astrometa dvb t2 linux
DVB-T supported since kernel 3.13, DVB-T2 since 4.6. Drivers being developed support DVB-C with 64QAM/128QAM, but not 256QAM.
Components
The device was usually shipped with these components:
- USB interface: Realtek RTL2832P
- Demodulator: Panasonic MN88473 (2013 revision: MN88472) (2018 revision: Sony CXD2837ER)
- Tuner: Rafael Micro R828D (TVR801: R820T)
The USB interface bridge for all devices are supported by rtl238xx driver. All tuners are supported by the same driver (rt820t). The demulator driver varies from version to version: it can be mn88472, mn88473 or cxd2841er.
The different revisions of the Astrometa DVB-T2 have been released under many different «brand» names. This page cannot list all of them. If you buy a new tuner from an unknown or no brand for under 30 euros or so, you will probably get some Astrometa clone.
2013 and 2014 revision look very similar. Probably, the text on the 2013 revision always reads «FM+DAB+SDR», while the 2014 one says «DVB-T/T2/C+FM+DAB». However, seller pictures do not always reflect that change and one could end up buying a random version even years later.
The 2014 revision version is also sold as «Andoer Digital DVBT2 USB TV Stick» or «Docooler YRC1415458446568TZ». Those devices are identical in appearance to the usual Astrometa devices.
TeVii sells a similar device under the name «H630». The case is black. The PCB layout is a bit different, e.g. the IR sensor is in a different position.
There is a version of the device called TVR801, which uses an unlabelled Rafael Micro R820T tuner. According to official sources, this one does not support DVB-C.
In 2017, a clone of the 2014 version with a red PCB (original Astrometa one’s is green) also appeared on E-commerce sites that ship from China. The case looks like the H630’s, but is white with silver text that reads «DVB-T/T2/C/FM/DAB». This device is shipped in bulk in just a plastic bag with a simple stick antenna, a remote control (21 buttons) and a Mini CD that dates to 09 Jan 2017. Some sellers call it OXA ZC905500 or S SKYEE. It is also sold under the name «iViewHD» inside the case of the TVR801 and its antenna has an USB-powered amplifier. See 2018 update below!
In 2018 several clones are being shipped using the Sony CXD2837 chipset. This has a driver from kernel 4.14 onwards (it is now covered by the cxd2841er driver), but the device as a whole does not work because the RTL2832 driver has not been updated to recognise it. However, updated RTL2832 driver has been accepted to the media_tree (as mentioned here) so you can compile it yourself (see How to Obtain, Build and Install V4L-DVB Device Drivers#Retrieving_from_the_upstream_development_Kernel_tree) or use a specialized distribution such as LibreELEC (kodi appliance) which supports this device out-of-the-box, provided you enable the bundled «DVB drivers from the latest kernel (media_build)» add-on. These changes will most likely be included in the next mainline kernel. In most cases the RTL chip does not appear to be connected to the tuner, so these devices will not work for DVB-T either. Even though the chipset is different and incompatible, the same USB vendor and product IDs are used (15f4:0131). The clones with the Sony demodulator reported so far are:
- Blue coloured PCB either with a white case or a black case, both with silver writing. You (or a potential seller) can tell if this uses an incompatible Sony chip by holding it in front of (or for the black ones: directly under) a light source and see the colour of the PCB through the holes. dmesg output, lsusb -vvv output and PCB photos here
- Green coloured PCB with a case matching the 2014 revision. The only way to tell if this uses the Sony chip (or is the 2014 revision with working Panasonic chipset) is to open the case and read the part number on the chip.
All these models share the same USB IDs.
In late 2015, a version with analog video input and analog tuning capabilities was released, powered by the Conexant CX23102-11Z USB bridge. It has a different device ID (0135) and is a different device. Support is unknown.
| 2013 revision | 2014 revision | TVR801 | 2017 revision | 2018 revision | 2015 revision: DVB+Analog TV | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sample promo shot |  (some may look like the 2014 revision) |  (some may look like the 2013 revision) |  (case also used for other revisions or devices, often without the text) |  |  or same as 2014 or 2017 revision |  |
| Bottom PCB | same as 2014 revision (different demod, no number 1422) |  («1422» and text missing sometimes) |  |  |  |  |
| Top PCB | same as 2014 revision |  |  |  |  |  |
| USB Bridge | Realtek RTL2832P | Realtek RTL2832P | Realtek RTL2832P | Realtek RTL2832P | Realtek RTL2832P | Conexant CX23102-11Z |
| Demod | Panasonic MN88472 (said to not support DVB-T2 v1.3.1, which is used in e.g. Germany) | Panasonic MN88473 | Panasonic MN88473 | Panasonic MN88473 | Sony CXD2837ER | Panasonic MN88473 |
| Tuner | Rafael Micro R828D | Rafael Micro R828D | Rafael Micro R820T (probably doesn’t support DVB-C) | Rafael Micro R828D | Rafael Micro R828D or AT628 (same as R828D) | Rafael Micro R828D |
| USB IDs | 15f4:0131 (Hanftek) | 15f4:0131 (Hanftek) | 15f4:0131 (Hanftek) | 15f4:0131 (Hanftek) | 15f4:0131 (Hanftek) | 15f4:0135 (Hanftek) |
| Supported | yes | yes | most likely | yes | most likely since 5.0 | yes, since 4.14 |
PCBs of TVR801 and 2017 revision have the same color, the difference on the pictures comes from different lighting. There is another rare version described in Antti’s blog, which pretty much the 2017 revision with a green PCB (and has some very little differences).
RTL2832P configuration
The RTL2832P has 2 PID filter paths. One for the internal demod and one for a possible external one.
Debian User Forums
Astrometa DVB T2 Stick not working with VLC or Kaffeine
Astrometa DVB T2 Stick not working with VLC or Kaffeine
#1 Post by debidant » 2017-12-02 11:07
Debian Buster with VLC 2.2.7 and Kaffeine 2.0.13
I have an Astrometa DVB T2 Stick (firmware dvb-demod-nm88473-01.fw loaded) which finds channels with w_scan.
[265376.929575] usb 3-3.3: new high-speed USB device number 9 using ehci-pci [265377.068384] usb 3-3.3: New USB device found, idVendor=15f4, idProduct=0131 [265377.068392] usb 3-3.3: New USB device strings: Mfr=1, Product=2, SerialNumber=0 [265377.068397] usb 3-3.3: Product: dvbt2 [265377.068401] usb 3-3.3: Manufacturer: astrometadvbt2 [265377.075934] usb 3-3.3: dvb_usb_v2: found a 'Astrometa DVB-T2' in warm state [265377.154106] usb 3-3.3: dvb_usb_v2: will pass the complete MPEG2 transport stream to the software demuxer [265377.154131] dvbdev: DVB: registering new adapter (Astrometa DVB-T2) [265377.156947] i2c i2c-14: Added multiplexed i2c bus 15 [265377.156954] rtl2832 14-0010: Realtek RTL2832 successfully attached [265377.163193] mn88473 14-0018: Panasonic MN88473 successfully identified [265377.163209] usb 3-3.3: DVB: registering adapter 1 frontend 0 (Realtek RTL2832 (DVB-T)). [265377.163367] usb 3-3.3: DVB: registering adapter 1 frontend 1 (Panasonic MN88473). [265377.163451] r820t 15-003a: creating new instance [265377.170738] r820t 15-003a: Rafael Micro r820t successfully identified [265377.170751] r820t 15-003a: attaching existing instance [265377.175866] r820t 15-003a: Rafael Micro r820t successfully identified [265377.177915] rtl2832_sdr rtl2832_sdr.0.auto: Registered as swradio0 So far so good. But with kaffeine the channel scan doesn’t find any channels.
If I create an .xspf file for VLC with w_scan and open it in VLC I get the errors
Digital broadcasting: The selected digital tuner does not support the specified parameters. Please check the preferences. Your input can't be opened: VLC is unable to open the MRL 'dvb-t2://frequency=474000000'. Check the log for details. core debug: processing request item: dvb-t2://frequency=474000000, node: Playlist, skip: 0 core debug: resyncing on dvb-t2://frequency=474000000 core debug: dvb-t2://frequency=474000000 is at 4 core debug: starting playback of the new playlist item core debug: resyncing on dvb-t2://frequency=474000000 core debug: dvb-t2://frequency=474000000 is at 4 core debug: creating new input thread core debug: Creating an input for 'dvb-t2://frequency=474000000' core debug: requesting art for dvb-t2://frequency=474000000 core debug: using timeshift granularity of 50 MiB, in path '/tmp' core debug: `dvb-t2://frequency=474000000' gives access `dvb-t2' demux `' path `frequency=474000000' core debug: specified demux `any' core debug: looking for meta fetcher module matching "any": 1 candidates core debug: creating demux: access='dvb-t2' demux='any' location='frequency=474000000' file='(null)' core debug: looking for access_demux module matching "dvb-t2": 16 candidates core debug: no access_demux modules matched core debug: creating access 'dvb-t2' location='frequency=474000000', path='(null)' core debug: looking for access module matching "dvb-t2": 25 candidates dtv debug: CA interface with 1 slot(s) dtv debug: CI link layer level interface type dtv debug: 0 available descrambler(s) (keys) qt4 debug: IM: Setting an input lua debug: Trying Lua scripts in /home/mb/.local/share/vlc/lua/meta/fetcher lua debug: Trying Lua scripts in /usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/vlc/lua/meta/fetcher lua debug: Trying Lua playlist script /usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/vlc/lua/meta/fetcher/tvrage.luac lua debug: skipping script (unmatched scope) /usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/vlc/lua/meta/fetcher/tvrage.luac lua debug: Trying Lua scripts in /usr/share/vlc/lua/meta/fetcher core debug: no meta fetcher modules matched core debug: searching art for 0005. WDR HD Köln core debug: looking for art finder module matching "any": 2 candidates lua debug: Trying Lua scripts in /home/mb/.local/share/vlc/lua/meta/art lua debug: Trying Lua scripts in /usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/vlc/lua/meta/art lua debug: Trying Lua playlist script /usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/vlc/lua/meta/art/00_musicbrainz.luac lua debug: skipping script (unmatched scope) /usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/vlc/lua/meta/art/00_musicbrainz.luac lua debug: Trying Lua playlist script /usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/vlc/lua/meta/art/01_googleimage.luac lua debug: skipping script (unmatched scope) /usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/vlc/lua/meta/art/01_googleimage.luac lua debug: Trying Lua playlist script /usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/vlc/lua/meta/art/02_frenchtv.luac lua debug: skipping script (unmatched scope) /usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/vlc/lua/meta/art/02_frenchtv.luac lua debug: Trying Lua playlist script /usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/vlc/lua/meta/art/03_lastfm.luac lua debug: skipping script (unmatched scope) /usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/vlc/lua/meta/art/03_lastfm.luac lua debug: Trying Lua scripts in /usr/share/vlc/lua/meta/art core debug: no art finder modules matched core debug: looking for meta fetcher module matching "any": 1 candidates lua debug: Trying Lua scripts in /home/mb/.local/share/vlc/lua/meta/fetcher lua debug: Trying Lua scripts in /usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/vlc/lua/meta/fetcher lua debug: Trying Lua playlist script /usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/vlc/lua/meta/fetcher/tvrage.luac core debug: using meta fetcher module "lua" core debug: removing module "lua" core debug: searching art for 0005. WDR HD Köln core debug: looking for art finder module matching "any": 2 candidates lua debug: Trying Lua scripts in /home/mb/.local/share/vlc/lua/meta/art lua debug: Trying Lua scripts in /usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/vlc/lua/meta/art lua debug: Trying Lua playlist script /usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/vlc/lua/meta/art/00_musicbrainz.luac lua debug: Trying Lua playlist script /usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/vlc/lua/meta/art/01_googleimage.luac lua debug: Trying Lua playlist script /usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/vlc/lua/meta/art/02_frenchtv.luac lua debug: Trying Lua playlist script /usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/vlc/lua/meta/art/03_lastfm.luac lua debug: Trying Lua scripts in /usr/share/vlc/lua/meta/art core debug: no art finder modules matched core debug: art not found for dvb-t2://frequency=474000000 dtv debug: setting property 2 to 0 dtv debug: setting property 17 to 16 dtv debug: setting property 3 to 474000000 dtv debug: setting property 4 to 6 dtv debug: setting property 9 to 9 dtv debug: setting property 5 to 8000000 dtv debug: setting property 39 to 6 dtv debug: setting property 38 to 6 dtv debug: setting property 42 to 0 dtv error: cannot set frontend tuning parameters: Invalid argument dtv error: tuning to 474000000 Hz failed core debug: no access modules matched core error: open of `dvb-t2://frequency=474000000' failed core debug: dead input core debug: changing item without a request (current 4/5) core debug: nothing to play qt4 debug: IM: Deleting the input pulse debug: changing sink 1: alsa_output.pci-0000_0a_00.0.analog-stereo (EMU20k2 [Sound Blaster X-Fi Titanium Series] (SB1270 [SoundBlaster X-Fi Titanium HD]) Analog Stereo) pulse debug: changing sink 1: alsa_output.pci-0000_0a_00.0.analog-stereo (EMU20k2 [Sound Blaster X-Fi Titanium Series] (SB1270 [SoundBlaster X-Fi Titanium HD]) Analog Stereo)