[mpeg2] Re: Kfir?

[Frank Rosengart <rosengart@convergence.de>]

jussi-pekka.sairanen@nokia.com wrote:

> I joined this mailing list to find out if there's any chance of making a
> Hauppauge WinTV PVR work under Linux. Alas, I got information that the short
> term possibilities of such have died along with the cofounder of Hauppauge.
> 
> Now I read some email exchange about some Kfir based capture card being used
> successfully under Linux.
> 
> What is such a card, where can I buy one in USA, how much does it cost?

Let me use your mail as the occasion to post a preliminary
  version of my KFir-FAQ. Let us grow this FAQ together with your 
experiences by using the card.


-------- BEGIN FAQ
1. General questions

1.1. Supported cards

There is only one card supported by the Kfir driver: The 
LinuxTV-Encoder-Card manufactured by BMK-Elektronik (Germany).
The Hauppauge WinTV-PVR use the Kfir-1 chip but this card *is not 
supported* !
The Kfir-2(a) chip mentioned on the Visiontech homepage *is not supported*.



1.2. Supported mainboards :-)

The are some known problems on mainboards with VIA chipsets.



1.3. Buying the encoder card

1.3.1. Where to order

Go to http://linuxtv.org/mpeg2/kfir-bestell-en.html and fill out the 
form. You will contacted by the sales office of BMK-Elektronik. They 
will tell you how to pay and how they ship the board.



1.3.2. Why did they told me a higher price?

Maybe you contacted BMK directly and asked for an MPEG-2 encoder? They 
tell your their list price which is around 600$/EUR. This is the 
Windows-user's price :-)
Please fill out the form http://linuxtv.org/mpeg2/kfir-bestell-en.html 
for 'correct' price.



1.3.3. Delivery time

If it is very, very urgent(tm) then BMK can ship the card within 
germany/europe(?) until the next day. But you'll be charged for extra 
postage fees. [Can someone report how long it takes to China?]



1.4. Language

1.4.1 How do I pronounce KFir?
I think like 'kay-fir'.

================================================================

2. Installation

2.1. The driver software

2.1.1. Where can I download the driver?

http://linuxtv.org/download/mpeg2/
Fetch the latest tar archive und unpack it.
After that you will need the microcode. Convergence can not include this 
nessesary code due to license/copyright issues.



2.1.2. How do I use the cvs for the latest changes?

cvs -d :pserver:anonymous@linuxtv.org:/cvs/linuxtv login
When prompted for a password for anonymous, simply press the Enter key.

cvs -d :pserver:anonymous@linuxtv.org:/cvs/linuxtv co kfir



2.1.3. How do I obtain the microcode?

Get 
ftp://ftp.visiontech-dml.com/pub/Win9x/KFir/KFirAppVersion4.23/KFirApp4-23_9x.zip
Install it in MS-Windows 9x
and then copy the Makefile http://linuxtv.org/download/mpeg2/Makefile to 
the kfir/driver/micro folder and change the value for your DOS partition
Or get the files from http://www.ecn.purdue.edu/~laird/Linux/KFir/MS_driver/



2.1.4. Is the microcode ok?

If everything works fine: yes. Otherwise check the included MD5-sums 
against what you extracted.



2.1.5. My machine locks.

Don't panic. It's normal :-)
Possible reasons are:
- the microcode is not where it has to be
- you have USB drivers loaded: disable modules and kernel drivers
- you have found a strange timing problem known to appear on VIA 
chipsets: try another mainboard or computer



2.1.6. I get no output (filesize is zero)

I did 'cat /dev/video0 > foobar.mpg' and foobar.mpg has zero bytes, even 
after several seconds.

Please check:
[ ] I am root
[ ] The harddisk is not even close to be full
[ ] I have connected the right video input with a known to be correct 
video signal
[ ] I know that there is a difference between PAL and NTSC
[ ] /dev/video0 ist the Kfir card because I use neither a BTTV nor DVB card
[ ] I did only 'make insmod' and didn't pass any additional parameters 
to the driver
[ ] The microcode is where it has to be; there are no errors while 
loading the kfir.o




2.1.7. What options can I pass to the driver?

loaded=1      - Altera is already loaded with microcode, so donīt do it 
again
                (reloading takes time and can lock your machine!)

vidinmode    - vidimode=0  for PAL, 1 for NTSC, 2 for SECAM (default PAL)

vidoutmode   - vidoutmode=0 for NTSC, 1 for PAL (default PAL)

vidsize      - vidsize=(vertical_mode<<4)|horizontal_mode,  cf. KfirCMD.h
                e.g. vidsize=0x12 (=(KFIR_V_288<<4)|KFIR_H_352)
	       (0x12 is CIF, quarter of PAL, 0x26 for PAL, default is fullsize)

vidrate      - video bitrate (4500000 for 4.5 Mbit/s)

vidinput     - vidinput=0 for composite (default), vidinput=1 for 
S-Video Y/C

mpeg1mode    - mpeg1mode=1 for MPEG1

streamtype   - streamtype=0..7 default is 3
   0: AUDIO_ES
   1: VIDEO_ES
   2: A_V_ES
   3: PROGRAM
   4: TRANSPORT
   5: PACKET_VES
   6: PACKET_AES
   7: KFIR_SYSTEM

sndfreq      - sndfreq=0..7 default is 7
   (Values in kHz)
   0: 5_5125 = 0,
   1: 8_0000 = 1,
   2: 11_025 = 2,
   3: 16_000 = 3,
   4: 22_050 = 4,
   5: 32_000 = 5,
   6: 44_100 = 6,
   7: 48_000 = 7


2.1.8 Can I encode MPEG-1

Please follow the mailinglist thread 
http://linuxtv.org/mailinglists/mpeg2/msg00148.html

2.1.9 Which kernel version should I use?

Use 2.4.x

================================================================

3. Technical details

3.1 Working with the encoded MPEG-2 material

3.1.1 What client is recommended?

I recommend
vlc (www.videolan.org)
dvdview (see freshmeat.net)
hardware: the Siemens/Technotrend/Hauppauge DVB-S card with LinuxTV drivers.


3.1.2 How do I multicast my favourite DVB channel in my LAN?

see our multicast tools in http://linuxtv.org/download/mbone/
Usually:
cat /dev/video0 | anyserver 226.23.23.23 5004 128
receiver:
mkfifo stream ; receiver 226.23.23.23 5004 > stream & vlc stream


3.1. Picture qualitity
3.2. other measurements
3.3. general hints for encoding