Configuring my system to detect my card (bttv.conf)

[krisw]

Hi all, I appear to be having troubles getting my CCTV server to detect my card properly. The system has the following hardware / software:

• 8 input, 8 chip (bt878) card from camsecure.co.uk.
  Asrock K7S41GX motherboard (SiS chipset)
  AMD Athlon XP 2200+
  1GB RAM
  Ubuntu 9.10 Server

I did receive some instructions with my capture card that said to add the following to my bttv.conf file:

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options i2c-algo-bit bit_test=1
options bttv gbuffers=32 card=102,102,102,102,102,102,102,102 tuner=0 radio=0 coring=1 full_luma_range=1 chroma_agc=1 pll=1 combfilter=1 autoload=0 triton1=0

After adding the above to my bttv.conf file and rebooting, from what I can tell, the card has not been detected as there are no /dev/videoN devices.

When I delete my bttv.conf file and reboot, the system starts under load (~2.50 @ 100% CPU) for about 5 minutes while modprobe is trying to detect my card, htop reports the following process is loading the system:

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/sbin/modprobe -b pci:v0000109Ed0000036Esv00000000sd00000000bc04sc00i00

When the system stabilizes, I can view the single camera that is hooked up to the system, but the picture is scrambled like so...


Next up I tried removing the first line from my original bttv.conf file, so it read as follows:

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#options i2c-algo-bit bit_test=1
options bttv gbuffers=32 card=102,102,102,102,102,102,102,102 tuner=0 radio=0 coring=1 full_luma_range=1 chroma_agc=1 pll=1 combfilter=1 autoload=0 triton1=0

The system is then under heavy load again at boot time while modprobe attempts to detect my card, not sure why, as I have told it what it is in bttv.conf, surely? Although, after about 5 minutes, /dev/video0-7 appear and I can view the camera, this time not scrambled, but with a few coloured artefacts here and there. I guess this might have been caused by one of the options that had been set, I stripped my bttv.conf file down to just the following:

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options bttv gbuffers=32 card=102,102,102,102,102,102,102,102 tuner=0 radio=0 pll=1

It still takes 5 minutes for the system to detect the card, but the coloured artefacts have disappeared.

So, it would appear that the card type is a 102 (although, it also works if I tell it it's a 77 too) - But how can I get my machine to not have modprobe load the system for 5 minutes trying to figure out what I'm already telling it?

Any guidance is much appreciated.

[mastertheknife]

You probably have this card (check the picture) or a clone of it (should look not much different):
http://www.zoneminder.com/wiki/index.php/Kodicom_8800

The slow boot is because you removed the first line, which is necessary in your case.
Regarding your problem, strange one. Try removing the pll option or use the options recommended in the wiki.
Also, my guess the problem is a low signal\interfence, mind telling us about your setup?

mastertheknife

[krisw]

Ah hah! Thanks for that, slow boot has now been solved by using the settings in the wiki:

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options i2c-algo-bit bit_test=1
options bttv gbuffers=16 card=102,102,102,102,102,102,102,102 radio=0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0 tuner=4,4,4,4,4,4,4,4 chroma_agc=1 combfilter=2 full_luma_range=1 coring=1 autoload=0

There were no other problems (yet), I guess you're talking about the scrambled picture? That was solved by re-instating my bttv.conf file.

Although the wiki does recommend that I put some heatsinks on the chips, just touched them and they do get hot! Better get some on order...

Thanks again.