This AGK thing seems to be a real bargain - at this price (approx 50 USD) you normally only get DVB-T. The device even has an internal antenna-connector. Cool!

Whether or not the thing will work with your distro remains to be seen. But keep on pushin' Mostly for your own good, but in a wider sense your poking and prodding (forum posts, mailinglist posts, usenet activity etc) will draw attention to this device, elevating probability that someone - if not yourself - will add support for it.
My experience is that things sold in stores today get supported in Linux half a year from now. So be patient Everything's possible.

My personal agenda with this device is somewhat more daring; I'd like to add PVR functionality to my NAS. You know, most NAS'es come equipped with a USB-socket for attaching external disks etc., and they're on 24/7. Why not be a little creative, and use the thing for recording TV? As stated earlier, you may find reading this page interesting: http://forum.synology.com/enu/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=18644 - now with the added functionality (and limitations) of DVB-C. Recently, i've found and tested a webenabled PVR app, designed to fit just this purpose. TVHeadend (http://www.lonelycoder.com/hts/tvheadend_overview.html) fits the bill just perfectly! Tried it on my desktop-machine, and WOW, it rocks!

Return to topic...
Remember that these devices usually require you to upload some sort of of firmware to them, to make them work. Kernel support/recognition alone won't do the job, but luckily firmware upload is usually only a matter of locating the firmware (hard part) and popping it into the relevant directory on your disk (easy part), then plugging in the device while observing kernel messages.

Hi

Well, I went to Aldi and bought one of these :-) : http://aldi.dk/OFFER_DK_MI/OFFER_48/OFF07.SHTML , AGK 10508 DVB T/C USB tuner.

First thing to try was to see what /var/log/messages said:
Dec 1 09:33:51 xyz-desktop kernel: [25214.399750] usb 2-1.7: new high speed USB device using ehci_hcd and address 7
, which wasn't much (calling dmesg shows the same). So I tried with lsusb which gave the following:

Bus 002 Device 007: ID 1d19:8202 Dexatek Technology Ltd.
Device Descriptor:
bLength 18
bDescriptorType 1
bcdUSB 2.00
bDeviceClass 0 (Defined at Interface level)
bDeviceSubClass 0
bDeviceProtocol 0
bMaxPacketSize0 64
idVendor 0x1d19 Dexatek Technology Ltd.
idProduct 0x8202
bcdDevice 1.00
iManufacturer 1 Realtek
iProduct 2 RTL2841UHIDIR
iSerial 3 00000001
bNumConfigurations 1
Configuration Descriptor:
bLength 9
bDescriptorType 2
wTotalLength 34
bNumInterfaces 2
bConfigurationValue 1
iConfiguration 4 USB2.0-Bulk&Iso
bmAttributes 0x80
(Bus Powered)
MaxPower 500mA
Interface Descriptor:
bLength 9
bDescriptorType 4
bInterfaceNumber 0
bAlternateSetting 0
bNumEndpoints 1
bInterfaceClass 255 Vendor Specific Class
bInterfaceSubClass 255 Vendor Specific Subclass
bInterfaceProtocol 255 Vendor Specific Protocol
iInterface 5 Bulk-In, Interface
Endpoint Descriptor:
bLength 7
bDescriptorType 5
bEndpointAddress 0x81 EP 1 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 1
bAlternateSetting 0
bNumEndpoints 0
bInterfaceClass 255 Vendor Specific Class
bInterfaceSubClass 255 Vendor Specific Subclass
bInterfaceProtocol 255 Vendor Specific Protocol
iInterface 5 Bulk-In, Interface
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 2
Device Status: 0x0000
(Bus Powered)

and lsusb -t shows:
root@xyz-desktop:/home/xyz# lsusb -t
2-1.7:1.0: No such file or directory
2-1.7:1.1: No such file or directory
/: Bus 02.Port 1: Dev 1, Class=root_hub, Driver=ehci_hcd/3p, 480M
|__ Port 1: Dev 2, If 0, Class=hub, Driver=hub/8p, 480M
|__ Port 5: Dev 3, If 0, Class=HID, Driver=usbhid, 1.5M
|__ Port 5: Dev 3, If 1, Class=HID, Driver=usbhid, 1.5M
|__ Port 6: Dev 4, If 0, Class=HID, Driver=usbhid, 1.5M
|__ Port 7: Dev 7, If 0, Class=vend., Driver=, 480M
|__ Port 7: Dev 7, If 1, Class=vend., Driver=, 480M
|__ Port 8: Dev 5, If 0, Class=stor., Driver=usb-storage, 480M
/: Bus 01.Port 1: Dev 1, Class=root_hub, Driver=ehci_hcd/3p, 480M
|__ Port 1: Dev 2, If 0, Class=hub, Driver=hub/6p, 480M
|__ Port 6: Dev 3, If 0, Class=audio, Driver=snd-usb-audio, 12M
|__ Port 6: Dev 3, If 1, Class=audio, Driver=snd-usb-audio, 12M
|__ Port 6: Dev 3, If 2, Class=HID, Driver=usbhid, 12M

, where device 7 manifests it self twice.

As you can see there is a new device ID 1d19:8202 Dexatek Technology Ltd.
Dexatek has a web site and it seems they make other tv dongles.
However the Realtek IC seems to be new: RTL2841UHIDIR

When searching google for RTL2841 no clear result shows up. So I guess we are talking about some new chip from Realtek. So until now it is a brick on my pc.

I will try to see what I can manage to find out when I plug it into a windows pc.

I can see that some earlier dongle that Aldi has been selling also had some Dexatek usb id - here from linuxin.dk : http://www.linuxin.dk/node/15583
, here they try to get RTL2832U into work.

AFAIK the current state of Linux USB device recognition is reflected here: http://www.linux-usb.org/usb.ids

The file has been updated

# Version: 2010.11.16
# Date: 2010-11-16 20:34:02

and does not mention the id 1d19:8202 anywhere. Hence, AFAIK no official support.

Yes, you are right. There are only some earlier Dexatek IDs.

Now I have had some time to try the dongle in Windows. First I tried in virtual box (after I made a usb filter to let the dongle through) however windows/virtual box crashed every time it got to the point where it was searching for hardware devices.

So I tried a native windows pc. So far I've tested it with dvb-t and it works in windows.

Now the interesting part is that the driver mentions the 2832U a lot of times (when looking in the inf files provided on the driver cd - actually unpack the realtek exe file called [cd]/Driver/setup.exe with e.g. 7zip and you will get to the files) and never it mentions the 2841U. So one could hope that it is a matter of simply patching the existing attempt to bring linux support for 2832U: http://www.mail-archive.com/linux-me.../msg16452.html , because the inf files of the provided driver cd mentions the usb ID together with the other usb IDs for older DVB-T dongles.

Then the question is whether it needs some firmware to be loaded. Maybe some of you knows/could provide me with some hints how to detect whether that is the case and how to find the firmware e.g. in the provided windows drivers.

*Update* Requested USB ID to be added to https://usb-ids.gowdy.us/usb.ids - pending to be accepted: https://usb-ids.gowdy.us/read/UD/1d19 - see 8202 entry.

Well, this is mainly about getting the dvb-t/c driver to work inside my Windows guest running inside VirtualBox.

Instead of using the installer to 'detect' the hardware simply go to the control panel in windows and start the device manager and manually install the missing devices with the extracted files from [driver cd]/Driver/setup.exe

And then of course install the provided media player. My only problem is showing the video part in the media player, but neither my pc is truly hw accelerated and virtual box also suffers hw acceleration so well :-) but at least sound and EPG works, so to test stuff it is ok. First video didn't work so I had to max video mem in virtual box and make sure it 3d was enabled in virtual box and the video player. Then some video shows up but that is merely one picture each 3 or 5 seconds. But only with one channel I was able to see these 'pictures' with the other channels is was a dark screen. So maybe enabling 3d is not needed after all.
If I rebooted windows (inside virtual box) I also had to take out and reinsert the dongle else the media player in windows would not get any reception (or so it seemed.)

But...
My idea is that it is perhaps possible to make some clean room reverse engineering (like the FOSS nVidia driver nouveau) if it is ever going to be needed in case Realtek doesn't sort out its license situation as mentioned here: http://permalink.gmane.org/gmane.lin...tructure/25195

My idea is that perhaps it is possible to tap the usb connection between the linux kernel <-and-> virtual box/media player/realtek drivers in windows.

Well, perhaps the right place to start would be to ask in #linuxtv @ irc.freenode.net about what to do next! I guess they have a way better overview about what to do next.

Now it is getting a little more interesting :-)

What a little googling once in a while can do.

Today it started here: http://forum.wdlxtv.com/viewtopic.php?f=43&t=583
, which is interesting in it self.

But that took me further: http://www.turnovfree.net/~stybla/linux/v4l-dvb/

, which is indeed really interesting!!!

Here you will find some source files for RTL2840 support - particularly interesting: http://www.turnovfree.net/~stybla/li...+RC-Dongle.rar
, but the other files are interesting too. There is also another place that could be useful for someone: http://www.turnovfree.net/~stybla/linux/firmware/

Now, my dongle should contain a RTL2841U, but I hope it is somewhat similar to the RTL2840.
I hope to get some time to ask about this in the #linuxtv channel on irc.
I guess I'll be asking about what is the typically approach for patching the sources regarding the usb id table, clock frequencies, how to define/enable the different ICs in the dongle and generally to get some good tips.

Man it would be great if all these sources floating around was gathered somewhere. :-)

Hey. I also just bought one of the AGK tuners. I took the covers of to check the chips, and it turns out that the stick actually contains a RTL2840 and a RTL2832P. I will post some pics of the inside later

1 members found this post helpful.

That sounds great HenrikD. I will look forward to see the images.

Could I ask you to make a check with lsusb (as root) to check whether you have the exact same iProduct string regarding the "RTL2841UHIDIR" just to be sure what this string is about.

I cannot wait to see your images. Did you use something like a telephone card to slice the usb dongle open?

I uploaded the pics I took with my phone (which are not very good, but do show the rtl2840 chip) My brother still has some better quality pics on his phone.

The pictures can be found here

http://i1215.photobucket.com/albums/...204_160452.jpg

http://i1215.photobucket.com/albums/...204_160518.jpg

http://i1215.photobucket.com/albums/...204_160549.jpg

http://i1215.photobucket.com/albums/...204_160620.jpg

It seems the chips on the sticks are:

Realtek RTL2832P A6G72S1 GA25D

Realtek RTL2840 A5H24Q1 GA28

MAXIM MAX3543 CTL022 ISWHAG


The lsusb gives

Bus 001 Device 002: ID 1d19:8202 Dexatek Technology Ltd.
Device Descriptor:
bLength 18
bDescriptorType 1
bcdUSB 2.00
bDeviceClass 0 (Defined at Interface level)
bDeviceSubClass 0
bDeviceProtocol 0
bMaxPacketSize0 64
idVendor 0x1d19 Dexatek Technology Ltd.
idProduct 0x8202
bcdDevice 1.00
iManufacturer 1 Realtek
iProduct 2 RTL2841UHIDIR
iSerial 3 00000001
bNumConfigurations 1
Configuration Descriptor:
bLength 9
bDescriptorType 2
wTotalLength 34
bNumInterfaces 2
bConfigurationValue 1
iConfiguration 4 USB2.0-Bulk&Iso
bmAttributes 0x80
(Bus Powered)
MaxPower 500mA
Interface Descriptor:
bLength 9
bDescriptorType 4
bInterfaceNumber 0
bAlternateSetting 0
bNumEndpoints 1
bInterfaceClass 255 Vendor Specific Class
bInterfaceSubClass 255 Vendor Specific Subclass
bInterfaceProtocol 255 Vendor Specific Protocol
iInterface 5 Bulk-In, Interface
Endpoint Descriptor:
bLength 7
bDescriptorType 5
bEndpointAddress 0x81 EP 1 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 1
bAlternateSetting 0
bNumEndpoints 0
bInterfaceClass 255 Vendor Specific Class
bInterfaceSubClass 255 Vendor Specific Subclass
bInterfaceProtocol 255 Vendor Specific Protocol
iInterface 5 Bulk-In, Interface

As to taking it apart, I used a flat-headed screwdriver inset just below the usb-port for releasing the front clamps. Thereafter I used the screwdriver for loosening the middle tabs by inserting it between the two already separated plastic caps.

Best regards Henrik

Hi Henrik - thanks for the info and pics :-)

If your brother would kindly provide the other pictures it would be great.

Were You able to locate an oscillator/clock generator and its frequency based on the info printed on it?

I do not know if the guys making the drivers need that info of the clock frequency or they know some normally default values to the chips you've listed, but just to be sure.

There is a developer currently working on the 2832 chip that tries to structure the existing code and program on from that point.
So I guess when we are that many with this usb dongle it should be possible sooner or later that we get to the point where we have some working driver if we help.

Some attention has also be drawn in the linuxin.dk thread about this dongle: http://www.linuxin.dk/node/17651
So I guess we can also look forward to some willingly volunteers to try whatever code we or some others create.

:-)

Best wishes also from here!

Anders Lind