Streaming. I'm completely baffled. Can't make it work at all.

[kennyvader]

Is there *any* documentation, or even a thread on this board, on how to make streaming work?

 

I have read countless threads here, but they each seem to give only about 5% of the information required to make it work, or they point to a FAQ entry that's entirely in German and makes no sense at all to a non-German speaker.

 

I have (eventually) managed to get DVBViewer working on the PC where the TV Card Hardware is.

 

I think the server side is probably working, because the DVBdiscover utility does spot the server PC when DVBServer is running and STARTed, but I have absolutely no idea what I'm supposed to do on the client where I want to watch the stream! If I am supposed to run DVBViewer, how do I get it to look for the stream?

 

I can't be the first to be completely baffled by this, can anyone just write a few lines (in English) on how to make it work?

 

Have I overlooked some English documentation or a comprehensive thread anywhere?

Edited September 24, 2006 by kennyvader

[kennyvader]

Can nobody help at all? No staff or fellow users can even give me a clue?

 

The help file supplied with the application, and the English "manual" pages on this DVBViewer site do not match the actual program dialogue boxes at all, and besides they are so brief in their instructions as to make no sense to a newbie.

 

I'm reasonably sure that the server side is setup and working correctly - either through DVBServer, or DVBViewer's Netstream plugin.

 

What I don't know is what I'm supposed to do at the client end.

 

I run DVBViewer on the client, and just get the "No Hardware Available" message.

I have been to Options / Hardware on the client and set Unicast to State=Normal (when DVBServer or the Netstream plugin is using Unicast) or set Multicast to State=Normal (when DVBServer or the Netstream plugin is using Multicast). I just get a black screen or the "No Hardware Available" message.

 

If I go to Channel Scan, like you have to when setting it up on the server the first time, I can set Reception Type to Terrestric; Target Root to "Terrestrial"; Transponder List to Terrestrial (EUR) ... these are the settings that work when viewing locally on the server that has the TV card fitted. If I press "Scan Frequency", DVBServer (or Netstream when active) does briefly show my laptop as a client, and the progress bar at the bottom colours in and says 100%. If I now press "Scan Range", DVBServer (or Netstream when active) again shows my laptop as a client, the scan occurs, takes a couple of minutes, but just says "0 program(s) found".

 

I am not sure if I am even supposed to do the Channel Scan procedure on a network client? This is where I need help? Absolutely no documentation or forum threads that I've been able to find cover the process of hooking the client up!

 

P l e a s e H e l p ...

 

DVBViewer version is 3.5.0.1

TV Card is a Hauppauge WinTV Nova DVB-T card (for UK terrestrial "freeview" digital broadcasting).

Network connection is wired - have tried both through a switch and via a crossover cable directly between the server and the laptop client.

[jouko999]

This may not be the correct official procedure but this is how I got it working:

 

At first prepare DVBV in the server machine, search and arrange the channels etc. so that it works perfectly.

 

Then install DVBV to the client machine from scratch.

 

Copy whole DVBViewer folder and subfolders to the client machine, this copies also a working channel list.

 

Start DVBServer in the server machine, enable 'auto discovery' and choose unicasting. After settings restart the server program.

 

Start DVBViewer in the client machine and enable only Unicast device as preferred device, and under 'Settings' button choose auto discovery. The server name should appear in the list Click the server name on the list. This should set correct network addresses. Note that the address should not be 127.0.0.1 which is local machine address.

 

Restart DVBViewer and now it should work the same way as in the server machine.

 

You can now change channels like in the server machine.

 

Note that you need a good network connection, try at first with a wired network.

[kennyvader]

Thanks very much for your help jouko999. With your idea it does now work (most of the time anyway - changing channel too fast seems to crash things).

 

To the developer(s): Please can you consider spending an hour or two updating your documentation? I'm sure that would be all it would take. I'm sure that the configuration makes sense to you since you wrote the program, but to the rest of your users it's a complete game of chance. That's not a good business plan.

[jouko999]

I fully agree about DVBServer/streaming documentation.

 

Anyway, the developers have had hands full of work with new versions and improvements, and let's not forget they have written us the *ONLY* available DVB software which is even near perfect!

 

Maybe there is some user who is using streaming and would be kind enough to write a small FAQ?

[nigelbb]

Maybe there is some user who is using streaming and would be kind enough to write a small FAQ?

I think that you already did:-) I too found the same solution as you. You need to do all channel searching on the DVBServer machine of course but updated channel list & favourites can be copied over once all is up & running Just copy over channels.dat & favourites.xml

 

One other point with multiple clients is that the first client to connect to the server is the only one that can change transponders. Other clients can change channels provided they are on the same trasnponder as the "master" client is watching. If that client exits then the next client that connected becomes the "master"