Instructions for Nova-T 500 Installation on Knoppmyth R5.5

The drivers for the Nova-T 500 are included with Knoppmyth R5.5 and no further installation is required after an automatic install. The amplifiers are also switched on on the card by default, however the remote control still needs setting up to get going.

Setting up the Remote Control

The MythTV wiki contains lircrc and lircd.conf files that I used to setup my remote: http://mythtv.org/wiki/index.php/Hauppauge_WinTV_Nova-T_500_PCI
Edit the hardware.conf file under /etc/lircrc to:

# /etc/lirc/hardware.conf
#
# Arguments which will be used when launching lircd
LIRCD_ARGS=""

#Don't start lircmd even if there seems to be a good config file
START_LIRCMD=false

#Try to load appropriate kernel modules
LOAD_MODULES=true

# Run "lircd --driver=help" for a list of supported drivers.
DRIVER="dev/input"
# If DEVICE is set to /dev/lirc and devfs is in use /dev/lirc/0 will be
# automatically used instead
DEVICE="/dev/input/event5"
MODULES=""
#MODULES="lirc_dev lirc_i2c"

#Defaut configuration files for your hardware if any
LIRCD_CONF="/etc/lirc/lircd.conf"
LIRCMD_CONF=""

Edit the lircd.conf file under /etc/lircrc to:

#
# brand: Hauppauge NOVA-T-500
# model no. of remote control: Hauppage Nova-T-500 Snowboard Shape Silver over Black
#

begin remote

name NOVA-T500
bits 16
eps 30
aeps 100

one 0 0
zero 0 0
pre_data_bits 16
pre_data 0x1
gap 199999
toggle_bit 0


begin codes
Go 0x0162
Power 0x0074
TV 0x0179
Videos 0x0189
Music 0x0188
Pictures 0x00E2
Guide 0x016D
Radio 0x0181
ArrowUp 0x0067
ArrowLeft 0x0069
OK 0x0160
ArrowRight 0x006A
ArrowDown 0x006C
BackExit 0x009E
Menu 0x008B
VolumeUp 0x0073 
VolumeDown 0x0072
PrevCh 0x016B
Mute 0x0071 
ChannelUp 0x0192
ChannelDown 0x0193
Record 0x00A7
Rewind 0x00A8
SkipBack 0x0195
Play 0x00CF
Pause 0x0077 
Stop 0x0080 
Fwdwind 0x00D0 
SkipFwd 0x0197
1 0x0002    
2 0x0003      
3 0x0004        
4 0x0005 
5 0x0006         
6 0x0007        
7 0x0008       
8 0x0009   
9 0x000A        
Star 0x0037      
0 0x000B     
# 0x0029    
Red 0x018E      
Green 0x018F      
Yellow 0x0190
Blue 0x0191  
end codes      

end remote

Edit the lircrc file under /etc/lircrc and /home/mythtv/.mythtv to:

# /etc/lircrc
# ln ~mythtv/.mythtv/lircrc
#
# MythTV native LIRC config file for
# Hauppage Nova-T-500 PCI Dual Tuners DVB-T
# Snowboard shape remote
# Silver on top Black underneath
# 45 buttons
#
# Originally
# By Jarod Wilson, 2003/12/21
# Amalgamated from Jeff Campbell's .lircrc



 MythTV Control 
# http://www.mythtv.org/wiki/index.php/Keybindings #

# Remote Button
## MythTV function


# Go
## Go to home page
begin
prog = mythtv
button = Go
config = ALT+H          
end

# Power
## Turns monitor in Standby
begin
prog = irexec
button = Power
config = sudo vbetool dpms on ; sudo vbetool dpms off
end

# TV
## Go to Watch TV
begin          
prog = mythtv     
button = TV
config = ALT+T
end 

# Videos
## Go to MythVideo
begin      
prog = mythtv           
button = Videos
config = ALT+V
end    

# Music
## Go to MythMusic
begin         
prog = mythtv
button = Music
config = ALT+M
end 

# Pictures     
## Go to MythGallery
begin      
prog = mythtv 
button = Pictures
config = ALT+P
end     

# Guide    
## display EPG          
begin          
prog = mythtv 
button = Guide
config = s
end    

# Radio       



# ArrowUp
## Up
begin          
prog = mythtv       
button = ArrowUp
config = Up   
end

# ArrowLeft
## Left
begin      
prog = mythtv           
button = ArrowLeft
config = Left 
end           

# OK   
## Select/enter/resolve
begin         
prog = mythtv
button = OK
config = Space
end      

# ArrowRight   
## Right            
begin           
prog = mythtv 
button = ArrowRight
config = Rightend        
end

# ArrowDown
## Down                 
begin             
prog = mythtv 
button = ArrowDown
config = Down
end    

# BackExit    
## Exit/go back/cancel
begin      
prog = mythtv 
button = BackExit
config = Esc
end            

# Menu          
## Menu       
begin              
prog = mythtvbutton = Menu
config = m
end        

# VolumeUp        
## Volume Up  
begin             
prog = mythtv
button = VolumeUp
config = F11
end           

# VolumeDown
## Volume down
begin            
prog = mythtv
button = VolumeDown
config = F10
end             

# PrevCh           
## Change tuner card input
begin        
prog = mythtv
button = PrevCh
config = c
end               

# Mute            
## Mute      
begin            
prog = mythtv
button = Mute 
config = F9
end         

# ChannelUp      
begin        
prog = mythtv      
button = ChannelUp
config = Up     
end

# ChannelDown 
begin        
prog = mythtv
button = ChannelDown
config = Down
end               

# Record          
begin        
prog = mythtv    
button = Record
config = R    
end        

# Rewind
begin            
prog = mythtv
button = Rewind    
config = Left     
end             

# SkipBack
begin         
prog = mythtv
button = SkipBack
config = PgUp       
end          

# Play
begin             
prog = mythtv
button = Play    
config = Return
end           

# Pause
begin   
prog = mythtv    
button = Pause
config = P         
end               

# Stop
begin     
prog = mythtv 
button = SkipBack
config = PgUp       
end          

# Play
begin             
prog = mythtv
button = Play    
config = Return
end           

# Pause
begin   
prog = mythtv    
button = Pause
config = P         
end               

# Stop
begin     
prog = mythtv 
button = 1                
config = 1   
end              

# 2
begin    
prog = mythtv
button = 2        
config = 2      
end              

# 3
begin    
prog = mythtv
button = 3   
config = 3       
end            

# 4
begin
prog = mythtv
button = 4   
config = 4       
end          

# 5
begin
prog = mythtv
button = 5   
config = 5        
end             

# 6
begin
prog = mythtv
button = 6   
config = 6   
end              

# 7
begin
prog = mythtv
button = 7   
config = 7   
end             

# 8
begin
prog = mythtv
button = 8   
config = 8   
end               

# 9
begin
prog = mythtv
button = 9   
config = 9   
end          

# Star
## Info
begin
prog = mythtv
button = Star
config = F6  
end             

# 0
begin
prog = mythtv
button = 0   
config = 0   
end               

# #
## Toggle recording of current program (cycles through types)
begin        
prog = mythtv
button = #   
config = i   
end

# Red  
## Red button interactive tv
begin        
prog = mythtv
button = Red 
config = F2       
end

# Green
## Green button
begin        
prog = mythtv
button = Green  
config = F3
end

# Yellow     
## Yellow button interactive tv
begin        
prog = mythtv
button = Yellow
config = F4
end

# Blue         
## Blue button interactive tv
begin        
prog = mythtv
button = Blue
config = F5               
end

Restart your Mythbox and the remote should hopefully work!

Instructions for Nova-T 500 Installation on Knoppmyth R5F27 and Older

Configure drivers for Nova-T 500 on R5F27

From release R5F27 the v4l-dvb drivers included with KnoppMyth are sufficient (thanks Cecil). There is only a small amount of configuration required to get the card working. The instructions for R5E50 left below for reference.

These changes can be done during the setup process but only after the network has been configured. ie after it has asked the questions about the DHCP or your network address. This is about phase 2b in tjc's hints and tips. For me the next point it stops is when it asks for ZIP code. Either switch to an alternate virtual console using Ctrl-Alt-F1 and login there as root or login using ssh from another computer and su to root (ssh from another computer makes it possible to cut and paste these commands).

Download firmware

cd /lib/firmware
wget http://www.wi-bw.tfh-wildau.de/~pboettch/home/linux-dvb-firmware/dvb-usb-dib0700-1.10.fw

Switch on amplifier

It is worth switching on the onboard amplifier for the card. It appears to not find many channels without this. The amplifier is switched on by defining an option in one of the modprobe configuration files. In Knoppmyth modprobe configuration files are located in the /etc/modprobe.d folder. I believe that all the files in this folder are read. I chose to create a new file using the name of the module dvb-usb-dib0700 and this works.

cd /etc/modprobe.d
echo "#switch on onboard amplifier on Nova-T-500 card" > dvb-usb-dib0700
echo "options dvb-usb-dib0700 force_lna_activation=1" >> dvb-usb-dib0700

If not doing during install/upgrade then it is probably easiest to reboot to load the drivers.

If doing during install/upgrade then you can avoid the reboot and having to go through the beginning of the second stage . (so that it is possible to continue with the setup scripts) by reloading the drivers as follows. To do this you also have to stop the backend as it may have the drivers open.

#stop backend
/etc/init.d/mythtv-backend stop
modprobe --verbose --remove dvb-usb-dib0700
modprobe --verbose dvb-usb-dib0700
#restart backend
/etc/init.d/mythtv-backend start

If at alternative console return to xwindows session and KnoppMyth setup by pressing Alt-F7.

Remote control

The following entry on the forum has some instructions that might help with the remote. http://www.mysettopbox.tv/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=16306 I have not yet tried to get the remote working, but you might find some pointers there.

Mythtv Configuration

When adding the cards in mythtv-setup I have found greater success in scanning channels when the timeouts are increased as the default values appear to be too low for this card. It takes longer to scan, but tends to find more channels. These are large values - lower values may work just as well, I just haven't experimented to see where the threshold is and in any case it is probably different for each location.

Signal Timout: 3000
Tuning Timout: 4000
And inside Recording options
DVB Tuning Delay (msec): 400

Install drivers for Nova-T 500 on R5E50

This process has only been tested with a fairly clean release R5E50 box. With the release of R5E27 these instructions are redundant.

These instructions were culled from http://wiki.efficientpc.co.uk/index.php/Install_Nova-T_500_On_Ubuntu_Linux and http://linuxtv.org/wiki/index.php/How_to_install_DVB.

The Nova-T 500 is a dual tuner DVB card. It is unusual in that it has a USB hub on the card and the tuners are accessed through that. There are reports that the current drivers are unreliable and often result in kernel oops especially in poor reception areas and when using the over the air guide. So far I have not experienced any of these problems but have not used the card for protracted periods yet. At time of writing there are no drivers for the remote control. I have also had problems with usb hanging at shutdown. From the error messages this might be related to there being both a 1.1. and 2.0 usb hub on the card. I wouldn't recommend using this card if your setup suspends and resumes as it may not always suspend properly.

The basic process is to download a new version of the v4l-dvb software and rebuild and install the relevant modules, and fetch and install the firmware for the Nova-T-500 card. The kernel source must be installed in order to rebuild and install the v4l-dvb modules. Cecil has made the kernel source available via the thread - "So you want the kernel source..." on the knoppmyth forum.

The method here installs the latest source for the software for 4vl-dvb. I have only tested the Nova-T 500 dvb card after updating the drivers - there is a danger that this might break the software for any other dvb or ivtv based card that you use - so proceed with caution. To install the latest drivers involves installing mercurial and fetching the current source. I suspect this is because when the instructions I was looking at were written the current snapshots did not include the driver for this card. They now do so you might prefer to just fetch the latest snapshot from http://linuxtv.org/downloads/dvb/dvb/snapshots/ instead.

Install mercurial software. This can also be done using synaptic or apt.

apt-get install mercurial

The source can then be fetched, but first change to the directory where you want it to be downloaded to, I just put it in my home directory. The clone operation creates a subdirectory of v4l-dvb within the current directory and places the source code there.

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

Compile the source code.

cd v4l-dvb
make
make install

Download and install firmware for card. Not sure of the correct directory to store firmware in so I installed it to both usual locations. On my machine there are some files in each of the two firmware folders so it is difficult to know which is actually used.

wget http://download.efficientpc.co.uk/files/dvb-usb-dib0700-01.fw
cp dvb-usb-dib0700-01.fw /lib/firmware
cp dvb-usb-dib0700-01.fw /usr/lib/hotplug/firmware

Switch on the onboard amplifier for the card. It appears to not find many channels without this. It is not the most sensitive card. I also have a couple of Nova-T cards and these find many more channels. The amplifier is switched on by defining an option in the modprobe configuration file. In Knoppmyth modprobe configuration files are located in the /etc/modprobe.d folder. I believe that all the files in this folder are read. There does not appear to be a consistent file naming convention used for files in this folder so I chose to create a new file using the name of the module dvb-usb-dib0700.

cd /etc/modprobe.d
echo "#switch on onboard amplifier on Nova-T-500 card" > dvb-usb-dib0700
echo "options dvb-usb-dib0700 force_lna_activation=1" >> dvb-usb-dib0700

Unfortunately it appears that on a reboot the firmware is not always found. After bootup if the module is unloaded and reloaded it then appears to find the firmware and install OK. I have subsequently discovered that it sometimes works. When it works the messages returned by dmesg suggest that the card is in a warm state. It may be that it works if the machine has not been fully turned off; ie the switch on the back of the power supply is still on. I have not experimented enough to determine if this is the case or not.

When it doesn't load properly then the following fixes it.

modprobe --verbose --remove dvb-usb-dib0700
modprobe --verbose dvb-usb-dib0700

After a successful load a /dev/dvb folder should have been created and adapter0 and adapter1 created within it. If you also have some other dvb devices the numbering may be different.

Even when loaded successfully during bootup it is not recognised by the KnoppMyth hardware detection software. This may just be a timing problem as the tuners are found by mythtv-setup and are usually picked up by the backend as well.

Put firmware file in initrd (probably not required)

Initially when I was trying to get this card working it was not loading properly at bootup and reporting that it could not load the firmware. In desperation I ended up putting the firmware file into the initial ramdisk, just in case it was trying to load the module before mounting the root partition. This didn't appear to help at first, but suddenly after a few reboots it all started working. I subsequently do not think these steps are required. For completeness I am including the steps I went through to put the firmware into the initial ram disk. It is easy to end up with a non booting system when playing around with this stuff so I do not recommend it unless you are prepared to reinstall if it all goes wrong. If anyone gets this card to work without this step - please update this document appropriately.

Take a copy of the existing ramdisk, uncompress it and then mount it.

mkdir -p /tmp/tinitrd
mkdir -p /mnt/tinitrd
cp /boot/initrd.gz /tmp/tinitrd/.
cd /tmp/tinitrd
gunzip initrd.gz
mount -t ext2 -o loop /tmp/tinitrd/initrd /mnt/tinitrd

Copy the firmware into the mounted file system.

cd /mnt/tinitrd
mkdir -p lib/firmware
cp /lib/firmware/dvb-usb-dib0700-01.fw lib/firmware/.
mkdir -p usr/lib/hotplug/firmware
cp /lib/firmware/dvb-usb-dib0700-01.fw usr/lib/hotplug/firmware/.

Now unmount the ramdisk image and compress it again

umount /mnt/tinitrd
cd /tmp/tinitrd
gzip -9 -f initrd

Keep a copy of the existing initial ramdisk and then replace it with the newly built one.

cp /boot/initrd.gz /boot/initrd.orig.gz
cp /tmp/tinitrd/initrd.gz /boot/.

Babblefish