Networksupport, Howto use Sundtek MediaTV in a homenetwork

[Sundtek]

The Driver softwarepackage also includes networking support. The TV tuner can also be used on other PCs in your homenetwork.

DVB-C via W-Lan:




Acer Aspire One Netbook (DVB-C via W-LAN):



In order to activate the network feature you have to enable network support in the driver:

1. Activating networksupport (on the server)

# /opt/bin/mediaclient --enablenetwork=on

2. determining the deviceid of the device which you want to connect to (by default the deviceid will be 0)

# /opt/bin/mediaclient -e
**** List of Media Hardware Devices ****
device 0: [ Sundtek MediaTV Pro]  DVB-C, DVB-T, ANALOG-TV, FM-RADIO, OSS-AUDIO, RDS
  [DVB-C]:
     FRONTEND: /dev/dvb/adapter0/frontend0
     DVR: /dev/dvb/adapter0/dvr0
     DMX: /dev/dvb/adapter0/demux0
  [DVB-T]:
     FRONTEND: /dev/dvb/adapter0/frontend0
     DVR: /dev/dvb/adapter0/dvr0
     DMX: /dev/dvb/adapter0/demux0
  [ANALOG-TV]:
     VIDEO0: /dev/video1
     VBI0: /dev/vbi0
  [FM-RADIO]:
     RADIO0: /dev/radio0
     RDS: /dev/rds0
  [REMOTECONTROL]:
     INPUT0: /dev/mediainput0
  [OSS]:
     OSS0: /dev/dsp0

3. determine the IP address of the PC which the device is connected to:

# /sbin/ifconfig | grep "inet addr"
          inet addr:127.0.0.1  Mask:255.0.0.0
          inet addr:192.168.1.15  Mask:255.255.255.0

The networksupport binds itself to all available network interfaces on port 9234

or run /opt/bin/mediaclient --scan-network on the client.


4. Connect the device on a remote PC:

# /opt/bin/mediaclient --mount=192.168.1.15

# /opt/bin/mediaclient -e
**** List of Media Hardware Devices ****
device 0: [Sundtek MediaTV Pro (192.168.1.15)]  DVB-C, DVB-T
  [DVB-C]:
     FRONTEND: /dev/dvb/adapter0/frontend0
     DVR: /dev/dvb/adapter0/dvr0
     DMX: /dev/dvb/adapter0/demux0
  [DVB-T]:
     FRONTEND: /dev/dvb/adapter0/frontend0
     DVR: /dev/dvb/adapter0/dvr0
     DMX: /dev/dvb/adapter0/demux0

When no deviceid is given the driver tries to bind to deviceid 0 by default, in order to connect to other deviceids you have to use following syntax --mount=IP:DEVICEID

After this you can use your Sundtek MediaTV device remotely just as if it would be connected locally, this feature is currently only available for DVB-C and DVB-T. The driver only submits the requested Channel PIDs to the network in order to keep the bandwidth requirement low.

In order to lower the required USB bandwidth you can also enable hardware PID filtering. This can be done with following command:

# /opt/bin/mediaclient -P on

To unload the device:

# /opt/bin/mediaclient --unmount=0

Network PCs:

http://i.gizmodo.com/5126038/pogoplug-turns-any-hard-drive-into-a-network-share-for-79

http://www.sheevaplug.de

please note at this time this requires the latest driver version:
http://www.sundtek.de/media/sundtek_installer_development.sh

[willem2]

I connected the Sundtek to my Bubba Two server: http://www.excito.com/
On the server side everything seems to be OK, but I can't connect on client side.

Which software/commands can I use to check what's wrong or am I doing wrong?

[Sundtek]

Maybe you missed enabling the Server?
Although we have some updates pending for the streaming feature which will be available around mid next week.

please use http://www.sundtek.de/media/sundtek_installer_development.sh it contains the latest network implementation.

[willem2]

After trying several "development" releases I finally had success with the latest stable driver (16 September 2010).
The Sundtek is now connected to the Bubba Two server and everything works as described in this thread 

Someone thinking of the same solution, consider the following:

• network traffic (measured with nload) - between 8000 and 9000 kbit/sec*
• CPU time on the Bubba Two server - 75 % 

* DVB-C - Belgian Telenet Cable - VRT1 LD 16/9

My conclusion: the Bubba Two hasn't enough CPU power to realize this, but the Sundtek works like a charm 

[Sundtek]

What kind of server is this 'bubba server'?

ARM, MIPS, X86?

There are 2 ways to lower the CPU requirement

1. enable hardware pid filter (/opt/bin/mediaclient -P on)
2. there's an acceleration kernel module available, this can be compiled in order to optimize the speed on the used architecture
http://www.sundtek.de/support/khelper.tar.gz

Another option would be:
3. You can buy a Seagate Dockstar (1.3 Ghz 128 MB ram for 25$ or 25 EUR, it's available nearly everywhere right now).

The easiest way would be #3 followed by #1 and #2 would probably be most difficult since you need to compile the driver for it

[willem2]

What kind of server is this 'bubba server'?

I do have a Bubba Two, which has a 333 MHz PPC and 256 mb ram (Excito has recently released the Bubba 3 with 1.2 GHz ARM and 512 mb ram).
More information: http://www.excito.com/bubba/products/technical-specifications.html

1. enable hardware pid filter (/opt/bin/mediaclient -P on)

I tried this option but results remain the same.

2. there's an acceleration kernel module available, this can be compiled in order to optimize the speed on the used architecture
http://www.sundtek.de/support/khelper.tar.gz

Not tested yet.

3. You can buy a Seagate Dockstar (1.3 Ghz 128 MB ram for 25$ or 25 EUR, it's available nearly everywhere right now).

I can find the Dockstar but the price in Belgian shops is between 55 and 100 EUR 

The Bubba Two handles the DVB stream quite well, but the problem is I'm using it as router, wifi AP, (personal) file- and webserver, ... and all these things together are to much for the PPC processor.

[michel30]

Hello,

I install the sundtek driver on a ubuntu pc.
Now I want connect my dreambox with the sundtek control center to the ubuntu pc.

can this work?

I type the ip number of my ubuntu pc on the dreambox in the sundtek control panel, I restart but I don'n get any thing to see?

I restart the ubuntu pc, but still noting, do I need to do more things?

Thanks for help..

Regards,
Michel

[Sundtek]

Did you run /opt/bin/mediaclient --enablenetwork on your ubuntu PC?

This constellation Ubuntu <-> Dreambox via Network is supported

[fullcorn]

That seems to be interesting.

Is it also possible to stream to a windows pc?

[Sundtek]

yes, it's possible to stream to Windows.

[cody_rocco]

given the presence of multiple networks, how can i specify to StreamlineScanner which network to use? just asking, because i'm using the device in a virtualised environment - i'm able to find the remote device only if i'm disabling all other networks.

[Sundtek]

what does your ipconfig /all show up when all networks are enabled?

[cody_rocco]

as you can see in this ipconfig output, there are 4 networks - one wired, one wireless, two belonging to vmware.
as the main network is 192.168.123. (internet connection, using a dlink dir-825 router - where i tested, as a matter of fact, the media tvpro first, working excellent), there are 192.168.252. and 192.168.221.; the last one is used for an ubuntu virtual machine (NAT).
unless i disconnect all networks but 221, streamline scanner will not find any networked device. after finding and connecting, though, i can reconnect other networks without problems.

[Sundtek]

For the next step you will have to wait a few more days Sundtek is officially off until 3rd January.
I think it shouldn't be a problem to check all networks for devices (Linux obviously does, Windows only takes the first broadcast in the list)

[cody_rocco]

first i was thinking the same - and let streamline scanner few more minutes, to scan all networks, without results.
maybe passing the ip range / ip address directly to the software will help. also, it will be useful to know which the mediaserver port is, if it's fixed or dynamic - to set the firewall, when needed.
may you have a happy new year