Setting up pcHDTV cards and MythTV
Authored: 9-3-2004/Last Updated: 9-15-2005
Note: If you want to view the old/video4linux way of setting up a pcHDTV card See this page
Better howto/Wiki online
There is now a pcHDTV and MythTV online with instructions on how to get the pcHDTV card working under DVB and MythTV. I recommend people use this wiki since it has most everything I say, and more.
Get a good Kernel
You will need to get the 2.6.12 or newer kernel. 2.6.13 is the current prefered kernel, but 2.6.12 works too.
Make sure DVB is enabled in the kernel for the pcHDTV card
You need to have DVB enabled in the kernel, and the correct DVB driver built as a module.
In you kernel config file, make sure the following are set.
CONFIG_DVB=y
CONFIG_DVB_CORE=m
If you have the pcHDTV HD-2000 make sure the following is set.
CONFIG_DVB_BT8XX=m
CONFIG_DVB_BT8XX_DVB=m
If you have the pcHDTV HD-3000 make sure the following is set.
CONFIG_VIDEO_CX88=m
CONFIG_VIDEO_CX88_DVB=m
Get the firmware
DVB drivers require a firmware to use the card. There are current 3 types of firmware, but you likely will only be using one (Unless you have an HD-2000 and HD-3000 in the system, or if you want to get both OTA and QAM on the same card). You could even get all three if you have no clue and DVB will pick the right one when it goes to use the card.
- dvb-fe-or51132-vsb.fw firmware is for OTA (Over The Air/Antenna) and analog cable on the HD-3000.
- dvb-fe-or51132-qam.fw firmware is for Digital Cable (QAM) on the HD-3000.
- dvb-fe-or51211.fw firmware is for OTA (Over The Air/Antenna) and analog cable on the HD-2000.
You can get the firmware for the cards two ways.
cd /path/to/kernel/source//Documentation/dvb
perl ./get_dvb_firmware
Or visit http://www.pchdtv.com and download the firmware files from the download page.
Copy the firmware file(s) to /usr/lib/hotplug/firmware/ or /lib/firmware (Use whichever exists on your distribution). For Debian, I copied them as follows:
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