Re: DVB-S PCI card regression on 4.19 / 4.20

[Mauro Carvalho Chehab]

Em Tue, 27 Nov 2018 16:58:58 +0100
stakanov <stakanov@xxxxxxxxxx> escreveu:

> In data martedà 27 novembre 2018 13:49:46 CET, Mauro Carvalho Chehab ha 
> scritto:
> > Hi Stakanov,
> > 
> > Em Tue, 27 Nov 2018 11:02:57 +0100
> > 
> > stakanov <stakanov@xxxxxxxxxx> escreveu:
> > > In data lunedà 26 novembre 2018 14:31:09 CET, Takashi Iwai ha scritto:
> > > > On Fri, 23 Nov 2018 18:26:25 +0100,
> > > > 
> > > > Mauro Carvalho Chehab wrote:
> > > > > Takashi,
> > > > > 
> > > > > Could you please produce a Kernel for Stakanov to test
> > > > > with the following patches:
> > > > > 
> > > > > https://patchwork.linuxtv.org/patch/53044/
> > > > > https://patchwork.linuxtv.org/patch/53045/
> > > > > https://patchwork.linuxtv.org/patch/53046/
> > > > > https://patchwork.linuxtv.org/patch/53128/
> > > > 
> > > > Sorry for the late reaction.  Now it's queued to OBS
> > > > home:tiwai:bsc1116374-2 repo.  It'll be ready in an hour or so.
> > > > It's based on 4.20-rc4.
> > > > 
> > > > Stakanov, please give it a try later.
> > > > 
> > > > 
> > > > thanks,
> > > > 
> > > > Takashi
> > > 
> > > O.K. this unbricks partially the card.
> > 
> > From the logs, the Kernel is now working as expected.
> > 
> > > Now hotbird does search and does sync
> > > on all channels. Quality is very good. Astra still does interrupt the
> > > search immediately and does not receive a thing. So it is a 50% brick
> > > still, but it is a huge progress compared to before.
> > 
> > As I said before, you need to tell Kaffeine what's the LNBf that you're
> > using. The LNBf is a physical device[1] that it is installed on your
> > satellite dish. There's no way to auto-detect the model you actually have,
> > so you need to provide this information to the digital TV software you're
> > using.
> > 
> > [1] It looks like this:
> > 	https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/8/8c/Astra_lnb.jpg/
> 240
> > px-Astra_lnb.jpg
> > 
> > The "Universal" one is for an old universal model sold in Europe about
> > 15 years ago. It doesn't support all transponders found on an Astra
> > satellite.
> > 
> > For those, you need to use the LNBf that it is known as "Astra 1E"[2].
> > 
> > [2] The name is there just for historical reasons. The actual Astra 1E
> > satellite was retired, but another satellite occupies the same orbital
> > position (19.2ÂE), and they keep adding/retiring satellites there as
> > needed (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Astra_19.2%C2%B0E).
> > 
> > As I pointed you on a past e-mail, when you set the DVB-S board on
> > Kaffeine, you should have explicitly set it.
> > 
> > If you start Kaffeine in English:
> > 
> > 	$ LANG=C kaffeine
> > 
> > You'll see it at the following menu:
> > 
> > 	Television -> Configure Television -> Device 0
> > 
> > (assuming that your device is device 0)
> > 
> > There, you need to tell that you'll be using a DiSEqC swith. It
> > will then allow you to select up to 4 satellite sources. Once you
> > set a source, it will allow you to edit the LNB <n> Settings
> > (where <n> will be 1 to 4). Clicking there, it will present you
> > a menu with all known LNBf models. Astra 1E is the third option[3].
> > 
> > [3] yeah, on a separate discussion, we should likely rename "Astra 1E"
> > to just "Astra", and place it as the first option. I'll do such change,
> > but it will be at v4l-utils package (libdvbv5) and it will probably
> > take some time until distros start packaging the new version, even
> > if we add it to the stable branch.
> > 
> > > I paste the output of the directory below, unfortunately the opensuse
> > > paste
> > > does not work currently so I try here, sorry if this is long.
> > > 
> > > Content of the directory 99-media.conf created following the indications
> > > (please bear in mind that I have also another card installed (Hauppauge
> > > 5525) although it was not branched to the sat cable and i did change the
> > > settings in Kaffeine to use only the technisat. But my understanding is
> > > limited if this may give "noise" in the output, so I thought to underline
> > > it, just FYI.
> > > Output:
> > Looks ok to me.
> > 
> > > [  649.009548] cx23885 0000:03:00.0: invalid short VPD tag 01 at offset 1
> > > [  649.011439] r8169 0000:06:00.0: invalid short VPD tag 00 at offset 1
> > 
> > Those two above are weird... It seems to be related to some issue that
> > the PCI core detected:
> > 
> > drivers/pci/vpd.c:                      pci_warn(dev, "invalid %s VPD tag
> > %02x at offset %zu",
> > 
> > I've no idea what they mean, nor if you'll face any issues related to it.
> > 
> > Thanks,
> > Mauro
> The two are known annoyances especially the cx23885 complaining in the logs 
> about a "wrong revision". But as they AFAIK do not cause major issues or 
> havoc, it is not a problem, at least for me. 

Ok, good!

> Now, the card suddenly works. The only thing you have to do (limited to this 
> technisat PCI card, not applicable to the Hauppauge PCI-e mounted on the same 
> machine) is to set the "square" to high voltage, limited for Astra. Hotbird 
> scans better without this, with "no setting send" as I do for the Hauppauge as 
> well. 
> This must be something weird related to our sat dish.

That setting is needed if you have a longer cabling, thinner wiring or
loses at the connectors. Not really an issue. Just a setup that makes the
DVB card to use a higher voltage when powering up the LNBf and switching
the polarization, in order to compensate for cable loses.

> 
> But the GOOD news is: yes now you made it! The card works. And yes, you should 
> really rename ASTRA E setting. Maybe also be more clear or give some hint in 
> kaffeine when hovering over it, about how to set it, for some reason it came 
> straightforward to me to click on the right radio button to select the type of 
> satellite,  but I did not understand, nor did suspect, I would be able to set, 
> or that I would have to set the left button (must be a cultural deformation, 
> or whatever). Once you told me about I did find it, but in my very limited 
> experience, I think that could be enhanced.

Just pushed a patch renaming it. That patch will make Astra the default on
Kaffeine too:

	https://patchwork.linuxtv.org/patch/53172/

It is for the DVB library used by Kaffeine.
> 
> So congratulations. It works and now I am officially even more impressed about 
> Linux and the spirit behind it. Compliments and thank you all for your work 
> and time!
> 
> Regards. 
> 
> 
> 
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Thanks,
Mauro