PAL Tuner in NZ?

**jaidev** · 25-09-2004, 04:27 PM

Originally Posted by thomson

I have just modified palmod and palmod_config so that they will work with a Samsung/ALPS tuner in New Zealand. The previous version would have only worked with Philips tuners.

It's hard to keep track of the palmod versions, I have a Philips FI1216MK2 tuner in one of my older tivo's, where can I get the previous palmod that'd work with this tuner in NZ?

Also someone want to write up the howto on the wiki for Philips/Alps/Samsung tuners.

cheers
Jaidev

**Grant** · 25-09-2004, 07:47 PM

I think the howto for palmod of US series 1 tivo is simple... don't do it.

a couple of things came out of Thomsons great work -

1) you can't get nicam sound off unless you start with a UK tivo
2) No one has a Pal modded US series one working with the emulator. (Please prove me wrong)

I haven't tried T's latest code but I gotta say my VCR is doing less and less and would become a real easy nicam source that is emulator compatible..... much as I like the palmod I'm beginning to think its just not worth the grief.

G.

**jaidev** · 26-09-2004, 01:12 AM

Originally Posted by Grant

I think the howto for palmod of US series 1 tivo is simple... don't do it.

a couple of things came out of Thomsons great work -

1) you can't get nicam sound off unless you start with a UK tivo
2) No one has a Pal modded US series one working with the emulator. (Please prove me wrong)

I wasn't talking about a tuner howto for the emulator. However it can be done, need correct headends and data for the FTA channels, just requires a bit of work.
I meant a howto for palmod/tuner setup and FTA channels for the Alps/Samsung and philips tuners.

Tuner palmod US can be done, and has been done as well.

Anyone used the latest Oz palmod 3.0 for a US tivo in Auckland? I remember last time I used it Tv2 wasnt working because of an error in the frequency definition..

**Grant** · 26-09-2004, 07:47 AM

Hi J,

yes I understand. I have got the Pal Mod working nicely on my US tivo - but, with the benefit of this new nicam & emulator knowledge I doubt if I would do it again.

Going down the pal mod & fta path forces everything else to be manual updates... lotsa extra grief - so while its a more elegant solution I doubt its the best idea.

I will do some writing for the wiki.

G.

**thomson** · 01-10-2004, 05:54 AM

Thomson's Development Branch
Official OzTiVo palmod can be found here

The attached version of palmod contains all of the features of the original OzTiVo palmod but has additional support for the Samsung/ALPS tuners along with realtime picture tuning. This means that you will be able to use iicset commands as well as the palmod_config application to adjust the brightness, contrast and saturation settings in real-time. The changes will only revert to the startup values (found in /etc/palmod.conf) when the channel is changed.

Once you have found the correct settings for your particular system setup then you should make sure you update your /etc/palmod.conf file (using palmod_config) and either reload palmod, or restart your TiVo.

The following will set the Brightness to 125, Contrast to 67, and Saturation to 85:

Code:

# iicset 0x42 0x0a 125
# iicset 0x42 0x0b 67
# iicset 0x42 0x0c 85

The following is my /etc/palmod.conf file. The finetune options assign the (Wellington) channel frequencies for TV1,TV2,TV3,C4 and Prime respectively:

Code:

brightness=125 contrast=67 saturation=85 avbrightness=125 avcontrast=67
avsaturation=85 screenwidth=544 dualaudioinput=0 tunertype=1 freqtable=1
horizontalshift=195 rfoutput=24 luminanceDelay=0
finetune="1:45250,2:182250,3:224250,4:55250,5:783250"

The following is a /etc/palmod.conf file suitable for Melbourne/Sydney users. The finetune options assign their channel frequencies for Channel 10 as well as a couple of others:

Code:

brightness=125 contrast=67 saturation=85 avbrightness=125 avcontrast=67
avsaturation=85 screenwidth=544 dualaudioinput=0 tunertype=0 freqtable=0
horizontalshift=195 luminanceDelay=0 finetune="10:209250,11:216250,5:102250"

Improvements over the original OzTivo module are

Real-time adjustment of Brightness, Contrast, Saturation, Luminance Delay and Horizontal Shift.
This new version separates the single "tunertype" parameter into both a "tunertype" and "freqtable" to allow any frequency table to be used with any tuner. Both the new palmod.o and palmod_config binaries are backwards compatible with the single tunertype values (ie they will read old palmod.conf files).
All frequency tables have all channel slots (0-99) available for programming, and there is a blank frequency table for those that like to create their own using the finetune arguments.
Additional configuration, buffer and boundary checks.
Rudimentary auto tuning support (enough to correct Channel 10 in some areas of Australia).
This version has also been fixed so that you can unload the module without crashing the TiVo. So rather than perform a reboot, you can simply use: "rmmod palmod; insmod palmod.o `cat /etc/palmod.conf`".

Current: The latest version (v3.0.8) allows picture adjustment using the +/- keys, rather than entering numbers. It adds support for real-time horizontal shift adjustment (after first checking that you are running 720). It also provides a menu option to reload the kernel module as well as provison for auto adjustment of channel frequencies. The following are a couple of screen dumps from it:

Code:

 Palmod Configuration Tool (3.0.8)

 1. Tuner Picture Settings
 2. A/V Picture Settings
 3. Picture Resolution
 4. Audio Settings
 5. Tuner Settings

 S. Save settings and exit
 R. Reload palmod with new settings
 Q. Quit without saving settings

 Choice:

Code:

 Brightness = 125  (range 0 - 255, default 125)

 Use  - +  to adjust the value by  1
 Use  [ ]  to adjust the value by 10
 Use  { }  to set the value to min/max
 Use  1-9  for fast adjustment within range
 Use   0   to reset back to default value
 Use   P   to be prompted for a value

 ENTER to accept new value
 ESCAPE to cancel changes

Note: A new OzTivo version (v3.1) has now been released which incorporates some of the improvements implemented here. However it does change the name of all of the passed parameters so it's configuration file will no longer be compatible with that used by this, and other, kernel modules.

FYI: If you wish to implement a safer way of updating palmod, then you may wish to have a look here.

**jaidev** · 24-11-2004, 08:03 AM

Thomson does your palmod incoporate oztivo Keith's recent changes?
I'll just paste what he said here...

"There's a new palmod file available for download which eliminates the vertical chroma shift and the flickering picture on channel changes."

I have 1 tivo and also a friend experiencing chroma shift issue on svideo, both running the orig oztivo 3.0, so thought I'd ask before changing palmod's.
It'd be great if you could incorporate your changes into Keith's one..

cheers
Jaidev

**thomson** · 24-11-2004, 09:30 AM

Originally Posted by jaidev

It'd be great if you could incorporate your changes into Keith's one.

I have been improving and posting updates to palmod for months... I have had to as the Australian version does not have support for the Samsung/ALPS tuner in New Zealand. But if you have a look at the history information for the Wiki's and Uploads sections on the OzTiVo site then you will find that they have always been removed... this is why they are now posted in this thread. Recent changes have allowed users in Poland and Italy to also tune to their local channels.

I will incorporate Keith's recent changes and post a new version. It is completely up to you which version you install. My version supports real-time tuning, otherwise you need to reboot for any tweak made.

Update: the change has been incorporated and has been posted as v3.0.4

**jaidev** · 24-11-2004, 06:39 PM

Originally Posted by thomson

I will incorporate Keith's recent changes and post a new version. It is completely up to you which version you install. My version supports real-time tuning, otherwise you need to reboot for any tweak made.

Update: the change has been incorporated and has been posted as v3.0.4

Definitely using yours, thanks for the great work dude..
cheers

**thomson** · 26-11-2004, 05:40 AM

The two versions are now being merged, so the next OzTiVo/Keith release should have all the goodies in it.

Update: Keith's release as been rolled back to the 19th November source, so the latest changes are no longer in the official version.

**thomson** · 27-11-2004, 11:14 AM

Latest palmod.o (v3.0.5) fixes up an issue with luminanceDelay. This version also is kinder the the kernel, so that it can be unloaded without issues... the benefit here is that you no longer require a reboot for any change

The palmod_config has yet to be updated, but will be done in the next few days.... Once this is done a simple channel change should be enough to activate all of the altered settings.