BBC DAB stations gone - your DMBDB.CFG might fix it!

[NickS]

Hi all,
I have a D2 DAB 4GB, running 4.55 firmware. There is a problem which I and a number of other users experience - sometimes all the BBC DAB stations on the BBC national DAB transmitters disappear.

4.55 was fine, and I had all the DAB stations, but I chose (stupidly with hindsight) to upgrade to 4.58. Now, all my BBC stations have disappeared, and I can't get them back, despite trying some Cowon beta firmware supposed to cure the problem, reformatting the flash memory, and all other as-yet posted suggestions.

I know reception in my house is fine, as my other DAB radios all get the BBC stations at 98-100% signal quality.

However, I have dug around, and discovered that the file called "DMBDB.CFG" in the system folder is the DMB (and DAB) station database!

I wonder if one of you, in London (preferably south!), with BBC DAB stations, can please post your DMBDB.CFG file (it's in /SYSTEM/DMBDB.CFG), so I can try to kickstart my D2 back into recognising the BBC?

I'd be most grateful.

(Incidentally, I have tried digging around in the file format of the DMBDB.CFG file, in case I could edit it manually to put the stations in place. It seems to contain:
- unidentified stuff (!)
- a list of the DAB transmitters found
- a list of the stations and their frequency etc. details
- a list of non-receivable stuff, e.g. DAB Guide, as well as a list of slideshows on DAB stations
But I couldn't get any further )

As far as I can tell, there is no personal information in the DMBDB.CFG file, it seems to be firmware version-independent, and isn't copyrighted!

Any other possible fixes gratefully received, but ideally a file from a D2 with BBC on DAB would be best.

Of course, if the file fixes it, we'll all have a simple fix to share

Many thanks,
Nick

[Dalmane98]

What program did you use to explore the DMBDB.CFG file?

I live in the USA and use FW 2.57 and do not have a DMBDB.CFG file on either of my D2's.

I did find a copy of a DMBDB.GFG file from FW 2.51. I renamed it DMBDB.txt and attached it. Maybe it will work...

Hope it helps you.

[NickS]

Thanks Dalmane98.

You can look at the D2's memory with any filesystem explorer (e.g. Windows Explorer on Windows) once it's connected to a PC. The file is in the folder.

Thank you for posting the file you found. Unfortunately, it's not from a DAB model which has been successfully tuned in London.
The file is a database of current multiplexes and stations on them, so it gets updated every time the DAB is used - the one you submitted doesn't have the BBC stations I'm looking for, as it hasn't been used there. It's the Korean one, for DMB TV and radio stations, I think.

BTW, if you're in the US, you probably don't have the DAB model (as it's not sold there), so the firmware version is different - the DAB models use the 4.xx series. As your model probably doesn't support the DAB (aka DMB) functionality, it probably won't have the database file.

Thanks for your help
Nick

[shotofadds]

I've also lost my BBC channels - but having experienced this problem before, I know to keep a backup of an old DMBDB.CFG (it really does work). Attached is a copy of my config file, scanned in south-west London a couple of months ago. Have fun!

(btw. if you do make any notes about the format of DMBDB.CFG, do post them here - you never know somebody might make a nice editor tool, as happened for themes/fonts/etc... you can but hope!)

[jimbo79]

Originally Posted by NickS

Hi all,
I have a D2 DAB 4GB, running 4.55 firmware. There is a problem which I and a number of other users experience - sometimes all the BBC DAB stations on the BBC national DAB transmitters disappear.

4.55 was fine, and I had all the DAB stations, but I chose (stupidly with hindsight) to upgrade to 4.58. Now, all my BBC stations have disappeared, and I can't get them back, despite trying some Cowon beta firmware supposed to cure the problem, reformatting the flash memory, and all other as-yet posted suggestions.

I know reception in my house is fine, as my other DAB radios all get the BBC stations at 98-100% signal quality.

However, I have dug around, and discovered that the file called "DMBDB.CFG" in the system folder is the DMB (and DAB) station database!

I wonder if one of you, in London (preferably south!), with BBC DAB stations, can please post your DMBDB.CFG file (it's in /SYSTEM/DMBDB.CFG), so I can try to kickstart my D2 back into recognising the BBC?

I'd be most grateful.

(Incidentally, I have tried digging around in the file format of the DMBDB.CFG file, in case I could edit it manually to put the stations in place. It seems to contain:
- unidentified stuff (!)
- a list of the DAB transmitters found
- a list of the stations and their frequency etc. details
- a list of non-receivable stuff, e.g. DAB Guide, as well as a list of slideshows on DAB stations
But I couldn't get any further )

As far as I can tell, there is no personal information in the DMBDB.CFG file, it seems to be firmware version-independent, and isn't copyrighted!

Any other possible fixes gratefully received, but ideally a file from a D2 with BBC on DAB would be best.

Of course, if the file fixes it, we'll all have a simple fix to share

Many thanks,
Nick

I'm having the same issues as you and am liking your theory.

Unfortunately I'm in Liverpool so I can't share the same file as you. But if anyone here has a DAB D2 in the liverpool area then please could you post it?
Thanks!! :-)

[NickS]

Thank you shotofadds!
I also got a DMBDB.CFG file from someone else, and this method works!

See the other thread for more details of what I think is causing the problem (and a file that works in south and south east London):
http://iaudiophile.net/forums/showth...d=1#post198140

Interestingly, shotofadds's file *doesn't* work for me, so that indicates he's on a different multiplex to me, and hence not on the Crystal Palace one - and also that they're not all completely compatible. Something to do with the way DAB broadcasting works, but I'm afraid I don't understand enough about it to get into the details. But it will probably work for someone in south west London.

Anyway, I now have a working D2 DAB w/BBC, so the fix for anyone missing stations is to try to get hold of other people's DMBDB.CFG files, and try installing them. The worst that can happen is they don't work, and you just need to do a channel scan.

Thanks a lot!

Nick

[shotofadds]

Interesting - the BBC multiplex is a single frequency network, so 12B should work anywhere in the country. I guess DMBDB.CFG must be tied to a particular transmitter.

(btw. I assumed mine would be from Crystal Palace as I can see it from my office window.. obviously that's not how these things work!)

[ggmdick]

hi shotofads,
thanks so much for this and the chap who made the thread this has been ruining my D2 experience, and now i have my bbc back! sooperb. phew.
i'm south west london and this is working. my reception is still a bit on and off, certainly not as good as it is on my ministry of sound player and i thought i had just silence but after browsing a few stations and returning to bbc stations they kicked into life. exhausting stuff, this D2 maintenance.
cheers!

[dr Mugabe]

Thanks shotofadds dl your file and it worked Im in Stoke On Trent Got my D2 a couple of months ago everything was fine with my dab stations until monday, then all my bbc stations vanished tried re-scanning with no luck........I would of blamed it on upgrading to firmware 4.58 but that was way before the problem started???? All is good now Thanks to everyone

[dr Mugabe]

Message to jimbo79, Just download file link from shotofadds and drag and drop in your system folder to replace the previous DMBDB.CFG file , im in Stoke and it worked, you will get a load of london stations at first that you can't tune into, but the bbc stations come back cause they are on the digtal network, all you have to do is re-scan and you will get your local merseyside stations + the bbc stations, and anything else from your area transmitter signal strength permitting..............Just try

[jamesdiggers]

Thanks everyone, this has hepled a bit. I'm using 16gb DAB 4.58 and prior to using the above DMBBD.CFG file could not see any national BBC channels. I can now see them all but only BBC 1 and 2 work. I am in north london. Maybe someone has a file that works round hear or can help me out. Thanks

[jamesdiggers]

Just used the one on Nick S post above and this seems to work fine for all stations. Thankyou Nicks

[jimbo79]

Originally Posted by dr Mugabe

Message to jimbo79, Just download file link from shotofadds and drag and drop in your system folder to replace the previous DMBDB.CFG file , im in Stoke and it worked, you will get a load of london stations at first that you can't tune into, but the bbc stations come back cause they are on the digtal network, all you have to do is re-scan and you will get your local merseyside stations + the bbc stations, and anything else from your area transmitter signal strength permitting..............Just try

tried this and when I turn on i get the BBC channels just fine. However if I rescan I lose then all. Will find a tall building/hill and try again...

Thanks anyway :-)

[ggmdick]

hey guys
i've got the same file as most of you from shotofadds and when sometimes the bbc ones don't work i find the key is never to do a re-scan. sometimes i find five live and radio 4 don't work; and sometimes all the bbc channels don't work. however try one of the following:
1. go to another station such as talksport or xfm, and then go to bbc radio 1, scroll along from there, if 1 works the others tend to.
2. go to xfm or another non bbc station, turn off so that when you turn it back on it defaults to that station, then repeat step 1.

this is the most consistent solution to the ongoing problem with bbc that i've discovered.
bit annoying though eh.
ah well.

[travelbore]

Originally Posted by ggmdick

hey guys
i've got the same file as most of you from shotofadds and when sometimes the bbc ones don't work i find the key is never to do a re-scan. sometimes i find five live and radio 4 don't work; and sometimes all the bbc channels don't work. however try one of the following:
1. go to another station such as talksport or xfm, and then go to bbc radio 1, scroll along from there, if 1 works the others tend to.
2. go to xfm or another non bbc station, turn off so that when you turn it back on it defaults to that station, then repeat step 1.

this is the most consistent solution to the ongoing problem with bbc that i've discovered.
bit annoying though eh.
ah well.

I've found exactly the same thing! If I re-scan, I lose all the BBC channels. So, I've re-copied shotofadds' config file and now I try not to go near the Channel Scan option!
That means I have all the National channels, but not the local ones. I can live without those (listen mainly to R4 and R3). BUT, and I know this sounds like a daft question, will those National channels work, er, nationally? What I mean is: if I tune to Radio 4 on FM here in Inverness, and then drive to Glasgow, I have to re-tune. Is that an issue with DAB? Apologies for the stupid question.