Ceton devices now supported in NextPVR

Ask fellow members about Ceton's infiniTV tuners here.
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Ceton no longer participate in this forum. Official support may still be handled via the Ceton Ticket system.
bob_p

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#41

Post by bob_p » Fri Jan 08, 2016 1:52 pm

Like WMC, the Xbox 360s are obsolete - and anyone using WMC has to expect to replace them with something else when they move away from WMC.

When we decided to shift to WMC - it was a combination of cost savings (over having multiple cable STBs and DVRs) and functionality.

If there was something today that provided the functionality of WMC (including DRM) with "whole home" support, and clear long-term commitment to support & maintain the software, we'd be able to justify buying replacements for our 6 Xbox 360s being used as extenders - as long as the costs were reasonable.

treetop82

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#42

Post by treetop82 » Mon Sep 26, 2016 9:13 pm

Get the DMR licensing, charge $15 a month to use your software. Then we can drop WMC once and for all and you have a steady stream of income.

I think that's fair.

sub3

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#43

Post by sub3 » Tue Oct 04, 2016 12:21 am

treetop82 wrote:Get the DMR licensing, charge $15 a month to use your software. Then we can drop WMC once and for all and you have a steady stream of income.

I think that's fair.
Very few people would be prepared to pay $15 a month. I know I wouldn't :D

I don't think their is enough user interest to fund the addition of CableCard DRM in NextPVR so this isn't an option I'm pursuing.

DarkKaplah

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#44

Post by DarkKaplah » Thu Jan 17, 2019 6:32 pm

I know this is an old forum, but it looks like you guys just described TiVo. More recently they just announced TiVo extender clients for roku, Apple TV, and other streamers. So you buy the main box and other clients are just apps.

DSperber

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#45

Post by DSperber » Wed May 22, 2019 10:06 pm

In passing, I mention that I have now completed a setup which is based on a Win10 system running VMWare Workstation Player (which is free for personal use). Inside of VMWare I've created a Win7 VM inside of which I've set up WMC. Outside of VMWare, in native Win10, I am running NextPVR 4.2.4.

Complete story is on this thread in TGB forum. I've also documented it in this thread on TenForums.

Hardware is Hauppauge WinTV QuadHD (4-tuners for OTA/ATSC fed from roof antenna), configured in NextPVR running native in Win10. WinTV 8.5 is also installed first (but TV app not used) in order to get Win10-compatible drivers for the Hauppauge card, as well as to get MainConcept MPEG-2 codec installed into Win10.

Hardware is also Ceton InfiniTV ETH 6-tuner box with cablecard from Spectrum, along with Motorola MTR700 Digital Tuning Adapter. This supports copy-freely and copy-protected content delivered from Spectrum through SDV technology, which is fully supported by the Ceton drivers/software (checking "network tuner sharing" option during the install, in order to support the Ceton ETH box). The Ceton ETH unit is managed by WMC running inside of the Win7 VM, through the magic of "bridged networking" option of VMWare (and also other VM software products I'm sure) which makes all external LAN network devices visible to software running inside the VM. In other words, the Ceton InifiniTV ETH box inside the Win7 VM functions exactly the same way as it would on a genuine physical Win7 HTPC.

So NextPVR is used to view/record OTA/ATSC content from local antenna-provided network channels, via the Hauppauge QuadHD card. Output files are TS and placed in a \Videos folder.

And WMC is used (inside of Win7 VM) to view/record/play Spectrum-provided content (including full DRM and PlayReady digital cablecard setup which facilitates copy-protected content), via the Ceton ETH network tuner device. Output files are WTV and placed in a \Recorded TV folder.

WMC in Win7 VM is set up to have its Media Libraries point to BOTH (a) \Recorded TV folder for its own Spectrum-provided content handled by the Ceton ETH for "TV Recording" library, as well as (b) \Videos folder for "Video Library". So recordings (i.e. WTV files) from Ceton are playable by WMC in Win7 VM through normal TV interface, and recordings (i.e. TS files) from NextPVR in Win10 are playable by WMC in Win7 VM through "Video" interface, as WMC can play TS files without a problem.

My subscription to Schedules Direct for Guide data (to support EPG123, which I use in my real physical Win7 HTPC) is also usable by both (a) NextPVR in Win10, and (b) EPG123 installed in Win7 VM to support WMC in Win7 VM. This SD subscription is for my two channel lineups: one is for OTA/ATSC digital channels in my zipcode, and the second is for Spectrum-provided digital cable channels (both copy-freely and copy-protected) that I receive from Spectrum through coax, digital tuning adapter for SDV, and Ceton ETH tuner with cablecard.

I've also installed MyMediaCenter from Ceton inside the Win7 VM. This is the host service which supports the MyMediaCenter app on phones, to control WMC from your phone. Appears to run perfectly in Win7 VM (after configuring port-forwarding in my router to connect to the proper IP address of the VMWare-managed Win7 VM system (which is assigned its own unique name and IP address as seen in "attached devices" of the router).

Linksys DMA2100 is configured as an extender for WMC in Win7 VM, and works perfectly to receive all playable content. This includes WTV files from WMC as well as TS files from NextPVR.

So, everything currently running on my real physical Win7 HTPC (with its own Hauppauge OTA/ATSC tuner card as well as its own internal Ceton PCIe tuner card with cablecard and its own Motorola DTA for SDV channel delivery), is now duplicated on my Win10 system running VMWare and Win7 VM. EPG123 is installed and supports WMC inside of Win7 VM, using my SD subscription for Guide data. NextPVR runs in Win10 and is also supported by my SD subscription for Guide data. WMC in Win7 VM is configured to utilize Ceton ETH tuner along with cablecard and DTA, and is thus fully DRM-enabled to support copy-protected content. WMC plays both its own Ceton-enabled recordings (from Spectrum) as well as NextPVR-enabled recordings (from OTA/ATSC antenna). MyMediaCenter from my phone app works perfectly, and talks to the corresponding host service software running in Win7 VM. DMA2100 extender works perfectly, talking to WMC running in Win7 VM.

The only issue is that the HDCP requirements for playing copy-protected content to a locally attached monitor via HDMI cable are not met, since VMWare doesn't actually pass through the native nVidia graphics display adapter hardware to Win7 VM. Instead, the "display adapter" seen by Win7 VM Device Manager is a simulated graphics adapter facilitated by VMWare. This makes it impossible to deliver copy-protected content to a local monitor, for watching TV say on a second monitor at my workstation. No matter, because I also have the DMA2100 extender and genuine HDTV in the same office room, and I can simply watch all recordings through this extender and HDTV... which really is preferable anyway.

The key to my success is having been lucky enough to find a Ceton ETH network tuner available for sale on eBay. My original attempt used an internal Ceton PCIe tuner card (which actually IS technically supported in Win8.1/Win10, although there is no WMC in Win10). The Ceton diagnostic utility and 192.168.200.1 browser interface actually COULD see and control the card in native Win10. However VMWare did not pass through this PCIe card to Win7 VM Device Manager, so there was no Ceton TV tuner for WMC in Win7 VM to see. This prompted me to search for a Ceton ETH card, since network devices ARE available to Win7 VM (through "bridged network" setting of VMWare). From there I was off and running.

Happy ending.

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