FastChannels - FAST Channels aggregator/manager

turtletank · September 8, 2026, 1:35pm

I added a new feature to ADBTuner called "Passthrough Channels" this past weekend to allow other projects to use tuning resources provided by ADBTuner. It could be used for many things, but I was testing it with FastChannels.

It's in ADBTuner (development tag) version 20260909-2 or newer.

If anyone has the time to take a look and help test this it would be much appreciated.

I don't know FastChannels very well, but these are the steps I took to get this working.

FastChannels 5.1.0 (current docker version as of 2026-09-07)
Presuming FastChannels is configured (time zone, server url, etc.)

Enable Channels DVR Support
http://x.x.x.x:5523/admin/settings
Enter your Channels DVR URL
(this had to be enabled, otherwise FastChannels would throw an exception trying to convert "US:10511" into an integer)
http://192.168.86.25:5523/admin/settings
Enable FastChannels Player
Enter one of your ADBTuner android device IP addresses here, click save, click Install FastChannels Player. Repeat for all ADBTuner connected Android devices. Leave one IP in this box, doesn't matter which.

I had to share my adb keys with FastChannels to make this work. Added an extra volume to docker-compose.yml and put my adbkey and adbkey.pub in the adb_keys directory next to the compose file. Not sure if there is a better way to import keys into FastChannels.

volumes:
  - db_data:/data
  - ./adb_keys:/root/.android

http://x.x.x.x:5523/admin/settings
Enable ah4c support, enter fake URL in box:
http://127.0.0.1
It seems this has to be enabled before FastChannels will provide a playlist of "bridge channels"?
Add Vidaa source:
http://192.168.86.25:5523/admin/sources
Turn Vidaa TV on, click "Scrape Now." Wait until complete.
Approve New Channels
http://192.168.86.25:5523/admin/channels?review=pending
Wait a bit until complete

ADBTuner

Add Configuration
http://x.x.x.x:5592/ui/configurations

{
  "name": "FastChannels Player",
  "description": "",
  "author": "",
  "version": "",
  "uuid": "103f3173-d7a5-46a0-91d0-6eb42709caf9",
  "global_options": {
    "wait_for_video_playback_detection": true,
    "use_fixed_delay": false
  },
  "pre_tune_commands": [],
  "tune_commands": [
    {
      "HTTP": {
        "method": "GET",
        "action": "||TARGET_URL_OR_IDENTIFIER||?adb=||TARGET_DEVICE_IP_ADDRESS||:5555",
        "timeout": 30
      }
    },
    {
      "WAIT_FOR_FOCUS": {
        "package_name": "||TARGET_PACKAGE_NAME||"
      }
    }
  ],
  "tune_match_text_commands": [],
  "post_playback_start_commands": [],
  "post_tune_commands": [
    "am start -n com.fastchannels.player/.PlaybackActivity --es command warm_stop"
  ],
  "timed_keep_active_commands": []
}

Add Passthrough Channel List
Name: FastChannels
M3U URL: http://x.x.x.x:5523/m3u/fc-playerPackage Name: com.fastchannels.player
Configuration: FastChannels Player
Check: Include in playlists

These channels will now be available in ADBTuner.

ADBTuner exposes a playlist of these channels that could possibly be used to close the loop and get the channels back into FastChannels (looping through ADBTuner). I didn't see anything in the current version of FastChannels that would support this. I can create a PR if that would be helpful.

blantz · September 8, 2026, 3:03pm

I'm good now. Typo, of course lol

Working great now!

Free · September 8, 2026, 5:58pm

Trying to read up on how to use this HDMI capture method for DRM before diving in. In the documentation, it says to follow this walkthrough to set up your capture device:

But if I click that link, it goes to this reply:

I looked at posts before and after and don't see anything that looks like a walkthrough on correctly setting up the capture device in Channels. Can anyone point me in the right direction?

I also saw someone making a comment that maybe some newer Firesticks don't work for this because you can't sideload. Is this correct? Is there a particular Firestick model I should be looking for?

bnhf · September 8, 2026, 6:08pm

Yes. The newest ones with the VegaOS won't work.

FireStick 4K Max (Gen 2)

Have you reviewed this document?

github.com

kineticman/FastChannels/blob/development/docs/fc-player-setup.md

# HDMI Capture and ah4c Capture setup (experimental)

FastChannels Player is the Android playback companion used by FastChannels'
hardware capture paths. When
Channels DVR requests a bridge-only channel, FastChannels resolves the live
stream, launches the player on a Fire TV or Android TV device over ADB, and
returns the device's captured HDMI output as a normal channel.

> **Device support note:** The development and day-to-day test device is a Fire
> TV Stick. Android TV devices, including onn. streaming boxes/sticks, use the
> same Player APK and ADB workflow, but their Settings labels and wireless ADB
> behavior vary by Android version and vendor. Treat the Android TV notes below
> as a troubleshooting guide and report results from new device models.

Playback uses Media3/ExoPlayer and the Android device's own Widevine CDM. It
does not remove or bypass DRM: license and entitlement checks still go through
the provider's license server, and only the device's HDMI output is captured.

This is an experimental hardware-and-software setup with several parts. Choose
one capture method below, then follow the numbered steps in order.

This file has been truncated. show original

Free · September 8, 2026, 6:18pm

Yes, I was reviewing that document. That's where my first screenshot came from, telling me to go to a link in the forum for a walkthrough on setting up the capture device, but the link doesn't seem to go to any sort of walkthrough, it goes to someone talking about missing logos.

daldana7296 · September 8, 2026, 6:27pm

Here is a link to the whole thread, USB HDMI Capture. Hope it helps.

daldana7296 · September 9, 2026, 2:35am

I'm hoping it's just that he's taking some well deserved relaxation time, but I'm a bit worried about @KineticMan. He's usually a prolific poster and we haven't heard a word from him in days. Are you doing okay man?

SageLois · September 9, 2026, 4:31am

Latest recording attempt also reverted to home screen after about 10 minutes. To try to rule out Fire Stick issues vs. bridge issues, I set the Fire Stick (running on its own, not through FC, viewed using Potplayer) to play something from Netflix. It played through about 27 minutes before I manually stopped it.

Then I found Amazon Prime's live channels & played it for just under 20 minutes before manually stopping. Again, no problem. So the problem isn't with the fire stick or the HDMI to USB interface; it is happening somewhere in the FC-Channels chain.

Voortex · September 9, 2026, 11:38am

At risk of being pilloried, I'm going to state my version of the no logos and no channel names in the guide problem. I'm new to this and don't yet care anything about accessing any of this functionality remotely, for now I am content to stream to my TVs at home from a PC at home. I have (I think) successfully set up a feed and I can see complete guide data in fastchannels web guide and CDVR web guide, including channel names and logos. But on my TVs, one Google TV and another Fire TV, I get information about the individual programs and channel numbers but no channel names or logos in the guide. I have struggled with AI for hours and can't seem to get this to work. My feed is really two feeds, a gracenote feed and a non-gracenote feed. Channels from both feeds are in the same guide, and neither set of channels has channel names or logos in the CDVR apps on either of my TVs, as explained. Thanks for any help or guidance...

bnhf · September 9, 2026, 11:49am

Could you post your FastChannels logs please, from just before the tune begins, until just after the exit to the homescreen?

bnhf · September 9, 2026, 11:54am

Welcome! And, this isn't that kind of forum.

What value are you using here, for FastChannels URL?:

Voortex · September 9, 2026, 12:17pm

Nice to meet you!
I'm using: http://192.168.68.52:5523
I tried to give you a screenshot but the snip tool pasted in gibberish instead of the screenshot.

bnhf · September 9, 2026, 12:30pm

That IP address looks fine, so the next most likely thing is a networking issue. Is it possible you're using client isolation on your LAN? Or do you have your Google TV and FireTV in a VLAN? Are you using a VPN on either of those TVs? Are you having the same issue when you use the Channels Client on phone or tablet connect to your LAN?

Voortex · September 9, 2026, 5:12pm

Is it possible you're using client isolation on your LAN? No indication of that in Deco app.
Or do you have your Google TV and FireTV in a VLAN? No, VLAN disabled in Deco app.
Are you using a VPN on either of those TVs? No.
Are you having the same issue when you use the Channels Client on phone or tablet connect to your LAN? Yes, after I read your post I installed CDVR on my iphone and got the exact same result, programs were in the guide and I can watch TV, but channel names and logos were not present. Some of the programs have graphics associated with them, but not the channels.

bnhf · September 9, 2026, 5:15pm

Can you reach the FastChannels WebUI from any computer on your LAN, other than the one hosting it?

Voortex · September 9, 2026, 5:37pm

No, though I'm not sure I attempted this correctly, but here's what I did.

Entered http://192.168.68.52:5532 from the other computer. Connection timed out.

Entered http://192.168.68.67:5532 from the other computer (this is the other computer's IP address). Connection refused.

Hopefully one of those things is what you asked me to do. If not, please correct me...

bnhf · September 9, 2026, 5:43pm

So basically the system where you're running FastChannels isn't accessible from anywhere else on your network. This is the problem that needs to be solved. What OS are you running on that computer? If it's Windows, I don't suppose this could something as simple as its network profile being set to Public instead of Private?

Voortex · September 9, 2026, 6:03pm

bnhf 1, AI 0. I can't believe it, but that was it! AI wasted a lot of my time trying all kinds of crazy things. Thank you so much for clearing this up. You're a genius!

Kurt_Brown · September 9, 2026, 7:22pm

OK. So I want to try this DTV capture method. I have the required dongle and a FireTV device that I've never used. Here is my stupid question:

I run CDVR and FC on my Synology NAS. I have seen some people suggest just plugging the Dongle into the NAS and let CDVR use it as a capture source. The end. Then I can configure FC to use that?

Is there a way to use say a spare Windows laptop and have that capture the video and feed it to CDVR/FC somehow? Or does that even make sense? I was expecting that if I wanted to eventually have two streams that I'd need to USB dongles on one PC.

bnhf · September 9, 2026, 7:38pm

I can't recall anyone saying they had a Capture Card set up on Synology. You'd need to follow the steps for getting it configured in a Linux environment, but there are all kinds of issues you'd likely run into with Synology -- as their kernel and underlying Linux is pretty dated as I recall.

Then there's the fact that your CDVR server needs to transcode what's coming out of the Capture Card, on top of whatever other transcoding you may be asking it to do.

This approach makes more sense, but you'd need to put a CDVR server on it to do the capture and the transcoding. You could then feed that into your primary CDVR server. To handle multiple virtual tuners, you'd need to add ah4c into the mix, and that could potentially run on the Windows laptop as well.