path: root/INSTALL

Installation of the Video Disk Recorder
---------------------------------------

Compiling and running the program:
----------------------------------

Make sure the files from this package are located in a
directory that is "parallel" to the DVB directory of the
driver source for the Siemens DVB-S PCI card (refer to
http://linuxtv.org/dvb/siemens_dvb.html for more information
about that driver). For example, if the DVB driver was 
extracted into the directory /home/kls/vdr/DVB, then this
package should be extracted into /home/kls/vdr/VDR.
If you have the DVB driver source in a different location
you will have to change the definition of DVBDIR in the
Makefile.

This program requires the card driver version 0.9.0 or higher
to work properly. You need to load the dvb.o module *without* option
'outstream=0' (previous versions of VDR required this option to have
the driver supply the data in AV_PES format; as of version 0.70 VDR
works with PES format).

After extracting the package, change into the VDR directory
and type 'make'. This should produce an executable file
named 'vdr', which can be run after the DVB driver has been
installed.

IMPORTANT: See "Configuration files" below for information on how
=========  to set up the configuration files at the proper location!

The 'vdr' program can be controlled via the PC keyboard or
an infrared remote control unit. Define the REMOTE macro to one of the
following values 'make' call to activate the respective control mode:

  REMOTE=KBD    control via the PC keyboard (default)
  REMOTE=RCU    control via the "Remote Control Unit" receiver
                (see http://www.cadsoft.de/people/kls/vdr/remote.htm)
  REMOTE=LIRC   control via the "Linux Infrared Remote Control"
                (see http://www.lirc.org)
  REMOTE=NONE   no remote control (in case only SVDRP shall be used)

Adding "DEBUG_OSD=1" will use the PC screen (or current window)
to display texts instead of the DVB card's on-screen display
interface. These modes are useful when testing new menus if you
only have a remote connection to the VDR (which, in my case, is
located in the living room and has neither a monitor nor a keyboard).

If your video directory will be on a VFAT partition, add the compile
time switch

  VFAT=1

to the 'make' command.

When running, the 'vdr' program writes status information into the
system log file (/var/log/messages). You may want to watch these
messages (tail -f /var/log/mesages) to see if there are any problems.

The program can be controlled via a network connection to its SVDRP
port ("Simple Video Disk Recorder Protocol"). By default, it listens
on port 2001 (use the --port=PORT option to change this). For details
about the SVDRP syntax see the source file 'svdrp.c'.

WARNING: DUE TO THE OPEN SVDRP PORT THIS PROGRAM MAY CONSTITUTE A
=======  POTENTIAL SECURITY HAZARD! IF YOU ARE NOT RUNNING VDR IN
         A CONTROLLED ENVIRONMENT, YOU MAY WANT TO DISABLE SVDRP
         BY USING '--port=0'!

If the program shall run as a daemon, use the --daemon option. This
will completely detach it from the terminal and will continue as a
background process.

When starting the program through an entry in /etc/inittab, use the --terminal
option to set the controlling terminal, as in

vdr:123:respawn:/usr/local/bin/vdr --terminal=/dev/tty8 -w 60

Automatic restart in case of hangups:
-------------------------------------

If you run VDR using the 'runvdr' shell script it will use the built-in
watchdog timer to restart the program in case something happens that
causes a program hangup. If you change the command line options for the
call to the VDR program, be sure to NOT use the '-d' option! Otherwise
VDR will go into 'deamon' mode and the initial program call will return
immediately!

Command line options:
---------------------

Use "vdr --help" for a list of available command line options.

Replaying Dolby Digital audio:
------------------------------

To replay Dolby Digital audio you need a program that reads the DD data
from stdin and processes it in a way suitable for your audio hardware.
This program must be given to VDR with the '-a' option, as in

  vdr -a ac3play

The video data directory:
-------------------------

All recordings are written into directories below "/video". Please
make sure this directory exists, and that the user who runs the 'vdr'
program has read and write access to that directory.
If you prefer a different location for your video files, you can use
the '-v' option to change that. Please make sure that the directory
name you use with '-v' is a clean and absolute path name (no '..' or
multiple slashes).

Note that the file system need not be 64-bit proof, since the 'vdr'
program splits video files into chunks of about 1GB. You should use
a disk with several gigabytes of free space. One GB can store roughly
half an hour of video data.

If you have more than one disk and don't want to combine them to form
one large logical volume, you can set up several video directories as
mount points for these disks. All of these directories must have the
same basic name and must end with a numeric part, which starts at 0 for
the main directory and has increasing values for the rest of the
directories. For example

   /video0
   /video1
   /video2

would be a setup with three directories. You can use more than one
numeric digit, and the directories need not be directly under '/':

   /mnt/MyVideos/vdr.00
   /mnt/MyVideos/vdr.01
   /mnt/MyVideos/vdr.02
   ...
   /mnt/MyVideos/vdr.11

would set up twelve disks (wow, what a machine that would be!).

To use such a multi directory setup, you need to add the '-v' option
with the name of the basic directory when running 'vdr':

   vdr -v /video0

Configuration files:
--------------------

There are three configuration files that hold information about
channels, remote control keys and timers. By default these files are
assumed to be located in the video directory, but a different directory
can be used with the '-c' option. For starters just copy all *.conf files from
the VDR directory into your video directory.

The configuration files can be edited with any text editor, or will be written
by the 'vdr' program if any changes are made inside the on-screen menus.
The meaning of the data entries may still vary in future releases, so for the
moment please look at the source code (config.c) to see the meaning of the
various fields.

The files that come with this package contain the author's selections,
so please make sure you adapt these to your personal taste. Also make sure
that the channels defined in 'channels.conf' are correct before attempting
to record anything. Channel parameters may vary and not all of the channels
listed in the default 'channels.conf' file have been verified by the author.

As a starting point you can copy the 'channels.conf' file that comes with the
VDR archive into your video directory (or into your config directory,
respectively, in case you have redirected it with the -c option).

Running VDR with DVB-C (cable):
-------------------------------

VDR automatically recognizes if the DVB card in use is a cable card.
The only things that needs to be different when using digital cable
is the 'channels.conf' file. The distribution archive contains a default
'channels.conf.cable', which cable users can rename or copy to 'channels.conf'
in order to receive cable channels. The format of this file is exactly the
same as for satellite channels (the fields containing "Polarization" and
"Diseqc" data are ignored in case of DVB-C).

Learning the remote control keys:
---------------------------------

There is no default 'keys.conf' file, so if you compile the program
with 'REMOTE=RCU' you will have to go through a "teach-in"
session that allows the program to learn your remote control codes.
It will first attempt to determine the basic data transfer mode and
timing of your remote control unit, and then will ask you to press one
key after the other so that it can learn the various key codes. You will
at least need to provide an "Up" and a "Down" key, so that you can switch
channels. The rest of the key definitions is optional, but the more keys
you define, the more you will be able to navigate through the menus and
control recording/replaying. The program uses only a very small number
of keys which have multiple meanings in the various modes (see MANUAL
for a detailed description).
If the program has been built with "REMOTE=KBD", it will use the
key configuration file 'keys-pc.conf', so that you won't loose data
when switching between remote control and keyboard mode.

The default PC key assignments are:

  Up, Down, Left, Right     Crsr keys in numeric block
  Menu                      'Home' in numeric block
  Ok                        '5' in numeric block
  Back                      'End' in numeric block
  Red, Green, Yellow, Blue  'F1'..'F4'
  0..9                      '0'..'9' in top row

If you prefer different key assignments, or if the default doesn't work for
your keyboard, simply delete the file 'keys-pc.conf' and restart 'vdr' to get
into learning mode.

If the program has been compiled with 'REMOTE=LIRC', no 'keys.conf' file
will be used. Instead, the key names as listed in the source file 'config.c'
must be used when setting up LIRC. See http://www.lirc.org for more about LIRC.