[linux-dvb] Re: New firmware with more video buffer

[Oliver Endriss <o.endriss@gmx.de>]

Gregor Lawatscheck wrote:
> At 02:40 04/06/2003, you wrote:
> >I haven't had a single arm crash for weeks. All arm crash problems
> >disappeared when the OSD was fixed in March.
>
> Do you use transfer mode much? I believe replaying / transfermode
> with recordings / programms that require a high video memory buffer
> over around 4 hours breaks things over here. It's almost as if there
> is some kind of residual effect on memory not being cleared properly
> or something, and eventually it breaks. There is no single piece of
> data which crashes the ARM, it kind of accumulates over time. If you
> replayed one of the old RTL recordings continuously over a couple of
> hours you'd probably get the same result.

Hm, I have a single card setup. So transfer mode ist used automagically 
whenever I watch what I am recording. Last week I did a 6 hour 
recording in transfer mode. No problems. 
Anyway, I'll try this:
(1) play my special RTL recording a few times
(2) play your BBC test file for >4 hours
If your theory is correct, I should see an arm crash, too.

> > > I don't think it's
> > > the size video buffer on its own. What else could have changed,
> > > especially on 30th August 2002 in the firmware concerning buffer
> > > handling which appears to make it lock up in continuous replay /
> > > transfer mode?
> >
> >Around this date the time-shifting-with-one-card firmware appeared
> > for the first time.
>
> It would be great if this feature could be switched off by a seperate
> command on loading the drivers. If that's too complicated I'd really
> like to test a firmware which was stripped down of new features
> introduced in Aug 2002 to track down where the bug may be.
>
> >  For details see
> >http://linuxtv.org/mailinglists/linux-dvb/2002/09-2002/msg00011.html
>
> "By rewriting some of the core components of the cards software we
> were able to simplify and speed up the data transfer inside the
> AV711X. This was combined with the improved buffer handling in the
> communication between AV711X and PC, which we already introduced
> some time ago, and the software filters in the Linux DVB drivers."
>
> It seems some bug was introduced in this process which makes the ARM
> crash eventually on continuous replay. Could there even be "memory
> leaks" or is this sort of thing out of the question. If not, what
> else could it be...

I don't know. There are many possibilities. From the datasheet I would 
expect that the firmware uses a static memory setup.

> "To activate the new filtering mode you only have to get this new
> firmware and change one line in the driver in the file dvb.c or
> av7110.c (depending on the driver branch).
> In the function StartHWFilter(), change
>
>          buf[3] = mode;
> into
>
>          buf[3] = 0xb96a;
> "
>
> can this still be toggled in newer firmwares?

Try and see what happens. ;-)

> Apart from that using
> hw_section = 0 - i.e. use software filters doesn't seem to make a
> difference whether or not the arm crashes.

HW/SW filters are used during recording, not during replay.
IIRC your ARM crashes during replay...

Oliver


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