DViCO FusionHDTV Pro working under linux [Finally!]

Today I got my DViCO FusionHDTV Pro (dvb-t) card working under mandriva linux in Melbourne, Australia.

I’ve been wanting to do this for years and has actually been the major stopper in Mandriva becoming my primary OS on my desktop (besides my laptop(s), wifes laptop, friends laptops, and all my servers). I always figured I could dual-boot for LAN parties.

Anyway… I did it like this.

Step 1. Install Mandriva 2009.1 Spring Powerpack (64bit)

Step 2. Setup online repositories including PLF mirrors

Step 3. Install dvb-apps and most other dvb utils (run `urpmq dvb- -a` to see them)

Step 4. Install mplayer, smplayer and usual auto installed plf codecs

Step 5. (as per v4l mailing list) Download ‘extract_xc3028.pl’ script, and drivers

Step 6. Extract driver and copied it to `/lib/firmware` (do not use Chris Pascoe’s firmware as it is not req’d - and not working)

Step 7. (following instructions from the ubuntu forums) Run `scandvb /usr/share/dvb-apps/scan/dvb-t/au-Melbourne > channels.conf`

Step 8.  Run `sudo cp channels.conf /etc && cp channels.conf ~/.tzap`

Step 9. Test Setup - run `mplayer dvb://”ABC2″`

Step 10. Due to all Australian HDTV channels using AC3 onlyfor sound we need to set the PIDS correctly for the audio as AC3 is by default 0. If you don’t you won’t get any sound on any of the HD channels.

Step 11. For each channel (ABC, 7, 9, 10 and SBS) run `tzap -c /etc/channels.conf -r “ABC1″` <- replacing “ABC1″ with the channel name. Then in a new console run scandvb -c and save the contents.

Step 12. Convert the AC3 values from hex to decimal. (Hint google: convert ….. to decimal)

Step 13. Edit /etc/channels.conf and add the decimal AC3 values in the file. Replace the zero in …:0:… with the AC3 value.

Step 14. Enjoy.

Ahhh :)

ZuFeed.com - launch

ZuFeed is a new website designed to help you access the latest news, updates and other information.

The website is currently in “beta” mode, so please excuse any bugs.

You can decide what you want to see by creating custom collections of information and everything up to date with the latest information as it arrives.

Information from all over the web via RSS feeds so if we don’t already have what you’re looking for, just add it to our database.

For more info check out the About ZuFeed page or sign up for at no cost.

Aerospace Students Website goes LIVE!

Finally the Aerospace Students Assocation (AESA) website has gone live on the web.

Well when I mean “live”, I mean I’ve unblocked the search engines as the site now has sufficient content.

Check it out at www.aerospacestudents.org.

AESA is a student group for all Aerospace & Aviation related students at RMIT University. There will be many updates to the website, especially with current New and the following newletters.

Upgrade to Wordpress 2.5

Finally got around to doing the big upgrade to Wordpress 2.5. Only a few minor bugs to fix, mainly with the K2 theme.

Update to wordpress 2.3.3

Updated to fix security bugs. I really must make sure I keep up with these ;)