hdhomerun

Control your SiliconDust HDHomeRun network-attached digital TV tuner from node.js. This module provides a JavaScript interface to discover devices, and to get and set device control variables. While not a complete solution in itself, hdhomerun provides the low-level functionality necessary to build higher level tools and applications (such as DVR). Users of hdhomerun will certainly want to refer to libhdhomerun (the C library provided by the manufacturer) for details on how the low-level get/set API can be used to implement higher-level functionality. See examples/cli.js for a node version of the libhdhomerun 'hdhomerun_config' CLI utility.

Installation:

npm install hdhomerun

Usage:

Use the discover() method to find devices on the local network:

var hdhr = require('hdhomerun');
 
hdhr.discover(function (err, res) {
    console.log(res);
};
> [ { device_id: '1038A145',
device_type: 'tuner',
tuner_count: 2,
device_ip: '192.168.2.123' } ]

Now create a device object:

var device = hdhr.create({device_id: '1038A145',
    device_ip: '192.168.2.123'});

Using the device object, you can get and set named control variables:

device.get('/sys/model', function (err, res) {
    console.log(res);
}
> { name: '/sys/model', value: 'hdhomerun3_atsc' }

Control variables are used to interact with the device. Most importantly, they let you change channels and initiate a video stream:

device.set('/tuner0/channel', 'auto:9', function (err, res) {
    console.log(res);
}
> { name: '/tuner0/channel', value: 'auto:9' }
 
device.get('/tuner0/streaminfo', ...
> 1: 9.1 KUSA-DT
> 2: 9.2 9News N
> tsid=0x01CF
 
device.set('/tuner0/program', 1, ...
device.get('/tuner0/status', ...
> value: 'ch=auto:9 lock=8vsb ss=92 snq=77 seq=100 bps=19394080 pps=0'
 
device.set('/tuner0/target', 'udp://localhost:54321', ...
> // Now MPEG2 data is streaming to the specified host/port

API:

discover([search_id], callback)

• search_id {String} Optional device_id of device we wish to discover
• callback {Function} Callback function
  • err {Error Object} not yet implemented
  • found {Array} Array of discovered device objects The found array contains objects representing discovered devices. Each object contains the following fields:
    • device_id {String}
    • device_type {String} Will always be 'tuner'
    • tuner_count {Number} number of tuners in the device
    • device_ip {String} IP address of the device

When called without a search_id argument, discover() will accept responses from all devices on the local network that respond to it's broadcast request within the timeout period (currently 500ms).

If search_id is specified, only a matching device will respond to the broadcast. Once a matching response is received, callback() is immediately called.

create(conf)

• conf {Object}
  • device_id {String}
  • device_ip {String}
• Returns: {Object} new Device object

Class: Device

Device objects maintain a TCP connection with their corresponding physical device. This control socket is used to send get/set messages and receive responses. Device instances initiate the control socket connection immediately and emit connected when the connection is ready.

Device.get(variable, callback)

• variable {String} named control variable to retrieve
• callback {Function} called when a response from the device arrives
  • err {Error Object}
  • res {Object} response object with the following members:
    • name {String} the requested control variable
    • value {String} the value of the requested variable

Device.set(variable, value, callback)

• variable {String} named control variable to set
• value {String} value to set the control variable
• callback {Function} called when a response from the device arrives
  • err {Error Object}
  • res {Object} response object with the following members:
    • name {String} the requested control variable
    • value {String} the (updated) value of the requested variable

Examples:

examples/cli.js implements (roughly) the same functionality as libhdhomerun 'hdhomerun_config'. This toy program demonstrates how one could implement common functionality such as channel scanning and saving video streams (in a node-y way).

Testing:

Currently, an actual HDHomeRun device is required to execute the tests. Set an environment variable 'MY_HDHR' to the device_id (aka serial #) of your local device before running 'npm test'.

Supported Devices

• HDHR3-US (Dual Tuner ATSC)

TODO:

• proper tests
• additional device support
• more complete and standardized error handling

License:

MIT.