Ceton InfiniTV4 Tuner Errors after connecting VPN?

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cpyne

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Ceton InfiniTV4 Tuner Errors after connecting VPN?

#1

Post by cpyne » Fri Jun 22, 2012 9:10 pm

Hi,

My Ceton Infinitv4 works great almost all the time. The only problem I hit is the tuners go into a messed up state anytime I use my PC to connect into work via VPN. After I connect, I'll often get a "Service Unavailable". I think sometimes this will also say something like "Tuner Error". After I disconnect VPN, the tuners stay in this state until I reboot. I'm not using network tuners.

Is there any way to avoid this problem? (other than not using VPN)

Thanks
Charlie

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barnabas1969

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#2

Post by barnabas1969 » Sun Jun 24, 2012 4:31 am

That probably depends on the VPN client you are using. Are you just using the Windows VPN client, or do you have a different VPN client installed (like Cisco VPN)?

You see, all CableCARD tuners (internal and external) are network tuners. Your VPN client is routing all network traffic through the VPN tunnel. Some VPN clients can be configured (by your employer) to prevent you from changing this behavior. Others will allow you to change the behavior, but you need to enter some additional routes via the command line.

So, let's start by answering my question above, and we'll go from there.

cpyne

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#3

Post by cpyne » Sun Jun 24, 2012 1:36 pm

Its the Cisco AnyConnect VPN client.

barnabas1969

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#4

Post by barnabas1969 » Sun Jun 24, 2012 7:02 pm

Ah, well then you're probably not going to be able to get around that (I've tried). You see, your employer doesn't want you to have access to your local network while you're connected to their VPN. They see this as a security breach. However, I don't know why things are still messed up after you disconnect from the VPN.

I think the best answer, if you want reliable recordings, is to run Media Center on a PC that you will never use to VPN into your work.

You could try to stop/start the services for the InfiniTV service after you disconnect from the VPN. This might get the tuners working again without a reboot, but you still won't be able to watch or record from the tuners while you are connected to the VPN.

cpyne

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#5

Post by cpyne » Sun Jun 24, 2012 7:10 pm

Do you have any idea why the Ceton sets up as a network adapter in the first place? If you're sharing tuners over the network, then I get it, but it seems weird that it would need an ip address just for recording a tv signal. Can you shed any light on what the purpose of the ip address is?

barnabas1969

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#6

Post by barnabas1969 » Sun Jun 24, 2012 7:19 pm

All CableCARD tuners are network tuners. The reason has to do with copy-protection. The Ceton tuner is a "system on a card", as are all CableCARD tuners. What this means is that the tuner is actually a complete computer on a single card. It has it's own operating system (Linux), and it controls the tuners and the encryption of the video stream.

This design is to prevent people from hacking the encryption. You cannot access the card's operating system directly... the only access is via a network interface so that commands can be sent (e.g. to change channels) and an encrypted video stream can be received. Windows then decrypts the stream using PlayReady so you can watch it.

It must be pretty secure... nobody has broken the encryption yet.

cpyne

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#7

Post by cpyne » Sun Jun 24, 2012 7:29 pm

Ok, makes sense.

I wonder if there's a way to make it talk over the loop back IP, (127.0.0.1), instead? I don't think that gets locked out when you connect via VPN

barnabas1969

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#8

Post by barnabas1969 » Sun Jun 24, 2012 10:10 pm

No, I don't think you can.

Your only hope will be to create a new route for the Ceton's IP address that set the interface to use when connecting to that IP.

The command would be...

ROUTE ADD <Ceton_IP_address> MASK 255.255.255.255 <Ceton_IP_address>

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