Hauppauge WinTV-Aero-m

WinTV-Aero-m front facia

A hybrid mulitple frontend (MFE) Digital TV USB 2.0 device, by Hauppauge, featuring reception capabilities for ATSC, ATSC-M/H and DVB-T.

It is supported under Linux; since kernel 3.2 for ATSC & DVB-T and kernel 3.5 for ATSC-M/H support.

Overview/Features

• Very nice form factor (i.e. has a small physical footprint).
• A first of a kind type of device -- supports both DVB-T and ATSC (as well as the M/H subset) ... Note: this dual support is only available under Linux (Windows drivers will only expose the digital TV standard relative to the location it was purchased i.e. ATSC in N.A, DVB-T in Europe)
• Has a built-in, telescoping, aerial (i.e. a "whip" antenna)
• Credit card sized IR remote control (battery included), with the Aero-m itself sporting an IR receiver on its front
• Port for external antenna attachment (RF cable adapter plug included)
• Removable cap for the USB 2.0 connector
• USB 2.0 extension cable (roughly 13inches; one foot usable length once you plug both ends in)
• Windows driver CD and Installation guide

Components Used

• MaxLinear MxL111SF SoC
  • tuner
  • DVB-T demodulator
  • USB 2.0 bridge
• LG DT3305 demodulator (D)
• LG LG2161 demodulator (D-m)

Identification

The output of lsusb -v reveals that the device has a subsystem ID of: 2040:c61b

Other Images

• 

  The retail box and contents

• 

  the Aero-m and its IR remote control

• 

  the Aero-m, its attachments & the built-in aerial extended

Making it Work

Firmware

No firmware should be required for this device.

Similarly named WinTV-Aero devices may do. Look for the ID with lsusb. Devices with ID 2040:5520 Windham will probably need a firmware patch as below.

Check the dmesg and look for any unloaded modules:

[ 11.594484] smscore_set_device_mode: error -2 loading firmware: sms1xxx-hcw-55xxx-dvbt-02.fw, trying again with default firmware

[ 11.595079] smscore_set_device_mode: error -2 loading firmware: dvb_nova_12mhz_b0.inp

[ 11.595083] smsusb_init_device: line: 382: smscore_start_device(...) failed

Faulty driver (here sms1xxx-hcw-55xxx-dvbt-02.fw) needs downloading from https://github.com/OpenELEC/dvb-firmware/tree/master/sms1xxx and copying to /lib/firmware

On reconnection, the device should function.

Sample Kernel Output

Relevant dmesg output:

[ 3874.201858] usb 1-4.1.2: new high-speed USB device number 15 using ehci_hcd
[ 3874.288007] usb 1-4.1.2: New USB device found, idVendor=2040, idProduct=c61b
[ 3874.288011] usb 1-4.1.2: New USB device strings: Mfr=1, Product=2, SerialNumber=3
[ 3874.288013] usb 1-4.1.2: Product: WinTV Aero-M
[ 3874.288015] usb 1-4.1.2: Manufacturer: Hauppauge
[ 3874.288016] usb 1-4.1.2: SerialNumber: 4034349227
[ 3874.288293] dvb-usb: found a 'Hauppauge WinTV-Aero-M' in warm state.
[ 3874.288324] dvb-usb: will pass the complete MPEG2 transport stream to the software demuxer.
[ 3874.288325] dvb-usb: will pass the complete MPEG2 transport stream to the software demuxer.
[ 3874.288326] dvb-usb: will pass the complete MPEG2 transport stream to the software demuxer.         <-- only for kernel 3.5 and up 
[ 3874.288648] DVB: registering new adapter (Hauppauge WinTV-Aero-M)
[ 3874.552658] DVB: registering adapter 0 frontend 0 (LG Electronics LGDT3305 VSB/QAM Frontend)...
[ 3874.570179] DVB: registering adapter 0 frontend 1 (MaxLinear MxL111SF DVB-T demodulator)...
[ 3874.738637] mxl111sf: MxL111SF detected, v8_200 (0x18)
[ 3874.741930] DVB: registering adapter 0 frontend 2 (LG Electronics LG2161 ATSC/MH Frontend)...       <-- only for kernel 3.5 and up 
[ 3874.742968] dvb-usb: Hauppauge WinTV-Aero-M successfully initialized and connected.
[ 3874.766943] tveeprom 14-0050: Hauppauge model 126001, rev F1G4, serial# 7817387
[ 3874.766946] tveeprom 14-0050: MAC address is 00:0d:fe:77:48:ab
[ 3874.766948] tveeprom 14-0050: tuner model is MaxLinear 111 (idx 164, type 4)
[ 3874.766950] tveeprom 14-0050: TV standards ATSC/DVB Digital (eeprom 0x80)
[ 3874.766951] tveeprom 14-0050: audio processor is None (idx 0)
[ 3874.766952] tveeprom 14-0050: has no radio, has IR receiver, has no IR transmitter

Note: the above output is with a kernel version 3.5, and all 3 frontends on the adapter are registered. The output above is annotated to note the difference if you are using a pre version 3.5 kernel.

Remote Control Support

The remote has been successfully tested under Linux during driver development, however, said support is currently disabled, but will likely will be re-introduced in the near future.

User Experience

See the article's discussion page

External Links

• Hauppauge WinTV-Aero-m product page
  • Some Linux driver background info from kernellabs