TSReader Support

TSReader Support Information

Updated November 7, 2003

Support Information

This document is a FAQ. Please scan through it to see if there's an answer - if not, please send us email. We also suggest reading the README file - it contains lots of useful info, including command-line parameters used by TSReader.

Recording Issues

I recorded an entire transport stream because there were two programs I wanted to capture on at the same time. I now want to split out each of these two programs into individual files. How can I do this with TSReader?

This is called demultiplexing and that's what TSReader's Record Program function is for. It generates a single program transport stream by removing packets that aren't part of the current program and builds new tables to tell the decoder what PIDs the single program is using. Follow these steps to demux the file:

Make a very short recording of the mux - this should only be long enough to get the PAT/PMT tables decoded.
Open this file with TSReader and after TSReader has decoded it, you'll get a message saying "Reached the end of the transport stream file".
Now select the program you want to demux and click the Record Program button. Fill in the appropriate fields in the dialog.
After hitting OK, the status bar at the bottom of the TSReader window will saying "Recording to" and your filename.
Now locate the file you want to demux using the Windows Explorer and drop that file onto TSReader's window.

When the files have been demultiplexed and you're ready to do the second program simply click on it's PMT entry and drop the file onto TSReader again.

Playback Issues

How do I play a channel with XBox Media Player?

This assumes you've already got XBox Media Player operational and you know how to FTP into your XBox.

Find the config.xml file in the XBMP folder (normally F:\Apps\XBMP)
Edit it on your PC and locate the section <videos>
Add a section like the following:

<share>
<name>TSReader via XNS</name>
<url>c:\@10.10.10.15</url>
<cachesize>8192</cachesize>
</share>

Replace the 10.10.10.15 with the IP address of the PC that's running TSReader.
Transfer config.xml back to the XBox and (re)start XBMP.
Run TSReader and click on a PMT entry for one of the video channels in the mux - it doesn't matter which one.
Click on Playback/XNS Server.
On the XBox, go to My Videos in XBMP, select the entry you created in the config.xml file and you'll get a list of the video services in the mux - select one of these and press the A button to start playback. To change to another channel, press the X button a select a new stream from the list.

How to do I play a channel with XBox Media Center?

Same guidelines for XBox Media Player, but the XML is slightly different. You need to:

Edit the XboxMediaCenter.xml file
Find the section <video>
Add a section similar to:

<bookmark>
<name>TSReader via XNS</name>
<path>xns://10.10.10.15:1400/</path>
</bookmark>

Stream Issues

Please explain what continuity errors mean?

An MPEG-2 transport stream contains data in 188-byte packets. The first four byes of each packet are header and flags and then there's 184 bytes of payload data - video, audio, tables, IP data -- you name it.

In the header, there's a 13-bit field (range 0-8191 decimal) which is the Packet ID (PID) of the packet currently being sent. There is also a four bit field (range 0-15) called the continuity counter. This field increments for each packet sent on that PID. For example, one might see a sequence like:

PID 0 - continuity 0
PID 1 - continuity 0
PID 0 - continuity 1
PID 0 - continuity 2
...
PID 0 - continuity 15
PID 0 - continuity 0
PID 1 - continuity 1
PID 0 - continuity 2

This field is used by receivers (and programs like TSReader) to make sure that the transport stream data is continuous, i.e. it hasn't lost packets. If a receiver tracks the continuity it can determine if packets on a particular PID were lost -- for example if the satellite signal is interrupted. It handles cases except the case when exactly 16 packets (or multiples of 16 packets) were lost on a single PID which is unlikely.

So, given that they indicate packet loss, there are a few reasons why you might see continuity errors displayed in TSReader:

Data was lost from the satellite -- for example you have too low a signal to receive data from the mux reliably.
The interface card (Twinhan or Linear Systems) has a problem with it's DMA engine or the transport stream file is corrupt.
The packet's continuity field is being filled in incorrectly. For example, PID 0x0014 on Bell ExpressVu (a Canadian DBS service) has incorrect continuity.

The general rule is that if you see only one or two continuity errors per second you're probably OK but if the continuity counter increments quickly, there's something wrong.

MultiDec API

How do I make plug-in modules written for MultiDec (and a bunch of other programs like MyTheater and ProgDVB) work with TSReader?

Simply put the files into a folder called MDPlugins in the TSReader folder. The plug-in's menu should then show up in TSReader next time it's launched.

What MD-API commands are supported by TSReader?

Name Supported Function

MDAPI_GET_PROGRAMM_NUMMER Yes Returns current program number. User must select a program by clicking on a PMT entry in TSReader for this to return meaniful data.

MDAPI_GET_VERSION Yes Returns API version number. TSReader sends "MD-API Version 01.02 - 1.04"

MDAPI_SET_PROGRAMM_NUMMER

MDAPI_GET_TRANSPONDER

MDAPI_SET_TRANSPONDER

MDAPI_SET_PROGRAMM

MDAPI_GET_PROGRAMM

MDAPI_RESCAN_PROGRAMM

MDAPI_SAVE_PROGRAMM

MDAPI_SCAN_CURRENT_TP

MDAPI_SCAN_CURRENT_CAT

MDAPI_START_OSD

MDAPI_OSD_DRAWBLOCK

MDAPI_OSD_SETFONT

MDAPI_OSD_TEXT

MDAPI_SEND_OSD_KEY

MDAPI_STOP_OSD

MDAPI_START_FILTER Yes Allows a plug-in to receive transport stream packets from a specified PID. TSReader allows up to 256 filters active at any one time. Data is sent as 184 byte packets (i.e. no transport stream header) with 9 packets sent at a time.

MDAPI_STOP_FILTER Yes Stops data flow as a result of the MDAPI_START_FILTER.

MDAPI_DVB_COMMAND Partial TSReader only supports CA key messages to be passed to CSA.DLL. CSA.DLL implements the DVB Common Scrambling Algorithm and is not included with TSReader but can be easily located on the Internet.

Source Issues

I selected the wrong source - how can I change it?

Launch TSReader with the Ctrl key held down - you'll then be asked to choose a source again.

Name	Supported	Function
MDAPI_GET_PROGRAMM_NUMMER	Yes	Returns current program number. User must select a program by clicking on a PMT entry in TSReader for this to return meaniful data.
MDAPI_GET_VERSION	Yes	Returns API version number. TSReader sends "MD-API Version 01.02 - 1.04"
MDAPI_SET_PROGRAMM_NUMMER
MDAPI_GET_TRANSPONDER
MDAPI_SET_TRANSPONDER
MDAPI_SET_PROGRAMM
MDAPI_GET_PROGRAMM
MDAPI_RESCAN_PROGRAMM
MDAPI_SAVE_PROGRAMM
MDAPI_SCAN_CURRENT_TP
MDAPI_SCAN_CURRENT_CAT
MDAPI_START_OSD
MDAPI_OSD_DRAWBLOCK
MDAPI_OSD_SETFONT
MDAPI_OSD_TEXT
MDAPI_SEND_OSD_KEY
MDAPI_STOP_OSD
MDAPI_START_FILTER	Yes	Allows a plug-in to receive transport stream packets from a specified PID. TSReader allows up to 256 filters active at any one time. Data is sent as 184 byte packets (i.e. no transport stream header) with 9 packets sent at a time.
MDAPI_STOP_FILTER	Yes	Stops data flow as a result of the MDAPI_START_FILTER.
MDAPI_DVB_COMMAND	Partial	TSReader only supports CA key messages to be passed to CSA.DLL. CSA.DLL implements the DVB Common Scrambling Algorithm and is not included with TSReader but can be easily located on the Internet.