Technisat SkyStar USB HD

A DVB-S2 USB 2.0 Device from TechniSat. On the manufacturer's homepage there are no hints about Linux support but there is tux on the packaging.
Drivers are included in kernel branch 2.6.39 (Maybe in earlier versions, too. I was too lazy to search the exact commit. Feel free to edit if you know)

Overview/Features

This is a USB 2.0 device capable of receiving DVB-S and DVB-S2 tranponders.
The device has a red power-LED that is on as long as the box is powered by the external power supply. A green LED indicates that the tuner has locked.
Additionally, an IR-remote is shipped with the receiver-IR-diode sitting in the USB-connected box right beside the two status LEDs (see pictures above). The IR-receiver is detected by the kernel but I didn't test it since I have no use for it.

Components Used

Tuner: STV6110A
Demod: STV0903B (includes LNB-controller and DiSEqC 2.x interface)
Microcontroller/Bridge/USB Interface: Cypress CY7C68013A-56

Identification

USB VID: 14F7
USB PID: 0500

Making it Work

Firmware

The needed firmware file dvb-usb-SkyStar_USB_HD_FW_v17_63.HEX.fw can be fetched from http://kernellabs.com/firmware/technisat-usb2. After download, move/copy it to /lib/firmware/

Drivers

Drivers are included in Linux Mainline since 2.6.39 (or earlier). The device can be found here

Device Drivers -> Multimedia support -> DVB/ATSC adapters -> Support for various USB DVB devices -> Technisat DVB-S/S2 USB2.0 support

DiSEqC is working perfectly fine. One user reports that it worked with Linux 3.6.6 and tvheadend using 4 LNBs. Unicable (old and new standard) are working fine as well using tvheadend.

lsusb output

Bus 001 Device 003: ID 14f7:0500 TechniSat Digital GmbH DVB-PC TV Star HD
Device Descriptor:
  bLength                18
  bDescriptorType         1
  bcdUSB               2.00
  bDeviceClass            0 (Defined at Interface level)
  bDeviceSubClass         0 
  bDeviceProtocol         0 
  bMaxPacketSize0        64
  idVendor           0x14f7 TechniSat Digital GmbH
  idProduct          0x0500 DVB-PC TV Star HD
  bcdDevice            0.01
  iManufacturer           1 TechniSat Digital
  iProduct                2 TechniSat USB device
  iSerial                 3 XXXXXXXXXXX
  bNumConfigurations      1
  Configuration Descriptor:
    bLength                 9
    bDescriptorType         2
    wTotalLength           69
    bNumInterfaces          1
    bConfigurationValue     1
    iConfiguration          0 
    bmAttributes         0xc0
      Self Powered
    MaxPower              300mA
    Interface Descriptor:
      bLength                 9
      bDescriptorType         4
      bInterfaceNumber        0
      bAlternateSetting       0
      bNumEndpoints           3
      bInterfaceClass       255 Vendor Specific Class
      bInterfaceSubClass      0 
      bInterfaceProtocol      0 
      iInterface              0 
      Endpoint Descriptor:
        bLength                 7
        bDescriptorType         5
        bEndpointAddress     0x82  EP 2 IN
        bmAttributes            2
          Transfer Type            Bulk
          Synch Type               None
          Usage Type               Data
        wMaxPacketSize     0x0200  1x 512 bytes
        bInterval               0
      Endpoint Descriptor:
        bLength                 7
        bDescriptorType         5
        bEndpointAddress     0x81  EP 1 IN
        bmAttributes            2
          Transfer Type            Bulk
          Synch Type               None
          Usage Type               Data
        wMaxPacketSize     0x0200  1x 512 bytes
        bInterval               0
      Endpoint Descriptor:
        bLength                 7
        bDescriptorType         5
        bEndpointAddress     0x01  EP 1 OUT
        bmAttributes            2
          Transfer Type            Bulk
          Synch Type               None
          Usage Type               Data
        wMaxPacketSize     0x0200  1x 512 bytes
        bInterval               0
    Interface Descriptor:
      bLength                 9
      bDescriptorType         4
      bInterfaceNumber        0
      bAlternateSetting       1
      bNumEndpoints           3
      bInterfaceClass       255 Vendor Specific Class
      bInterfaceSubClass      0 
      bInterfaceProtocol      0 
      iInterface              0 
      Endpoint Descriptor:
        bLength                 7
        bDescriptorType         5
        bEndpointAddress     0x82  EP 2 IN
        bmAttributes            1
          Transfer Type            Isochronous
          Synch Type               None
          Usage Type               Data
        wMaxPacketSize     0x0c00  2x 1024 bytes
        bInterval               1
      Endpoint Descriptor:
        bLength                 7
        bDescriptorType         5
        bEndpointAddress     0x81  EP 1 IN
        bmAttributes            2
          Transfer Type            Bulk
          Synch Type               None
          Usage Type               Data
        wMaxPacketSize     0x0200  1x 512 bytes
        bInterval               0
      Endpoint Descriptor:
        bLength                 7
        bDescriptorType         5
        bEndpointAddress     0x01  EP 1 OUT
        bmAttributes            2
          Transfer Type            Bulk
          Synch Type               None
          Usage Type               Data
        wMaxPacketSize     0x0200  1x 512 bytes
        bInterval               0
Device Qualifier (for other device speed):
  bLength                10
  bDescriptorType         6
  bcdUSB               2.00
  bDeviceClass            0 (Defined at Interface level)
  bDeviceSubClass         0 
  bDeviceProtocol         0 
  bMaxPacketSize0        64
  bNumConfigurations      1
Device Status:     0x0001
  Self Powered

Sample Kernel Output

[   57.920057] usb 1-5: new high speed USB device number 3 using ehci_hcd
[   58.070871] usb 1-5: New USB device found, idVendor=14f7, idProduct=0500
[   58.070877] usb 1-5: New USB device strings: Mfr=1, Product=2, SerialNumber=3
[   58.070882] usb 1-5: Product: TechniSat USB device
[   58.070886] usb 1-5: Manufacturer: TechniSat Digital
[   58.070889] usb 1-5: SerialNumber: XXXXXXXXXXXX
[   58.071273] technisat-usb2: set alternate setting
[   58.071365] technisat-usb2: firmware version: 17.63
[   58.071368] dvb-usb: found a 'Technisat SkyStar USB HD (DVB-S/S2)' in warm state.
[   58.071671] dvb-usb: will pass the complete MPEG2 transport stream to the software demuxer.
[   58.072073] DVB: registering new adapter (Technisat SkyStar USB HD (DVB-S/S2))
[   58.073492] dvb-usb: MAC address: 00:08:c9:XX:XX:XX
[   58.211662] stv6110x_attach: Attaching STV6110x
[   58.214363] technisat-usb2: i2c-error: 60 = 7
[   58.289865] DVB: registering adapter 1 frontend 0 (Technisat SkyStar USB HD (DVB-S/S2))...
[   58.289930] Registered IR keymap rc-technisat-usb2
[   58.290053] input: IR-receiver inside an USB DVB receiver as /devices/pci0000:00/0000:00:1d.7/usb1/1-5/rc/rc0/input3
[   58.290095] rc0: IR-receiver inside an USB DVB receiver as /devices/pci0000:00/0000:00:1d.7/usb1/1-5/rc/rc0
[   58.290185] rc rc0: lirc_dev: driver ir-lirc-codec (technisat-usb2) registered at minor = 0
[   58.290188] dvb-usb: schedule remote query interval to 100 msecs.
[   58.290487] dvb-usb: Technisat SkyStar USB HD (DVB-S/S2) successfully initialized and connected.

Remote Control Support

The remote is supported by the device (as can be seen in the dmesg-output above).

External Links

• TechniSat product page