Annotation of kfir/FAQ, revision 1.4
1.4 ! stolk 1: // $Source: /cvs/linuxtv/kfir/FAQ,v $
! 2: // $Revision: 1.3 $
! 3: //
! 4: // $Log: FAQ,v $
! 5: // Revision 1.3 2002/08/09 21:40:32 stolk
! 6: // Added Frank Rosengart's FAQs from apr'02
1.2 stolk 7: //
1.1 stolk 8:
9:
1.2 stolk 10: [FAQ for BMK kfir started by Frank Rosengart on the MPEG mailinglist.
11: I've put it in cvs, and added questions 0.1 2.1.10 3.1.3 3.1.4 and 3.3.1 - Bram Stolk]
1.1 stolk 12:
13:
1.2 stolk 14: 0. Meta info
1.1 stolk 15:
1.2 stolk 16: 0.1. Where can I get an up to date version of this FAQ list?
1.1 stolk 17:
1.2 stolk 18: It is in linuxtv.org's CVS repository at linuxtv.org:/cvs/linuxtv in the file
19: 'kfir/FAQ'.
20:
21:
22: 1. General questions
23:
24: 1.1. Supported cards
25:
26: There is only one card supported by the Kfir driver: The
27: LinuxTV-Encoder-Card manufactured by BMK-Elektronik (Germany).
28: The Hauppauge WinTV-PVR use the Kfir-1 chip but this card *is not
29: supported* !
30: The Kfir-2(a) chip mentioned on the Visiontech homepage *is not supported*.
31:
32:
33:
34: 1.2. Supported mainboards :-)
35:
36: The are some known problems on mainboards with VIA chipsets.
37:
38:
39:
40: 1.3. Buying the encoder card
41:
42: 1.3.1. Where to order
43:
44: Go to <A HREF="http://linuxtv.org/mpeg2/kfir-bestell-en.html">http://linuxtv.org/mpeg2/kfir-bestell-en.html</A> and fill out the
45: form. You will contacted by the sales office of BMK-Elektronik. They
46: will tell you how to pay and how they ship the board.
47:
48:
49:
50: 1.3.2. Why did they told me a higher price?
51:
52: Maybe you contacted BMK directly and asked for an MPEG-2 encoder? They
53: tell your their list price which is around 600$/EUR. This is the
54: Windows-user's price :-)
55: Please fill out the form <A HREF="http://linuxtv.org/mpeg2/kfir-bestell-en.html">http://linuxtv.org/mpeg2/kfir-bestell-en.html</A>
56: for 'correct' price.
57:
58:
59:
60: 1.3.3. Delivery time
61:
62: If it is very, very urgent(tm) then BMK can ship the card within
63: germany/europe(?) until the next day. But you'll be charged for extra
64: postage fees. [Can someone report how long it takes to China?]
65:
66:
67:
68: 1.4. Language
69:
70: 1.4.1 How do I pronounce KFir?
71: I think like 'kay-fir'.
72:
73: ================================================================
74:
75: 2. Installation
76:
77: 2.1. The driver software
78:
79: 2.1.1. Where can I download the driver?
80:
81: <A HREF="http://linuxtv.org/download/mpeg2/">http://linuxtv.org/download/mpeg2/</A>
82: Fetch the latest tar archive und unpack it.
83: After that you will need the microcode. Convergence can not include this
84: nessesary code due to license/copyright issues.
85:
86:
87:
88: 2.1.2. How do I use the cvs for the latest changes?
89:
90: cvs -d :pserver:anonymous@linuxtv.org:/cvs/linuxtv login
91: When prompted for a password for anonymous, simply press the Enter key.
92:
93: cvs -d :pserver:anonymous@linuxtv.org:/cvs/linuxtv co kfir
94:
95:
96:
97: 2.1.3. How do I obtain the microcode?
98:
99: Get
100: <A HREF="ftp://ftp.visiontech-dml.com/pub/Win9x/KFir/KFirAppVersion4.23/KFirApp4-23_9x.zip">ftp://ftp.visiontech-dml.com/pub/Win9x/KFir/KFirAppVersion4.23/KFirApp4-23_9x.zip</A>
101: Install it in MS-Windows 9x
102: and then copy the Makefile <A HREF="http://linuxtv.org/download/mpeg2/Makefile">http://linuxtv.org/download/mpeg2/Makefile</A> to
103: the kfir/driver/micro folder and change the value for your DOS partition
104: Or get the files from <A HREF="http://www.ecn.purdue.edu/~laird/Linux/KFir/MS_driver/">http://www.ecn.purdue.edu/~laird/Linux/KFir/MS_driver/</A>
105:
106:
107:
108: 2.1.4. Is the microcode ok?
109:
110: If everything works fine: yes. Otherwise check the included MD5-sums
111: against what you extracted.
112:
113:
114:
115: 2.1.5. My machine locks.
116:
117: Don't panic. It's normal :-)
118: Possible reasons are:
119: - the microcode is not where it has to be
120: - you have USB drivers loaded: disable modules and kernel drivers
121: - you have found a strange timing problem known to appear on VIA
122: chipsets: try another mainboard or computer
123:
124:
125:
126: 2.1.6. I get no output (filesize is zero)
127:
128: I did 'cat /dev/video0 > foobar.mpg' and foobar.mpg has zero bytes, even
129: after several seconds.
130:
131: Please check:
132: [ ] I am root
133: [ ] The harddisk is not even close to be full
134: [ ] I have connected the right video input with a known to be correct
135: video signal
136: [ ] I know that there is a difference between PAL and NTSC
137: [ ] /dev/video0 ist the Kfir card because I use neither a BTTV nor DVB card
138: [ ] I did only 'make insmod' and didn't pass any additional parameters
139: to the driver
140: [ ] The microcode is where it has to be; there are no errors while
141: loading the kfir.o
142:
143:
144:
145:
146: 2.1.7. What options can I pass to the driver?
147:
148: loaded=1 - Altera is already loaded with microcode, so donīt do it
149: again
150: (reloading takes time and can lock your machine!)
151:
152: vidinmode - vidimode=0 for PAL, 1 for NTSC, 2 for SECAM (default PAL)
153:
154: vidoutmode - vidoutmode=0 for NTSC, 1 for PAL (default PAL)
155:
156: vidsize - vidsize=(vertical_mode<<4)|horizontal_mode, cf. KfirCMD.h
157: e.g. vidsize=0x12 (=(KFIR_V_288<<4)|KFIR_H_352)
158: (0x12 is CIF, quarter of PAL, 0x26 for PAL, default is fullsize)
159:
160: vidrate - video bitrate (4500000 for 4.5 Mbit/s)
161:
162: vidinput - vidinput=0 for composite (default), vidinput=1 for
163: S-Video Y/C
164:
165: mpeg1mode - mpeg1mode=1 for MPEG1
166:
167: streamtype - streamtype=0..7 default is 3
168: 0: AUDIO_ES
169: 1: VIDEO_ES
170: 2: A_V_ES
171: 3: PROGRAM
172: 4: TRANSPORT
173: 5: PACKET_VES
174: 6: PACKET_AES
175: 7: KFIR_SYSTEM
176:
177: sndfreq - sndfreq=0..7 default is 7
178: (Values in kHz)
179: 0: 5_5125 = 0,
180: 1: 8_0000 = 1,
181: 2: 11_025 = 2,
182: 3: 16_000 = 3,
183: 4: 22_050 = 4,
184: 5: 32_000 = 5,
185: 6: 44_100 = 6,
186: 7: 48_000 = 7
187:
188:
189: 2.1.8 Can I encode MPEG-1
190:
191: Please follow the mailinglist thread
192: <A HREF="http://linuxtv.org/mailinglists/mpeg2/msg00148.html">http://linuxtv.org/mailinglists/mpeg2/msg00148.html</A>
193:
194: 2.1.9 Which kernel version should I use?
195:
196: Use 2.4.x
197:
198:
199: 2.1.10 Why does the build process fail for me?
200:
201: Maybe you already have i2c and v4l linux stuff in your kernel
202: and on your system, which may interfere with the building
203: of the optional modules.
204: Uncomment the $(MX_OBJS) part in line 6 of driver/Makefile like this:
205: obj-m = $(M_OBJS) # $(MX_OBJS)
206:
1.4 ! stolk 207:
! 208: 2.1.11 Are there binary versions of the driver available?
! 209:
! 210: You can get a module for 2.4.18 with microcode from:
! 211: http://www.stolk.info/kfirbins.tar.gz
! 212:
! 213: Containing these files:
! 214: lib/modules/2.4.18/misc/kfir.o
! 215: lib/modules/2.4.18/misc/saa7113.o
! 216: lib/kfir/MPEG1_6.HLD
! 217: lib/kfir/altera_keb_plx_5e.rbf
1.2 stolk 218:
219:
220: ================================================================
221:
222: 3. Technical details
223:
224: 3.1 Working with the encoded MPEG-2 material
225:
226: 3.1.1 What client is recommended?
227:
228: I recommend
229: vlc (www.videolan.org)
230: dvdview (see freshmeat.net)
231: hardware: the Siemens/Technotrend/Hauppauge DVB-S card with LinuxTV drivers.
232:
233:
234: 3.1.2 How do I multicast my favourite DVB channel in my LAN?
235:
236: see our multicast tools in <A HREF="http://linuxtv.org/download/mbone/">http://linuxtv.org/download/mbone/</A>
237: Usually:
238: cat /dev/video0 | anyserver 226.23.23.23 5004 128
239: receiver:
240: mkfifo stream ; receiver 226.23.23.23 5004 > stream & vlc stream
241:
242:
243: 3.1.3 What kind of streams are generated?
244:
245: For MPEG2, the default stream is composed as:
246: I BB P BB P BB P BB P BB
247:
248:
249: 3.1.4 How can I edit the mpeg streams?
250:
251: Kees Cook's GOPChop is an excellent choice.
252: See http://outflux.net/unix/software/GOPchop/
253: GOPChop works just fine with kfir generated streams.
254:
255:
256:
257:
258:
259: 3.2. Picture qualitity
260:
261:
262: 3.3. other measurements
263:
264: 3.3.1 What is the encoding latency?
265:
266: At default settings, I've meassured it to be appr one third of a second. (Bram Stolk)
267:
268:
269: 3.4. general hints for encoding
1.1 stolk 270:
271:
272:
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