keskiviikko 20. tammikuuta 2016

DVB-T stick on Linux still rocks!

Many national TV stations in Finland are available both via internet and DVB-T networks. Every now and then IP network of my Internet operator is down for, God knows, what reason. In those cases DVB-T stick makes my day.

When choosing a DVB-T stick for Linux, pay attention to the name of the manufacturer and the model of the stick. Google around before you buy anything. Try to find information which hints whether your stick works on Linux "out-of-the-box". What does that mean? Some sticks are so well supported Linux already includes the driver needed. That way the stick is automatically recognized. Attach the stick, open terminal and on command line type in the following command:

dmesg

In the end of the messages generated by dmesg you'll find if Linux sees your DVB-T stick. If you look at the photos below you see see two very well supported DVB-T sticks. Many Linux distributions support them. There is another useful command:

lsusb

The command above lists all USB devices of your PC. If lsusb tells you DVB-T stick is there chances are you'll be watching TV in no time!

There are many DVB-T clients to choose from. One of the easiest IMO is Kaffeine which finds the channels and shows subtitles (in Finland). Not all apps do the same! Setup Kaffeine in Ubuntu 14.04 LTS:

sudo apt-get install kaffeine

It took some time for me to figure out how to make Kaffeine look for TV channels. Once it was done I had reached my goal. I can enjoy TV series and don't need to worry if internet is down.

What if you are living in an area which has a cable TV connections only? No problem. Find a DVB-C or hybrid stick (DVB-T + DVB-C). They might cost a little more than DVB-T sticks. Try dmesg and lsusb commands the same way as with DVB-T sticks.


Anysee E30 and Cinergy Terratec T2
are supported out-of-the-box on Ubuntu Linux

Indoor antenna

No extra power supply needed - USB2 is enough

Kaffeine finds channels and shows
subtitles in Finnish



Ei kommentteja:

Lähetä kommentti