Repurposing discarded STB Hardware

Johnboy1951

I received three Zgemma H.2S boxes free gratis some time ago and they just sat there, unused, until recently.
All had previously been used as 'dodgy boxes'.
Each has two satellite tuners. There are of course other boxes with different hardware attributes available.
These are boxes capable of, or are, running some version of Enigma2.

There are apparently lots of such boxes left unused or discarded, or can be bought really cheaply if necessary. Most often they fall out of use because they are not good enough for modern requirements and have been superceded by newer, more powerful STBs.

First thing was to reflash each box with OpenATV 6.4.
Then install minisatip and set it to run from start up.
That made each tuner available on the LAN for whatever hardware/software one chooses.
The effect is that lots of devices connected to the LAN could receive all the satellite channels regardless where they were ..... bedroom, bathroom, veranda, lawn etc., etc..

Because none of my Zgemmas are used to display on a TV or monitor I set them up to start in standby with no connections other than power, ethernet cable, and coax for the tuners.
NB: I was quite surprised to find such boxes capable of using the output from a Unicable LNB.

So with three H.2S boxes I have six satellite tuners. It could be a bit of a nightmare to manage all 6, so I added a small cheap (€35) ARM device to manage those tuners and to allocate one to whichever device requested one to view a TV channel. It also does EPG and recording and other media management. Of course your laptop or desktop PC could be used for the 'manager' functions while testing and the 'manager' device can be added later.
It is probable that the 'manager' functions could be done on one of the STBs, but I have not tried that here. Maybe I will try that later

The result is that there can be six channels playing from six different muxes, but all the channels on those muxes are available to all devices connected to the LAN.
The number of channels playing and the number of users is limited only by the hardware used ..... those three boxes and the small 'manager' device, with total cost of €35!

The power or speed of the boxes in 'normal' use is not a factor here, because they are not driving displays and have no function other than passing the tuners on to the LAN.

Most people will be happy with just two tuners in one such box, but I played with all three because I had them. I even added another which has two tuners for Saorview, so all device can receive all Saorview channels also ..... all on one list, in the order I choose, with full 7 day EPG available for all channels.

It is surprising what can be done with discarded devices (often because they are too slow for modern use) and very little outlay.

I have viewed these TV channels on my PC, laptop, tablet and my kids phones as well as TVs.

Thus is achieved a simple cheap system to provide all FTA channels available to whatever device requests access wherever it is located, provided it has a connection to my LAN.
Yes, "regardless location" ... once a sufficient connection can be made to my LAN .... including other countries around the world. I had a friend in Sweden test it and it worked without problems. One just has to be aware of the upload speed required, for HD and UHD channels especially.

The software I used is all FOSS/Libre and without cost. This included
CoreElec operating system on the manager device, running Kodi and Tvheadend server.
Each device wishing to access the system runs Kodi with the Tvheadend client plugin.

To run minisatip what is required is to install it to run the following two commands on each box ...

# opkg update
# opkg install minisatip

Next, one file needs an edit, by adding a couple of lines to it.
Add these two lines at the end of the file with a blank line after the entry.
The file is
/etc/init.d/rc.local
on each box.

sleep 10
/usr/bin/minisatip

I found for some operations I had to have a root password set on each box.
You can do the minisatip commands in the terminal of the webif interface of OpenATV.
You need to use a suitable text editor when editing the file, remembering this is Linux and MS corruption is not tolerated by the OS. I believe Notepad+++ on Windows behaves correctly, but am open to correction as I do not use Windows.

I think that is about it.
If I have omitted anything please let me know, and if clarification is needed just ask and I will try to do better.

Most of all have some CHEAP FUN!!!


EDIT:
I should have mentioned, this is but one way to achieve the 'multi-room'/'whole-house' distribution of Live TV and Radio channels. There are lots of others, some of which no doubt are better but I have no knowledge of them. If someone else has used a different method it would be interesting to read how they did it.

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swoofer

That is a very nice idea but where do you store the 2 boxes, what about tuners and sat cables? then lan cables how do you run them, then how do you select a channel on the TV? What happens if a box locks up?? What is the cheap ARM device?

How do you record and set series llnk? What happens if router goes tits up? ditto for when broadband fails? How do you access recordings?

It sounds good but for a new user a step by step would be helpful. And I think this would be aimed at an it level. Where does one get all the software required and is there a fall back position?

Those H2S boxes were very good for iptv and other bits and are still in use. ebay has a few They run a bit hot so how do you keep them cool.

Can you say a bit more about accessing epg and how to store the kit and where to get the bits required like software and that ARM device?

Johnboy1951

swoofer wrote: »

That is a very nice idea but where do you store the 2 boxes, what about tuners and sat cables?

A single cable from sat dish with Unicable LNB will provide all the inputs to the tuners. There are specific Unicable compatible splitters for the purpose.

I have the boxes stored in media cabinet.
As I posted they need connection to the LAN and to the sat dish.

then lan cables how do you run them,

plenty of discussion about that aspect on boards. I ran them in ceilings during a renovation project.

then how do you select a channel on the TV?

With a remote!
Kodi on the playing device will present a full list of Live Channels, EPG and stored media for selection.

What happens if a box locks up??

I have not had that happen, probably because the box is doing very little when no GUI is running or display attached.
If it happened then access from a LAN connected device with a browser should provide Webif control.

What is the cheap ARM device?

I use cheap device with AMLogic CPUs, and the OS I use now is CoreElec.
https://coreelec.org/

How do you record and set series llnk?

The Kodi interface provides recording settings.
For series I usually use the Tvheadend GUI as it provides fine-grained control.

What happens if router goes tits up? ditto for when broadband fails? How do you access recordings?

If the router goes tits up you replace it of course ..... what else can you do?

It sounds good but for a new user a step by step would be helpful. And I think this would be aimed at an it level. Where does one get all the software required and is there a fall back position?

What fallback does anyone have if broadband, router or LNB fails? Stream over internet? Oh no you have no broadband and your router also failed.
When things fail you fix them or replace them.

Those H2S boxes were very good for iptv and other bits and are still in use. ebay has a few They run a bit hot so how do you keep them cool.

Just leave some space around them for airflow. They are not 'working hard' so not generating a great deal of heat.

As I was never 'into' IPTV on E2 boxes I have no experience with them, but I guess I would try to use the IPTV function in Kodi to provide a similar result. I will leave that to others with the required experience.

Can you say a bit more about accessing epg and how to store the kit and where to get the bits required like software and that ARM device?

The EPG is managed by Tvheadend.
You can use internal grabber file or OTA.
I use OTA and get the full 7-day EPG from OpenTV:Sky UK.
It scrapes the EPG and stores it and Kodi takes it from the 'manager'/'tvheadend server box' and presents it to the user.

You can use any hardware you wish that will run tvheadend and Kodi.
R-Pi is very popular for such projects. Just select a suitable OS designed for HTPC use for whatever hardware you choose.
If searching look for JeOS (Just enough Operating System).
There are a number available for the purpose.

how to store the kit

Probably the best would be to bring in a single coax to a press or cupboard to house the tuners and the tvheadend server device, along with a splitter with sufficient outputs for the number of tuners required.
Of course power and LAN connection would be needed.
I dislike wireless for Live TV as any brief interruption in the connection can have detrimental effects on the user experience.
But with some of the setups I have read about on boards that might not be a problem.
The tvheadend server could itself be connected to the main router via Wifi if it was a good wifi setup and would probablysuffice.
Home plugs could also be used.
All is needed is a solid connection to the LAN!

All this LAN connection stuff is discussed many times in various threads on Boards.

One last thing ..... there is no need for IT experience.
It is all quite straightforward, provided one is prepared to put in the effort to learn a little.
If the end result is not of sufficient interest then there is no point in even trying this.

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Johnboy1951

I eventually found information on installing Tvheadend Server on E2. Use OpenATV 6.4 or later and in the terminal provided by Webif provide a password for root user (default is no password)

# passwd root

and follow the prompts.

Next issue the following commands

# opkg update

# opkg install tvheadend

Put the box into standby and issue the command

# tvheadend -C

to start the TVH server. You can then go to the usual TVH setup page in your PC's browser, and proceed from there.

http://<IP address of box>:9981

This would eliminate the need for the server/manager box as posted above, but I would have concerns, without testing, whether the Zgemma H.2S I use here would be capable of serving multiple clients concurrently, especially as it would need to manage EPG, recordings and media storage.
If powerful enough it could also play a channel itself on a TV.
I might get to try it all sometime .... but not very likely TBH.

The tuners of any other box on the LAN would also be available to TVH server like in this pic ... (click for larger pic)

DopeTech

Sounds like a great setup. Could I be cheeky and ask for a few pics or it? Might do a similar setup at some stage.

Johnboy1951

DopeTech wrote: »

Sounds like a great setup. Could I be cheeky and ask for a few pics or it? Might do a similar setup at some stage.

You can ask ..... but pics of what?
Just the outside of a few boxes or what?
Remember this is just me tinkering to see what I can do with these old boxes.

theShire

Does tvHeadend provide an m3u list for playback via an IPTV client? I have 2 LG TVs which can access channels via an m3u playlist (siptv app).
What does your cabling look like if using Unicable? Or have you 6 cables running from LNB?

Johnboy1951

theShire wrote: »

Does tvHeadend provide an m3u list for playback via an IPTV client? I have 2 LG TVs which can access channels via an m3u playlist (siptv app).

Yes it does ...... in a browser enter

<TVH IP address>/playlist

and it produces an M3U file in this form

#EXTM3U
#EXTINF:-1 logo="http://192.168.1.22:9981/imagecache/4" tvg-id="82b6ba8638af2dd8af906d8ed5db5844" tvg-chno="3",RTÉ One
http://192.168.1.22:9981/stream/channelid/112899714?profile=pass
#EXTINF:-1 logo="http://192.168.1.22:9981/imagecache/78" tvg-id="9ef5b74a35cfbd39f7d2e8214a319810" tvg-chno="4",RTÉ2
http://192.168.1.22:9981/stream/channelid/1253569950?profile=pass

It plays fine in VLC and other players on my PC.

What does your cabling look like if using Unicable? Or have you 6 cables running from LNB?

At present I am in between ..... I still have an old dish (which needs attention) with some cables coming in but have erected a new dish with a Unicable LNB.
Presently the Unicable is feeding a Digibit R1 quad tuner, but I hope to receive a splitter soon so that I can feed each tuner from it.
I do not presently have in use any tuner that is not compliant with the Unicable LNB, but I might retain the legacy dish/LNB in case I ever have need of a legacy connection.

Johnboy1951

I came across this today and it is a fairly comprehensive page on TVH on E2.
Just wish I found it ages ago ..... but then I suppose I would have missed most of the fun

https://www.opena.tv/howtos/54519-installation-tvheadend-server-auf-einer-enigma2-box.html

Yes it is in German and for most of us will need to be translated, but google does a reasonable job of that.

I tried this method of not starting E2 and launching TVH, but it did not work out for me.
Probably I did something wrong and should try again .......

niallb

Good article.
This is the same approach I mentioned before Christmas about starting minisatip automatically without the enigma2 front end.

While the article mentions changing runlevel live with 'init 4', if you add the steps in my post linked below it will come up running like that. You could add tvheadend to the same rc.local file you use to start minisatip. Put a delay in between them starting with a 'sleep 20' or similar.

If 'init 4' has things working the way you want changing the value from 3 to 4 or 5 in /etc/inittab will change the way the box starts up to match.

Worth a shot?

https://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showpost.php?p=115315089&postcount=22

Ten Pin

Have you tested it with a USB DVB-T tuner plugged in to H2S?

Johnboy1951

Ten Pin wrote: »

Have you tested it with a USB DVB-T tuner plugged in to H2S?

I did previously, but not since I got the H5.2TC.
Provided you get a USB tuner that has drivers in the plugins it works.
How well it works over a long period I am unsure about. Those USB tuners require decent airflow as they easily overheat.

.

Johnboy1951

niallb wrote: »

Good article.
This is the same approach I mentioned before Christmas about starting minisatip automatically without the enigma2 front end.

While the article mentions changing runlevel live with 'init 4', if you add the steps in my post linked below it will come up running like that. You could add tvheadend to the same rc.local file you use to start minisatip. Put a delay in between them starting with a 'sleep 20' or similar.

If 'init 4' has things working the way you want changing the value from 3 to 4 or 5 in /etc/inittab will change the way the box starts up to match.

Worth a shot?

https://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showpost.php?p=115315089&postcount=22

Yes indeed.
Trying to keep it as simple as possible so that at some future date I will remember what I did

I changed the boot runlevel to 5 as per above.
Once achieved I want to run

tvheadend

It would be nice if I could just add it to some existing file or else add a bash(?) script someplace to start it?

Any suggestion for the simplest way possible to run this once booted to init 5?

EDIT:

I created a bash script as

/etc/rc5.d/S91tvheadend

containing the following

#!/bin/sh
export HOME=/home/root
/usr/bin/tvheadend

and that appears to have done what was required.

niallb

Exactly.
The directory rc5.d is for exactly what you did with it.

By convention, the actual script would be in /etc/init.d/tvheadend and the
/etc/rc5.d/S19tvheadend would be a symlink, but the effect is identical.
The symlinks are used to make it easy to start or stop the same script in different runlevels - if the name starts with 'K' instead of 'S' init calls it with 'stop' instead of 'start'.

Since I started to and fro'ing with you on this, my own home system is working better than it ever has using minisatip and tvheadend instead of enigma2 remote clients. All the problems I had with it in January were fixed by a quarter turn with a spanner on a satellite cable, so there was never a stability issue with the minisatip itself.
Thanks for the inspiration!

Johnboy1951

niallb wrote: »

Exactly.
The directory rc5.d is for exactly what you did with it.

By convention, the actual script would be in /etc/init.d/tvheadend and the
/etc/rc5.d/S19tvheadend would be a symlink, but the effect is identical.
The symlinks are used to make it easy to start or stop the same script in different runlevels - if the name starts with 'K' instead of 'S' init calls it with 'stop' instead of 'start'.

Since I started to and fro'ing with you on this, my own home system is working better than it ever has using minisatip and tvheadend instead of enigma2 remote clients. All the problems I had with it in January were fixed by a quarter turn with a spanner on a satellite cable, so there was never a stability issue with the minisatip itself.
Thanks for the inspiration!

Great to read that your setup is functioning well.
Also great to have others to discuss issues with and get suggestions from.

Thanks for the explanation for the links ... had not realised what the convention is, so will likely try changing it to the 'correct' way.

This latest thing for me is my fist real venture into using E2 devices.
I will set up a parallel whole system using E2 devices attempting to manage the system from one of them, to see how well it works over time without a dedicated tvh server device to do the management.
I suspect the devices I have at hand are not powerful enough to do it all without glitches.
Some fun testing times ahead
.

tipperary

Tried this on a zgemma H7S. Having a bit of an issue setting it up though. When I scan the muxes, for all the DVB-S2 muxes the scan fails. Scans the DVB-S muxes fine (and no issues with DVB-T). Any ideas what might be causing this?

rostalof

Johnboy1951 wrote: »

I did previously, but not since I got the H5.2TC.
Provided you get a USB tuner that has drivers in the plugins it works.
How well it works over a long period I am unsure about. Those USB tuners require decent airflow as they easily overheat.

.

Believe it or not, this is probably the cheapest solution for a DVB-T tuner there is. I've been using one for 3 years with a VU+ box, 100% reliable and it's a dual tuner. The driver is available in the OpenVix plugin feeds so I reckon it should be available in OpenATV too. I think the driver was dib0700.

https://www.ebay.ie/itm/PLAYSTATION-PS3-DVB-T-Tuner-Play-TV-gebraucht-aber-GUT/223936884691?hash=item3423adafd3:g:ijAAAOSwYxdbikd8

Johnboy1951

rostalof wrote: »

Believe it or not, this is probably the cheapest solution for a DVB-T tuner there is. I've been using one for 3 years with a VU+ box, 100% reliable and it's a dual tuner. The driver is available in the OpenVix plugin feeds do I reckon it should be available in OpenATV too. I think the driver was dib0700.

https://www.ebay.ie/itm/PLAYSTATION-PS3-DVB-T-Tuner-Play-TV-gebraucht-aber-GUT/223936884691?hash=item3423adafd3:g:ijAAAOSwYxdbikd8

Yes indeed they are great value for twin tuner devices.
I had not seen them advertised previously, else I probably would have one.

EDIT:
Some info here for anyone considering this device for Linux
https://linuxtv.org/wiki/index.php/Sony_PlayTV_dual_tuner_DVB-T

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Johnboy1951

tipperary wrote: »

Tried this on a zgemma H7S. Having a bit of an issue setting it up though. When I scan the muxes, for all the DVB-S2 muxes the scan fails. Scans the DVB-S muxes fine (and no issues with DVB-T). Any ideas what might be causing this?

Did you get this sorted?
I noticed at times that I thought I had correct satellite set, I had failed to save it, and it then used default of 19.2E and of course no channels from my dish pointed at 28.2E.

tipperary

Johnboy1951 wrote: »

Did you get this sorted?
I noticed at times that I thought I had correct satellite set, I had failed to save it, and it then used default of 19.2E and of course no channels from my dish pointed at 28.2E.

Yes, got some time today to play around with it. My issue was that I hadn't stopped the enigma2 process. When I stop enigma2 (using the command init -4 on terminal) the DVB-S2 channels become available on the tuner.

The zgemma h7 does freeze after a while though for some reason. I set up tvheadend today on a chromebox, with the tuners available through minisatip. Will see how it goes over the next few days.

Johnboy1951

I notice that later versions of OpenATV have SatPi installed by default.
This does a similar job to minisatip and has a GUI for the setup.
I am presently testing this in place of minisatip which would not play nice (by default) with a Unicable II input.
So far it seems to work for me.
Just something to bear in mind in case you continue to have problems with minisatip.

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frozenfrozen

Would satpi on a raspberry pi play nicely with the PlayStation DVB-T x2 tuner from above? That would be amazing for me. Really want to separate my dvbt receiver from the laptop being used to watch TV too. It often needs a reboot and that shouldn't impact other things accessing saorview...

I'm in the middle of migrating to a newer server too so the whole setup is in tatters now anyway. Satellite channels via an old sky box and just saorview via the laptop with libreelec.

Johnboy1951

frozenfrozen wrote: »

Would satpi on a raspberry pi play nicely with the PlayStation DVB-T x2 tuner from above? That would be amazing for me. Really want to separate my dvbt receiver from the laptop being used to watch TV too. It often needs a reboot and that shouldn't impact other things accessing saorview...

I'm in the middle of migrating to a newer server too so the whole setup is in tatters now anyway. Satellite channels via an old sky box and just saorview via the laptop with libreelec.

My only concern, if the R-Pi is an old version, would be to check that the R-Pi provides sufficient power for the dual tuner device mentioned above.
Other than that it is a matter of ensuring the required software is available in whatever OS you use on the R-Pi.

Keep us informed