# Using vlc with a list of scanned TV channels



## balanga (Jun 25, 2021)

When running multimedia/w_scan2 there is an option to save a scanned channel list in a format suitable for multimedia/vlc. Has anyone got an example of how to run vlc with this scanned list?


----------



## astyle (Jun 26, 2021)

Wouldn't that be Media / Open Network Stream ? That scanned channel list is just a text file, you can copy-paste the channels from there.


----------



## T-Daemon (Jun 26, 2021)

balanga said:


> When running multimedia/w_scan2 there is an option to save a scanned channel list in a format suitable for multimedia/vlc.


Do you mean the XSPF format? Please be more precise so we know exactly what you are talking about and give you the best possible answer.



balanga said:


> Has anyone got an example of how to run vlc with this scanned list?


If you mean by 'run ... scanned list' loading a playlist:

https://wiki.videolan.org/Documentation:Playlist/#Load_Playlist
From a file manager right click on .xspf file, choose from menu 'Open With'
From command line: `vlc *.xspf`


----------



## balanga (Jun 26, 2021)

T-Daemon said:


> Do you mean the XSPF format? Please be more precise so we know exactly what you are talking about and give you the best possible answer.
> 
> 
> If you mean by 'run ... scanned list' loading the playlist: https://wiki.videolan.org/Documentation:Playlist/#Load_Playlist


I was follow this guide and right at the end this command is run `vlc vlc.xspf`

I found I needed to run cvlc - this is what I got:-



```
Script started on Fri Jun 25 21:29:42 2021
Command: cvlc channels.conf
VLC media player 3.0.14 Vetinari (revision 3.0.13-8-g41878ff4f2)
[^[[32;1m0000000800914ba0^[[0m] dummy interface: ^[[0;1musing the dummy interface module...^[[0m
[^[[32;1m0000000801076260^[[0m] main playlist: ^[[0;1mend of playlist, exiting^[[0m


Command exit status: 0
Script done on Fri Jun 25 21:29:42 2021
```


----------



## T-Daemon (Jun 26, 2021)

Haven't watched the video, when you said


balanga said:


> When running multimedia/w_scan2 there is an option to save a scanned channel list in a format suitable for multimedia/vlc.


I assumed you are referring to https://www.linuxtv.org/wiki/index.php/VLC_media_player#DVB_TV_with_VLC



> DVB TV with VLC
> 
> w_scan has an experimental option to create a vlc playlist which is probably the easiest method to view dvb streams with vlc. To create a playlist (-ft -terrestrial, -c DE Germany) and start viewing TV use
> 
> ...



From  w_scan2/src/scan.c

```
-L, --output-VLC\n"
               generate VLC xspf playlist (experimental)\n"
```


----------



## balanga (Jul 1, 2021)

T-Daemon said:


> Haven't watched the video, when you said
> 
> I assumed you are referring to https://www.linuxtv.org/wiki/index.php/VLC_media_player#DVB_TV_with_VLC
> 
> ...


Here is what i ran


`w_scan2 -f s -c GB -s S13E0 -L > channels.xspf`

I edited out the following because there were over 1000 entries and created a channel list with just one entry:-

```
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<playlist xmlns="http://xspf.org/ns/0/" xmlns:vlc="http://www.videolan.org/vlc/playlist/ns/0/" version="1">
        <title>DVB Playlist</title>
        <creator>w_scan2-1.0.12</creator>
        <info>https://github.com/stefantalpalaru/w_scan2</info>
        <trackList>
                <track>
                        <title>0701. France 24 HD (in English)</title>
                        <location>dvb-s2://frequency=11566000</location>
                        <extension application="http://www.videolan.org/vlc/playlist/0">
                                <vlc:option>dvb-polarization=H</vlc:option>
                                <vlc:option>dvb-srate=29900000</vlc:option>
                                <vlc:option>dvb-ts-id=15300</vlc:option>
                                <vlc:option>dvb-modulation=8PSK</vlc:option>
                                <vlc:option>dvb-rolloff=35</vlc:option>
                                <vlc:option>dvb-fec=3/4</vlc:option>
                                <vlc:option>dvb-lnb-low=9750000</vlc:option>
                                <vlc:option>dvb-lnb-high=10600000</vlc:option>
                                <vlc:option>dvb-lnb-switch=11700000</vlc:option>
                                <vlc:id>702</vlc:id>
                                <vlc:option>program=808</vlc:option>
                        </extension>
                </track>
        </trackList>
</playlist>
```

Vlc comes up with these errors:-



> Digital broadcasting:
> The selected digital tuner does not support the specified parameters.
> Please check the preferences.
> Your input can't be opened:
> VLC is unable to open the MRL 'dvb-s2://frequency=11566000'. Check the log for details.



In vlc, I've tried:

Media -> Open Capture Device -> Capture Mode -> TV - digital -> Device Selection -> /dev/dvb/adapter0
-> Delivery System -> DVB-S2

Don't know if anything else needs to be set from the options, as I though any other required options would be derived from the provided channel list.


----------



## T-Daemon (Jul 1, 2021)

> The selected digital tuner does not support the specified parameters.


Have you tried other "Delivery Sytem" ?



> Check the log for details.


Have you checked the log? In case the logger is not specified:  `Preferences -> All -> Advanced -> Logger -> checkbox "Log to file" , "Log filename" , "Verbosity Debug"`.

Make sure the directory the log file is creates in has user `rwx` permissions. Restart multimedia/vlc to take effect.


----------

