OS4 TV software

I have a tv card ing my a1 what software would be best to use?
I have downloaded Amitv but cant get any signal from it.

@caver99

First things first really: what TV card is it ?
is it a PCI one, and what comes up with pciscan ?

@caver99

The version on OS4Depot is a very old one.... even just a test program I think. There's a whole can of worms as to why there's no working TV card driver.

However, it's not all bad news. What card is yours? Is it based on the Bt848, Bt878 or CX2388x chipset? Because if it is, it can work.

Part of the problem is that the Bt8x8 chipsets crash OS4 at odd times for no apparent reason when I have interrupts enabled. I think it fires off too many interrupts at once and it confuses the hardware.
The problem with the Cx2388x chipset is that I can't get interrupts to work at all. Luckily you don't need interrupts though.

I have a program which will display perfectly if you have a small window, but on large windows you get signal drop-out - lines of colour on the screen. I think this may be to do with the dodgy PCI implementation on the A1. I wrote in a thread about this, including the program, for people to test on their SAM but no-one got back to me so I figured that interest was minimal.

There's also the problem that even if I get everything working just fine it'll be obsolete this or next year anyway when all the TV stations go digital only, and I can't find any technical docs on the DVB decoder on my card, so can't do anything with that either.

@Spirantho

We have analog TV signals from out broadband TV and I guess we are not alone so for many the analog part is still useful complete.
Sweden have DVB-T for all 'air' broadcasts but many cable/broadband TV providers have both analog and DVB-C at the same time and I don't think they will cut off the analog any time soon...

@caver99

The pciscan reports it as a bt878 card.

What software are you using then?
or where do i get a newer version of amitv.

@caver99

I use AmiTV. :) Of course my version is very slightly newer than the version you have.

I don't have sound working on the Bt878 yet, but if you just want a picture in a window from a composite source I can see if I can knock up a working version for you. I mostly look at the Cx2388x chipset these days as it's more reliable and generally better, but I keep the Bt8x8 version more or less up to date. Are you looking for NTSC or PAL picture?

I can't do anything if you want to use the RF tuner, though - I got that working in my test harness but not in the proper version.

Incidentally, the version on OS4depot does actually basically work. Just make sure you're using a composite video source, and that you've tried different inputs (up and down arrows change input). You may also need several attempts to get a picture in that version.

@caver99

That would be great, i am just trying to put a cable box through it, sound is not that much of an issue but would be nice in the end.
I am after a pal version as i am in the uk.

@caver99

OK, I'll see what I can do.

You'll need an overlay-capable graphics card, but I'm not aware of any that aren't these days. Other than that it should work!

OK, after a couple of hours "tweaking", I've got something resembling a usable program.

It's at:

http://www.retroreview.com/iang/AmiTV_0.8.lha

Run it by typing "AmiTV" - make sure the bt8x8.library is accessibly (PROGDIR: or LIBS:).
Use the ESCape key to quit.
Use up/down arrows to change signals. If you still don't get anything try quitting and running again.

Good luck! Be sure to let me know what happens!

@Spirantho

Kool and the Gang !

just had a quick blast of this - seems a lot more stable- retuning an empty RF socket doesnt lock the AmigaOne !

will have more of a play later.

@agafaster

Quote:

It will be... there's no interrupts on it.

The main problems are:

1) Intuition will corrupt the display. Click the mouse anywhere and watch the window go psychedelic. You'll also notice sporadic lines of colour in the window, due to this. If you hold down the right mouse button, Intuition stops responding and the window becomes clear. So if you want to watch a movie, you may want to tape the right mouse button down. :)
2) I can't get a picture much bigger than 1/2 PAL size (Which is what the program is at the moment). When I do I get spurious pixels all over the place as the card - in some columns only - DMAs only every other pixel, resulting in a grid of uncoloured pixels. I have no idea why this is!
3) Interrupts I haven't tried for a while but I'm pretty sure they still lock up the system when they're enabled. This is fine when you're using overlay, but not when you're not (i.e. video capture). On the Cx2388x they don't lock anything up because they never trigger!

If I can solve those problems then maybe we can get a reasonable usable release!

As always, any help would be greatfully received, more than happy to send the source to anyone who wants it.

Incidentally, the cx2388x library in that archive may not work as I've not brought it in line with the changes I made to get the Bt8x8 library working. Also if anyone can PLEASE try the program in a Pegasos II I'd be grateful. I don't think you can get the Bt8x8 chipset on 3.3V PCI cards so no Sam can run it...? Cx2388x cards will work though (if the driver does).

@caver99

I have just got my a1 booting again as you will see in another thread, but this works perfectly nice one.
just one thing are you working on getting it to go full scree and whats involved with getting sound?
If you need any beta testing just let me know, as i dont mind if i break my os.

Thanks again

@agafaster

I get the same results.

Trying a freeview box without a composite out.

Keep up the good work Spirantho

PS Using Bt878.

@Cap

What exactly do you mean that you get the same results? What input are you using if your Freeview box doesn't have composite out? You won't get anything on RF yet.. but you can use SCART if you use a SCART->Composite adaptor....

@Spirantho

tried my speccy (128) via the composite - yes. see what you mean !
also tried my digibox's antenna booster through the RF - can't seem to tune it to a station - is the UHF channel still a parameter via the shell ? can AmiTV read tooltypes ?

a thought occurs to me - whats the difference between how tv cards work on the Amiga and Windows ? What are windows programmers doing there that is different to what you've done here ?

I like the seperating out into .library files - thats a good idea !

Might see if I can find a CM2338x based PCI card.

anyone tried a USB tv card on the Amiga ?

@agafaster

Did you try V0.8 or V0.10?

It doesn't use the tuner at the moment, that'll come in due course, but not yet. Worrying about the composite in at the moment!

TV cards work the same on PCs as they do on Amigas, but there are all sorts of caveats you need to watch out for, and obviously the technical docs are rather complicated. The actual program uses the Linux driver source as a basis for parameters but the actual program framework is completely different - much of it is also based on the technical references. However, that does mean that if the Windows drivers do something special I don't know about it, as I only have the Linux sources available.

As for USB TV cards, there's no technical documentation out there in the public domain. Even the Linux drivers are actually written by snooping the USB bus to see what the Windows driver does and emulating that!

@Spirantho

The one in this thread, so probably 0.8, although I've just seen the thread for 0.10, I'll try that next.
yes you had mentioned about the tuner earlier, I'd just not been paying attention !

As for the drivers, there's probably something naughty in the Windows drivers, that Connexant arent telling us about, only the card developers.

Hmmm.. so not likely to see USB drivers soon then...!

@Spirantho


I`ve tried your earlier versions which i have had success in getting a picture so i was just trying RF output as i have no otherway to try a freeview box.
I see your saying composite is the only way the newer version are working.
This was on 0.8.
I will try 0.10 next.
I`ll have to dig out the Dreamcast to try composite out.

@Cap

The problem with RF input is that there's no standard decoder. The linux driver for Bt8x8 actually have a table of possible decoders and use that, using a PROM on some cards. There's a fair amount of black magic involved.

If your TV card is a Win/TV card like mine then you may have some luck and I can put RF support in (I've already written it for my test program which is on OS4Depot).

What card do you have? I can see if I can get something up.

In the meantime please let me know how you get on with composite input, and preferably get a Freeview box with SCART or composite. :) I didn't think any Freeview boxes didn't have at least SCART!

@Spirantho

Fortunately Wintv.