Video capture from DirecTV HR24; device, software?

[rolf]

HR24 is the satellite tv receiver and recorder.

I've got Hauppauge WinTV HVR-980 reported by lsusb, says 950 on the case, comes with a dongle that connects RCA plug output on the receiver to a port on the side of the 950:

(Mine is a plain "950", no "Q", maybe older, maybe different capabilities, idk)

I've had this tuner working for over-the-air channels, using Kaffeine. What I want to do is use it as a capture device, which is hinted at on the internet but documentation is scarce. It passes video from the HR24 as the Composite 1 connection in various softwares but I can't see it in Kaffeine, xawtv and tvtime freeze, I have yet to hear the audio, even in the Windows Movie Maker program, when booted there.

I have made a recording (no sound, again) with something like the following, from a YouTube tutorial:

Code: Select all

$ mencoder -ovc lavc -lavcopts vcodec=mpeg4:\vhq:vbitrate=6000 -oac mp3lame -lameopts br=256: -ffourcc DIVX -tv driver=v4l2:norm=ntsc:input=1:adevice=/dev/dsp:width=720:height=480  -o test.avi tv://

Thrashing about with various softwares has led to, mainly, program crashes, no sound, reports of the device (hauppauge) not responding.

My thought is someone has solved this puzzle, perhaps with a different capture device or different software, and can teach me.

[R_Head]

Mine is a Q and really I have a hard time getting it to work right.

Kaffeine works good for a good while and records really good even on HD. Kind of works like a DVR with Cable TV. But TV Time works for a short while and the sound stops within 15 mins or so, need to reboot X to get it back to work.

Without any reason, TV Time start to work but Kaffeine stops working.

I have also a Hauppauge TV tuner model 401 and works great with TV Time but Keffeine refuses to work.

Now, I was wondering if I can get VirtualBox to work with USB and see if I can use the DVR features from Hauppauge Win TV on MS. I know Netflix works that way.

The people that I am blaming is Hauppauge for not supporting Linux. They make great hardware but these UK guys are very arrogant and anal when it comes to work with other things beside MS.

[rolf]

I thought about VirtualBox, too. Reading the e-store buyer reviews of various Hauppauge products that seem to be used in Linux, I see some complaints of the device locking up or not getting a smooth capture under various circumstances, even in Windows.

I had my eye on The Hauppauge HD-PVR Model 1212 and ordered one from CompuVest when I thought I could snag a great deal for around $100 (normal retail more like $200). The picture in the add and the specifications were just a copy/past from the Hauppage website for this model 1212. Unfortunately, what they shipped me was a pci card, no comparison, I returned it.

I saw a couple of heavy users complain that even the 1212 could be finicky. My research, so far, is far from exhaustive but has consumed significant time. As the MythTV wiki reports "The Hauppauge HD-PVR is the first consumer-level analog HD capture device available", it might be better for me to save my money. Maybe it's possible to hook up some sort of dvd recorder to the DirecTV tuner in order that gf can have a copy of American Idol to watch at her shop.

Thanks for the intel!

[Joste]

Not that up on TV/video capture cards but one of the live CDs from http://freevo.sourceforge.net/ might be worth a go.

[rolf]

Thanks for that Joste. I've already scraped the latest mythbuntu-11.04-desktop-amd64.iso off the interweb with a similar thought. Although, I've found the mythtv setup and interface to be very challenging. Maybe the freevo Python programming will go easier on me.

[R_Head]

Downloaded Freevo and I can not get it to run after "install". I think the Mandriva repo for Freevo are half baked.

[rolf]

I was interested in trying a livecd, first. Piren - debian based live distro iso was about a year and a half newer, according to the blurb date, 04-Dec-2008, than freevolive, 09-Aug-2007.

That cd booted with splash screen and kernel messages after <Esc> but produced a black screen when X started. Since it is Debian-based, I googled debian live cd black screen, tried adding the nomodeset kernel command, but no change. Initially, the caps lock and numerical lock keys toggle the lights on the keyboard, so it is not a kernel crash. I get a lot of live cds not booting on this machine so I guess there is something overwhelming about 5 hard drives on several controllers, perhaps. Puppy and Knoppix seem to have better luck, generally.

Since I also have FreevoLive-0.15.iso, I'll give that one a try real soon now.

[rolf]

Freevo, also, failed to get to a desktop (both burns verified by k3b). 'unable to access tty, job control turned off' sort of thing.

I think this WinTV usb-connected device poisons my usb hub(s), maybe the drivers. I get initial display of the video that comes out of the tuner and is playing on my plasma but resizing screen or any other clicky action kills that and the device goes unresponsive. Trying various vid-cap programs, my bluetooth dongle coincidentally failed to power up on various ports. A reboot restored usb function and I could see the HVR-980 in lsusb, the bluetooth adapter worked. Possibly, the controllers are failing or the drivers but it would be a while before I try changing out this mobo. I do have a Foxconn sitting on the shelf.

[rolf]

<---Got this open box, low(21.62 USD)-cost experiment on the way! Just about every Linux capture software I have tried has required a channel scan for setup, which doesn't work, as I'm tapping off the dvr, don't want to do tuner. This one, at least, has no tuner, so that takes care of that. Composite connections should be fine for what I need to do, make a dvd copy of American Idol for GF, etc. I tested the stereo audio red/white connection run through an adapter to mini plug into 'Line In' on my computer and that does fine. The card has the yellow jack for the video line. Not much on the internet, some problems, some allusion to "works out of the box" and this reassuring patch on the kernel: [PATCH] Fix for bttv driver (v0.9.15) for Leadtek WinFast VC100 XP capture cards Wish us luck!

[viking60]

Good luck

[rolf]

So I plugged the WinFast card in, connected the video composite connector to this card and audio composite to the "line in" of the onboard audio. Cheese was the first program to easily display and record the live tv output from the DirecTV box. The audio seemed to be the wind noises of my oscillating fan blowing across the microphone. I discovered that it was necessary to switch the input device from microphone, which I have used in the past, to line in in Pulse Audio Volume Control.

This method produces an .ogv file that I can save and that plays in smplayer. In order to make a video dvd, I inserted this file into devede, let it run, and burned the ouputted iso with k3b. That played fine on my PS3, sound sync was good, although it does not exactly seem to be high def.

I declare partial victory. Valhalla!

Any tips on other recording methods are welcome!

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