EC168 "dvb_usb: Unknown symbol release_firmware"

EC168 "dvb_usb: Unknown symbol release_firmware"

[drbob]

Hello,

I recently tried to build and use the EC168 drivers from 
<http://linuxtv.org/hg/~anttip/ec168/>
following instructions found at
<http://www.dealextreme.com/forums/Default.dx/sku.8325~threadid.278942>

The drivers built fine but upon trying to load dvb-usb.ko 
(sudo insmod ./dvb-usb.ko) I got the following error:

  insmod: error inserting './dvb-usb.ko': -1 Unknown symbol in module

dmesg listed these additonal errors:

  [  647.189929] dvb_usb: Unknown symbol release_firmware
  [  647.190085] dvb_usb: Unknown symbol request_firmware

I am running Debian 5.0 with the stock kernel (2.6.26-2-amd64) on an HP 
ML115 server (Quad-Core AMD Opteron(tm) Processor 1352, 4GB ECC memory)

I found I was able to work around the issue like so: 

1. First load and then unload the stock dvb-core and dvb-usb included 
with lenny.

  sudo modprobe dvb-core
  sudo modprobe dvb-usb
  sudo rmmod dvb-core
  sudo rmmod dvb-usb
 
2. Then load the modules built from the EC168 tree. 

  sudo insmod ./dvb-core.ko
  sudo insmod ./dvb-usb.ko
  sudo insmod ./ec100.ko
  sudo insmod ./mxl5005s.ko
  sudo insmod ./dvb-usb-ec168.ko

The stick then works and I can use it to view tv etc, unplug/reinsert it 
and unload/reload the EC168 tree modules without carrying out step 1 
again (until the next reboot). 

The stick is a cheap generic USB stick purchased from eBay (USB id 
18b4:1001). Photos of it are here:

<http://img89.imageshack.us/gal.php?g=img1283g.jpg>

Strangely the markings on the large main chip appear to have been removed 
by the stick manufacturer (though I think it must be an EC168) The 
smaller tuner chip has also been scrubbed but the following markings can 
still be identified:

Maxline MXL5003 
D37T5:1

Thanks for your time.

Re: EC168 "dvb_usb: Unknown symbol release_firmware"

[CityK]

drbob,

Off_Topic: that name takes me back: http://muppet.wikia.com/wiki/Dr._Bob

On_Topic:  You have built the drivers but you haven't installed them
into the system as intended, consequently you will run into the set of
observations that you have.  Have a read through:
http://www.linuxtv.org/wiki/index.php/How_to_Obtain%2C_Build_and_Install_V4L-DVB_Device_Drivers

Re: EC168 "dvb_usb: Unknown symbol release_firmware"

[drbob]

On Mon, 04 May 2009 19:35:09 -0400, CityK wrote:

> drbob,
> 
> Off_Topic: that name takes me back: http://muppet.wikia.com/wiki/Dr._Bob

And I thought I'd picked that name at random. The muppets must have had a 
deeper effect on my subconscious than I realised...

> 
> On_Topic:  You have built the drivers but you haven't installed them
> into the system as intended, consequently you will run into the set of
> observations that you have.  Have a read through:
> http://www.linuxtv.org/wiki/index.php/How_to_Obtain%
2C_Build_and_Install_V4L-DVB_Device_Drivers

Thanks for the link. It put me on the right track. I needed to load the 
"firmware-class" kernel module before dvb-usb - modprobe resolves module 
dependencies automatically, insmod does not. dvb-usb also relies on 
i2c_core but that was already loaded on my system.

So to manually load the ec168 modules I need to execute:

sudo modprobe firmware-class

Bdefore the the insmod commands.

For testing purposes I wanted to explicity load the new modules with 
insmod rather than install them and overwrite all the modules included 
with the kernel, which I know have been passed as stable. That seemed 
more sensible than the course of action suggested by the wiki article.

Re: EC168 "dvb_usb: Unknown symbol release_firmware"

[Antti Palosaari]

On 05/04/2009 11:28 PM, drbob wrote:
> The stick is a cheap generic USB stick purchased from eBay (USB id
> 18b4:1001). Photos of it are here:
>
> <http://img89.imageshack.us/gal.php?g=img1283g.jpg>
>
> Strangely the markings on the large main chip appear to have been removed
> by the stick manufacturer (though I think it must be an EC168) The
> smaller tuner chip has also been scrubbed but the following markings can
> still be identified:

I have just same stick, it is EC168 + MXL5003.

I haven't opened my stick but looked your pictures. I have never seen so 
bad soldering quality :o

Driver development is a little bit freeze currently due to lack of EC168 
specs. If you can provide specs please contact me!

regards
Antti
-- 
http://palosaari.fi/

Re: EC168 "dvb_usb: Unknown symbol release_firmware"

[drbob]

On Tue, 05 May 2009 13:47:49 +0300, Antti Palosaari wrote:

> 
> I haven't opened my stick but looked your pictures. I have never seen so
> bad soldering quality :o

Yeah it's pretty bad. I was pretty surprised it works at all when I saw 
it as in several places component terminals or chip pins appear to be 
bridged.

> 
> Driver development is a little bit freeze currently due to lack of EC168
> specs. If you can provide specs please contact me!
> 

No specs here, I'm just an end user, but a translated google search 
(english->chinese) for "ec168 dvb" threw up this page:

<http://detail.cn.china.cn/provide/detail,1347758640.html>
<http://translate.google.com/translate?prev=hp&hl=en&js=n&u=http%3A%2F%2Fdetail.cn.china.cn%2Fprovide%2Fdetail%2C1347758640.html&sl=zh-CN&tl=en>

I think it's a company in China selling a reference design and tech 
support to potential manufacturers, so they probably have the tech 
docs. Good luck if you fancy trying to get a response from them.

Re: EC168 "dvb_usb: Unknown symbol release_firmware"

[drbob]

On Tue, 05 May 2009 15:41:58 +0000, drbob wrote:

> On Tue, 05 May 2009 13:47:49 +0300, Antti Palosaari wrote:
> 
> 
>> I haven't opened my stick but looked your pictures. I have never seen
>> so bad soldering quality :o
> 
> Yeah it's pretty bad. I was pretty surprised it works at all when I saw
> it as in several places component terminals or chip pins appear to be
> bridged.
> 
> 
>> Driver development is a little bit freeze currently due to lack of
>> EC168 specs. If you can provide specs please contact me!
>> 
>> 
> No specs here, I'm just an end user, but a translated google search
> (english->chinese) for "ec168 dvb" threw up this page:
> 
> <http://detail.cn.china.cn/provide/detail,1347758640.html>
> <http://translate.google.com/translate?prev=hp&hl=en&js=n&u=http%3A%2F%
2Fdetail.cn.china.cn%2Fprovide%2Fdetail%2C1347758640.html&sl=zh-CN&tl=en>
> 
> I think it's a company in China selling a reference design and tech
> support to potential manufacturers, so they probably have the tech docs.
> Good luck if you fancy trying to get a response from them.

After a little further digging I think the company that orignally 
designed the ec168 is probably defunct. I found a US address and contact 
number for the company here:

<http://www.soccentral.com/results.asp?EntryID=23118>

However the phone line has been disconnected. As per the wiki, their web 
page has also disappeared.