OE/VDR/Sundtek standby problem

[Moonbase]

I'm using OE 4.2.1 Generic.x86_64 with vdr-addon 4.30, XVDR Client 0.9.8 and sundtek-mediatv 4.3.1 addon. The Sundtek stick is the new Sundtek SkyTV Ultimate IV (DVB-S/S2). All this runs on an Intel NUC DE3815TYKHE, installed on the internal 4GB flash drive, /storage mounted on the internal 2TB drive. The Sundtek stick is connected to one of the rear USB2 ports.

Since everything worked beautifully out-of-the-box, I always had some recordings programmed and never saw any problems. The green LED on the Sundtek was lit day and night. Now I lateley replaced the internal HDD (exchanged the old 250GB against a 2TB drive), so I had no programmed recordings for about 2 days and noticed the following problem:

After a while, when there is "nothing to do", the VDR (vdr.bin) apparently detaches from /dev/dvb/adapter0/frontend0, /dev/dvb/adapter0/dvr0 and /dev/dvb/adapter0/demux0 which the Sundtek seems to detect and seems to go to some kind of "Standby" mode: The green LED switches off. Whenever I then try to watch Live TV, the green LED comes up again, XBMC shows "Caching … 0%" ("Zwischenspeichern … 0%" in my German version) and nothing happens anymore. XBMC keeps responsive but no TV. I can even hit "X" on the keyboard to stop playback. The message then vanishes.

To me it seems that the Sundtek stick comes up okay again but VDR doesn't reconnect to /dev/dvb/adapter0/frontend0, and thus the XVDR client waits endlessly for some TV signal. I didn't notice that before because whenever there is a future recording timer waiting, the system will never disconnect from the Sundtek stick.

Here's what mediaclient shows when everything is okay:

Code:

# mediaclient -e
**** List of Media Hardware Devices ****
device 0: [Sundtek SkyTV Ultimate IV] DVB-S/S2, ANALOG-TV, REMOTE-CONTROL, OSS-AUDIO
[INFO]:
STATUS: ACTIVE
:
ID: 1-3
[SERIAL]:
ID: U141008155712
[DVB-S/S2]:
FESTATUS: ACTIVE
LNBVOLTAGE: ENABLED
LNBSUPPLY: USBPOWER
LNBSTATUS: OK
FRONTEND: /dev/dvb/adapter0/frontend0
DVR: /dev/dvb/adapter0/dvr0
DMX: /dev/dvb/adapter0/demux0
[ANALOG-TV]:
VIDEO0: /dev/video0
VBI0: /dev/vbi0
[REMOTECONTROL]:
INPUT0: /dev/mediainput0
[OSS]:
OSS0: /dev/dsp0

# mediaclient --lc
**** List of Media Clients ****
/dev/dvb/adapter0/frontend0:
637 ... vdr.bin
/dev/dvb/adapter0/dvr0:
No client connected
/dev/dvb/adapter0/demux0:
637 ... vdr.bin (0012)
637 ... vdr.bin (0014)
637 ... vdr.bin (0000)
637 ... vdr.bin (0011)
637 ... vdr.bin (0010)
637 ... vdr.bin (012c)
/dev/video0:
No client connected
/dev/vbi0:
No client connected
/dev/mediainput0:
No client connected
/dev/dsp0:
No client connected

Here's the output when nothing is waiting (suspected "Standby" situation):

Code:

# mediaclient --lc
**** List of Media Clients ****
/dev/dvb/adapter0/frontend0:
No client connected
/dev/dvb/adapter0/dvr0:
No client connected
/dev/dvb/adapter0/demux0:
No client connected
/dev/video0:
No client connected
/dev/vbi0:
No client connected
/dev/mediainput0:
No client connected
/dev/dsp0:
No client connected

And here what's shown when I try to watch Live TV after a "Standby" (nothing connected to frontend0, LNBVOLTAGE: DISABLED):

Code:

# mediaclient --lc
**** List of Media Clients ****
/dev/dvb/adapter0/frontend0:
No client connected
/dev/dvb/adapter0/dvr0:
568 ... vdr.bin
/dev/dvb/adapter0/demux0:
568 ... vdr.bin (1523)
568 ... vdr.bin (1524)
568 ... vdr.bin (1525)
568 ... vdr.bin (1526)
568 ... vdr.bin (1527)
568 ... vdr.bin (1528)
/dev/video0:
No client connected
/dev/vbi0:
No client connected
/dev/mediainput0:
No client connected
/dev/dsp0:
No client connected

Please don't mix up "OpenELEC Standby" or "System Standby" with what I call "Standby" here: Both BIOS and OE are set up to run 24/7, no powersaving and no standby modes selected. This seems to be some kind of "Standby" the Sundtek stick does all by itself.

The problem can usually be solved by a reboot, or deactivating the vdr-addon and activating it again. Of course this is not what you want to do everytime …

Any ideas how to make this work? (It *would* be nice to set up the system for some power saving eventually, after fixing everything else. So while I'm away, it could sleep a few days, start up a few minutes before the next recording is due, and afterwards go to sleep again …)

P.S.: Unfortunately, all this seems not always clearly reproducable, so some output is missing (like the "mediaclient -e" above). I rebooted to get all the possible outputs together and just now it works, I wonder how long … Another idea: Could it be possible that somehow, after trying to decode a real bad signal, VDR detaches from the driver and won't come back? Sometimes I have some very bad signals, with green and gray blocks all over the screen.

[sundtek]

You can just contact us via Skype (sundtek) to give you a quick analysis on what's going on on your system
NUC Systems are a little bit tricky overall.

You can also check the frequency:

/opt/bin/mediaclient --readsignal=0 -d /dev/dvb/adapter0/frontend0 --band UNIVERSAL

(abort with ctrl-c / german strg-c)

leaving this command running won't allow the tuner to go into standby so you might just start it up after the tuner wakes up again and VDR gets into trouble.

[Moonbase]

Appreciate your help! Would love to take the Skype offer, unfortunately I'm almost always at work during German working hours (and later) … maybe I'll give it a try on Friday, right? Any reference number to quote or suchlike?

@Forum: Sorry for getting a little offtopic, but I really want this solved. I'll let you know the outcome :-)

In the meantime, here's what the above command outputs (no /opt/bin/, since we're on OpenELEC):

Code:

# mediaclient --readsignal=0 -d /dev/dvb/adapter0/frontend0 --band UNIVERSAL
== reading digital TV signal ==
SIGNAL: [ ] ( 0%) BER: 0 FREQ: 9750000 Hz LOCKED: NO SYS: DVB-S SYM: 0 FEC: FEC_NONE MOD: QPSK VOLTAGE: OFF TONE: OFF

It *seems* to do the same thing as when re-activated by VDR: The green LED lights up and it starts functioning but NEVER SETS LNB VOLTAGE ON. So I guess the wakeup logic is more or less functioning but for some reason it won't re-instate the LNB power after the first time. Here's what I get when I run mediaclient -e in another terminal:

Code:

# mediaclient -e
**** List of Media Hardware Devices ****
device 0: [Sundtek SkyTV Ultimate IV] DVB-S/S2, ANALOG-TV, REMOTE-CONTROL, OSS-AUDIO
[INFO]:
STATUS: ACTIVE
:
ID: 2-3
[SERIAL]:
ID: U141008155712
[DVB-S/S2]:
FESTATUS: ACTIVE
LNBVOLTAGE: DISABLED
LNBSUPPLY: USBPOWER
LNBSTATUS: OK
FRONTEND: /dev/dvb/adapter0/frontend0
DVR: /dev/dvb/adapter0/dvr0
DMX: /dev/dvb/adapter0/demux0
[ANALOG-TV]:
VIDEO0: /dev/video0
VBI0: /dev/vbi0
[REMOTECONTROL]:
INPUT0: /dev/mediainput0
[OSS]:
OSS0: /dev/dsp0

It appears the only fault is not switching LNB power back on, maybe this can be easily corrected?

--

Another piece of info, doing mediaclient --testastra switches LNB power ON!

Code:

# mediaclient --testastra -d /dev/dvb/adapter0/frontend0
Testing Astra 19.2 Frequencies
DVBS
LO Band / 18V:
Checking for lock:
. [LOCKED]
LO Band / 13V:
Checking for lock:
. [LOCKED]
HI Band / 18V:
Checking for lock:
. [LOCKED]
HI Band / 13V:
Checking for lock:
..........
DVB-S2 ZDF HD / 18V
Checking for lock:
. [LOCKED]

and

Code:

# mediaclient -e
**** List of Media Hardware Devices ****
device 0: [Sundtek SkyTV Ultimate IV] DVB-S/S2, ANALOG-TV, REMOTE-CONTROL, OSS-AUDIO
[INFO]:
STATUS: ACTIVE
:
ID: 2-3
[SERIAL]:
ID: U141008155712
[DVB-S/S2]:
FESTATUS: ACTIVE
LNBVOLTAGE: ENABLED
LNBSUPPLY: USBPOWER
LNBSTATUS: OK
FRONTEND: /dev/dvb/adapter0/frontend0
DVR: /dev/dvb/adapter0/dvr0
DMX: /dev/dvb/adapter0/demux0
[ANALOG-TV]:
VIDEO0: /dev/video0
VBI0: /dev/vbi0
[REMOTECONTROL]:
INPUT0: /dev/mediainput0
[OSS]:
OSS0: /dev/dsp0

[Moonbase]

Zwischen-Info: Heute mit Sundtek via Skype/Teamviewer Kontakt gehabt, KLASSE Support. Bekomme erstmal einen weiteren Tuner zur gemeinsamen Fehlerdiagnose und bin bester Hoffnung :-) Oops, sorry, wrote in German …

Today, I had contact with the (really great) Sundtek support via Skype & Teamviewer. I'll get another tuner so that we can diagnose the problem further. I'm in best hopes. :-)

[schang]

Hello,

here exactly the same issue with a fresh installation on a WetekPLay

[sundtek]

Hi,

if you have any issue just report it via the sundtek forum http://support.sundtek.de the previous issue is solved. So your issue seems to be something else.