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v4l2 issues
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The driver supporting this chipset is [http://www.linuxtv.org/wiki/index.php/Trident_TM6000 tm6000]. The kernel doesn't know the device in particular, but recognizes the chipset: <code>tm6000: Found Generic tm5600 board</code>.
The driver supporting this chipset is [http://www.linuxtv.org/wiki/index.php/Trident_TM6000 tm6000]. The kernel doesn't know the device in particular, but recognizes the chipset: <code>tm6000: Found Generic tm5600 board</code>.


'''Grabbing video works fine.''' You plug the USB, you run "<code>mplayer tv://</code>" and you have the image, it's as simple as that if your kernel was compiled with <code>CONFIG_VIDEO_TM6000</code> (distribution's kernels are). With mplayer displaying the feed, it takes 20% of user space CPU on an AMD64 2GHz.
'''Grabbing video works fine in some circumstances.''' You plug the USB, you run "<code>mplayer tv://</code>" and you have the image, it's as simple as that if your kernel was compiled with <code>CONFIG_VIDEO_TM6000</code> (distribution's kernels are). With mplayer displaying the feed, it takes 20% of user space CPU on an AMD64 2GHz.


The image is not very stable (it moves up and down a bit), but I don't know how stable is the source being tested. There is a green line at the bottom of the image. Supported video standards  are NTSC (720x480) and PAL (720x576).
However, '''in some cases, it doesn't works fine''', one frame on two is not obtained right from the driver, and I have no idea why. The [http://moinejf.free.fr/ SVV V4L2 application], [http://www.mplayerhq.hu/ Mplayer] and [[Unicap]] get a correct image. [[GoQat]]'s V4L2 mode, qastrocam-g2 (not always?) and [[OpenPHD Guiding|open-phd-guiding]] seem to have a buffer problem in V4L2 mmap mode grabbing, and the image flickers.
 
The image is not very stable (it moves up and down a bit), but I don't know how stable is the source being tested. There is a green line at the bottom of the image. Supported video standards  are NTSC (720x480) and PAL (720x576), supported image formats are YUYV and UYVY.


Warnings from the kernel "<code>xc2028 2-0061: Error: firmware xc3028-v24.fw not found</code>" must not be fixed as explained on the [http://www.linuxtv.org/wiki/index.php/Xceive_XC3028/XC2028 XC2028 page], because it crashes the driver, or at least it makes the device not work, I don't know why yet.
Warnings from the kernel "<code>xc2028 2-0061: Error: firmware xc3028-v24.fw not found</code>" must not be fixed as explained on the [http://www.linuxtv.org/wiki/index.php/Xceive_XC3028/XC2028 XC2028 page], because it crashes the driver, or at least it makes the device not work, I don't know why yet.

Revision as of 02:26, 14 September 2012

TM5600 USB video grabber

This page explains how the Trident TM5600 chipset works in Linux, in particular with the following product that embeds it: KÖNIG CMP-USBVG6 (bought here 30€).

First of all, Trident seems to be well known for refusing to help coding free drivers and even disclosing information about the chipsets, so that's a good reason not to buy it in the first place.

The driver supporting this chipset is tm6000. The kernel doesn't know the device in particular, but recognizes the chipset: tm6000: Found Generic tm5600 board.

Grabbing video works fine in some circumstances. You plug the USB, you run "mplayer tv://" and you have the image, it's as simple as that if your kernel was compiled with CONFIG_VIDEO_TM6000 (distribution's kernels are). With mplayer displaying the feed, it takes 20% of user space CPU on an AMD64 2GHz.

However, in some cases, it doesn't works fine, one frame on two is not obtained right from the driver, and I have no idea why. The SVV V4L2 application, Mplayer and Unicap get a correct image. GoQat's V4L2 mode, qastrocam-g2 (not always?) and open-phd-guiding seem to have a buffer problem in V4L2 mmap mode grabbing, and the image flickers.

The image is not very stable (it moves up and down a bit), but I don't know how stable is the source being tested. There is a green line at the bottom of the image. Supported video standards are NTSC (720x480) and PAL (720x576), supported image formats are YUYV and UYVY.

Warnings from the kernel "xc2028 2-0061: Error: firmware xc3028-v24.fw not found" must not be fixed as explained on the XC2028 page, because it crashes the driver, or at least it makes the device not work, I don't know why yet.