Ubuntu And Pinnacle PCTV HD

Getting a TV tuner card to work properly in Ubuntu can sometimes be tricky, if not just downright impossible. If you are the proud owner of the Pinnacle PCTV HD tuner card then you are fortunate enough to be able to install this card very easily.

In order to install this card you are going to need the proper firmware and drivers. By entering the following commands in a terminal window, you can have your tuner card functioning in a matter of minutes!

First, get the firmware from here. Be sure to download the HVR file and the 'extract.sh' file. Then from the command line, navigate to where you downloaded these files and enter:

chmod a+x extract.sh

/.extract.sh

This will extract the firmware and give you notice of a file that you will need to copy to your firmware directory. Copy the file using the 'sudo' preface as you will need administrative privileges to copy any file to that kind of directory.

Next, download the v4l drivers from here. Choose the '.gz' file from the nav menu. After downloading, navigate your way to it's destination and unpack it:

tar xvzf filename.tar.gz

cd newfile

make

Now you're just about done. What you will need to do is tell your computer not to load certain conflicting modules. Do this by entering:

sudo rm -rf /lib/modules/`uname -r`/ubuntu/media/cx88

sudo rm -rf /lib/modules/`uname -r`/ubuntu/media/saa7134

sudo depmod -a

Now all that's remaining is to install the v4l drivers. Do that by entering one last command:

sudo make install

By rebooting your computer, the correct drivers should install themselves and you are ready to watch tv on your computer using your favorite tv viewing program.