minisatip won't start - AXE - cannot open /dev/axe/frontend-0 ; TS continuity errors

[mrarel]

hi perexg,
great job this first approach to enhance the firmware by minisatip ... it is not working so far with vdr plugin-satip or tvh, but i'm convinced there is not a lot whats missing...
Current problem:
A) after booting the gss.box with usb stick minisatip does not provide a desc.xml url to e.g. tvheadend or other server/client software. In tvh or vdr there are no tuners available...from minisatip.
B) login by telnet/ssh is working fine, but the enviroment for the shell e.g. for the /sbin path is not set. In /sbin there are several tools like minisatip etc.

by the way ... a nfs server and usb kernel driver would help too :-) e.g. for mounting additional space on usb port 2 or to setup shares....maybe a rootfilesystem on usb could be an option too ?

Sorry...maybe to many wishes at once ;-)
if you need further support for testing, just drop a message....

Regards mrarel

[perexg]

It seems that the tuners are not initialized properly. You should turn off the box and wait about 5-30 minutes and retry. I don't know why, but sometimes the fast on/off sequence causes these errors. You may use 'dmesg' to check for these errors - they're described in README or you may also use 'logread' - minisatip will also print tuner initialiazation errors.

[perexg]

Release second build.. It contains mainly minisatip fixes, but I changed the inverto DVB-S2 tuner driver load order which may help.

EDIT: I released also third build. I hope that the main issues with the input selection are fixed now.

[perexg]

I believe that this issue is mostly eliminated now.

[mrarel]

Yes i have tested your v7 firmware. There are only problems concerning continuity errors when i stress all 4 tuners e.g. by tvh and 4 vlc clients.
never the less great work.

[perexg]

@mrarel : Do you have this problem also with the original firmware ? I am experiencing this issue with it, too, so it really seems like an error in the driver (I hope that it's not a problem with the hardware design). The problem is also that this issue rises under different conditions. Anyway, I'll track it in issue #6 .

[mrarel]

I will test with the same environment, which means i will stress 4 tuners under 1.16 gssbox firmware. I realy never tested this under original fw , so i ll be back with results. And yes, i hope it will not be a hardware dedign issue ....
regards mrarel

[mrarel]

back again and tested....the original fw ! there are also "continuity errors" when you stress the 4 tuners of an gss.box with tvh (vlc as a frontend showing 4 different channels on different transponders ) :-(.
so i fear that you are right concerning the possibility that there is a "general" (maybe HW ?) issue with theses boxes/tuners...
all 4 tuners starts streaming WITHOUT continuity errors after a one ore more minutes at least one or two tuners are running into continuity errors...
that´s bad. I hope inverto will give you a feedback which could solve further problems...or at least the bring up an other fw with "corrections"...
regards
mrarel

[dreamcat4]

@mrarel Hello! :)

Please can you test with 3 tuners instead? It would be nice to know at least when 3 tuners there are no continuity errors.

Also:

• Does it only get continuity error if all the 4 stream are in S2 (HD)?
• In other words: Did you test with four S2 hi-def (1080i) steams, or fourS1 standard def (576i) streams?

I am an IDL-400S owner. It would be nice to know these things.
Kind Regards.

[perexg]

Unfortunately, inverto does not respond. I use e-mails info@inverto.tv and stb.support@inverto.tv . Perhaps, if more people will bomb their support, they'll do something. I sent another e-mail there.

Actually, I'm learning more about the used chips - tuner STV6120 and demodulator STV0900. I have a partial datasheet for STV6120 - I can reduce the input gain (on amplifier) in STV6120 - the range is from 0dB to 16dB (inverto sets the 16dB of course). It seems that it helps a little but not much. The errors are before the STi7108 chip, so the minisatip or any other software in the user space cannot do much to improve the situation. For STV0900 - there is a Linux driver in the standard kernel, but appearently, this hardware uses the demodulator in a little different modes. And the full datasheet is available under NDA only. I'm trying to do some dumps of the status registers and compare them when it's working correctly and when not using a lot guessing. But it's a bit difficult without the full datasheet.

[perexg]

Also another note: The another "weird" issue is that the fullmux tuning/subscription fails in some situations on different tuners (a stream which provides only few kb/s is grabbed using the STi7108). I will also try to track it, perhaps, these two things are related.

EDIT: Because the discussion is related, I reopened it..

[CvH]

I belive @jollyjinx had contact with inverto back in the days to get the kernel sources, maybe he had a different contact

[timehlers]

Otherwise tell us, what we should write (roughly). And we will SPAM them. :)

[pbriesch]

I'live about 45 km away from Inverto.

Inverto Digital Labs
18, Duchscherstrooss
Wecker, L-6868
Luxembourg
Tel. +352 264 367 1
Fax. +352 264 313 68
info@inverto.tv

If somebody prepares for me a list with the issues that need to be discussed, I could try to get Inverto's attention.

[pbriesch]

A little bit off topic:
There is now a DVB-C box from Inverto available: http://www.inverto.tv/products/product.php?section=2&id=265

[CvH]

As I called GSS they said something that the driver devs are at poland.

_ul. Poznanska 62/98
60-853 Poznan
Poland
Tel. +352 264 367 64
Fax. +352 264 313 68_

[pbriesch]

+352 is the country code of Luxembourg. So all calls and faxes to Poland actually will end up in Luxembourg.

[pbriesch]

By the way: Inverto's Headquater is about 6 km away from SES Astra's headquarter in Luxembourg.

[perexg]

The STV6120 amplifier settings can be modified in build 8 which I released right now. The "chip" default value is 6dB.

[perexg]

Good news: I have a little Inverto feedback - they asked for more details. Let see...

[mrarel]

@dreamcat4
I could test the scenario you´ve mentioned...e.g. with V8 of perexg firmware, where 6db is the "standard" and no longer 16db.

But I fear it does not "only" have something in common with the amount of tuners which are in use (also not related "firmware version"...stock FW or not..)
In the meantime I fear that it has more relation to "power" related issues and influence to the behavior of the tuners depending on how much "power" is needed e.g. to "switch" the LNB frequency /position, or something like that. Which leads to the problem that it could be something more "HW" related :-(. My guess is, because we have to wait a long time, before we can switch back from "off" to "on"....if you would not wait at least 2 min. (in my case) there are problems with the initializing the tuners in general.
=> same SW, but relation to "HW/power" switching...

I ´ll try to reproduce the "continuity" errors by testing :
a) using all tuners on different transponders = Streaming at least 4 different channels to a client (vlc)
b) compare it to "streaming" ONLY 1 CHANNEL, but to 4 clients (= 4 "subscriptions" to only one tuner)

I think that there wont be "continuity" errors at scenario b ! this at least would proof that "tvheadend" is not the reason for it, but the amaount of tuners "in use" is for sure a problem....

I´ll give feedback as soon as I´ve tested both...

[perexg]

@mrarel : v8 firmware can change the gain, but by default it is kept to 16dB like the original firmware. You need to edit /etc/sysconfig/config to change the appropriate variable.

Also, I changed the tuner initialization sequence in v8 again + I2C bus speed - so far, I've not seen any I2C init error with it using fast physical on/off and soft reboots with v8. So I think that I may hit the problem.

[dreamcat4]

@perexg Great.

I have finally installed it today. After finding an old 256MB sd card (+ $1 usb micro SD card reader). Thank you for this.

Quick question:

It says in the dist/README that you must remove the USB stick after flashing to prevent it re-flashing the internal every subsequent boot. However, can I not just delete or rename the file idl4k.scr and continue to leave the USB stick plugged in? It is not easy to get to the device, where we have put it near to the dish.

[perexg]

@dreamcat4 : Yes, the renaming of idl4k.scr is sufficient. The USB stick should be mounted already in /media tree in the satip-axe firmware.

[dreamcat4]

@perexg Thanks!

[x23piracy]

any news to the problem? have you received more feedback from inverto?

Regards X23

[perexg]

No, Inverto is silent. I sent a new query today.

[perexg]

Quick notes: The second firmware improved the overall bandwidth - I can stream two full muxes with two standard services (all four tuners are used) which was not possible with previous versions. It appears that Inverto moved RTP packet handling from the user-space to the kernel space (they send RTP packets directly to the network layer in the kernel module).

For all other features - I'll ask when we will have a stable firmware public version which works without massive MPEG-TS dropouts. It's the highest priority - all other features are optional.

Before few minutes, I found the culprit why the updated kernel modules/drivers do not work inside the satip-axe firmware, so I'll probably release new (test) version soon. The only drawback is that I don't know the structures for new ioctls for the MPEG-TS demuxer, so I have to use the old demuxer kernel module without the kernel RTP packet handling support at the time. I'll keep the one old kernel module. It seems that it works with the updated other kernel modules.

Firmware sharing - I'll ask.

[perexg]

The satip-axe firmware satip-axe-201507310907-10 with latest Inverto drivers (except the demuxts driver which is used from the public firmware):

http://s000.tinyupload.com/index.php?file_id=06657646212112139027

[dreamcat4]

Hooray!

[perexg]

I'm testing the above firmware (number 10) cca 2.5 hours now. The full mux subscriptions are ok for all four tuners and I've not got a single MPEG-TS packet loss (except for few continuity errors on start - which is fine). So, it seems that Inverto guys finally fixed the driver issue. Anyway, report your behaviour here. Thanks.

EDIT: My test envorinment: one fullmux subscription, two HD channels, one SD channel (all different muxes). CPU usage between 50%-60%, total bandwidth reported by tvh - cca 52mbit/sec.

EDIT2: Changed fullmux from 35mbit/sec (DVB-S) to 75mbit/sec (DVB-S2), CPU usage is now 90%, total bandwidth cca 90mbit/sec .

[highzeth]

Any chance you could share the vanilla firmware as well?

[x23piracy]

Very Good News overall, community works!

[Keysersose12]

Doesnt seem to be any improvement for me regarding Continuity counter errors, non stop with only one tuner enabled. Box might be faulty.

[CvH]

@Keysersose12

gss.box ?

[Keysersose12]

Telestar Digibit R1

[CvH]

@Keysersose12
okay, then it seems to be an platform problem, a lot people has the same problem, this is a hardware damage -> RMA (fixed it for me)

[Keysersose12]

Did you have issue with Telestar Digibit R1? if so, did you deal with Telestar or through the seller?

[CvH]

@Keysersose12
no I have the gss.box but with exactly the same problem (same hardware), also I "found" at least ~10 people with the same problem -> RMA at manufacture (I sended it to the gss hq here in germany and get a "new" box back - here we got 2 years warranty)
looks like a production failure

[Keysersose12]

Thanks, bad luck then, only purchased it a few weeks ago from amazon.de. Might not be straightforward in my case to RMA as I'm in Ireland. Will contact telestar and see what there response is; will have to try and get a refund otherwise from amazon.

[dreamcat4]

Sorry to be a pain. But are there any clear instructions where I can locally try to reporoduce these continuity errors?

It sounds like a dumb question. But so many users have had problems. It would be nice to have a dirt-simple set of steps to follow that let me know if there is any remaining hardware error (dud box). I don't think that's the case for our box. Just want to verify / make sure within the first 2 years, which is it's warranty window.

[perexg]

@dreamcat4: The fast way is to use all four tuners, at least one fullmux subscription (if you use tvh - use the 'play' link from the mux grid). I was able to reproduce the massive continuity errors within one hour on my two boxes (gss.box and telestar) with this config. I'm unable to trigger this with the new inverto drivers.

[dreamcat4]

Ok @perexg. I think I will really should try that too. Before upgrading my firmware. (to know how it was before on the old one).

So step:

• Open tvheadend Web UI
• Navigate to "Configuration --> DVB Inputs --> Muxes"
• Find a working MUX (that says Scan Result 'OK')
• Click 'Play' link / button next to that mux.

Browser says:

"You have chosen to open: MP3 audio (streamed) (122 bytes)"

It opens Video Play app... "error Unauthorized".

Also another problem:

I only have 3 cables connected to the inputs of my Inverto Box. And then minisatip is linked to the 3+4 together. (for same frequency). So I'm not sure if I can fully stress it so much.

Perhaps the thing to do is to record programs on 4 different muxes simultaneously.

But then where to I see / find the "Continuity Error" messages? Is it the output of axe-debug? Or the tvheadend logfile? Or somewhere else (the satip box's dmesg, somewhere else)?

It is the axe-debug program, yes?

[perexg]

@dreamcat4 : Use 'wget -O /dev/null URL' for the play url in the mux grid (on command line). Just copy the URL and paste it to the wget command line. If you require authentization, use --user and --password wget arguments.

You may use all linked tuners. Just ensure that the used muxes are from the same h/v/lo/hi config for these tuners. So the combinations are:

• 10700-11700Mhz (lo), horizontal
• 10700-11700Mhz (lo), vertical
• 11700-12750Mhz (hi), horizontal
• 11700-12750Mhz (hi), vertical

All muxes which match the config (frequency range, polarization) can be used simultaneously on the linked tuners.

I also suggest to use wget for normal channel streaming to not waste CPU time for the decoding.

I talk about the continuity errors which are displayed in the Status / Stream grid in tvh.

[mrarel]

@dreamcat4
an easy way to test is, if your tvh is configuered to have "channels"....just open vlc on a pc (network-streaming) with the adress of your tvh installation e.g. http://192.168.178.106:9981/playlist/channels
there you can choose one channel from the list ;-)

after that start !! A NEW INSTANCE OF VLC !! in the same way, but choose an other channel from an other transponder....go on like that until you have choosen 4 different transponder to be streamed to at least 4 different VLC instances on your PC.

At the same time open the tvh configuration *:9981 in your browser and monitor what happens...there shouldn´t be any continuity errors for the streams...

I will do that procedure here at home during the next few days based on this new firmware....

good luck and please be so kind to leave a message here with your results...

regards
mrarel

[dreamcat4]

Thanks @perexg @mrarel. That is very clear.

Now find the place to check the Continuity errors. Like @perexg says, my computer is indeed too slow to decode multiple channels in vlc / video player. It's just not powerful enough.

So to do properly I should use wget like you have explained. Right now I just manually started 4 simultaneous HD quality streams (not wget), with the previous axe firmware. And to begin with it's 0-3 very low number.

I shall check back later. But my computer is so very slow with the vlc decoding. So I might just kill it and start again clean another time with wget.

[perexg]

I tested satip-axe firmware with updated drivers on both boxes very intensively through weekend and I've not detected any problem. Really, it appears rock solid now - comparable to my satellite TV STB.

BTW: The Inverto has IDL 400c now, too (cable variant).

I received the API specification for new demuxts from Inverto, so when I find a little time, I'll try to use the new demuxts module which should increase the total throughput.

[walterav1984]

@perexg

You may use all linked tuners. Just ensure that the used muxes are from the same h/v/lo/hi config for > these tuners. So the combinations are:

10700-11700Mhz (lo), horizontal
10700-11700Mhz (lo), vertical
11700-12750Mhz (hi), horizontal
11700-12750Mhz (hi), vertical

Does this mean/imply that its possible to get more than 4 different muxes/transponders (instead of 1mux per individual tuner) with a linked quattro LNB, as long as the gigabit ethernet on the idl400s is not saturated and you stay on the right frequency/polarisation for the specific tuner?

[perexg]

@walterav1984 : Nope. You can always use only 4 different muxes at maximum. There are only 4 demodulators and tuners which are tuned to the mux frequency. The table is only restriction based on the LNB configuration for physically linked inputs. It means that you can use less cables and use all tuners in the device anyway, because the hardware has integrated hardware input selector/switch, so you can share an input from any tuner with any other tuner. But the physical coaxial wiring restrictions must be kept.

[walterav1984]

Ok thanks for clearing that up so 4 muxes max because of the 4 modulators. Maybe a little bit offtopic but does the new inverto firmware will halt changes for the (thought to be similar) IDLI-8CHE20-OOPOE-OSP ip-LNB?

[perexg]

No feedback, but for me this issue is fixed. I released build 10 which used also new demuxts interface which reduces CPU usage dramatically - streaming of one full mux with 75mbit/sec bandwidth only consume about 20% of CPU.

[dreamcat4]

Ok @perexg better late then never? I'm sorry it took so long to get around to this.

Here are my findings from a basic testing:

• With 3 cables attached to the device, and the minisatip opts configured to link the 3rd --> 4th input (on the matrix). With certain shared restriction.
• With previous v9 satip-axe firmware.

Result A:

• Only 2 HD streams can work simultaneously.
• In showtime / movian / kodi. It complains 'no free adapter' after 2 different HD channels are being recorded.
• With wget command (as perexg recommends for testing) - same thing is observed. Screenshot here:
  http://i.imgur.com/WDC6jom.png
• 3rd stream limps along. Isn't valid data.
• Some slow and steady continuity errors, gradually accumulating.

Then I upgraded to the axe v10 firmware. Via the build in upgrade-fw command.

Result B:

• With just wget command testing.
• With 4 HD muxes being streamed simultaneously.
• No continuity errors.
• All 4 muxes seem valid.
• Picture to confirm success case - http://i.imgur.com/2vo1nmK.png

Many thanks perexg. It's merely just a confirmation of what you already know. This seems to have fixed the previous known issue(s). Although it's only been running my test for about 10 minutes so far. Yet the difference already seems quite clear. No reason to thing that this good performance will not just continue. It seem to behaving very well now. Rock solid.

Once again. Really appreciate all of your help. And also to the relevant people (whichever guys who I don't know who they are) in Inverto and/or ST Group. Who all contributed to helping and made the necessary driver code rewrites and fixes. Now I would not hesitate to recommend this product to others. Of course with either your axe v10 firmware and above. Or otherwise the latest official firmware. Excellent.

[perexg]

@dreamcat4 : Thanks for the feedback.