2-0064: firmware version: B 4.0.2
[ 9.389737] si2168 3-0064: Silicon Labs Si2168-B40 successfully identified
[ 9.389740] si2168 3-0064: firmware version: B 4.0.2
[ 237.378616] si2168 2-0064: Direct firmware load for dvb-demod-si2168-b40-01.fw failed with error -2
[ 237.378627] si2168 2-0064: firmware file 'dvb-demod-si2168-b40-01.fw' not found

As far as I am aware I have installed the firmware from TBS? But I manually went back and installed it again, quick reboot, and I thin that has cracked it! Just doing a scan right now.

Thank you so much for your help
Kindest regards Paul.