C hardware that works with ubuntu kernels without recompilation

Linux@lemmy.ml – 27 points – 1 years ago

I couldn't find a r/linuxhardware alternative community, so I decided to ask here.

I have a TBS5530 DVB-S/T/C USB device and I am not happy with it due to https://github.com/tbsdtv/linux_media/issues/193

I don't want to recompile kernel or use out-of-tree media_builds everytime I upgrade my kernel (ubuntu22.04).

Therefore I am looking for a device that has built-in kernel driver or simply loadable one with apt install linux-modules-XXX .

I prefer USB devices since I use it with both my desktop & laptop.

Does anyone know such hardware available to buy ?

Note to myself: seems I am 175th subscriber and this is my 1st post. yay !

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In my experience the whole DVB driver situation on Linux is really messed up. Seems to be partly because of difficult communication with the linux kernel maintainers and partly because of lazyness of hardware manufacturers (they don't care). Another problem is that DVB really runs out of favor. It is not "cool anymore" as everyone uses streaming services nowadays and so less and less "spare time developers" still care about "TV". This even seems to be visible in less and less DVB hardware still developed.

I would just give up on the idea to still run a tuner directly on a PC. Get yourself a "SAT>IP" tuner, add it to your network and stream your TV programs over your home network.

Edit: It is even possible to set up your own Sat>IP server with "minisatip". So you could get a mini PC, plug the tuner(s) you already have, only care about getting them working there and bury this dedicated TV streaming server somewhere in the house.

Running DVB-S2 for many years and SAT>IP (think of it as Satellite decoding to rstp) seems to be the way. I've not thought about a smaller PC to host my current card and welcome your suggestion. I'd github'd minisatip a few weeks ago and the penny didn't drop!

I had planned to go for an Enigma2 based device and go from there.

In my experience the whole DVB driver situation on Another problem is that DVB really runs out of favor. It is not "cool anymore" as everyone uses streaming services nowadays and so less and less "spare time developers" still care about "TV". This even seems to be visible in less and less DVB hardware still developed.

I’ve noticed this recently. Some of my family still likes to watch broadcast TV bit our DVB-S receiver is starting to get old and cranky. I started to look at computer based solutions for this, as media PCs were the hot thing for a while and I figured solutions would be fairly mature at this point. We are already suing Jellyfin for media playback so I figured it made sense to to look look for computer based TV as well.

Unfortunately it seems to have passed through maturity and is heading into obscurity. Tuners seem hard to find, drivers are poorly maintained and playback software is looking long in the tooth also.

Do you have any particular recommendations for DVB-S IP devices? I’d been looking at conventional tuners up until now.

The "digital devices" tuners are pretty solid.

I would not suggest getting the PCI express tuners as the driver situation is just as bad as with the other manufacturers, but if you get their IP tuner you should have something that lasts a long time.