On 8/10/07, Markus Rechberger <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > Hi Anders, > > On 8/7/07, Anders Andersson <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > Hi! I just bought a Pinnacle Hybrid Pro Stick 330e, and after > > compiling and installing the drivers it works like a charm in Ubuntu > > on my ThinkPad. I do have a problem though, which I haven't been able > > to solve yet, because I have a bit unusual requirements. > > > > I bought this stick mainly to capture the output from old > > homecomputers, Amiga and Commodore 64. They are meant to be connected > > to a video monitor and thus output a PAL signal (I'm in europe). > > > > It works very well when the source is in interlaced format (576i), > > which is the normal mode for PAL, but the most common mode for these > > computers is to output an somewhat unstandard progressive PAL, 288 > > lines in 50hz. Every TV or monitor I've tried with this output works > > without any problems (otherwise they wouldn't have designed the output > > like that), but unfortunately it fails with my USB stick. mplayer and > > TVtime reacts in pretty much the same way, by basically freezing up, > > without being able to find any valid signal at all. > > > > Normally I would have concluded that the chipset does not support this > > format at all, and considered it a waste of money, but the interesting > > thing here is that a friend of mine has a different USB TV-stick for > > his mac, called "Elgato USB Hybrid". When I put this in my ThinkPad, > > it showed up as a Hauppauge WinTV HVR 900, which, according to the > > internet, is using the same chipset as my Pinnacle (em2880). That > > device *could* capture the Amiga signal on the mac, but I didn't get a > > chance to test it in linux, due to lack of internet access at the > > time. > > > > Now, either one or more of this seems to be true: > > a) These devices does not use the same chipset after all. > > b) The linux driver (either em2880 or v4l2) does not support this feature. > > c) I don't know how to supply the correct parameters for TVtime or mplayer. > > > > So here's my hope that it's actually "c", and that someone here will > > be able to help me understand what the problem is and how to fix it. > > If you need more details, I can supply it, just tell me what to type > > and where. :) > > > > you hit the wrong ML for that issue, it should be em28xx at mcentral de > Did you test it with different input modes? > Is the device attached through RF or composite? > > The driver also receives 50 frames (with 25 odd and 25 even lines) the > lines are copied together in the kernel at the moment. > tvtime is capable of doing deinterlacing with a dscaler filter but it > also requires quite alot CPU power. > > As from the analogue side the Elgato device is the same device as you have. > You might also test if it works in windows. > > Markus >
Hello! Sorry for mailing to the wrong list first, but I had really no idea where in the chain the problem lies. I have now done some tests, and the results are: * The device can capture these signals using VirtualDub in Windows XP, with the latest drivers from Pinnacle's website. I can capture both normal PAL, and the nonstandard 288 line, 50 Hz progressive PAL. * This works both from Composite and RF. I have no native S-Video output from any of them. * There is no difference between RF and Composite inputs in Linux, using either mplayer or tvtime - both programs hangs as soon as they get the signal. Using RF, if I start on one 'unused' channel, I get the expected noise. Changing channel to my Amiga RF, it hangs, and I have to kill it from command line. You write "Did you test it with different input modes?". I'm not really sure what you mean here, and what to change. I've tried all different PAL modes (PAL-G, -B etc), but since they are all mostly about how to encode the sound in an modulated signal, of course they didn't help anything. You also write "The driver also receives 50 frames (with 25 odd and 25 even lines)". In the case of this progressive PAL, I think that there is actually no even fields sent. If I recall correctly (can't find any information online at the moment), there will be 50 'odd' frames. Maybe the driver is waiting for one or the other, then just stalls when it doesn't find it? I would be happy to do whatever it takes to help you fix this, if you want to! Thanks for your time, Anders _______________________________________________ Em28xx mailing list [email protected] http://mcentral.de/mailman/listinfo/em28xx
