Pixelview PlayTV Pro BT878 + FM in Ubuntu

As I finish to install Ubuntu in my Desktop (Hey, where is my Gentoo?), I need to get all things works.

No need too much talk, let’s start the documentation.

First thing to do is find out what kind of chipset your TV card use. There are lots kind of chipset out there, lots enough to make you crazy if you’re planning to try them one by one. I’m using Pixelview PlayTV Pro with BT878 Chipset (you can find this information in your TV card, yap just right there! ) so I will focus this documentation to this kind of card, if you have any other kind of chipset, you may find the answer here.

If you’re sure that your card just like mine, you may continue reading, but if not, I think you should move your mouse to close this tab and find another blog. Hehehe, just kidding.

Okay, lets begin with check if the card already recognized by the system, type the following command in your terminal, you may doing “su” or “sudo -s” to switch your account to root first.

dmesg | grep Bt

the output should like this :

[ 58.088336] bttv: Bt8xx card found (0).
[ 58.088381] bttv0: Bt878 (rev 17) at 0000:00:0a.0, irq: 19, latency: 64, mmio: 0xdb700000
[ 58.661686] bt878: Bt878 AUDIO function found (0).

Congratulation, your card has been recognized by your system. Add the “bttv” to the /etc/modules. Just put it at the end of the file. As root, type :

echo "bttv" >> /etc/modules

Then create a file named Bttv under /etc/modprobe.d/ directory, as root, type :

gedit /etc/modprobe.d/Bttv

Copy and paste the following script :

############## Copy Begins Here #################

# i2c
alias char-major-89 i2c-devb
options i2c-algo-bit bit_test=1
# bttv
alias char-major-81 videodev
alias char-major-81-0 bttv
# My TV Card
options bttv card=37 tuner=30 radio=1 pll=1 adc_crush=0

############## Copy Ends Here #################

This line “options bttv card=37 tuner=30 radio=1 pll=1 adc_crush=0“, as I told you before that I’m using Pixelview PlayTV Pro, according to the CARDLIST, it has number 37. My chipset is bt878, but which one should I use? I starting to pay more attention in every detail information in my TV card. I found that it has detail model “FM1216″, just search it in the page then I find the number of my tuner is 30. That’s how I found that number. And then, because my TV card is also support radio (+FM), I’m telling the system that I’m using radio (radio=1).

After all that pain, you may now install TV application you like, I recommend you tvtime or xawtv, and for the radio, use gnomeradio. If you install xawtv, the configuration file is under your /home (~/.xawtv) directory.
Run this command before launch xawtv to start scan tv channels :

scantv -C /dev/vbi0 -s -o ~/.xawtv

for Indonesia, make sure you choose PAL-BG or PAL, and for the channel table, choose West-Europe or Europe. Then run xawtv

xawtv -c /dev/vbi0

Until this step, you should be able to watch Shinchan or Doraemon already. Don’t miss Mancing Mania every Sunday at 4 PM! ^^

Note :

1. Indonesian should use PAL or PAL-BG and West-Europe or Europe for channel table.
2. Make sure you have already set your VGA card by installing the proper driver.
3. The CARDLIST and tuner number can be found here.
4. Pay attention in every detail information in you TV card.
5. To listening radio, make sure you change the Radio Source to /dev/radio0 (default /dev/radio)
6. Enjoy your tv and radio using Pixelview PlayTV Pro in your linux.