Enable DVB Support in VLC on Fedora Core 5

The version of the Videolan Client (VLC) for Fedora Core 5 from freshrpms does not include DVB support.

The Problem

[foo@localhost ~]$ vlc --program 4704 dvb:12207000:0:3:27500000
VLC media player 0.8.5 Janus
status change: ( new input: dvb:12207000:0:3:27500000 )
status change: ( audio volume: 256 )
status change: ( play state: 1 )
[00000295] main input error: no suitable access module for `dvb:12207000:0:3:27500000'
status change: ( stop state: 0 )
[00000285] main playlist: nothing to play

The Solution

A quick search through the VLC Documentation shows it must be rebuilt with the 'experimental' --enable-dvb option.

I took the source RPM from Freshrpms, added the --enable-dvb option on the ./configure line and attempted to rebuild.

Prerequisites

Assuming you have an up to date Fedora Core 5 installation, working DVB hardware with the necessary drivers. To do this you will need (at least) the following packages installed:

gnutls-devel libdvdread-devel libdvdnav-devel libebml-devel libmatroska-devel
libmodplug-devel libmad-devel libid3tag-devel lame-devel faac-devel faad2-devel
a52dec-devel flac-devel mpeg2dec-devel speex-devel libtheora-devel x264-devel
SDL_image-devel fribidi-devel aalib-devel libcaca-devel wxGTK-devel xosd-devel
lirc-devel libcdio-devel vcdimager-devel avahi-devel libopendaap-devel
libmpcdec-devel libcddb-devel libdca-devel

These are available from the core & extras Fedora repositories, some are located in the ATrpms & Freshrpms repositories.

Building the RPM

Build the new RPM with the following:

[root@localhost ~]# rpmbuild –ba /usr/src/redhat/SPECS/videolan-client.spec

Installation

To install the new RPM I had to --force –nodeps the RPM transaction:

[root@localhost ~]# rpm -U --force --nodeps videolan-client-0.8.5-1.fc5.i386.rpm videolan-client-devel-0.8.5-1.fc5.i386.rpm

Updated Syntax Discovery

This time when I retry launching VLC I got the following:

[foo@localhost ~]$ vlc --program 4704 dvb:12207000:0:3:27500000
VLC media player 0.8.5 Janus
[00000544] skins2 interface error: Cannot open display
[00000544] skins2 interface error: cannot initialize OSFactory
Remote control interface initialized. Type `help' for help.
[00000548] dvb access error: the DVB input old syntax is deprecated, use vlc -p dvb to see an explanation of the new syntax

It turns out that the VLC documentation is rather outdated. After poking around in the VLC user interface I extracted the necessary command-line arguments to make it work.

Usage Examples

Basic DVB Playback

The following command line execution of VLC will tune to the frequency 12.207Ghz, vertical polarisation, symbol rate 27.5Mhz with an 'automatic' FEC and select program 4704 (Sky News):

[foo@localhost ~]$ vlc --program=4704 dvb:// :dvb-adapter=0 :dvb-frequency=12207000 :dvb-srate=27500000 :dvb-caching=300 :dvb-inversion=2 :dvb-probe :dvb-voltage=13 :no-dvb-high-voltage :dvb-tone=-1 :dvb-fec=9 :dvb-code-rate-hp=9

UDP Streaming

And this variation will stream it over UDP to localhost port 1234:

[foo@localhost ~]$ vlc --program=4704 dvb:// :dvb-adapter=0 :dvb-frequency=12207000 :dvb-srate=27500000 :dvb-caching=300 :dvb-inversion=2 :dvb-probe :dvb-voltage=13 :no-dvb-high-voltage :dvb-tone=-1 :dvb-fec=9 :dvb-code-rate-hp=9 :sout=\#duplicate\{dst=std\{access=udp,mux=ts,dst=127.0.0.1:1234\}\}

Downloads

And without further ado, the pre-built RPMS and modified source RPM I created.

Binary RPM

Source RPM

videolan-client-0.8.5-1.fc5.src.rpm

Advanced Usage

Lastly, you can select multiple programs from the same transponder and stream them to separate destination addresses, see the example in Chapter 9 of the VLC documentation.

Feedback & Questions welcomed!

The version of the Videolan Client (VLC) for Fedora Core 5 from freshrpms does not include DVB support.

The Problem

[foo@localhost ~]$ vlc --program 4704 dvb:12207000:0:3:27500000
VLC media player 0.8.5 Janus
status change: ( new input: dvb:12207000:0:3:27500000 )
status change: ( audio volume: 256 )
status change: ( play state: 1 )
[00000295] main input error: no suitable access module for `dvb:12207000:0:3:27500000'
status change: ( stop state: 0 )
[00000285] main playlist: nothing to play

The Solution

A quick search through the VLC Documentation shows it must be rebuilt with the 'experimental' --enable-dvb option.

I took the source RPM from Freshrpms, added the --enable-dvb option on the ./configure line and attempted to rebuild.

Prerequisites

Assuming you have an up to date Fedora Core 5 installation, working DVB hardware with the necessary drivers. To do this you will need (at least) the following packages installed:

gnutls-devel libdvdread-devel libdvdnav-devel libebml-devel libmatroska-devel
libmodplug-devel libmad-devel libid3tag-devel lame-devel faac-devel faad2-devel
a52dec-devel flac-devel mpeg2dec-devel speex-devel libtheora-devel x264-devel
SDL_image-devel fribidi-devel aalib-devel libcaca-devel wxGTK-devel xosd-devel
lirc-devel libcdio-devel vcdimager-devel avahi-devel libopendaap-devel
libmpcdec-devel libcddb-devel libdca-devel

These are available from the core & extras Fedora repositories, some are located in the ATrpms & Freshrpms repositories.

Building the RPM

Build the new RPM with the following:

[root@localhost ~]# rpmbuild –ba /usr/src/redhat/SPECS/videolan-client.spec

Installation

To install the new RPM I had to --force –nodeps the RPM transaction:

[root@localhost ~]# rpm -U --force --nodeps videolan-client-0.8.5-1.fc5.i386.rpm videolan-client-devel-0.8.5-1.fc5.i386.rpm

Updated Syntax Discovery

This time when I retry launching VLC I got the following:

[foo@localhost ~]$ vlc --program 4704 dvb:12207000:0:3:27500000
VLC media player 0.8.5 Janus
[00000544] skins2 interface error: Cannot open display
[00000544] skins2 interface error: cannot initialize OSFactory
Remote control interface initialized. Type `help' for help.
[00000548] dvb access error: the DVB input old syntax is deprecated, use vlc -p dvb to see an explanation of the new syntax

It turns out that the VLC documentation is rather outdated. After poking around in the VLC user interface I extracted the necessary command-line arguments to make it work.

Usage Examples

Basic DVB Playback

The following command line execution of VLC will tune to the frequency 12.207Ghz, vertical polarisation, symbol rate 27.5Mhz with an 'automatic' FEC and select program 4704 (Sky News):

[foo@localhost ~]$ vlc --program=4704 dvb:// :dvb-adapter=0 :dvb-frequency=12207000 :dvb-srate=27500000 :dvb-caching=300 :dvb-inversion=2 :dvb-probe :dvb-voltage=13 :no-dvb-high-voltage :dvb-tone=-1 :dvb-fec=9 :dvb-code-rate-hp=9

UDP Streaming

And this variation will stream it over UDP to localhost port 1234:

[foo@localhost ~]$ vlc --program=4704 dvb:// :dvb-adapter=0 :dvb-frequency=12207000 :dvb-srate=27500000 :dvb-caching=300 :dvb-inversion=2 :dvb-probe :dvb-voltage=13 :no-dvb-high-voltage :dvb-tone=-1 :dvb-fec=9 :dvb-code-rate-hp=9 :sout=\#duplicate\{dst=std\{access=udp,mux=ts,dst=127.0.0.1:1234\}\}

Downloads

And without further ado, the pre-built RPMS and modified source RPM I created.

Binary RPM

Source RPM

videolan-client-0.8.5-1.fc5.src.rpm

Advanced Usage

Lastly, you can select multiple programs from the same transponder and stream them to separate destination addresses, see the example in Chapter 9 of the VLC documentation.

Feedback & Questions welcomed!

Michael Cutler

DVB Support for VLC on Fedora Core 5

The Problem

The Solution

Prerequisites

Building the RPM

Installation

Updated Syntax Discovery

Usage Examples

Basic DVB Playback

UDP Streaming

Downloads

Binary RPM

Source RPM

Advanced Usage

Related Posts

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Hauppauge WinTV-NOVA-HD-S2 Working on Fedora Rawhide

Update: TI 7×21 FlashMedia/SD Host Controller (104C:8033 & 104C:8034)

DVB Support for VLC on Fedora Core 5

The Problem

The Solution

Prerequisites

Building the RPM

Installation

Updated Syntax Discovery

Usage Examples

Basic DVB Playback

UDP Streaming

Downloads

Binary RPM

Source RPM

Advanced Usage

Related Posts

Supermicro AOC-SASLP-MV8: DRIVER_TIMEOUT

Hauppauge WinTV-NOVA-HD-S2 Working on Fedora Rawhide

Update: TI 7×21 FlashMedia/SD Host Controller (104C:8033 & 104C:8034)