Plex app with a TV Tuner PCI-E Card

Apps and Virtualization
1

Hi all,

I was wondering why my thread went quiet, I didn’t realize the forum was renewed. :slight_smile:

Following on from my old thread here:

I was wondering if anyone would have any additional information that could help?

So far all I could do was in addition to running the Plex server as an application (which I want to keep) I made another Plex server on an Ubuntu VM which allowed me to pass the TV Tuner in and it works fine, but I would still much rather the application have direct access somehow. Any ideas?

Thanks!

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2

I made some progress…

I didn’t know about Truecharts…

I deleted the VM and rebooted TrueNAS.

I added the catalog and loaded up Plex from Truecharts. It has the option for me to add the USB devices, so I did the trick above for the TV tuner.

Plex sees it! However after scanning, no channels are found.

I tried going to TrueNAS → System Settings → Shell and putting in the command from the previous forum thread:

$ sudo midclt call system.advanced.update '{"kernel_extra_options": "cx23885.dma_reset_workaround=2"}

And the output is this:

Screenshot 2024-04-11 at 8.53.28 PM
Screenshot 2024-04-11 at 8.53.28 PM2826×246 33.2 KB

I tried a re-scan but still no channels.

I’m not sure what to do… :frowning:

It turns out there’s a bug with this particular tuner on Linux. When I went to scan channels, dmesg filled up with cx23885 driver errors, which tipped me off to the fix. Basically, there’s a workaround enabled by default for some hardware, but not for my setup (a 10400 CPU with a Z590 mobo). Adding the cx23885.dma_reset_workaround=2 option to the kernel command line forces the workaround on and allows the card to work properly.

You can make this kernel option persist across reboots and updates as follows:

$ sudo midclt call system.advanced.update '{“kernel_extra_options”: “cx23885.dma_reset_workaround=2”}

3

Has there been any progress here? I have ready through forums for two days with no luck. Running TrueNAS-SCALE 25. Most everything works exactly as avertised. Clean install, add the PLEX app. Found I needed to add devices by adding /dev/dvb

This worked perfectly, as I could see both dual tuners in the plex GUI instantly, however no matter what I do, zero channels are discovered during a scan.
I have seen a couple of posts (and a number of references) to TrueCharts, however that is gone, and I would like to keep this in the native app.

I am running an HP dl360 Gen 9 with all virtualization enabled, including VD-T.

I have seen a number of posts referencing a bug requiring a kernel command, however I am not sure if this is relevent, as these posts are pretty old.

" I was able to get this working with TrueNAS Scale 22.02.4 and the Plex app packaged by TrueCharts (plus Plex Pass, which is needed for Plex to support Live TV at all). Two non-default config changes were needed:

  1. In the Plex chart config, under “Configure Mount USB Devices”, add a passthrough for /dev/dvb (same path on host and container). Default device permissions were fine for me. At this point, Plex could see the tuner, but scanning channels found almost none.
  2. It turns out there’s a bug with this particular tuner on Linux. When I went to scan channels, dmesg filled up with cx23885 driver errors, which tipped me off to the fix. Basically, there’s a workaround enabled by default for some hardware, but not for my setup (a 10400 CPU with a Z590 mobo). Adding the cx23885.dma_reset_workaround=2 option to the kernel command line forces the workaround on and allows the card to work properly.

You can make this kernel option persist across reboots and updates as follows:
$ sudo midclt call system.advanced.update ‘{“kernel_extra_options”: “cx23885.dma_reset_workaround=2”}’"

4

I use Emby now instead of Plex and I got it working by installing TVHeadend (app in TrueNAS) which handles the TV card and streams channels to Emby. I’ll paste my notes that I made to help me remember how to set it up. It will probably work for Plex too.

Notes:

Hauppauge WinTV QuadHD PCIE TV Tuner Card TrueNAS Firmware setup:

  • Run the following command in TrueNAS shell:

    • sudo midclt call system.advanced.update ‘{“kernel_extra_options”: “cx23885.dma_reset_workaround=2”}’

  • Stop ALL applications, disable Nvidia Driver Support (app screen > settings)

  • Run the following command in TrueNAS shell:

    • wget httPEEs://github.com/OpenELEC/dvb-firmware/raw/master/firmware/dvb-demod-si2168-b40-01.fw
    • sudo /usr/local/libexec/disable-rootfs-protection
    • sudo cp dvb-demod-si2168-b40-01.fw /lib/firmware/
    • reboot

  • Re-enable Nvidia Driver Support and relaunch applications

  • When TrueNAS is updated in the future, check if the firmware inside /lib/firmware/ still exists. If not, copy file back after disabling protection and reboot.

In emby:

  • Live TV Note:
    • For TVH setup within Emby:
      • TV Source M3U Playlist: httPEE://x.x.x.x:x/playlist
      • TV EPG: httPEE://x.x.x.x:x/xmltv

Replace pee with p so it’s http. Forum won’t let me post links?

5

Just installing that firmware above may be all you need to do, so you might not need to worry about TVHeadend since Plex supports the TV card on its own. But you still will probably need to pass the TV card location like you already did so it’s visible in Plex. You can try TVHeadend if all else fails.

6

I had previously set up this same Haupagge win-tv quadhd in the same manner as you, by disabling rootfs protection, copying the firmware file over, running the kernal command and passing through /dev/dvb/ to Plex, however the update from 25.04.2.3 to 25.04.2.4 broke it, and when I redid the steps Plex couldn’t discover any channels. I reverted the update and Plex still can’t find any channels… running lspci -k I can’t see the tuner card anymore, but if I run sudo dmesg | grep dvb I can see that the card is active and loading the firmware file… any ideas? I’m going crazy

7

Nevermind - my dog knocked the antenna cable out lol

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