PC USB TV tuner suitable for lubuntu 19.10+

[nginmu]

I would like to find a TV tuner gizmo that has an over-the-air digital terrestrial TV coax antenna socket on one side, and a USB2 / USBA plug on the other, that'll let me watch UK freeview DTV on my lubuntu machine.

I have lubuntu 19.10 at the moment but am expecting a new HDD tomorrow, I'll quite likely upgrade to 20 when I install afresh.

I'm worried that most of the low cost USB tuners available on ebay / in pound shops etc will expect one to install a companion program only supported in Windows

I wondered if any UK-based forum members knew of such an item of hardware that definitely works fine with lubuntu, whether by coming supplied with a suitable linux app, or being happy to integrate with an existing program already in the repos? Or even maybe something that is primarily sold with Windows in mind, but works happily in linux all the same with fairly simple tweaks.

Thanks for any suggestions.

[tea for one]

This one works with Ubuntu 20.04 so I suspect that it will be OK with Lubuntu.

https://idaffodil.co.uk/collections/...0-8-7-vista-xp

You have to download and install the correct firmware into /lib/firmware. I'm pretty sure it is these:-

dvb-demod-si2168-b40-01.fw
dvb-tuner-si2158-a20-01.fw

I use tvheadend to watch and record UK Freeview DVB TV.

https://tvheadend.org/

Once you have scanned the TV channels, you can export a channel list and use VLC to watch and record TV.

Also, have a look at this website for more info about TV tuners.

https://www.linuxtv.org/wiki/index.p...-T_USB_Devices

[nginmu]

Thanks for the suggestion. I've ordered one

Also thanks for the additional info.

A reviewer mentioned it should also work with nextpvr.

Look forward to playing with it

[tea for one]

Well, you made up your mind quickly and I hope that you find it a useful device.

Thank you for mentioning nextpvr, I'm unfamiliar with this app and I'll have a look at it in the next few days.

[nginmu]

Do I need to add a repository (bintray?) to get tvheadend? Have now upgraded to lubuntu 20.04

[edit] I think I'm in the right place here; https://tvheadend.org/projects/tvhea...ptRepositories - ?

[tea for one]

Yes, you need to add a repository. Just to complicate things, there are various choices.

I've been using this one for 18 months or so because, sometime ago, the doozer repo was not available.

https://launchpad.net/~mamarley/+arc...end-git-stable

Of course, the doozer repo is now available and the instructions are on the page you linked.

sudo apt-get -y install coreutils wget apt-transport-https lsb-release ca-certificates

sudo wget -qO- https://doozer.io/keys/tvheadend/tvheadend/pgp | sudo apt-key add -

sudo apt update

sudo apt install tvheadend

Have you located the firmware and popped it into /lib/firmware?

Lastly, if you prefer, there is also a snap package https://snapcraft.io/install/tvheadend/ubuntu

[nginmu]

I seem to have gotten tvheadend 'partially' installed, and I'm trying to talk to it via kodi right now, but nothing's working and I'm snowed under with errors.

Steepest part of the learning curve, I'll persevere & hopefully get there!

Good thing is right now, I've got everything setup so that a complete reinstall is no problem (all my important stuff's on external storage) so I can play to my heart's content without worrying about breaking the system.

[tea for one]

Partially installed sounds like a problem waiting to happen.

You do not need Kodi to use tvheadend.

Tvheadend can be treated as a stand alone application.

if you are using Kodi, then you probably need to add tvheadend as an addon rather than a separate application.

I've never used Kodi within Ubuntu so I'm not sure what the exact procedure is to watch TV.

For example, there is a Linux distro, purely for media, where the main application is Kodi and the tvheadend part is an addon.

https://libreelec.tv/

[nginmu]

I've gone wrong somewhere adding the repo and installing tvheadend I think. As soon as I'd done that via the command line I looked in muon and it did show up, but then I happened to try updating & it errored out "couldn't download packages" as soon as it started hitting the tvheadend stuff.

I'm going to wipe the system & do a full reinstall of 20.04 before going any further, gives me a clear head to step on forwards

[CelticWarrior]

No need for a full reinstallation. Just remove the PPA you added because it likely has no contents for your release, something that should be checked before adding any PPA.