DVBLink for DVBDream 2.0B1

[fredx21]

Available for download from 1geek1tool.

Here is the full announcement.

Fred

[realbigmike]

Installation quick guide:

Remove DVBLink 1.0 (if you have is installed)
Install DVBLink 2.0 or 3.0 (I recommend 3.0)

How can I tell which version I have?

DVBLink Configuration Utility
v1.0

Is that what you mean? I usually cannot understand your naming scheme and there is never a description when the old versions came so ppl can figure out what you are talking about. This happens every time I try to upgrade, a lot of naming and version confusion. A bit of guidance please.

[fredx21]

There are 2 semi-independent components to DVBLink for DVBDream: the server and the source. The server (DVBLink server) needs to be updated to 2.0 or 3.0 to be compatible with the source (DVBLink for DVBDream). The newer servers are compatible with the NWP and not DVBLink Server 1.0.

Hope that makes it clear.

[HAWKHAWK]

There are 2 semi-independent components to DVBLink for DVBDream: the server and the source. The server (DVBLink server) needs to be updated to 2.0 or 3.0 to be compatible with the source (DVBLink for DVBDream). The newer servers are compatible with the NWP and not DVBLink Server 1.0.

Hope that makes it clear.

Good to hear v2 is there to try! When I have two DVB-S(2) cards, can I now use these in MCE, having only ONE(!) instance of DVBDream running, or do I still need to run 2 instances of DVBDream (1 for each tuner)???

I am confused about the numbering/versions too.....now I have DVBLink for DVBDream v1 (server and client/dvbd plugin?). You upgraded in fact the client/dvbdream plugin to v2? but you need server v2 (or v3) to make it work?

In the link you provide on the download page, this refers to TVSource30rc1.zip........do we need TVSource also? I thought DVBDream was taking care of this (tuner) tasks?

And what about the Network Pack (2.0/3.0)? Should I download that too? Will this make remote (web) access of MCE possible? (remote potato still does NOT work on Vista MCE with TV Pack!).

TIA!

[fredx21]

oh man, you guys are all mixed up... and I don't blame you! It was never clear in the past what was what because the server is always bundled with the sources.

There are 2 parts to DVBLink: a server and multiple stream sources also called templates (dvbdream, tvsource, hdpvr, network pack...). The first thing you need to install when you want to stream from DVBDream is the server (DVBLink server). The server also includes the 4 virtual DVB-S tuners recognized by Media Center. Once you have a DVBLink server installed, you can install as many stream source installed as you want, but you can only feed 4 virtual tuners, so only 4 stream sources can be instantiated concurrently.

The DVBLink server versionning is complicated. This is mostly due to the fact that DVBLogic is versionning all its product following the DVBLink Server version and also because we always package the DVBLink server with all the products. That blurs the differentiation between the DVBLink server and the source even more. In fact, there are only two "architecture" of DVBLink server. Each DVBLink server architecture requires compatible sources to implement a specific interface: v1 interface (DVBLink Server 1.X and old stream sources) and v2 interface (DVBLink Server 2.X/3.X and newer stream sources). There is no DVBLink architecture v3 interface (even though the is a DVBLink server 3.X)... it's using the same v2 interface as DVBLink server 2.X, so all stream sources that are compatible with DVBLink server 2.X are also compatible with DVBLink server 3.0.

The old DVBLink for DVBDream 1.X was implementing the v1 interface. The new DVBLink for DVBDream 2.0B1 implements the v2 interface. That's why it could not have been used with the newer DVBLink servers (v2 or v3). The Network pack is just like any source, but it only implements the v2 interface. So if you want to be able to use it, you must install a DVBLink server that has the v2 interface, which implies that all the other stream sources also implement this v2 interface. This is why I have to come up with a newer version of DVBLink for DVBDream, which implements the v2 interface.

You do not have to install any other stream sources than DVBLink for DVBDream to have a working setup, but you can if you want. The reason why I linked to the TVSource zip file is because it includes the DVBLink server 3.0RC1 (which implements the same v2 interface). I did not feel comfortable embedding a non-released version with my zip file.

I hope that helps even more.

Fred

[soul_stalker]

Very cool.... As usual awsome work

I'm not completely sure If I will be upgrading anytime soon as my set-up is nice and stable right now. If I am not interested in the Network Server Pack is there any pressing reason why I should move to this version? I am just curious if this version has any other notible features I'd want to jump on

cheers

[fredx21]

If you do not want the NWP, there is no reason to jump to the newer version.

[HAWKHAWK]

Thx for all explanation Fred, it is dazzling, but I think all is clear now

Two questions remain:
1. When I have two DVB-S(2) cards, can I now use these in MCE, having only ONE(!) instance of DVBDream running, or do I still need to run 2 instances of DVBDream (1 for each tuner) in v2??? Or can I use DVBDream for one card, and TVSource for the other one?

2. Will NWP (in combination with DVBLink for DVBDream 2.0B1) make remote (web) access of MCE possible? (remote potato still does NOT work on Vista MCE with TV Pack!).

[fredx21]

You need an instance of dvbdream for each tuner you want to use. I don't know about tvsource as I never tried it.

For your second question, please ask in the nwp forum.

[realbigmike]

TVsource is 1 api that controls all of your tuners. A nice way to save on resources.
TVsource was too short on features and it was too hard to control and debug. As all the readers of this post know, there are many bugs to work thru to make a stable setup and the separate instances of DVBdream make bugs easier to track down and control.

A very frustrating problem with tvsource was channel selection, at least for my provider which needs to be sorted by SID.

[David]

I'm a little confused still.

In regards to these items listed under the TVSource release notes:

Code: Select all

- Added support for additional xmltv details: full description, genre, credits, thumbnail, rating, series information etc.
- Added parental control in MediaCenter. Parental control is activated or deactivated via DVBLink Mediacenter addin


If I install DVBLink v3.0 with DVBDream 2.0B1, will I have those features?

[Oberon]

If I install DVBLink v3.0 with DVBDream 2.0B1, will I have those features?

Yes.

[HAWKHAWK]

TVsource is 1 api that controls all of your tuners. A nice way to save on resources.
TVsource was too short on features and it was too hard to control and debug. As all the readers of this post know, there are many bugs to work thru to make a stable setup and the separate instances of DVBdream make bugs easier to track down and control.

A very frustrating problem with tvsource was channel selection, at least for my provider which needs to be sorted by SID.

Ok, so I better stick to (2x)DVBDream running then? I have a Technisat Multytenne (with 4 heads, using Diseqc) and two DVB-S cards: a Prof Revolution DVB-S2 7301 PCI and a Philips/CTX DVB-S card.

[realbigmike]

I tried the trial of TVsource and it didnt work to make the most stable HTPC. Real time tuner monitoring is directly possible in DVBdream but not in TVsource where you can only view logs or with a VLC client. The idea of 1 exe to drive all of the tuners is awesome, in theory this will streamline the backend and save resources. Channel selection and limited control over the program just wasnt where it needed to be. Fair enough, it is a new program and has great potential. For me, stability, recording my shows reliably, and reproducibility of channel selections (and easy channel selections) are my priorities. It took multiple clicks and changing between tabs in TVsource to make a single channel selection, I eventually just gave up. In DVBdream channel selection was a pain initially because I had to go to DVBdream with each channel selection, open the channel properties and note the PID for every channel. I think this has been fixed in the newer DVBlink so you can just select a channel and not have to select its PID as well. Afterwards the channel selections are saved into an xml file, if u look for it. That xml file can be copied to different tuners to duplicate and backup channel selections and it even works different computers, which is a big feature.

The shortcomings of DVBLink for DVBDream are the network pack compatibility and the higher resource usage.

[papirov]

Are all channels working for everyone? I've got about 60-70% of all my previously working channels showing up as "No Signal" in MCE, although in DVBDream signal strength is good and acamd is showing good status.