Archived:HOW TO Installing DVB

This page contains information to help an "end user" install a DVB device on his or her GNU/Linux system.

NOTE: Some of the following steps are specific to debian-based distributions, however these instructions should still be helpful to uses of other distributions as a guide.

Required Software

Before starting, you'll need to have installed the following software:

• mercurial: needed to download the latest source from the Version System used by LinuxTV developers
• kernel-headers: needed for compiling the the driver
• compiling suite: tools for compiling and installing the driver
  • make
  • gcc

This guide does not include steps to accomplish the installation of the above software for all distributions.

Required Software: Ubuntu, Debian and Debian-based

On Ubuntu you can use the following command to install all the required software:

 sudo apt-get install mercurial linux-headers-$(uname -r) build-essential gcc make

Obtain latest source

Now that we have all the software installed you should be able to download the latest source with the following command:

 hg clone http://linuxtv.org/hg/v4l-dvb

Let's assume that we have executed the command from the /usr/src directory, so we end up with /usr/src/v4l-dvb

Compiling the latest Driver

Let's go inside the directory that contains the previously downloaded driver. Continuing with our example, run the command:

 cd /usr/src/v4l-dvb

or

 cd v4l-dvb

Now we just have to compile the source with

 make

If you run into any problems here, you can contact the developers via IRC at:

• Server: irc.freenode.net
• Channels: #linuxtv #dvb

Obtain the firmware

To obtain the firmware needed by your device, you need to know the name and model.

Discovering the Device Name and Model

The device name and model is usually written on the device itself, on the box and/or in the manual, but you can also use the command:

 lspci -v

if your device is connected by PCI, or

 lsusb -v

if your device is connected by USB to discover such information.

Selecting the right firmware

Now that you know the details of your device, you can look at the list of the supported devices at:

• DVB-S Devices
• DVB-C Devices
• DVB-T Devices

There you can find which firmware you'll require.

Downloading and Installing the firmware

The firmware can be found on one of the following addresses:

• http://thadathil.net:8000/dvb/fw/
• http://thadathil.net:8000/dvb/fw/dvb-usb/
• http://linuxtv.org/downloads/firmware/

It must be downloaded to the directory used by your hotplug installation; that usually depends on the distribution that you're using. Directories often used are:

 /lib/firmware/$(uname -r)           [Ubuntu users - use this directoy for each kernel installed]
 /lib/hotplug/firmware/ 
 /lib/firmware

Installing the driver

The next step is to install the driver, and connect the device to your PC (if external). To install the driver you have to execute:

 sudo make unload
 sudo make install

Connect the device and then start your preferred program for watching DVB (eg. Kaffeine).

Appendix A: Further reading

Further steps can be followed at:

• First steps with a budget DVB card

Appendix B: FAQ

Q: My device was working perfectly previously, but now is not recongnized anymore. Any idea why?

A: It's possible that you're using a different kernel now, so you have to install the driver again and ensure that the firmware is reached by the hotplug system. This problem occurs due to certain distributions (such as Ubuntu) using a firmware directory specific to each kernel version installed.

Q: My DVB device is recognized but I'm not able to use it. What can I do?

A: You should check that the user that is trying to access DVB device has permissions to read and write to the /dev/dvb directory which contains all virtual files representing a DVB device discovered by your system.

Q: I have download the firmware but /dev/dvb is not present on my system. How come?

A: It's possible that you've saved the firmware in a directory that's not used by the hotplug system for discovering the available firmware, or the firmare is not readble by ALL users. Also, read Documentation/dvb/udev.txt included in your kernel documentation to ensure udev is configured correctly.

Appendix C: Credits

This page was created by:

• Stefano "Kismet" Lenzi