Old USB Trident TVBOX tm600! Can I make this work on 12.3-64?

English Hardware
#1

Hello!

I have up-to-date 12.3-64 i7-3770 and lxde desktop.

I see from some archive posts this gismo didn’t work in the past. Is there any hope for it today?

It looked interesting and my investment was minimal, but it’s recognized and the tm600 kernel module is loaded.

If you’re still with me here, is there some executable that goes with the tm600? I don’t see any new menu entries. Do I need to install something to get an interface to this device?

On one of the archive posts, the moderator request was for dmesg and lsusb.

They look like this:

root[514] dmesg | grep -i trident
    1.607108] usb 3-1: Manufacturer: Trident
   12.292435] Trident TVMaster TM5600/TM6000/TM6010 USB2 board (Load status: 0)
root[515]

and

lsusb -v

Bus 003 Device 002: ID 6000:0001 Beholder International Ltd. 
Device Descriptor:
  bLength                18
  bDescriptorType         1
  bcdUSB               2.00
  bDeviceClass            0 (Defined at Interface level)
  bDeviceSubClass         0 
  bDeviceProtocol         0 
  bMaxPacketSize0        64
  idVendor           0x6000 Beholder International Ltd.
  idProduct          0x0001 
  bcdDevice            0.01
  iManufacturer          16 Trident
  iProduct               32 TVBOX
  iSerial                64 2004090820040908
  bNumConfigurations      1
  Configuration Descriptor:
    bLength                 9
    bDescriptorType         2
    wTotalLength           78
    bNumInterfaces          1
    bConfigurationValue     1
    iConfiguration         48 2.0
    bmAttributes         0x80
      (Bus Powered)
    MaxPower              500mA
    Interface Descriptor:
      bLength                 9
      bDescriptorType         4
      bInterfaceNumber        0
      bAlternateSetting       0
      bNumEndpoints           2
      bInterfaceClass       255 Vendor Specific Class
      bInterfaceSubClass      0 
      bInterfaceProtocol    255 
      iInterface              0 
      Endpoint Descriptor:
        bLength                 7
        bDescriptorType         5
        bEndpointAddress     0x81  EP 1 IN
        bmAttributes            1
          Transfer Type            Isochronous
          Synch Type               None
          Usage Type               Data
        wMaxPacketSize     0x0000  1x 0 bytes
        bInterval               1
      Endpoint Descriptor:
        bLength                 7
        bDescriptorType         5
        bEndpointAddress     0x82  EP 2 IN
        bmAttributes            2
          Transfer Type            Bulk
          Synch Type               None
          Usage Type               Data
        wMaxPacketSize     0x0200  1x 512 bytes
        bInterval               0
    Interface Descriptor:
      bLength                 9
      bDescriptorType         4
      bInterfaceNumber        0
      bAlternateSetting       1
      bNumEndpoints           2
      bInterfaceClass       255 Vendor Specific Class
      bInterfaceSubClass      0 
      bInterfaceProtocol    255 
      iInterface              0 
      Endpoint Descriptor:
        bLength                 7
        bDescriptorType         5
        bEndpointAddress     0x81  EP 1 IN
        bmAttributes            1
          Transfer Type            Isochronous
          Synch Type               None
          Usage Type               Data
        wMaxPacketSize     0x1400  3x 1024 bytes
        bInterval               1
      Endpoint Descriptor:
        bLength                 7
        bDescriptorType         5
        bEndpointAddress     0x82  EP 2 IN
        bmAttributes            2
          Transfer Type            Bulk
          Synch Type               None
          Usage Type               Data
        wMaxPacketSize     0x0200  1x 512 bytes
        bInterval               0
    Interface Descriptor:
      bLength                 9
      bDescriptorType         4
      bInterfaceNumber        0
      bAlternateSetting       2
      bNumEndpoints           2
      bInterfaceClass       255 Vendor Specific Class
      bInterfaceSubClass      0 
      bInterfaceProtocol    255 
      iInterface              0 
      Endpoint Descriptor:
        bLength                 7
        bDescriptorType         5
        bEndpointAddress     0x81  EP 1 IN
        bmAttributes            1
          Transfer Type            Isochronous
          Synch Type               None
          Usage Type               Data
        wMaxPacketSize     0x1400  3x 1024 bytes
        bInterval               1
      Endpoint Descriptor:
        bLength                 7
        bDescriptorType         5
        bEndpointAddress     0x82  EP 2 IN
        bmAttributes            2
          Transfer Type            Bulk
          Synch Type               None
          Usage Type               Data
        wMaxPacketSize     0x0200  1x 512 bytes
        bInterval               0
Device Qualifier (for other device speed):
  bLength                10
  bDescriptorType         6
  bcdUSB               2.00
  bDeviceClass            0 (Defined at Interface level)
  bDeviceSubClass         0 
  bDeviceProtocol         0 
  bMaxPacketSize0        64
  bNumConfigurations      1
Device Status:     0x0002
  (Bus Powered)
  Remote Wakeup Enabled

The lsusb -v entry is an excerpt.

The USB power turns a light on, but otherwise this black and silver, wasp-waist box is a plain Jane gadget.

Any relevant suggestions, links, advice, or comments are welcome here! Heboland.

#2

This may be of interest to you:

Trident TM6000 - LinuxTVWiki

There is a reference to an experimental driver, but that was all from what I can gather. I wouldn’t waste too much energy on it. Go for something that is supported.

#3

I note that the chipset is reported as

idVendor           0x6000 Beholder International Ltd.
  idProduct          0x0001

There is a tm6000 kernel module which supposidly supports that chipset

modinfo tm6000 |grep 

alias:          usb:v6000p0001d*dc*dsc*dp*ic*isc*ip*

Maybe you are in luck after all. If the module isn’t already loaded, try loading manually with

modprobe tm6000
#4

Thanks for the replies deano_ferrari!

I think my system auto loaded the tm6000 when I plugged the USB TVBOX in and rebooted.

Here’s my lsmod:

root[501] lsmod | grep -i 6000
tm6000_alsa            13582  0 
tm6000                 71424  1 tm6000_alsa
videobuf_vmalloc       13590  1 tm6000
videobuf_core          30119  2 tm6000,videobuf_vmalloc
rc_core                31851  1 tm6000
v4l2_common            21325  2 tuner,tm6000
videodev              129333  3 tuner,tm6000,v4l2_common
snd_pcm               110154  4 tm6000_alsa,snd_hda_codec_hdmi,snd_hda_intel,snd_hda_codec
snd                    91489  12 tm6000_alsa,snd_hda_codec_hdmi,snd_hda_codec_realtek,snd_hda_intel,snd_hda_codec,snd_hwdep,snd_pcm,snd_seq,snd_timer,snd_seq_device
root[502]

Now assuming the tm6000 module is loaded, how can I access this device? Do I need to install mythTV or some kind of video capture app? Is there an alsa interface to this device where I can control it from? I don’t have the TVBOX remote. Heboland.

#5

Does /dev/video* exist?

ls -l /dev/video*

I’ve never owned/played with one of these capture devices. There are a number of TV utilities available - xawtv, kdetv, xdtv, me-tv,… I’ll leave it to you to research these further.

#6

This reference might be useful for testing

Tv viewing and recording solutions for Linux: Quickstart

Perhaps this will point you in the right direction too

TV Related Software - LinuxTVWiki

#7

Kaffeine does TV too.

#8

Thanks for the replies! If I may, I would like to provide a status update to keep this thread from growing cold.

With the help of the links you all provided, I installed V4L2 which recognizes the chipset in my TVBOX product as Trident TVMASTER TM5600/6000/60. V4L2 is a video test bench, so it may be showing that my TVBOX is working correctly.

Selecting Composite 1 as the V4L2 input does display a small TV picture on my desktop monitor. The display can’t keep up with the video in real time, so pauses occasionally. The source of the composite video is the A/V video input from a satellite receiver A/V output.

The TVBOX also has a stereo audio input and output. With the audio of the satellite A/V connected to the TVBOX stereo input and the output connected to my desktop line in, there is no tower sound when V4L2 “starts capturing”.

Using the V4LC “Save Raw Frames”, I’m able to capture big binary files of YUYV image format, but the file extension is left up to me. Using YUV doesn’t allow my video apps (xine, vlc, smplayer) to make sense of the files.

Perhaps some other app besides V4L2 will allow me to save the A/V in as AVI files.

The V4LC “Television” input hasn’t worked yet. It’s default NTSC frequency is 193.25MHz. That’s NTCS OTA Ch10. I don’t have one of them to give it. V4LC will let me change the default frequency to 61.25MHz (Ch3) which I do have, but the display is snow. Perhaps my change of the V4LC frequency box has no affect on the TVBOX. Maybe it takes the missing remote.

So far I haven’t found any documentation on the TVBOX product I have, but some kindred spirit posted this exact google search phrase “tv master technical reference” to get a detailed description of the chipset. Chances are the developers of the tm6000 module have seen this doc. Perhaps it’s possible to decipher the remote’s code from this doc!

I’ll continue to fool with this old HW for a time yet. Already it’s taught me some things. Most likely I’ll report back again later. If anyone reading the list has picked this TVBOX lock, I would appreciate that magic input. Heboland.