vdr lost t-500 - no tv option

[cpszx]

Hi,

i have installed 710b3 onto a msi live, amd64, nvidia 6150, with T-500 card as hybrid.

from initial install, i could not get tv to work, but eventually found the details about w_scan and created a basic channels.conf, uploaded it and got a live stream and was able to watch tv.
however, the channel guide was not correct for how the channels were actually labelled, the guide still showed the pre-installed german version, but flicking through the channels showed them correctly.

but, during my using of the system, i removed the UI2 orbiter, and got dumped back to UI1. over zealous removing of the multiple entries from my unsupported n95......
i went through the setup wizard and got back to UI2, but now the T-500 is not visible to VDR. I dont get the TV option on the menu at all.

i notice that there are no pipes or anything like that defined which is what i think the problem is, but looking through the forum i only see mention that they are created automatically, and no instructions on creating them manually to suit this card.

i have tried to do this, but i seem to go round in circles.

i have noticed that there is an /var/cache/cdr/epg.data file that has been created since i have been browsing around the system, moving the channels.conf file wherever i find one....
the epg is updated with current information, so i know the card must be working and receiving signal, but i cannot get it to show on the UI to select.

i have manually added the pvr-500 tuner1 and tuner2 devices back to the core/hybrid md, and now i am stuck..

i think i have searched the forums to death trying to make sure i have got as much done as i can until this point, so any help would be appreciated, cheers.

#update# ok, the only thing i forgot to do was regenerate the Orbiter for core/hybrid which has given me my TV option back 
i have also removed the pvr-500 tuners from the hybrid/core in admin page, as i assume they are not used for my dvb card.... therefore the pipes were a non issue.... 


overall, i have mixed feelings at the moment regarding linuxmce, as i was hoping it would be a little more painless to install and configure than it actually was, however i want to stick with it until i know i have done all i can to make it work for me.
having been out of the "hands on" environment for a couple of years, all of the old frustrations have come flooding back when working at the bleeding edge :-)
however, once i am up to speed, i hope to contribute in some way

the community certainly seems dedicated and helpful, which is very encouraging, and i have noticed big advancements between releases while reading through the forums. well done to the developers so far!

however, i am a little disappointed in the quality of output to my tv, as the kde desktop and admin console are pretty much unreadable, and i have had to disable to firewall and ssh & www in externally to get a readable interface to troubleshoot with.
the bad quality extends to the UI interface looking clunky, or as my wife put it "a bit 80's atari", but i presume that will be some X config file manipulation when i have a spare few hours to kill.....

#update# i downloaded the vdradmin utility as detailed elsewhere, and that is much more friendly than trying to use my keyboard for the epg, but i appreciate that the vdr interface is still "work in progress"

how do i get the tv image to fill my 16:9 widescreen, rather than letterbox format, of varying heights, depending on the channel?

regards,
Craig

[colinjones]

Do a search on the forums for xorg or xorg.conf, you should find loads! You don't say in what way the screen is "unreadable".... fonts too big? Too small? Icons too big? Resolution too low? Either way - all this is your xorg.conf file (/etc/X11/xorg.conf), note that each time you go into the AV wizard it will overwrite any changes you have made. At rare other times when messing around, too! Keep a copy of your tuned one just in case - or change the Xconfigure file as described in another post.

You don't say much about your TV, its resolution or connection, so can't give you any specific recommendations. However, the "UseEDID" "true" is a good one to start with. At least determine whether your TV reports itself properly, and thus get hints to the correct config from the /var/log/Xorg.0.log file. "UseEDIDDPI" "false" and "UseDPI" 100 are another good two for font size issues. DisplaySize if you need to override, and take a look at the Screen and Monitor sections. Also, make sure the nvidia driver is being used, not xv or vesa.

[cpszx]

Hi Colin,
yes, the xorg.conf is my next area of focus to try and sort it out.

ok, tv is samsung 42" rear projection 100hz, not HD. connected via scart, but listed as composite. i have been using both connections, scart to scart and composite to composite, i have not tried the component connection yet.

the contrast or focus is blurred with the white on black scheme, and the font size makes multi line buttons crop the second line. But that is all fairly usable.

the thing that is not very usable is the MCE launch manager and kde desktop in general, especially the web admin interface. it is just too difficult to make out the characters.

i am hoping that tweaks to xorg.conf will help with this issue.
I am also hoping that these tweaks will mean that my tv display will fill the screen and not be stuck at letterbox format. The UI uses the full screen, so i am not sure if it is a VDR config issue or not ?

Regards,
Craig