Television on Linux with TV-Tuner? How can I find a way to use it?
Solution 1:
If the upstream Linux master your kernel was built from supports your TV tuner, the driver is already installed. If there is no support in your Linux kernel, but out-of-master support elsewhere, I'd advise you not to bother trying until it gets committed to master. There is a reason it is not in master yet.
Digital TV
If you are in Europe, you need to use software supporting the DVB standard.
DVB apps (in order of decreasing user friendliness):
- Kaffeine
- Totem
- Me-TV
- Mythtv
- Mplayer
If you are in North America, you need to use software supporting the ATSC standard.
Analogue TV
Use tvtime or a similar program.
Identifying a PCI card or USB dongle
A lot of products share the same chips for receiving i.e. DVB content. If your chip is supported in Linux, usually any card with that chip will work. Your marketing product identification information is often of no use.
To find out more information about the chip in your computer and what level of support it has, use lspci if it is a PCI card, use lsusb if it is a USB dongle.
Usually if you Google the PCI ID with the word "Linux" you'll get relevant results.
I.e. if you have a device with the PCI ID 15a4:9016, Google it, and you will find the relevant chip name and information.
See also
- Which application do you recommend for watching TV (DVB)?
- What software is available to use TV tuner card?
- What app do i need to watch tv on ubuntu?