Working Generic Card 4 port 120 FPS - Several on Ebay

ada95rules · Post by **ada95rules** » Fri May 06, 2005 2:52 pm

I got this
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vi ... %3AIT&rd=1

And all 4 channels work fine. Full speed. Using custom built Kernel with centos 4 OS (from vanilla centos 4 sources. custom kernel build just required to enable all of the V4Linux modules)

Blazer · Post by **Blazer** » Sun Jun 05, 2005 1:00 pm

Why does all the info in the auction say that it's an 8 channel card?

ada95rules · Post by **ada95rules** » Sun Jun 05, 2005 1:22 pm

It comes with a little add on card/cable that allows for 8 different video sources to be connected but since it is a 4 chip card, the moment you begin to use the "other" 4 channels you start having to trade away Frames per second to the other channels.

In theory, you get 30 FPS per chip so in theory if you want to use all 4 channels you could get 15 FPS per channel. In practice, if you want to run at full resolution (640x480) then the interframe gaps required to get everything in sync means that you will end up running each channel at just a few frames per second.

All-in-all though these are still pretty decent cards. 4 full speed channels and if you are willing to trade FPS, you can run 8.

I have only been running mine with 4 channels.

Blazer · Post by **Blazer** » Sun Jun 05, 2005 8:19 pm

ada95rules wrote:In theory, you get 30 FPS per chip so in theory if you want to use all 4 channels you could get 15 FPS per channel. In practice, if you want to run at full resolution (640x480) then the interframe gaps required to get everything in sync means that you will end up running each channel at just a few frames per second.

I have only been running mine with 4 channels.

So its 30fps per chip, and has 4 chips...so for 4 cameras you can capture at 30fps from each right? I got confused when you said you can use all 4 channels @ 15fps each.

ada95rules · Post by **ada95rules** » Sun Jun 05, 2005 8:47 pm

Woops..Meant to say you would end up with a theoretical 15 FPS (on each channel) if you tried to use all 8 channels.

And again, that is a theoretical # and actual performance per channel tends to be quite a bit less than that.

So, to be clear.

If I use all 4 channels on this 4 chip card, each channel does indeed run at 30 FPS.

Blazer · Post by **Blazer** » Mon Jun 06, 2005 7:19 pm

Cool...I might try one out then, although I'm still torn between using composite cameras w/ BNC or network cameras.

momelod · Post by **momelod** » Fri Jul 15, 2005 7:51 pm

I just purchased this card, and so far i haven't had any luck with it, I can't even identify it

Like you suggested I build a custom kernel with all the v4l modules but I don’t get any video in xawtv, just a blue screen.

Would you have any ideas I should try?

thanks,

Steve

ada95rules · Post by **ada95rules** » Mon Jul 18, 2005 1:02 am

Are you getting all of the devices in /dev/video (0,1,2,3)

Also what kernel version are you running?

I am running Centos 4.1 with Kernel 2.6.9-5.0.5

I've got this working both with and without an SMP kernel (2 different machines).

I could send my kernel config file though I dont expect there is anything really special in it.

momelod · Post by **momelod** » Mon Jul 18, 2005 4:30 pm

Yes, I do see the devices /dev/video[0,1,2,3].

I am running kernel 2.6.10 on a debian sarge box.

I believe my kernel is configured properly (I enabled all the v4l devices) in the kernel config.

My question for you is, when your loading the bttv module what card type do you specify? The reason I ask, is because I found in my boot up logs that the card is found, but the exact card cannot be identified, notice how each chipset says "using: *** UNKNOWN/GENERIC *** [card=0,autodetected]":

Code: Select all

bttv: driver version 0.9.15 loaded
bttv: using 8 buffers with 2080k (520 pages) each for capture
bttv: Bt8xx card found (0).
bttv0: Bt878 (rev 17) at 0000:02:0c.0, irq: 12, latency: 32, mmio: 0xe5800000
bttv0: using:  *** UNKNOWN/GENERIC ***  [card=0,autodetected]
bttv0: gpio: en=00000000, out=00000000 in=000fffff [init]
bttv: readee error
bttv0: using tuner=-1
bttv0: i2c: checking for MSP34xx @ 0x80... not found
bttv0: i2c: checking for TDA9875 @ 0xb0... not found
bttv0: i2c: checking for TDA7432 @ 0x8a... not found
bttv0: registered device video0
bttv0: registered device vbi0
bttv: Bt8xx card found (1).
bttv1: Bt878 (rev 17) at 0000:02:0d.0, irq: 5, latency: 32, mmio: 0xe5802000
bttv1: using:  *** UNKNOWN/GENERIC ***  [card=0,autodetected]
bttv1: gpio: en=00000000, out=00000000 in=00ffff7f [init]
bttv: readee error
bttv1: using tuner=-1
bttv1: i2c: checking for MSP34xx @ 0x80... not found
bttv1: i2c: checking for TDA9875 @ 0xb0... not found
bttv1: i2c: checking for TDA7432 @ 0x8a... not found
bttv1: registered device video1
bttv1: registered device vbi1
bttv: Bt8xx card found (2).
bttv2: Bt878 (rev 17) at 0000:02:0e.0, irq: 10, latency: 32, mmio: 0xe5804000
bttv2: using:  *** UNKNOWN/GENERIC ***  [card=0,autodetected]
bttv2: gpio: en=00000000, out=00000000 in=00ffff7f [init]
bttv: readee error
bttv2: using tuner=-1
bttv2: i2c: checking for MSP34xx @ 0x80... not found
bttv2: i2c: checking for TDA9875 @ 0xb0... not found
bttv2: i2c: checking for TDA7432 @ 0x8a... not found
bttv2: registered device video2
bttv2: registered device vbi2
bttv: Bt8xx card found (3).
bttv3: Bt878 (rev 17) at 0000:02:0f.0, irq: 11, latency: 32, mmio: 0xe5806000
bttv3: using:  *** UNKNOWN/GENERIC ***  [card=0,autodetected]
bttv3: gpio: en=00000000, out=00000000 in=00ffff7f [init]
bttv: readee error
bttv3: using tuner=-1
bttv3: i2c: checking for MSP34xx @ 0x80... not found
bttv3: i2c: checking for TDA9875 @ 0xb0... not found
bttv3: i2c: checking for TDA7432 @ 0x8a... not found
bttv3: registered device video3
bttv3: registered device vbi3
bt878: AUDIO driver version 0.0.0 loaded
bt878: Bt878 AUDIO function found (0).
bt878(0): Bt878 (rev 17) at 02:0c.1, irq: 12, latency: 32, memory: 0xe5801000
bt878: Bt878 AUDIO function found (1).
bt878(1): Bt878 (rev 17) at 02:0d.1, irq: 5, latency: 32, memory: 0xe5803000
bt878: Bt878 AUDIO function found (2).
bt878(2): Bt878 (rev 17) at 02:0e.1, irq: 10, latency: 32, memory: 0xe5805000
bt878: Bt878 AUDIO function found (3).
bt878(3): Bt878 (rev 17) at 02:0f.1, irq: 11, latency: 32, memory: 0xe5807000
btaudio: driver version 0.7 loaded [digital+analog]

Also, on the card itself I see 4 Conexant chips, and in the kernel config (Device Drivers -> Multimedia Devices -> Video For Linux -> Conexant 2388x (bt878 successor) support as module cx8800). I mentioned this because this cx8800 module isn’t loaded automatically? Are you using the cx8800 module?

Another guess is that I have NTSC cameras and when I do a "zmu -d 0 -q -v " the output shows only PAL, even though the eBay add says there is NTSC support.?:

Code: Select all

Video Capabilities
  Name: BT878 video ( *** UNKNOWN/GENER
  Type: 171
    Can capture
    Can tune
    Overlay onto frame buffer
    Can clip
    Scalable
  Video Channels: 4
  Audio Channels: 1
  Maximum Width: 924
  Maximum Height: 576
  Minimum Width: 48
  Minimum Height: 32
Window Attributes
  X Offset: 0
  Y Offset: 0
  Width: 320
  Height: 240
Picture Attributes
  Palette: 4 - 24bit RGB
  Colour Depth: 24
  Brightness: 32768
  Hue: 32768
  Colour :32768
  Contrast: 32768
  Whiteness: 0
Channel 0 Attributes
  Name: Television
  Channel: 0
  Flags: 3
    Channel has a tuner
    Channel has audio
  Type: 1 - TV
  Format: 0 - PAL
Channel 1 Attributes
  Name: Composite1
  Channel: 1
  Flags: 2
    Channel has audio
  Type: 2 - Camera
  Format: 0 - PAL
Channel 2 Attributes
  Name: S-Video
  Channel: 2
  Flags: 2
    Channel has audio
  Type: 2 - Camera
  Format: 0 - PAL
Channel 3 Attributes
  Name: Composite3
  Channel: 3
  Flags: 2
    Channel has audio
  Type: 2 - Camera
  Format: 0 - PAL

Sorry for the long post. And thanx for your help

-Steve

ada95rules · Post by **ada95rules** » Tue Jul 19, 2005 1:58 am

Hmm.. Here are my results

zmu -d 0 -q -v
Video Capabilities
Name: BT878 video ( *** UNKNOWN/GENER
Type: 171
Can capture
Can tune
Overlay onto frame buffer
Can clip
Scalable
Video Channels: 4
Audio Channels: 1
Maximum Width: 768
Maximum Height: 480
Minimum Width: 48
Minimum Height: 32
Window Attributes
X Offset: 0
Y Offset: 0
Width: 640
Height: 480
Picture Attributes
Palette: 4 - 24bit RGB
Colour Depth: 24
Brightness: 32768
Hue: 32768
Colour :32768
Contrast: 32768
Whiteness: 0
Channel 0 Attributes
Name: Television
Channel: 0
Flags: 3
Channel has a tuner
Channel has audio
Type: 1 - TV
Format: 1 - NTSC
Channel 1 Attributes
Name: Composite1
Channel: 1
Flags: 2
Channel has audio
Type: 2 - Camera
Format: 1 - NTSC
Channel 2 Attributes
Name: S-Video
Channel: 2
Flags: 2
Channel has audio
Type: 2 - Camera
Format: 1 - NTSC
Channel 3 Attributes
Name: Composite3
Channel: 3
Flags: 2
Channel has audio
Type: 2 - Camera
Format: 1 - NTSC

and

dmesg | grep -i bttv
bttv: driver version 0.9.15 loaded
bttv: using 8 buffers with 2080k (520 pages) each for capture
bttv: Bt8xx card found (0).
bttv0: Bt878 (rev 17) at 0000:07:0c.0, irq: 17, latency: 64, mmio: 0xddc07000
bttv0: using: *** UNKNOWN/GENERIC *** [card=0,autodetected]
bttv0: gpio: en=00000000, out=00000000 in=000fffff [init]
bttv: readee error
bttv0: using tuner=-1
bttv0: i2c: checking for MSP34xx @ 0x80... not found
bttv0: i2c: checking for TDA9875 @ 0xb0... not found
bttv0: i2c: checking for TDA7432 @ 0x8a... not found
bttv0: registered device video0
bttv0: registered device vbi0
bttv: Bt8xx card found (1).
bttv1: Bt878 (rev 17) at 0000:07:0d.0, irq: 18, latency: 64, mmio: 0xddc05000
bttv1: using: *** UNKNOWN/GENERIC *** [card=0,autodetected]
bttv1: gpio: en=00000000, out=00000000 in=00ffff7f [init]
bttv: readee error
bttv1: using tuner=-1
bttv1: i2c: checking for MSP34xx @ 0x80... not found
bttv1: i2c: checking for TDA9875 @ 0xb0... not found
bttv1: i2c: checking for TDA7432 @ 0x8a... not found
bttv1: registered device video1
bttv1: registered device vbi1
bttv: Bt8xx card found (2).
bttv2: Bt878 (rev 17) at 0000:07:0e.0, irq: 19, latency: 64, mmio: 0xddc03000
bttv2: using: *** UNKNOWN/GENERIC *** [card=0,autodetected]
bttv2: gpio: en=00000000, out=00000000 in=00ffff7f [init]
bttv: readee error
bttv2: using tuner=-1
bttv2: i2c: checking for MSP34xx @ 0x80... not found
bttv2: i2c: checking for TDA9875 @ 0xb0... not found
bttv2: i2c: checking for TDA7432 @ 0x8a... not found
bttv2: registered device video2
bttv2: registered device vbi2
bttv: Bt8xx card found (3).
bttv3: Bt878 (rev 17) at 0000:07:0f.0, irq: 20, latency: 64, mmio: 0xddc01000
bttv3: using: *** UNKNOWN/GENERIC *** [card=0,autodetected]
bttv3: gpio: en=00000000, out=00000000 in=00ffff7f [init]
bttv: readee error
bttv3: using tuner=-1
bttv3: i2c: checking for MSP34xx @ 0x80... not found
bttv3: i2c: checking for TDA9875 @ 0xb0... not found
bttv3: i2c: checking for TDA7432 @ 0x8a... not found
bttv3: registered device video3
bttv3: registered device vbi3

Seems pretty much the same. Not clear why you only see PAL. Not sure but is that coming from the config within ZM and not the card itself. These cards can do both but mine shows only NTSC so I am suspecting it is reading that from the configuration you are entering into zoneminder.

On the most recent card I am using (on zm source tab)
device number 0
Device channel 0
Device format 1 (you sure you dont have 0 here)
Palette RGB24
640
480
Normal

I do not have the daugter card (for the extra 4 ports) installed.

I've got no special kernel config lines nor modprobe setup to force it to a specific card.

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