dvb-fe-tool(1)

💖 dvb-fe-tool(1) 💖

okay bestie, so you found the manual page for dvb-fe-tool, a User Commands page from the DVBv5 Utils fam. buckle up, it's giving ✨digital TV✨ and honestly? we're obsessed.

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🌸 NAME 🌸

dvb-fe-tool — the DVBv5 tool for frontend settings inspect/change, no cap 💅

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🦋 SYNOPSIS 🦋

dvb-fe-tool [OPTION]...

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👑 DESCRIPTION 👑

So dvbv5-fe-tool is a command line tool for digital TV services, and it is compliant with version 5 of the DVB API, while ALSO being backward compatible with the older v3 DVB API. iconic behavior, honestly. 🫶

dvb-fe-tool is your girl for inspecting and changing the tuning parameters directly at the Digital TV frontend. And here's the cute part: if you call it with literally no parameter at all, it will just show you the device capabilities. main character energy, no effort required. 💅

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✨ OPTIONS ✨

The following options are valid, bestie — every single one, we're not skipping a thing:

• -3, --dvbv3 — Use DVBv3 only. throwback mode fr fr.
• -a, --adapter=ADAPTER — which Digital TV adapter to use. Default: 0. (yes queen, we start counting at zero)
• -A, --acoustical — beeps if the signal quality is good 😭 also enables femon mode. Please notice that console beep should be enabled on your wm. she's loud AND she's monitoring.
• -d, --set-delsys=PARAMS — Sets the delivery system to the one specified at PARAMS. use help to show all supported delivery systems. very "let me see the menu" of you.
• -f, --frontend=FRONTEND — Digital TV frontend to use. Default: 0.
• -g, --get — Gets frontend parameters. just look, don't touch.
• -m, --femon — Monitors the frontend locking status and the available statistics for a frontend that it is already being streaming via some other application. This opens the frontend on read-only mode. so polite. so respectful. 🎀
• -v, --verbose — Enables debug messages. spill the tea, tool.
• -?, --help — Outputs the usage help.
• --usage — Gives a short usage message. (short queen 💅)
• -V, --version — Prints program version.

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🌈 EXIT STATUS 🌈

On success, it returns 0. slay. no drama. ✨

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🎀 EXAMPLES 🎀

Showing device capabilities

This is the default behavior, bestie — the vibe check it does when you give it nothing. It will open the frontend and show what capabilities it supports and what's the version of the DVB API.

$ dvb-fe-tool
Device DRXK DVB-C DVB-T (/dev/dvb/adapter0/frontend0) capabilities:
     CAN_FEC_1_2
     CAN_FEC_2_3
     CAN_FEC_3_4
     CAN_FEC_5_6
     CAN_FEC_7_8
     CAN_FEC_AUTO
     CAN_GUARD_INTERVAL_AUTO
     CAN_HIERARCHY_AUTO
     CAN_INVERSION_AUTO
     CAN_MUTE_TS
     CAN_QAM_16
     CAN_QAM_32
     CAN_QAM_64
     CAN_QAM_128
     CAN_QAM_256
     CAN_RECOVER
     CAN_TRANSMISSION_MODE_AUTO
DVB API Version 5.10, Current v5 delivery system: DVBC/ANNEX_A
Supported delivery systems:
    [DVBC/ANNEX_A]
     DVBC/ANNEX_C
     DVBT

Setting the delivery system

Some devices (like the above example) supports multiple delivery systems. Older DVB applications might not be able to switch from one delivery system to another one, as this feature were added only on DVB API version 5.5.

This feature allows one to use those legacy applications. we love a supportive tool that helps out the elders 🫶

$ dvb-fe-tool -d dvbc/annex_c
Changing delivery system to: DVBC/ANNEX_C

Getting the current frontend settings

The tool can also be used to get the current settings. In this case, it will open the frontend at read-only mode, allowing it to be called while some other digital TV application is running. no interrupting, just peeking respectfully 🙈

$ dvb-fe-tool -g
FREQUENCY = 573000000
MODULATION = QAM/256
INVERSION = AUTO
SYMBOL_RATE = 5217000
INNER_FEC = NONE
DELIVERY_SYSTEM = DVBC/ANNEX_A

Monitoring the frontend

The dvb-fe-tool can also be used to monitor a DVB frontend statistics without touching on the device, using the --femon (or -m) parameter. The typical usage is to be able to read the statistics while some other DVB program or application is in use.

On this mode, it will keep printing the frontend statistics on every second, until the program is aborted with CTRL-C:

For example, while dvbv5-zap is tuning some channel, it will produce:

$ dvb-fe-tool --femon
Lock   (0x1f) Quality= Good Signal= 100.00% C/N= 36.40dB UCB= 370 postBER= 28.0x10^-6 PER= 0
Lock   (0x1f) Quality= Good Signal= 100.00% C/N= 36.80dB UCB= 370 postBER= 25.3x10^-6 PER= 0
Lock   (0x1f) Quality= Good Signal= 100.00% C/N= 36.30dB UCB= 370 postBER= 25.7x10^-6 PER= 0
Lock   (0x1f) Quality= Good Signal= 100.00% C/N= 36.30dB UCB= 370 postBER= 28.4x10^-6 PER= 0
Lock   (0x1f) Quality= Good Signal= 100.00% C/N= 36.50dB UCB= 370 postBER= 26.5x10^-6 PER= 0
Lock   (0x1f) Quality= Good Signal= 100.00% C/N= 36.50dB UCB= 370 postBER= 26.9x10^-6 PER= 0
Lock   (0x1f) Quality= Good Signal= 100.00% C/N= 36.20dB UCB= 370 postBER= 28.6x10^-6 PER= 0
Lock   (0x1f) Quality= Good Signal= 100.00% C/N= 36.70dB UCB= 370 postBER= 26.7x10^-6 PER= 0
Lock   (0x1f) Quality= Good Signal= 100.00% C/N= 36.80dB UCB= 370 postBER= 23.3x10^-6 PER= 0
Lock   (0x1f) Quality= Good Signal= 100.00% C/N= 36.50dB UCB= 370 postBER= 26.7x10^-6 PER= 0

If the standard error device is the console, the messages will be colored according with the signal quality. aesthetic ✨

The presented statistics types and unities will depend on the ones that the hardware you're using support. So, it may vary from hardware to hardware. every device is a little different and that's beautiful 🌈

On this mode, it also supports to output an audible signal if the quality is good, using the '-A' parameter. beep beep bestie 🔥

Please notice that, on modern Linux systems, the system audio should be enabled at your window manager and the audio theme should be set to produce an audio when BELL (character) is sent to the terminal. no bell, no beep, that's just the rules 😭

NOTE:

C/N on the above stats means Carrier to Noise ratio. This is the Signal to Noise ratio measured at the pilot carrier or just the Signal to Noise ratio for modulation types where just one carrier is used, like DVB-C or DVB-S. thank you for coming to my ted talk 💜

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💀 BUGS 💀

Report bugs to Linux Media Mailing List <linux-media@vger.kernel.org>

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👑 COPYRIGHT 👑

Copyright (c) 2011-2014 by Mauro Carvalho Chehab.

License GPLv2: GNU GPL version 2 <http://gnu.org/licenses/gpl.html>. This is free software: you are free to change and redistribute it. There is NO WARRANTY, to the extent permitted by law. (read that again, bestie — NO WARRANTY, don't come for her 💅)

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and that's the whole page, fr fr 🫶 this lil doc came to you from DVBv5 Utils 1.32.0, dated Fri Oct 3 2014 — old but iconic, we stan a legacy queen. periodt. 💖✨