Blindscan on linux with tbs cards

[Llew]

To get to the bottom of that it would be great to know approximately when you downloaded your copy from github so that I can try to use a version from around that date.

This morning after I saw your post - I deleted the existing media files and recompiled just to check that it still does the biz.

 

[deeptho]

Ah yes, thank you. I have tried that sequence of commands and a few others as well. It all comes down to a conflict between the version of tbsdtv/media_build and my kernel 5.15.0-48. Since it has worked for you on that same kernel I suspect that the reason is the updates that have happened recently to media_build. To get to the bottom of that it would be great to know approximately when you downloaded your copy from github so that I can try to use a version from around that date.
Would be greatly appreciated as I am now in on my 4th day of trying to get this to work ;D.

Why don't you try my version of media_build. It has not been updated and might just work. On fedora it
works with the following kernel:
5.17.3-302.fc36.x86_64
Usually the kernel version is not the most critical. I.e., older media_build's tend to work

GitHub - deeptho/media_build: media_build for compiling the neumoDVB media_tree on this site

media_build for compiling the neumoDVB media_tree on this site - deeptho/media_build

github.com

At some future time, I hope to switch to an easier way of distributing the kernel modules (no more media_build),
but until then, we are lucky to have it available.

 

[Llew]

Why don't you try my version of media_build. It has not been updated and might just work. On fedora it
works with the following kernel:
5.17.3-302.fc36.x86_64
Usually the kernel version is not the most critical. I.e., older media_build's tend to work

GitHub - deeptho/media_build: media_build for compiling the neumoDVB media_tree on this site

media_build for compiling the neumoDVB media_tree on this site - deeptho/media_build

github.com

At some future time, I hope to switch to an easier way of distributing the kernel modules (no more media_build),
but until then, we are lucky to have it available.

I assumed your media_build version was what helmet was using

That's what I've been advising in my posts to helmet.

 

[tom55]

Ah yes, thank you. I have tried that sequence of commands and a few others as well. It all comes down to a conflict between the version of tbsdtv/media_build and my kernel 5.15.0-48. Since it has worked for you on that same kernel I suspect that the reason is the updates that have happened recently to media_build. To get to the bottom of that it would be great to know approximately when you downloaded your copy from github so that I can try to use a version from around that date.
Would be greatly appreciated as I am now in on my 4th day of trying to get this to work ;D.

Show me the output of "ls -la /lib/modules/5.15.0-48-generic/kernel/drivers/media"
Then do "sudo rm -r /lib/modules/5.15.0-48-generic/updates"
And restart to verify everything works at this point

 

[helmet]

Hello! Thanks for all the pointers. I did the following on a fresh installation of Ubuntu 22.04.

uname -a
Linux t470 5.15.0-48-generic #54-Ubuntu SMP Fri Aug 26 13:26:29 UTC 2022 x86_64 x86_64 x86_64 GNU/Linux

What I did...

mkdir ~/blindscan_kernel
cd ~/blindscan_kernel
sudo apt install git
git clone --depth=1 GitHub - deeptho/linux_media: TBS linux open source drivers ./media
git clone GitHub - deeptho/media_build: media_build for compiling media tree on this site
cd media_build
sudo apt install patchutils
make dir DIR=../media
make distclean
./install.sh
sudo reboot

cat /sys/module/dvb_core/info/version
type = "neumo";
version = "1.5";

So one might say that I had some progress. Not sure exactly why but I must have missed following those exact instructions or I had something stuck in the filesystem on the old installation that wasn't allowing the drivers to be installed. This means that I could compile "blindscan" successfully.

cd ../..
git clone GitHub - deeptho/blindscan: User space code for DVB blind scanning
cd blindscan
mkdir build
cd build
sudo apt install cmake
cmake ..
sudo apt install clang
make

Unfortunately now I have this issue:

sudo dmesg | grep frontend
[ 3.704092] TBSECP3 driver 0000:04:00.0: TBSECP3 frontend 0 attach failed
[ 3.704107] TBSECP3 driver 0000:04:00.0: frontend attach failed
[ 4.940764] TBSECP3 driver 0000:04:00.0: TBSECP3 frontend 1 attach failed
[ 4.942044] TBSECP3 driver 0000:04:00.0: frontend attach failed

So according to @tom55 's instructions:

ls -la /lib/modules/5.15.0-48-generic/kernel/drivers/media
ls: cannot access '/lib/modules/5.15.0-48-generic/kernel/drivers/media': No such file or directory
sudo rm -r /lib/modules/5.15.0-48-generic/updates
sudo reboot

Just checking these after reboot:

sudo dmesg | grep frontend #Returns nothing
cat /sys/module/dvb_core/info/version #Returns nothing

in .../media_build

sudo make rmmod
sudo modprobe tbsecp3
modprobe: ERROR: ../libkmod/libkmod-module.c:191 kmod_module_parse_depline() ctx=0x5577347b52a0 path=/lib/modules/5.15.0-48-generic/updates/extra/media/dvb-frontends/gx1133.ko error=No such file or directory

My guess is that the module "tbsecp3" is not being built with the recipe used above and tbh I'm not sure how to continue with this. I do appreciate your help so far!

 

[tom55]

I thought you are on ubuntu 20.04.
Anyway, unless something changed between 21.10 and 22.04,
lib/modules/5.15.0-48-generic/kernel/drivers/media': No such file or directory
doesn't look right. Are there other directories in lib/modules/5.15.0-48-generic/kernel/drivers ?

 

[deeptho]

Hello! Thanks for all the pointers. I did the following on a fresh installation of Ubuntu 22.04.


What I did...


So one might say that I had some progress. Not sure exactly why but I must have missed following those exact instructions or I had something stuck in the filesystem on the old installation that wasn't allowing the drivers to be installed. This means that I could compile "blindscan" successfully.

Indeed, because the results clearly show that the modules are installed at least partially.
One potential problem with media_build is that it outputs many messages and errors during compilation may
not be noticed. In my version of media_build in this case the modules (none of them) install, but
your first result with "cat /sys/module/dvb_core/info/version" clearly show that the modules are installed.

Does this command still produce the correct result after reboot? If not, then it means you have booted another kernel (even though the version seems to be the same).

Unfortunately now I have this issue:


So according to @tom55 's instructions:


Just checking these after reboot:


in .../media_build


My guess is that the module "tbsecp3" is not being built with the recipe used above and tbh I'm not sure how to continue with this. I do appreciate your help so far!

 

[helmet]

I thought you are on ubuntu 20.04.
Anyway, unless something changed between 21.10 and 22.04,
lib/modules/5.15.0-48-generic/kernel/drivers/media': No such file or directory
doesn't look right. Are there other directories in lib/modules/5.15.0-48-generic/kernel/drivers ?

Yes, sorry in the spirit of finding a solution I also switched OS version...

This is what I get:

ls -x /lib/modules/5.15.0-48-generic/kernel/drivers
accessibility acpi android ata atm auxdisplay base bcma block
bluetooth bus char clk comedi counter cpufreq cpuidle crypto
cxl dax dca dma edac extcon firewire firmware fpga
gnss gpio gpu greybus hid hsi hv hwmon hwtracing
i2c i3c iio infiniband input iommu ipack irqchip isdn
leds macintosh mailbox mcb md memory memstick message mfd
misc mmc most mtd mux net nfc ntb nvdimm
nvme nvmem parport pci pcmcia phy pinctrl platform power
powercap pps ptp pwm rapidio regulator reset rpmsg rtc
scsi siox slimbus soc soundwire spi spmi ssb staging
target tee thermal thunderbolt tty uio usb vdpa vfio
vhost video virt virtio visorbus vme w1 watchdog xen

 

[helmet]

Indeed, because the results clearly show that the modules are installed at least partially.
One potential problem with media_build is that it outputs many messages and errors during compilation may
not be noticed. In my version of media_build in this case the modules (none of them) install, but
your first result with "cat /sys/module/dvb_core/info/version" clearly show that the modules are installed.

Does this command still produce the correct result after reboot? If not, then it means you have booted another kernel (even though the version seems to be the same).

Yes I do get the same response after reboot

$ cat /sys/module/dvb_core/info/version
type = "neumo";
version = "1.5";

But after the command proposed by tom55 and a reboot on top I get:

sudo rm -r /lib/modules/5.15.0-48-generic/updates
sudo reboot

cat /sys/module/dvb_core/info/version
cat: /sys/module/dvb_core/info/version: No such file or directory

 

[tom55]

Yes, sorry in the spirit of finding a solution I also switched OS version...

This is what I get:

The script makes a mess. On some systems missing modules break GPU driver.
Recently i have installed latest 20.04 desktop version.
To recover from script mess:

sudo rm -r /lib/modules/5.15.0-48-generic/updates

sudo apt install linux-modules linux-modules-extra (if it say already installed, force reinstall)

After a reboot everything should be good and /lib/modules/5.15.0-48-generic/kernel/drivers/media should be there.

Remove directory where driver was downloaded and start with clean copy

mkdir ~/blindscan_kernel

cd ~/blindscan_kernel

git clone --depth=1 GitHub - deeptho/linux_media: TBS linux open source drivers ./media

git clone GitHub - tbsdtv/media_build

Now edit media_build/backports/backports.txt:
remove line 26: add debug.patch
remove line 31-34:
[5.17.1023]
add v5.17_spi.patch
add v5.17_iosys.patch
add v5.17_overflow.patch

Save backports.txt

cd media_build

make dir DIR=../media

make distclean

make allyesconfig

make -j8

sudo make install


The above should method should do it on 20.04, but you can try it on 22.04 and see what happens

 

[helmet]

Thanks @tom55 and @deeptho for all the tips.

On ubuntu 22.04 with kernel 5.15.0-48, with repos deeptho/linux_media and deeptho/media_build.

Commented out line 26 in backports/backports.txt since it was throwing an error during patching. Compiled and now status is the following:

$ cat /sys/module/dvb_core/info/version
type = "neumo";
version = "1.5";

$ find /lib/modules/`uname -r`/ -name tbsecp3.ko
/lib/modules/5.15.0-48-generic/updates/extra/media/pci/tbsecp3/tbsecp3.ko
$ find /lib/modules/ -name tbsecp3.ko -ls
1316980 124 -rw-r--r-- 1 root root 124600 Oct 8 22:45 /lib/modules/5.15.0-48-generic/updates/extra/media/pci/tbsecp3/tbsecp3.ko

So far so good I guess... But now I am having this issue:

$ sudo dmesg | grep frontend
[ 67.602838] usb 1-8: DVB: registering adapter 1 frontend 0 (Realtek RTL2832 (DVB-T))...
[ 68.488147] TBSECP3 driver 0000:04:00.0: TBSECP3 frontend 0 attach failed
[ 68.488150] TBSECP3 driver 0000:04:00.0: frontend attach failed
[ 69.711704] TBSECP3 driver 0000:04:00.0: TBSECP3 frontend 1 attach failed
[ 69.711718] TBSECP3 driver 0000:04:00.0: frontend attach failed

In dmesg I see these issues:

[ 68.488036] TBSECP3 driver 0000:04:00.0: i2c nack (7)
...
[ 69.711650] i2c i2c-1: stid135_probe: fe_stid135_init error 13 !

I can find the stid135 module though:

$ find /lib/modules/ -name stid135.ko -ls
1318021 952 -rw-r--r-- 1 root root 970832 Oct 8 22:45 /lib/modules/5.15.0-48-generic/updates/extra/media/dvb-frontends/stid135/stid135.ko

Before compiling I have made sure everything is clean by deleting the repo folders and recloning them. I have also been installning packages linux-modules and linux-modules-extra with "--reinstall" to reset the media folders.

I have searched for the errors given in dmesg but haven't found anything that seems relevant. Any ideas as to what is going on?

 

[deeptho]

Yes I do get the same response after reboot


But after the command proposed by tom55 and a reboot on top I get:

The idea is that you execute this BEFORE installing the drivers as it erases the drivers

 

[moonbase]

Newbie to the topic here.

How easy is it for a linux complete novice to get this blind scan program installed and working on a linux PC?
Reading through the topic it looks like quite a bit of experience with linux is required to get it all working?

I assume there is no such thing as a single installer package that can be downloaded and run and then it all works?

 

[Satspot]

Newbie to the topic here.

How easy is it for a linux complete novice to get this blind scan program installed and working on a linux PC?
Reading through the topic it looks like quite a bit of experience with linux is required to get it all working?

I assume there is no such thing as a single installer package that can be downloaded and run and then it all works?

The best advice is to use the OS that deeptho used to develop and test this application and follow his instructions EXACTLY as he has documented. Some have chosen to use Ubuntu and have spent hours trying to get this up and running. You only have to read the previous posts to see that. In his case his OS of choice was Fedora. All the install instructions you need are located here neumodvb/INSTALL.md at master · deeptho/neumodvb

 

[moonbase]

The best advice is to use the OS that deeptho used to develop and test this application and follow his instructions EXACTLY as he has documented. Some have chosen to use Ubuntu and have spent hours trying to get this up and running. You only have to read the previous posts to see that. In his case his OS of choice was Fedora. All the install instructions you need are located here neumodvb/INSTALL.md at master · deeptho/neumodvb

I have no preference for a particular variant of linux and if proceeding had planned to fresh install a version on an SSD from scratch. If Fedora is the preferred option then I could use that.

My concerns were more with the command line stuff working with kernels and other modifications that may be required.
For a non linux newbie coming from a Windows environment, reading through this topic makes the work required to get it all operational look daunting and challenging.

One newbie question, are the DVB card and its linux drivers installed in the machine before the nuemo app install thereby allowing nuemo to detect it?
In windows I would generally install the DVB card and drivers before apps such as EBSPro and Crazy Scan?


I suppose I should give it a try, all that can be lost is time and hair !

 

[Satspot]

I have no preference for a particular variant of linux and if proceeding had planned to fresh install a version on an SSD from scratch. If Fedora is the preferred option then I could use that.

My concerns were more with the command line stuff working with kernels and other modifications that may be required.
For a non linux newbie coming from a Windows environment, reading through this topic makes the work required to get it all operational look daunting and challenging.

One newbie question, are the DVB card and its linux drivers installed in the machine before the nuemo app install thereby allowing nuemo to detect it?
In windows I would generally install the DVB card and drivers before apps such as EBSPro and Crazy Scan?


I suppose I should give it a try, all that can be lost is time and hair !

So Fedora it is. That link I posted to GitHub give you all the info you need to get up and running.

The CLI (command line interface) should pose no threat to anyone. Unlike pre internet days everything is copy/paste into the terminal so you can’t go wrong.

What you’re mainly seeing are examples of users without the prerequisite skills in a Linux environment either going their own way in their choice of Linux flavours and expecting the instructions for another flavour to work off the bat without the necessary adjustments or not following instructions EXACTLY as laid out.

Just follow the instructions EXACTLY as Deeptho has laid out in that GitHub using Fedora and you won’t go wrong.

In most cases in the Linux kernel you’ll find that drivers are already baked in so all you need to ensure is the correct firmware resides in the /lib/firmware so the drivers can locate it and load it at boot time. In your case you’ll be following clearly laid out instructions from the GitHub so that shouldn’t be a consideration for you.

I suggest you get started and if you do come a cropper at any stage you have a very patient developer in the shape of Deeptho to guide you through the process and believe me he is very patient. Not alone will you succeed by the end of the process but you’ll have learnt a bit about Linux environment and wonder why you waited so long.

 

[moonbase]

The best advice is to use the OS that deeptho used to develop and test this application and follow his instructions EXACTLY as he has documented. Some have chosen to use Ubuntu and have spent hours trying to get this up and running. You only have to read the previous posts to see that. In his case his OS of choice was Fedora. All the install instructions you need are located here neumodvb/INSTALL.md at master · deeptho/neumodvb

In the link to the installation of Fedora it refers to versions 33, 34 or 36.
Reading the instructions it seems that version 33 or 34 are the ones requiring less updates after install compared to version 36 which needs additional bugs corrected?

If I have read the install instructions correctly, I will go for v34 unless there is a compelling reason to use the most recent version?

 

[Satspot]

In the link to the installation of Fedora it refers to versions 33, 34 or 36.
Reading the instructions it seems that version 33 or 34 are the ones requiring less updates after install compared to version 36 which needs additional bugs corrected?

If I have read the install instructions correctly, I will go for v34 unless there is a compelling reason to use the most recent version?

Whatever version of Fedora works best. If Deeptho has used that one successfully go with Fedora 34. Once you get started and if you do run into any difficulties he’ll guide you through them. If you do run into problems on any particular command report back. Don’t plough on in the hope that somehow it “might” work in the end. It doesn’t work that way

 

[satesco]

Without exaggerating, although it sounds like it, I can say that Deeptho has done wonders with drivers for tbs6903x/6909X, cards that pose all sorts of problems for developers.
And I agree with Satspot that it's good to follow Deeptho's advice, as they say in the letter, to get the most out of the benefits these drivers and the neumoDVB app bring.
I tried to install them on Fedora, but maybe I didn't have the patience and attention; I didn't succeed, although it is easier for Deeptho to correct the occasional bugs that appear while using the app.
Because I was used to Ubuntu, and having problems with resolution, Deeptho helped me to install the drivers for his app on Ubuntu 20.04 without having any more problems with resolution.
Deeptho's application will not pose any problems for a Linux-savvy user, regardless of the distribution. The problem for him is that he doesn't have time for each of these, and that's even more so as he is not satisfied with a little. He has raised the bar for himself so much that I don't know, and I say this with sympathy, when and how he sleeps. The results are extraordinary. He deserves more users on Linux, just as CrazyCat has on Windows.

 

[deeptho]

Newbie to the topic here.

How easy is it for a linux complete novice to get this blind scan program installed and working on a linux PC?
Reading through the topic it looks like quite a bit of experience with linux is required to get it all working?

I assume there is no such thing as a single installer package that can be downloaded and run and then it all works?

No. There are many distributions and there is little time. Especially for the drivers it is far from obvious to maintain packages.
The instructions have been tested on ubuntu (previous version) and fedora. The drivers is usually the most difficult, for reasons not related to the software.