I
ilya
INSTALLATION GUIDE for MULTIDEC 8.2
(A01) INTRO
presuming you have read this topic from its beginning, i may first of all excuse myself for not having regarded the nature of the files stated in my first multidec guide: these files are part of the happysat upload centres, thus their availability and their "lifetime" cannot reach a high reliability status. so i may say sorry to those newbies who read the previous guide with enthusiasm (or not) and then couldn't find the appropriate files to work with. rather quite frustrating.
but there was yet another reason for me to update this guide. what now follows may be irritating to the absolute newbie, so you may skip this section and read on below: for some weeks now i tried out some combinations of multidec with soft-ci or mdyankse versions respectively. i did this because i faced quite an interesting phenomenon which cause i do not entirely understand:
when watching premiere direkt, a german per-per-view channel, there were always freezing pictures and/or drop-outs in sometimes regular, sometimes rather irregular patterns. it's just an assumption from a fool of a technician like me but maybe premiere sends ecm signals in quite an aggressive manner... or these freezes are caused by weather effects,
i don't know. but what i did find out is that certain combinations of multidec versions and soft-ci / mdyankse versions do perform much more stable than others on my pc.
it's quite possible you will ever wonder what this guy (yes, me is talking about because on your pc everything runs fine, yeah... but you have to understand my position: i can't judge your pc, your software configuration, your satellite equipment and so on... i can only rely on my personal equipment and my personal experiences and i never claimed this guide to work for every machine and every software combination
i just try to explain in a hopefully easy beginner's and newbie manner how i managed to get things run and what obstacles you may encounter as an absolute newbie. so my price for the most stable and reliable decoding software combination goes to: multidec 8.2 original espresso version + mdyankse version 0.98.5-TT.
There are newer or modified versions available (e.g. multidec 8.22 by ritex; mdyankse version 0.98.9-TT) but these do not perform as well as the combination stated above in my opinion. my appreciated no.
1 combination of multidec 8.2 original espresso version + mdyankse version 0.98.5-TT produces about 3 freezes per hour when watching premiere direkt, while all other combinations produce 6 and more freezes per hour.
i presume you already read the previous multidec guide: please do not be irritated once you start reading this updated guide, because you will read things twice now, if you know what i meaninstallation guides cannot be updated like software in my opinion, as the absolute newbie would be too much irritated if he or she read lines like: "... and instead of downloading this... download that now... now don't do this but do this instead ...".
so this installation guide will stand on its own feet, it's a complete and no partial update guide, like all my guides will be. that's why i call these updated guides "revisions" and not "updates"
(02.) my hardware
well, i lose some words on my personal hardware now, just to illustrate you that the software described in this guide may indeed run on nearly any windows pc platform (i know there are solutions for linux, etc. but i do not have any experiences with other platforms than windows; and to give you hope, if this guide fails, try other ways, do not give up
so here's my machine, all my pride
- intel pentium I 133 mhz (don't you dare any comments, LOL)
- 32 mb edo-ram (anyone who still knows what the edo stands for, mail me)
- 1 gb seagate harddisk
- one hell of a bios, only 20 options or so, no individual irq settings
- 2 mb ice age ati mach 64 graphics "accelerator" LOL (just accelerates my pulse, i assume)
- 14-inch display @ 640x480 and 16 bit @ 60 hz (yep, they are still alive)
see, chances are quite great that the method described below will work on your pc as well. but remember: i try very hard to let you skip around the obstacles, maybe some, maybe all, maybe none of them... it really depends on the individual system, all the problems that you may face or may have faced and that are somewhere mentioned in this great forum are absolutely "case sensitive". the more you read and learn, the better your chances are to succeed. somehow a rule that always matches .
(B01) HARDWARE and SOFTWARE REQUIREMENTS
(01.) hardware
you need a pc capable of running microsoft windows (at least windows 95) with one free pci slot. you need a so-called dvb-s pci card. these are pci cards which can be connected to a universal lnb (lnb = low noise block converter) via coax cable and which are capable of receiving and processing dvb signals. note that only and really ONLY CERTAIN dvb-s pci cards are capable of working together with decoding software. so when you go out buying such a dvb-s card make absolutely sure you buy one of the models listed on the following website:
"http://members.home.nl/happysat/DVB-SAT-Tech.htm"
for the interested ones: these dvb-s pci cards feature a hardware mpeg-2 decoding chip while low-budget dvb-s pci cards do not have such a chip. i personally use a hauppauge wintv nexus-s.
there are also so-called dvb-c pci cards available for cable tv connection, but as i do not have cable at home this guide will only refer to dvb-s pci cards. dvb-c pci cards may have different hardware and software requirements and may require a different installation and setup approach which i do not know.
then you obviously need a satellite dish and a universal lnb-converter capable of receiving digital broadcast signals. and a coax cable to connect your dvb-s pci card to the lnb, of course. look for a how-to for installation and alignment of your satellite equipment somewhere else in the web, if you do not know how to do that. but what you need to know before proceeding is which satellite you aligned your satellite dish/lnb to.
(02.) software
you need microsoft windows (at least windows 95) installed on your pc. there are solutions for linux, i know, but i do not have any experiences with linux...
i personally run windows 98 second edition.
you need the latest directx version for your windows version (e.g. directx 8.1 runtime for windows 9x) completely and successfully installed.
you need the driver cd of your dvb-s pci card and your windows operating system cd.
and you need the decoding software stated below in the installation guide.
(C01) INSTALLATION GUIDE
(01.) installation of your dvb-s pci card
open your pc and insert your dvb-s pci card into a free pci slot. i do not think you have to care which pci slot to use as irq is not really that crucial. though one ought to check for irq resource conflicts after installation, but that's something you should generally do.
once you boot your pc, windows will ask you for drivers. insert the driver cd of your dvb-s pci card and adjust to the correct path.
again i do not think driver version is that important, try the drivers on the driver cd first. if nothing works at the end of this guide download and try the latest drivers.
during driver installation windows may ask you to insert the windows operating system cd. then do so.
after boot-up go to the system configuration menu and choose the icon "network": make sure your dvb-s pci card is installed ONCE as a "virtual network adapter". if it appears more often than one time then delete all "virtual network adapters" except the last one (begin at the top).
then make sure this "virtual network adapter" is connected and ONLY connected to the "tcp/ip"-protocol. delete or uncheck any other protocol bindings.
then configure the "tcp/ip"-protocol for the virtual network adapter in the same menu: make sure only "client for microsoft networks" is checked, anything else unchecked.
then leave the "network"-menu and reboot your pc if necessary. after reboot go back to the system configuration menu and choose the icon "system".
there check for irq resource conflicts under "devices" (conflicts are usually displayed by an exclamation mark): there should be no conflicts before and after installation of your dvb-s pci card. if the dvb-s pci card causes a conflict, try another pci slot or a different pci slot combination. get rid of the conflict before continuing.
(02.) latest directx version installed
make sure you have the latest directx version installed that is available for your windows version. for check and/or download visit the microsoft homepage:
"http://www.microsoft.com"
take care of the language version if you need to download and install directx: only use the language version of directx equal to the one of your windows operating system.
(03.) download multidec
a short note on decoding pay-tv before we continue: decoding pay-tv is already a second step, if i may call it that way. the first step is to get a program that simulates all the functions of a "real" tv: namely to display the tv picture on your display, to present you a channel list for channel switching, and so on... like a software tv on your pc
. multidec is such a program. there is nothing illegal about multidec at all, as long as you use it like any other free or commercial software solution for watching (digital) tv on your pc. but multidec is capable of something really - yes you guessed it - ingenious:
it can handle certain plug-ins. and these plug-ins can decode pay-tv: they come along as .dll-files and you may have heard of the most known one before: soft-ci.dll. what's so "soft" about soft-ci and its colleagues, you ask? well, they simulate a complete ci-module/ca-module/smartcard package in software. just type these expressions into a search engine like
"http://www.google.com"
if you like to know more about dvb encryption in general.
now there are also other programs available which are capable of handling these plug-ins as well, like watchtvpro and progdvb. they do have their advantages over multidec in certain respects, but their setup is in my opinion more difficult for a newbie and they let you face more obstacles than you may wish at the beginning of your decoding career. so multidec is the first choice for absolute newbies, though it does have obstacles as well, but these are minor ones compared to other programs.
multidec is available in many versions and in all kinds of so-called "complete packages". it is up to you which version or package to use, this guide shall only give you a hint at a possibly working solution.
i have learned to dislike these complete packages, for example. download a pure multidec version without any plug-ins included. download original espresso (who is the author of multidec) versions, not modified ones. download the version 8.2. there is no multidec 9.0 out yet (dated 2002-jul-06),
so be careful with such fake files. multidec 9.0 will be presented first on
"http://www.freetv.de.am/"
so check this website first before downloading multidec 9.0 elsewhere.
giving you a direct download link here maybe somehow critical what concerns availability, so my advice is to visit happysat's website about decoding software under:
"http://members.home.nl/happysat/DVB-SAT-TV.htm"
and look for "Multidec 8.2 Many bug fixes ect (German version)". do not download "md 8.22" (by ritex), or any modified version, or earlier versions like "md 8.1b" or "md 8.0".
if this is too complicated for you, here's a direct download link anyway (the same one i used for downloading my multidec copy):
"http://freetv.321host-it.com/digi/md80/MultiDec82.zip"
but i don't know how reliable this link is. i only tested the german version, so i can't say anything about versions in a different language.
(04.) download plug-in
as stated above, you need a plug-in to decode pay-tv channels. there are many plug-ins available, which decrypt the same encryption standard or different ones.
multidec is capable of handling multiple plug-ins at the same time, but i do not know anything about stability, etc. if you use more than one plug-in at a time. if you are a real newbie, my advice is to use only one plug-in at a time, and this is also the only way tested by me.
mdyankse.dll is a plug-in with the same capabilities (or better ones, i don't know) as soft-ci.dll and works real fine in combination with multidec 8.2, better than soft-ci.dll in my opinion.
giving you a direct download link here maybe somehow critical what concerns availability, so my advice is to visit happysat's website about decoding software under:
"http://members.home.nl/happysat/DVB-SAT-TV.htm"
and look for " MD-Yankse-0.98.5". do not download earlier versions or later ones, try this version (0.98.5) first.
if this is too complicated for you, here's a direct download link anyway (the same one i used for downloading my mdyankse.dll copy):
"http://members.home.nl/cosmos/MDYankse-0-98.5-TT.zip"
but i don't know how reliable this link is.
(05.) download key file
the key file contains the decryption keys the plug-in dll needs for decrypting paytv channels. it is not always recommendable to use the latest key files, as they are sometimes incomplete (which means they lack keys for certain channels). so once you found a key file which decrypts your desired channels make a backup of this key file before trying newer ones.
key files are usually published as a file called "softcam.key".
for the latest key file (which not necessarily contains the keys for your desired channel; this one works fine for astra 19degree east)
go to
"http://www.crov.addr.com/upload/index.php?showfilesfordate=All"
look under
"July 4, 2002"
and download
"SoftCam4.7.2001.zip"
-----
(06.) download channel lists
you need so-called "channel lists" which are files that contain all the specific data like frequency, etc. for a certain amount of channels. these files usually have the ending ".dvb" and can be imported into the decoding program "multidec".
below there are some websites which have channel lists for download. please don't be confused if some of that websites are in german or have channel lists for astra 19degree east only. i live in germany .
try to find channel lists for your desired satellite, it should not be too difficult.
visit
"http://www.zwez.com/sat/"
"http://www.dxandy.de/"
if this is too complicated for you, here's a direct download link anyway (the same one i used for downloading my channel list copies for astra 19degree east):
"http://www.zwez.com/sat/Settings/new/Quark82_4-July_StabHH100.zip"
"http://www.sattechnik.de/dxandy/dxandy-dvbset.zip"
but i don't know how reliable this link is. and again please note: these are channel lists for astra 19degree east only!!!
-----
(07.) decompress multidec
decompress the file "MultiDec82.zip" that you downloaded in step (03.) into a directory, for example "dvb". now this should mean that the file "multidec.exe" which you get after decompressing is in the ROOT folder "dvb". so when we talk about the "dvb"-directory we talk about the root directory you decompressed your .zip-file to.
(08.) decompress plug-in
decompress the file "MDYankse-0-98.5-TT.zip" that you downloaded in step (04.) into a different directory, for example "plugin".
then copy following files from your "plugin"-directory to your multidec root directory (which in this example is "dvb"):
index80.exe
index82.exe
MDYankse.dll
yankse.ini
yankse.prv
if you ask why so complicated and why not just copy all files to the "dvb"-directory: this is just derived from my experiences and my search for the most stable combination of files.
(09.) decompress key file
decompress the file "SoftCam4.7.2001.zip" that you downloaded in step (05.) into a different directory. you will then find a file called "softcam.key". copy this file into your multidec root directory (which in this example is "dvb").
(10.) decompress channel lists
decompress the channel lists that you downloaded in step (06.) if necessary (sometimes you directly download the uncompressed = original ".dvb"-channel list file). remember the directory you decompressed them to, i will call this directory "channellist" from now on.
(11.) connect dvb-s pci card to lnb
connect your dvb-s pci card to your lnb via coax cable
-----
(12.) autostart "MultiDec.exe" via shortcut
i was not able to start the program "multidec" after the steps above. i always got a memory error.
so before you read on just double-click on "MultiDec.exe" in the "dvb"-directory and watch how "multidec" behaves. you may get a first error message telling you something about "shared irq" (if your dvb-s pci card has to share irq with another resource), but this is nothing to care about.
just click on ok.
remember: you only get this irq error message if your dvb-s card has to share irq. but this error does not hinder "multidec" from working at all!!! the next error - which i always faced - is more severe: it tells you something about "dvb memory linear - nicht verfuegbar" and afterwards "multidec" shuts down automatically.
if you do not get this error and multidec starts up "normally" (which means like any other windows program) until you can see a black screen and the drop down menu bar, then you are lucky and don't have to continue reading this section.
for all the others here is a workaround:
create a shortcut to "MultiDec.exe" in the "dvb"-directory in your "autostart"-menu, thus forcing "multidec" to start up automatically right after windows finishes booting up. i know, it may be disturbing to have "multidec" always starting up once you turn on your pc or to have to create/remove the shortcut in the autostart menu and reboot every time you wanna watch pay tv.
but it was the only way to get "multidec" to work for me.
once you created the shortcut reboot your pc and see "multidec" starting up!
-----
(13.) using "multidec" to watch pay tv
don't get afraid if you only see a black screen after "multidec" has finished starting up. don't care about the crossed satellite dish, that you may see in the right upper corner of that black screen. good channel lists are the only essential thing to get the pay tv channels displayed correctly at this moment!
go to the menu bar and click on the drop down menu called "Kanaele". then choose the item "Digitale Kanaele importieren". a dialogue box opens: in this box you will find a button with "..." on it.
click this button and choose the path to your "channellist"-directory to which you decompressed your channel lists. choose a channel list and click on OK. the channel list will be imported.
now go back to the menu bar and again choose the drop down menu called "Kanaele". now choose the item "Kanalliste" and a new window opens showing you all the channels with their names that are included in the channel list you imported before. so you see: the more channels you wanna watch, the better your channel list has to be
click ONCE on the channel you want to watch - NO doubleclick - wait, until the picture stabilizes, and then close the channel list window via OK at the bottom.
and enjoy!
(14.) annotations
multidec runs most stable if you don't change any of multidec's settings that are preset after fresh decompression. only change/configure absolutely necessary things like what kind of channels should be displayed in the channel list (for example i turned off all analog and radio channels) for better survey, epg-time adaptation for correct epg-time display, epg for active channel only. don't mess around too much, you may encounter instability...
once you shut down "multidec" and go on working as usual with your pc you may not be able to start "multidec" again without a reboot if you face the memory problem stated above. if you face this problem you will have to reboot your pc and make sure there's a shortcut in your autostart menu so that "multidec" starts automatically right after windows booted. but again: not everyone - maybe even only a few - faces this memory problem.
all i wanna say now is: THANKS espresso for all, i can't wait for md 9.0!!!
i would like to thank the newbies who read this article for their attention and to those who weren't successful with my guide and think it is stupid and frustrating I would like to say: post your ideas, experiences, criticism and proposals so that i can learn from that. because learning is the only way to keep all this alive, to grow a next generation of "espressos"
and remember: never give up, if this way/method fails, always remember: there are thousand other ways to do it!
Mijn dank aan Tuffig
ILYA
.
(A01) INTRO
presuming you have read this topic from its beginning, i may first of all excuse myself for not having regarded the nature of the files stated in my first multidec guide: these files are part of the happysat upload centres, thus their availability and their "lifetime" cannot reach a high reliability status. so i may say sorry to those newbies who read the previous guide with enthusiasm (or not) and then couldn't find the appropriate files to work with. rather quite frustrating.
but there was yet another reason for me to update this guide. what now follows may be irritating to the absolute newbie, so you may skip this section and read on below: for some weeks now i tried out some combinations of multidec with soft-ci or mdyankse versions respectively. i did this because i faced quite an interesting phenomenon which cause i do not entirely understand:
when watching premiere direkt, a german per-per-view channel, there were always freezing pictures and/or drop-outs in sometimes regular, sometimes rather irregular patterns. it's just an assumption from a fool of a technician like me but maybe premiere sends ecm signals in quite an aggressive manner... or these freezes are caused by weather effects,
i don't know. but what i did find out is that certain combinations of multidec versions and soft-ci / mdyankse versions do perform much more stable than others on my pc.
it's quite possible you will ever wonder what this guy (yes, me is talking about because on your pc everything runs fine, yeah... but you have to understand my position: i can't judge your pc, your software configuration, your satellite equipment and so on... i can only rely on my personal equipment and my personal experiences and i never claimed this guide to work for every machine and every software combination
i just try to explain in a hopefully easy beginner's and newbie manner how i managed to get things run and what obstacles you may encounter as an absolute newbie. so my price for the most stable and reliable decoding software combination goes to: multidec 8.2 original espresso version + mdyankse version 0.98.5-TT.
There are newer or modified versions available (e.g. multidec 8.22 by ritex; mdyankse version 0.98.9-TT) but these do not perform as well as the combination stated above in my opinion. my appreciated no.
1 combination of multidec 8.2 original espresso version + mdyankse version 0.98.5-TT produces about 3 freezes per hour when watching premiere direkt, while all other combinations produce 6 and more freezes per hour.
i presume you already read the previous multidec guide: please do not be irritated once you start reading this updated guide, because you will read things twice now, if you know what i meaninstallation guides cannot be updated like software in my opinion, as the absolute newbie would be too much irritated if he or she read lines like: "... and instead of downloading this... download that now... now don't do this but do this instead ...".
so this installation guide will stand on its own feet, it's a complete and no partial update guide, like all my guides will be. that's why i call these updated guides "revisions" and not "updates"
(02.) my hardware
well, i lose some words on my personal hardware now, just to illustrate you that the software described in this guide may indeed run on nearly any windows pc platform (i know there are solutions for linux, etc. but i do not have any experiences with other platforms than windows; and to give you hope, if this guide fails, try other ways, do not give up
so here's my machine, all my pride
- intel pentium I 133 mhz (don't you dare any comments, LOL)
- 32 mb edo-ram (anyone who still knows what the edo stands for, mail me)
- 1 gb seagate harddisk
- one hell of a bios, only 20 options or so, no individual irq settings
- 2 mb ice age ati mach 64 graphics "accelerator" LOL (just accelerates my pulse, i assume)
- 14-inch display @ 640x480 and 16 bit @ 60 hz (yep, they are still alive)
see, chances are quite great that the method described below will work on your pc as well. but remember: i try very hard to let you skip around the obstacles, maybe some, maybe all, maybe none of them... it really depends on the individual system, all the problems that you may face or may have faced and that are somewhere mentioned in this great forum are absolutely "case sensitive". the more you read and learn, the better your chances are to succeed. somehow a rule that always matches .
(B01) HARDWARE and SOFTWARE REQUIREMENTS
(01.) hardware
you need a pc capable of running microsoft windows (at least windows 95) with one free pci slot. you need a so-called dvb-s pci card. these are pci cards which can be connected to a universal lnb (lnb = low noise block converter) via coax cable and which are capable of receiving and processing dvb signals. note that only and really ONLY CERTAIN dvb-s pci cards are capable of working together with decoding software. so when you go out buying such a dvb-s card make absolutely sure you buy one of the models listed on the following website:
"http://members.home.nl/happysat/DVB-SAT-Tech.htm"
for the interested ones: these dvb-s pci cards feature a hardware mpeg-2 decoding chip while low-budget dvb-s pci cards do not have such a chip. i personally use a hauppauge wintv nexus-s.
there are also so-called dvb-c pci cards available for cable tv connection, but as i do not have cable at home this guide will only refer to dvb-s pci cards. dvb-c pci cards may have different hardware and software requirements and may require a different installation and setup approach which i do not know.
then you obviously need a satellite dish and a universal lnb-converter capable of receiving digital broadcast signals. and a coax cable to connect your dvb-s pci card to the lnb, of course. look for a how-to for installation and alignment of your satellite equipment somewhere else in the web, if you do not know how to do that. but what you need to know before proceeding is which satellite you aligned your satellite dish/lnb to.
(02.) software
you need microsoft windows (at least windows 95) installed on your pc. there are solutions for linux, i know, but i do not have any experiences with linux...
i personally run windows 98 second edition.
you need the latest directx version for your windows version (e.g. directx 8.1 runtime for windows 9x) completely and successfully installed.
you need the driver cd of your dvb-s pci card and your windows operating system cd.
and you need the decoding software stated below in the installation guide.
(C01) INSTALLATION GUIDE
(01.) installation of your dvb-s pci card
open your pc and insert your dvb-s pci card into a free pci slot. i do not think you have to care which pci slot to use as irq is not really that crucial. though one ought to check for irq resource conflicts after installation, but that's something you should generally do.
once you boot your pc, windows will ask you for drivers. insert the driver cd of your dvb-s pci card and adjust to the correct path.
again i do not think driver version is that important, try the drivers on the driver cd first. if nothing works at the end of this guide download and try the latest drivers.
during driver installation windows may ask you to insert the windows operating system cd. then do so.
after boot-up go to the system configuration menu and choose the icon "network": make sure your dvb-s pci card is installed ONCE as a "virtual network adapter". if it appears more often than one time then delete all "virtual network adapters" except the last one (begin at the top).
then make sure this "virtual network adapter" is connected and ONLY connected to the "tcp/ip"-protocol. delete or uncheck any other protocol bindings.
then configure the "tcp/ip"-protocol for the virtual network adapter in the same menu: make sure only "client for microsoft networks" is checked, anything else unchecked.
then leave the "network"-menu and reboot your pc if necessary. after reboot go back to the system configuration menu and choose the icon "system".
there check for irq resource conflicts under "devices" (conflicts are usually displayed by an exclamation mark): there should be no conflicts before and after installation of your dvb-s pci card. if the dvb-s pci card causes a conflict, try another pci slot or a different pci slot combination. get rid of the conflict before continuing.
(02.) latest directx version installed
make sure you have the latest directx version installed that is available for your windows version. for check and/or download visit the microsoft homepage:
"http://www.microsoft.com"
take care of the language version if you need to download and install directx: only use the language version of directx equal to the one of your windows operating system.
(03.) download multidec
a short note on decoding pay-tv before we continue: decoding pay-tv is already a second step, if i may call it that way. the first step is to get a program that simulates all the functions of a "real" tv: namely to display the tv picture on your display, to present you a channel list for channel switching, and so on... like a software tv on your pc
. multidec is such a program. there is nothing illegal about multidec at all, as long as you use it like any other free or commercial software solution for watching (digital) tv on your pc. but multidec is capable of something really - yes you guessed it - ingenious:
it can handle certain plug-ins. and these plug-ins can decode pay-tv: they come along as .dll-files and you may have heard of the most known one before: soft-ci.dll. what's so "soft" about soft-ci and its colleagues, you ask? well, they simulate a complete ci-module/ca-module/smartcard package in software. just type these expressions into a search engine like
"http://www.google.com"
if you like to know more about dvb encryption in general.
now there are also other programs available which are capable of handling these plug-ins as well, like watchtvpro and progdvb. they do have their advantages over multidec in certain respects, but their setup is in my opinion more difficult for a newbie and they let you face more obstacles than you may wish at the beginning of your decoding career. so multidec is the first choice for absolute newbies, though it does have obstacles as well, but these are minor ones compared to other programs.
multidec is available in many versions and in all kinds of so-called "complete packages". it is up to you which version or package to use, this guide shall only give you a hint at a possibly working solution.
i have learned to dislike these complete packages, for example. download a pure multidec version without any plug-ins included. download original espresso (who is the author of multidec) versions, not modified ones. download the version 8.2. there is no multidec 9.0 out yet (dated 2002-jul-06),
so be careful with such fake files. multidec 9.0 will be presented first on
"http://www.freetv.de.am/"
so check this website first before downloading multidec 9.0 elsewhere.
giving you a direct download link here maybe somehow critical what concerns availability, so my advice is to visit happysat's website about decoding software under:
"http://members.home.nl/happysat/DVB-SAT-TV.htm"
and look for "Multidec 8.2 Many bug fixes ect (German version)". do not download "md 8.22" (by ritex), or any modified version, or earlier versions like "md 8.1b" or "md 8.0".
if this is too complicated for you, here's a direct download link anyway (the same one i used for downloading my multidec copy):
"http://freetv.321host-it.com/digi/md80/MultiDec82.zip"
but i don't know how reliable this link is. i only tested the german version, so i can't say anything about versions in a different language.
(04.) download plug-in
as stated above, you need a plug-in to decode pay-tv channels. there are many plug-ins available, which decrypt the same encryption standard or different ones.
multidec is capable of handling multiple plug-ins at the same time, but i do not know anything about stability, etc. if you use more than one plug-in at a time. if you are a real newbie, my advice is to use only one plug-in at a time, and this is also the only way tested by me.
mdyankse.dll is a plug-in with the same capabilities (or better ones, i don't know) as soft-ci.dll and works real fine in combination with multidec 8.2, better than soft-ci.dll in my opinion.
giving you a direct download link here maybe somehow critical what concerns availability, so my advice is to visit happysat's website about decoding software under:
"http://members.home.nl/happysat/DVB-SAT-TV.htm"
and look for " MD-Yankse-0.98.5". do not download earlier versions or later ones, try this version (0.98.5) first.
if this is too complicated for you, here's a direct download link anyway (the same one i used for downloading my mdyankse.dll copy):
"http://members.home.nl/cosmos/MDYankse-0-98.5-TT.zip"
but i don't know how reliable this link is.
(05.) download key file
the key file contains the decryption keys the plug-in dll needs for decrypting paytv channels. it is not always recommendable to use the latest key files, as they are sometimes incomplete (which means they lack keys for certain channels). so once you found a key file which decrypts your desired channels make a backup of this key file before trying newer ones.
key files are usually published as a file called "softcam.key".
for the latest key file (which not necessarily contains the keys for your desired channel; this one works fine for astra 19degree east)
go to
"http://www.crov.addr.com/upload/index.php?showfilesfordate=All"
look under
"July 4, 2002"
and download
"SoftCam4.7.2001.zip"
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(06.) download channel lists
you need so-called "channel lists" which are files that contain all the specific data like frequency, etc. for a certain amount of channels. these files usually have the ending ".dvb" and can be imported into the decoding program "multidec".
below there are some websites which have channel lists for download. please don't be confused if some of that websites are in german or have channel lists for astra 19degree east only. i live in germany .
try to find channel lists for your desired satellite, it should not be too difficult.
visit
"http://www.zwez.com/sat/"
"http://www.dxandy.de/"
if this is too complicated for you, here's a direct download link anyway (the same one i used for downloading my channel list copies for astra 19degree east):
"http://www.zwez.com/sat/Settings/new/Quark82_4-July_StabHH100.zip"
"http://www.sattechnik.de/dxandy/dxandy-dvbset.zip"
but i don't know how reliable this link is. and again please note: these are channel lists for astra 19degree east only!!!
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(07.) decompress multidec
decompress the file "MultiDec82.zip" that you downloaded in step (03.) into a directory, for example "dvb". now this should mean that the file "multidec.exe" which you get after decompressing is in the ROOT folder "dvb". so when we talk about the "dvb"-directory we talk about the root directory you decompressed your .zip-file to.
(08.) decompress plug-in
decompress the file "MDYankse-0-98.5-TT.zip" that you downloaded in step (04.) into a different directory, for example "plugin".
then copy following files from your "plugin"-directory to your multidec root directory (which in this example is "dvb"):
index80.exe
index82.exe
MDYankse.dll
yankse.ini
yankse.prv
if you ask why so complicated and why not just copy all files to the "dvb"-directory: this is just derived from my experiences and my search for the most stable combination of files.
(09.) decompress key file
decompress the file "SoftCam4.7.2001.zip" that you downloaded in step (05.) into a different directory. you will then find a file called "softcam.key". copy this file into your multidec root directory (which in this example is "dvb").
(10.) decompress channel lists
decompress the channel lists that you downloaded in step (06.) if necessary (sometimes you directly download the uncompressed = original ".dvb"-channel list file). remember the directory you decompressed them to, i will call this directory "channellist" from now on.
(11.) connect dvb-s pci card to lnb
connect your dvb-s pci card to your lnb via coax cable
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(12.) autostart "MultiDec.exe" via shortcut
i was not able to start the program "multidec" after the steps above. i always got a memory error.
so before you read on just double-click on "MultiDec.exe" in the "dvb"-directory and watch how "multidec" behaves. you may get a first error message telling you something about "shared irq" (if your dvb-s pci card has to share irq with another resource), but this is nothing to care about.
just click on ok.
remember: you only get this irq error message if your dvb-s card has to share irq. but this error does not hinder "multidec" from working at all!!! the next error - which i always faced - is more severe: it tells you something about "dvb memory linear - nicht verfuegbar" and afterwards "multidec" shuts down automatically.
if you do not get this error and multidec starts up "normally" (which means like any other windows program) until you can see a black screen and the drop down menu bar, then you are lucky and don't have to continue reading this section.
for all the others here is a workaround:
create a shortcut to "MultiDec.exe" in the "dvb"-directory in your "autostart"-menu, thus forcing "multidec" to start up automatically right after windows finishes booting up. i know, it may be disturbing to have "multidec" always starting up once you turn on your pc or to have to create/remove the shortcut in the autostart menu and reboot every time you wanna watch pay tv.
but it was the only way to get "multidec" to work for me.
once you created the shortcut reboot your pc and see "multidec" starting up!
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(13.) using "multidec" to watch pay tv
don't get afraid if you only see a black screen after "multidec" has finished starting up. don't care about the crossed satellite dish, that you may see in the right upper corner of that black screen. good channel lists are the only essential thing to get the pay tv channels displayed correctly at this moment!
go to the menu bar and click on the drop down menu called "Kanaele". then choose the item "Digitale Kanaele importieren". a dialogue box opens: in this box you will find a button with "..." on it.
click this button and choose the path to your "channellist"-directory to which you decompressed your channel lists. choose a channel list and click on OK. the channel list will be imported.
now go back to the menu bar and again choose the drop down menu called "Kanaele". now choose the item "Kanalliste" and a new window opens showing you all the channels with their names that are included in the channel list you imported before. so you see: the more channels you wanna watch, the better your channel list has to be
click ONCE on the channel you want to watch - NO doubleclick - wait, until the picture stabilizes, and then close the channel list window via OK at the bottom.
and enjoy!
(14.) annotations
multidec runs most stable if you don't change any of multidec's settings that are preset after fresh decompression. only change/configure absolutely necessary things like what kind of channels should be displayed in the channel list (for example i turned off all analog and radio channels) for better survey, epg-time adaptation for correct epg-time display, epg for active channel only. don't mess around too much, you may encounter instability...
once you shut down "multidec" and go on working as usual with your pc you may not be able to start "multidec" again without a reboot if you face the memory problem stated above. if you face this problem you will have to reboot your pc and make sure there's a shortcut in your autostart menu so that "multidec" starts automatically right after windows booted. but again: not everyone - maybe even only a few - faces this memory problem.
all i wanna say now is: THANKS espresso for all, i can't wait for md 9.0!!!
i would like to thank the newbies who read this article for their attention and to those who weren't successful with my guide and think it is stupid and frustrating I would like to say: post your ideas, experiences, criticism and proposals so that i can learn from that. because learning is the only way to keep all this alive, to grow a next generation of "espressos"
and remember: never give up, if this way/method fails, always remember: there are thousand other ways to do it!
Mijn dank aan Tuffig
ILYA
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