LinuxMCE TV Tuner

[Dave89]

I am getting ready to build a Hybrid/Core.  I was wondering if I could get some recommendations as to which TV Tuner Card I should purchase.  I am leaning towards the Hauppauge WinTV-HVR-2250 (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16815116037).  However, I see that the analog component of this device is not supported, and I do need analog for my build.  I would also like to be able to have the ability to record two programs at the same time.

I have searched the Hardware Wiki and it is difficult to find TV Tuner Cards which are commercially available and work well.

Any advice or direction would be much appreciated.

Thanks in advance for your help

[totallymaxed]

I am getting ready to build a Hybrid/Core.  I was wondering if I could get some recommendations as to which TV Tuner Card I should purchase.  I am leaning towards the Hauppauge WinTV-HVR-2250 (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16815116037).  However, I see that the analog component of this device is not supported, and I do need analog for my build.  I would also like to be able to have the ability to record two programs at the same time.

I have searched the Hardware Wiki and it is difficult to find TV Tuner Cards which are commercially available and work well.

Any advice or direction would be much appreciated.

Thanks in advance for your help

Well currently if you need analog TV then this card does not sound like a very good choice for you to be frank. Then the next question that springs to  mind is..."Why do you need analog TV"? Isn't the analog TV switch off happening today across the US?

I would have thought that the Silicon Dust HDHomeRun would be the best choice for you as its plug-n-play and alsways gets glowing reviews from US based Forum members and the key Devs too ;-)

See the Wiki for info on the HDHomeRun http://wiki.linuxmce.org/index.php/Silicondust_HDHomeRun

All the best

Andrew

[Dave89]

Andrew,
Thanks for your reply.  I am a cable TV subscriber of Time Warner.  The DTV transition seems to apply only to Over The Air (OTA) broadcast.  There are a variety of packages available through the cable company.  My current choice is analog, but it is through the cable company.  That is why I did not think that the HDHomerun would work properly with my configuration. Any ideas?

Dave

[NikAmi]

Most cable companies are moving to all digital transmissions. Many have already done so (mine has) and the others are planning on doing so in the near future. As Time Warner is one of the bigs, I can pretty much guarantee that they are going to do the same. The reason for this being that there is more and more HD content being generated every day and many consumers want that content. That content requires massive bandwidth and cable doesn't have the bandwidth. To create the extra bandwidth needed, cable companies digitize and compress the video signal of the SD channels so they occupy a smaller frequency subset and require less bandwidth.

[skeptic]

I wish the mandated cut-over to digital included cable companies, but as mentioned it does not.  They are free to cut over whenever they want.  Fortunately business reasons dictate they switch.  Unfortunately with my provider, Comcast, they seem to assume anyone watching TV is doing so through a set top box or TV that can handle NTSC and QAM so they just swap any channel they feel like whenever they feel like.  It also appears the cut-over they are doing has ground to a halt.  No idea if they are planning a big all at once cut or if they are going to slowly switch one or two channels at a time over some extended period.  It sucks.

[Dave89]

Skeptic,
I agree with what you are saying.  I know that cable companies will "eventually" make the switch to all digital, but in the meantime they can do whatever they want to.  It seems like some companies will switch from analog to digital and back randomly at times.  The only way to be ensured that you will have a digital transmission all of the time is to have the HD programming.

This underscores the necessity of having a supported TV Tuner which will work with both analog and digital.  From what I have researched, the Hauppauge WinTV-HVR-2250 (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16815116037 will do just that.  However, the analog portion does not seem to work with LinuxMCE 710. 

I would be grateful for any suggestions or ideas.  I am sure that I am not the only one with this dilemma.  This is the only issue keeping me from ordering my components and building a Hybrid/Core.

[merkur2k]

It is not a matter of it being supported in LMCE, but of it being supported my Linux itself (and mythtv). So unless you have the skillset to help out with the linux kernel drivers, you have two choices:
1) wait for it to be supported.
2) use something else
option 2 is your best bet, since option 1 is likely going to take quite some time yet. so yes, the 2250 might be the "perfect" card for your setup, but if you want this to work you may have to compromise a bit. First, figure out exactly how many of each tuner type you need now, and in what way those numbers may change in the future. Then find and purchase hardware based on your needs. Keep in mind that there is no supported one-card solution right now.
Your best option for ATSC digital tuners is the Silicondust HDHomeRun. It is network attached so it doesnt take up a slot in the computer, and brings two tuners to the party.
You best option for analog is the hauppauge PVR-x50 and PVR-500 (if you can find them, they have been out of production for awhile) if you have spare pci slots, and maybe the Hauppauge PVR-USB2 (i have no direct experience with this, and it may also be out of production).
In any case, make sure to review the wiki page for tuner cards, that will give you some ideas of what the possibilities are.
http://wiki.linuxmce.org/index.php/Category:TV_Cards

[totallymaxed]

Skeptic,
I agree with what you are saying.  I know that cable companies will "eventually" make the switch to all digital, but in the meantime they can do whatever they want to.  It seems like some companies will switch from analog to digital and back randomly at times.  The only way to be ensured that you will have a digital transmission all of the time is to have the HD programming.

This underscores the necessity of having a supported TV Tuner which will work with both analog and digital.  From what I have researched, the Hauppauge WinTV-HVR-2250 (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16815116037 will do just that.  However, the analog portion does not seem to work with LinuxMCE 710. 

I would be grateful for any suggestions or ideas.  I am sure that I am not the only one with this dilemma.  This is the only issue keeping me from ordering my components and building a Hybrid/Core.

Unfortunately Dave its not that LinuxMCE-0710 does not support the analog side of the 2250 card...its that as of right now there is no driver support in Linux for the analog side of the card. As you can see the SAA7134 driver project is moving to 'stage 2' and this will focus on the analog side of the card. Therefore in due course this limitation will get removed...but that will not be in the immediate future. Which is why I would suggest that you look for an alternative card in the mean time;

http://www.steventoth.net/blog/products/hvr-2250/

All the best

Andrew

[skeptic]

Skeptic,
I agree with what you are saying.  I know that cable companies will "eventually" make the switch to all digital, but in the meantime they can do whatever they want to.  It seems like some companies will switch from analog to digital and back randomly at times.  The only way to be ensured that you will have a digital transmission all of the time is to have the HD programming.

This underscores the necessity of having a supported TV Tuner which will work with both analog and digital.  From what I have researched, the Hauppauge WinTV-HVR-2250 (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16815116037 will do just that.  However, the analog portion does not seem to work with LinuxMCE 710. 

I would be grateful for any suggestions or ideas.  I am sure that I am not the only one with this dilemma.  This is the only issue keeping me from ordering my components and building a Hybrid/Core.

I'm in the same boat as you.  What I have is a single PVR-150 for analog, and a HDHomeRun for 2 digital tuners.  I'm considering picking up another analog tuner or dual tuner as one analog tuner doesn't really cut it, but so far I've just been waiting for a better option.  I also will want more digital tuners as LMCE is expanded through the house and stations convert from analog to digital.  If the HVR-2250 worked I'd buy it in a heartbeat.

[Dave89]

Andrew,
Thanks so much for your post.  I have been following the website you included.  That is great news that the driver project is in "stage 2".  Do you know if LinuxMCE810 will be out in a more stable version before the driver for 710?  Just wondering.

It seems like this tuner is the route to go if it works properly.

Should I forget about 710 and just go with 810?  Does 810 have a driver for the 2250?  I would think that the 2250 is not that different from the other Hauppauge cards which do have drivers.  Is there a way to modify or use an existing driver?

Dave

[merkur2k]

You still aren't understanding the problem, the device isn't supported in Linux itself yet, which means *no* version of LinuxMCE can support it!

[Dave89]

I was under the impression that it was only the driver which was required, not a modification to LinuxMCE.  It appears that there are some conflicting posts.  Would someone please clarify this issue.

Unfortunately Dave its not that LinuxMCE-0710 does not support the analog side of the 2250 card...its that as of right now there is no driver support in Linux for the analog side of the card. As you can see the SAA7134 driver project is moving to 'stage 2' and this will focus on the analog side of the card. Therefore in due course this limitation will get removed...but that will not be in the immediate future. Which is why I would suggest that you look for an alternative card in the mean time;

You still aren't understanding the problem, the device isn't supported in Linux itself yet, which means *no* version of LinuxMCE can support it!

[totallymaxed]

Andrew,
Thanks so much for your post.  I have been following the website you included.  That is great news that the driver project is in "stage 2".  Do you know if LinuxMCE810 will be out in a more stable version before the driver for 710?  Just wondering.

It seems like this tuner is the route to go if it works properly.

Should I forget about 710 and just go with 810?  Does 810 have a driver for the 2250?  I would think that the 2250 is not that different from the other Hauppauge cards which do have drivers.  Is there a way to modify or use an existing driver?

Dave

Dave...

Maybe I did not make the point clear in my earlier post...there is NO Linux driver for the analogue side of the WinTV-HVR-2250. NO other Linux driver will work for this purpose...that is why so much effort is being put into writing one by the people involved!!! Therefore since there is no Linux driver for the analogue side of the card LinuxMCE-0710 or 0810 cannot support it for analogue capture.

So for the foreseeable future if you need to use the analogue side of the WinTV-HVR-2250 you are out of luck... You should look for an alternate card

Andrew

[Dave89]

Andrew,
My apologies for the confusion.  I am just trying to make the leap from Windows to Linux.  While reading your post, I guess that I had on my "Windows Glasses" and was viewing things from that perspective.  I do understand that Linux does not have drivers to support that particular card and that people are working diligently to resolve that. 

Can you recommend a TV Tuner card for analog TV which will work well with LinuxMCE?

Thanks for your help and patience.
Dave

[merkur2k]

Did I not do just that in one of my other posts up there?