Linux + VLC

Frequently Asked Questions
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nickk
Silicondust
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Joined: Tue Jan 13, 2004 9:39 am
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Linux + VLC

Post by nickk »

You use hdhomerun_config to manually configure HDHomeRun to stream video to a PC running VLC...

You will need:

VLC - http://www.videolan.org/vlc/
libhdhomerun - http://www.silicondust.com/downloads

Extract libhdhomerun and run "make" to compile hdhomerun_config.

1) Discover HDHomeRun

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hdhomerun_config discover
Use the discover command to find the HDHomeRun devices on the local network.

If you only have one HDHomeRun device on your network you can leave the device id as FFFFFFFF in the examples, however if you have more than one HDHomeRun device on your network you will need to replace the FFFFFFFF with the proper device id.

2) Set the channelmap

If you're in US/Canada and using antenna:

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hdhomerun_config FFFFFFFF set /tuner0/channelmap us-bcast
If you're in US/Canada and using cable

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hdhomerun_config FFFFFFFF set /tuner0/channelmap us-cable
For other countries refer to

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hdhomerun_config FFFFFFFF get /sys/features
for a complete list of channel maps supported.

3) Run a channel scan

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hdhomerun_config FFFFFFFF scan /tuner0 scan0.txt
(the output will be logged to scan0.txt)

4) Set the channel

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hdhomerun_config FFFFFFFF set /tuner0/channel <channel>
Note that <channel> is the channel number containing the digital broadcast, not the channel number advertised by the TV station. Refer to the channel scan or http://www.silicondust.com/hdhomerun/channels

Check the signal strength using the following command:

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hdhomerun_config FFFFFFFF get /tuner0/status
5) Select the program number

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hdhomerun_config FFFFFFFF get /tuner0/streaminfo
hdhomerun_config FFFFFFFF set /tuner0/program <number>
6) Launch VLC and open network stream
From the command line:

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vlc udp://@:1234
From the GUI:
Launch VLC
File -> Open Network Stream
Choose UDP/RTP, Port 1234

7) Set the target for the video stream

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hdhomerun_config FFFFFFFF set /tuner0/target <target>:1234
The <target> should be the ip address of the computer running vlc. Note that the target setting is automatically cleared if the target machine is not listening on the specified port. ie if VLC is not running or you quit VLC.

Troubleshooting

Check the signal strength using the following command:

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hdhomerun_config FFFFFFFF get /tuner0/status
Check the target using the following command:

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hdhomerun_config FFFFFFFF get /tuner0/target
If it reports "none" then most likely the pc was not listening on the target port and the ip/port was automatically cleared. Double check the following and then set the target again:
- Check that VLC is running and is using "udp://@" or "udp://@:1234".
- Check the IP address of the machine VLC is running on.
- Check that the port is not blocked by a firewall.

If the target is correct and the LED on the HDHomeRun indicates it is streaming video then the most likely problem is a firewall blocking the port (UDP port 1234 used in this example).
Last edited by nickk on Tue May 15, 2007 2:54 am, edited 3 times in total.

mikeb
Expert
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Joined: Thu Sep 28, 2006 10:20 am
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Post by mikeb »

Updated the above command line examples. Further information about the hdhomerun_config commands can be found in the development guide:
http://www.silicondust.com/hdhomerun/hd ... opment.pdf

Note that since the original post, the graphic interface has been ported to linux.

HDHomeRun Config (GTK) instructions
Extract both libhdhomerun and hdhomerun_config_gui to the same directory, eg:
directory/libhdhomerun
directory/hdhomerun_config_gui
From the hdhomerun_config_gui directory compile and install using:

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./configure
make
sudo make install
sudo ldconfig
The interface can be launched using the following command

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hdhomerun_config_gui

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