Version 2.8.53h-memorial

TSReader is a Windows application for analysing MPEG Transport Streams. Originally developed circa 2004-2008 with Visual C++ 6.0 by Rod Hewitt KG6TTD (G6TTD), this codebase has been migrated to build with modern Visual Studio (2022 / 2026) using CMake.

In memory of Rod Hewitt KG6TTD (G6TTD) — passed away March 2025. This project continues his work under a memorial build. The running application shows a splash screen at startup with memorial text and a link to donate via PayPal to help cover hosting costs.

The codebase originally shipped in three editions (Lite, Standard, Pro). This modernisation project focuses exclusively on the Pro edition — the top-tier version with all features, decoders, and plugins enabled.

git clone git@github.com:TSReader/TSReader.git
cd TSReader

:: Generate the Visual Studio solution (Win32/x86 is required)
cmake -G "Visual Studio 18 2026" -A Win32 -B build

:: Build Release
cmake --build build --config Release

For Visual Studio 2022, use:

cmake -G "Visual Studio 17 2022" -A Win32 -B build

Note: The -A Win32 flag is required. TSReader is a 32-bit (x86) application.

After a successful build, the following files will be in build\Release\:

TSReader requires additional runtime files from the source tree. The easiest options:

1. Use the installer (recommended) — see Building the Installer below.
2. Run from source directory — copy the build output to the repo root and run from there.

When the app starts you'll see the memorial splash screen (photo, tribute text, GitHub and PayPal links, plus a Continue button). Click Continue to dismiss it and the normal source-selection / tune flow begins.

TSReader loads these from its working directory:

• *.bmp, *.png — UI icons and status images (plus rod_splash.png for the memorial splash)
• *.ini — Configuration files
• *.lst — Source preset lists
• Sources\ folder — Source plugin DLLs (loaded dynamically via LoadLibrary)
• Forwarders\ folder — Stream forwarder plugin DLLs
• Satellites\ folder — Satellite transponder configs

Important: Without the Sources\ folder, TSReader cannot open any transport streams. At minimum, TSReader_File.dll must be present for file-based input.

"C:\Program Files (x86)\Inno Setup 6\ISCC.exe" installer.iss

Output: installer_output\TSReaderPro_Setup.exe (~10 MB)

The installer packages everything needed: executable, DLLs (including the built-from-source TSReader_SourceHelper.dll), bitmaps, configs, source plugins from both Sources/ and Sources_Archive/ (flattened into one {app}\Sources at install time), forwarders, satellite data, and the memorial splash image. The default install location is C:\Program Files (x86)\TSReaderPro (following Windows guidelines for 32-bit applications); the user can change this during setup. Runtime-writable files (*.lst, *.ini, Satellites\*.ini) are installed with Users:modify ACLs so non-admin users can persist tune-dialog changes in place.

• Version bumped to 2.8.53h-memorial (FILEVERSION 2,8,53,6). TSReader_SourceHelper.dll is now built from the in-repo source as a first-class CMake target, with 14 stub functions filling in the ordinals (49-63) that prebuilt 2019-2022 source plugins import but Rod's pre-2008 source predates. The host and SourceHelper now share the same VARIABLES struct layout regardless of MAX_SOURCE_MODULES, so UDP / TCP / satellite tune-dialog edits actually reach v->ss instead of overshooting into the enlarged sourcemodules[] region. Resolves KNOWN_ISSUES BA-1 (UDP data flow broken in 2.8.53f/g).
• Version bumped to 2.8.53g-memorial (FILEVERSION 2,8,53,5). Fixes a NULL-pointer fault when a user cancels the current source's tune dialog and then picks a different source from the resulting source-selection dialog. The cancel-and-reselect path rebound the host's function pointers but skipped calling the new plugin's TSReader_Init, so the plugin's static ss was still NULL when its TSReader_TuneDialog ran — ss->fDontTune then crashed at offset 0x1851 in TSReader_UDPMulticast.dll v2.6.0.41 (and any other 2008- vintage source plugin that follows the same ss = pss; pattern).
• Version bumped to 2.8.53f-memorial (FILEVERSION 2,8,53,4). Installer now grants Users modify on runtime-writable config files (*.lst, BISS.ini, diseqcU.ini, dvbt.ini, S2emu.ini, Satellites\*.ini) so non-elevated users can persist tune-dialog changes under C:\Program Files (x86)\TSReaderPro\. Previously the underlying CreateFile(GENERIC_WRITE) failed silently and dialog changes appeared to vanish on next launch.
• Version bumped to 2.8.53e-memorial (FILEVERSION 2,8,53,3). Includes raising MAX_SOURCE_MODULES from 128 to 512 so the now 333-strong combined plugin set in Sources/ fits — the 128 cap produced "Too many source modules" at startup.
• Version bumped to 2.8.53d-memorial (FILEVERSION 2,8,53,2). Marks the upgrade of the bundled TSReader_SourceHelper.dll from the 2008 build to a 2018 build, which is what makes the BDA source plugins added in Sources_Archive/ actually loadable. Without that newer SourceHelper, startup aborted with "ordinal 63 could not be located in TSReader_BDASource_TBS5220DVBC.dll" — that ordinal lives in SourceHelper, not in the plugin.
• Version bumped to 2.8.53c-memorial (exe FILEVERSION/ PRODUCTVERSION 2,8,53,1 in TSReader.rc; installer AppVersion).
• Memorial splash screen at startup with Rod's photo, tribute text, GitHub link, PayPal donate link, and a Continue button.
• Cancel in source tune dialog now returns to the source selection dialog rather than exiting the application.
• Version bumped to 2.8.53b-memorial (exe version info and installer).
• URLs updated throughout the codebase:
  • coolstf.com → tsreader.co.uk
  • rod@coolstf.com → support@tsreader.co.uk
  • GitHub references updated to github.com/TSReader/TSReader
• Purchase link removed (Digital River checkout URL is dead).
• Installer now installs to C:\Program Files (x86)\TSReaderPro by default with user-selectable directory and admin elevation.
• Sources_Archive/ added: 218 additional source-plugin DLLs from Rod's posthumous archive (2019–2022 builds, including SAT>IP, IPTV, SRT, HDHomeRun DVB-T/C/ISDB-T and an extensive set of TBS BDA tuners). These are additive — no filename overlap with the existing Sources/ set — and the installer copies both folders into {app}\Sources so TSReaderPro sees them as one flat plugin directory at runtime.

TSReader/
├── CMakeLists.txt          # Main build file
├── installer.iss           # Inno Setup installer script
├── splash.c                # Memorial splash screen module
├── rod_splash.png          # Memorial photo
├── *.c / *.h               # Core TSReader source
├── stubs/                  # SDK replacement implementations
│   ├── isource_impl.c      # ImgSource SDK → stb_image + GDI
│   └── stb_image*.h        # stb single-header image libraries
├── include/                # Shared headers
├── h264/                   # H.264 decoder (built from source)
├── vc1/                    # VC-1 decoder (built from source)
├── libmad-0.15.1b/         # MPEG audio decoder (built from source)
├── a52dec-0.7.4/           # AC-3 audio decoder (built from source)
├── libmpeg2/               # MPEG-2 video decoder (pre-built .lib)
├── TSReader_SourceHelper/  # Helper DLL — built from source as a
│                           #   CMake target. Provides tune dialogs and
│                           #   SI/PSI helpers shared with all source
│                           #   plugins. Ordinals 1-48 are full
│                           #   implementations; 49-63 are __cdecl
│                           #   stubs covering 2008-2018 additions Rod's
│                           #   source predates.
├── Sources/                # Source plugin DLLs (pre-built)
├── Sources_Archive/        # Additional source plugins from Rod's
│                           #   posthumous archive (merged into
│                           #   {app}\Sources by the installer)
├── Forwarders/             # Forwarder plugin DLLs (pre-built)
└── Satellites/             # Satellite config INI files

CMake can't find a compiler — Run from a Developer Command Prompt, or ensure VS C++ workload is installed.

Missing DLLs at runtime — Check that libfaad2.dll, PEGRPCS.DLL, and TSReader_SourceHelper.dll are alongside the exe. The build copies these automatically.

No source plugins — Ensure the Sources\ subfolder with plugin DLLs is in the same directory as the executable.

Splash photo not showing — Ensure rod_splash.png is in the install directory (next to TSReaderPro.exe). The splash falls back to text-only if the image cannot be loaded.

Clean rebuild:

rmdir /s /q build
cmake -G "Visual Studio 18 2026" -A Win32 -B build
cmake --build build --config Release