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Johannes Stezenbach776338e2005-06-23 22:02:35 -07001Documentation for dvb-usb-framework module and its devices
2
3Idea behind the dvb-usb-framework
4=================================
5
6In March 2005 I got the new Twinhan USB2.0 DVB-T device. They provided specs and a firmware.
7
8Quite keen I wanted to put the driver (with some quirks of course) into dibusb.
9After reading some specs and doing some USB snooping, it realized, that the
10dibusb-driver would be a complete mess afterwards. So I decided to do it in a
11different way: With the help of a dvb-usb-framework.
12
13The framework provides generic functions (mostly kernel API calls), such as:
14
15- Transport Stream URB handling in conjunction with dvb-demux-feed-control
Patrick Boettcher82ff8962005-07-07 17:58:17 -070016 (bulk and isoc are supported)
Johannes Stezenbach776338e2005-06-23 22:02:35 -070017- registering the device for the DVB-API
18- registering an I2C-adapter if applicable
19- remote-control/input-device handling
20- firmware requesting and loading (currently just for the Cypress USB
Patrick Boettcher82ff8962005-07-07 17:58:17 -070021 controllers)
Johannes Stezenbach776338e2005-06-23 22:02:35 -070022- other functions/methods which can be shared by several drivers (such as
23 functions for bulk-control-commands)
Patrick Boettcher82ff8962005-07-07 17:58:17 -070024- TODO: a I2C-chunker. It creates device-specific chunks of register-accesses
25 depending on length of a register and the number of values that can be
26 multi-written and multi-read.
Johannes Stezenbach776338e2005-06-23 22:02:35 -070027
28The source code of the particular DVB USB devices does just the communication
29with the device via the bus. The connection between the DVB-API-functionality
30is done via callbacks, assigned in a static device-description (struct
31dvb_usb_device) each device-driver has to have.
32
33For an example have a look in drivers/media/dvb/dvb-usb/vp7045*.
34
35Objective is to migrate all the usb-devices (dibusb, cinergyT2, maybe the
36ttusb; flexcop-usb already benefits from the generic flexcop-device) to use
37the dvb-usb-lib.
38
39TODO: dynamic enabling and disabling of the pid-filter in regard to number of
40feeds requested.
41
Patrick Boettcher82ff8962005-07-07 17:58:17 -070042Supported devices
Johannes Stezenbach776338e2005-06-23 22:02:35 -070043========================
44
Patrick Boettcher82ff8962005-07-07 17:58:17 -070045See the LinuxTV DVB Wiki at www.linuxtv.org for a complete list of
46cards/drivers/firmwares:
Johannes Stezenbach776338e2005-06-23 22:02:35 -070047
Patrick Boettcher82ff8962005-07-07 17:58:17 -070048http://www.linuxtv.org/wiki/index.php/DVB_USB
Johannes Stezenbach776338e2005-06-23 22:02:35 -070049
500. History & News:
Patrick Boettcher82ff8962005-07-07 17:58:17 -070051 2005-05-30 - added basic isochronous support to the dvb-usb-framework
52 added support for Conexant Hybrid reference design and Nebula DigiTV USB
Johannes Stezenbach776338e2005-06-23 22:02:35 -070053 2005-04-17 - all dibusb devices ported to make use of the dvb-usb-framework
54 2005-04-02 - re-enabled and improved remote control code.
55 2005-03-31 - ported the Yakumo/Hama/Typhoon DVB-T USB2.0 device to dvb-usb.
56 2005-03-30 - first commit of the dvb-usb-module based on the dibusb-source. First device is a new driver for the
57 TwinhanDTV Alpha / MagicBox II USB2.0-only DVB-T device.
58
59 (change from dvb-dibusb to dvb-usb)
60 2005-03-28 - added support for the AVerMedia AverTV DVB-T USB2.0 device (Thanks to Glen Harris and Jiun-Kuei Jung, AVerMedia)
61 2005-03-14 - added support for the Typhoon/Yakumo/HAMA DVB-T mobile USB2.0
62 2005-02-11 - added support for the KWorld/ADSTech Instant DVB-T USB2.0. Thanks a lot to Joachim von Caron
63 2005-02-02 - added support for the Hauppauge Win-TV Nova-T USB2
64 2005-01-31 - distorted streaming is gone for USB1.1 devices
65 2005-01-13 - moved the mirrored pid_filter_table back to dvb-dibusb
66 - first almost working version for HanfTek UMT-010
67 - found out, that Yakumo/HAMA/Typhoon are predessors of the HanfTek UMT-010
68 2005-01-10 - refactoring completed, now everything is very delightful
69 - tuner quirks for some weird devices (Artec T1 AN2235 device has sometimes a
70 Panasonic Tuner assembled). Tunerprobing implemented. Thanks a lot to Gunnar Wittich.
71 2004-12-29 - after several days of struggling around bug of no returning URBs fixed.
72 2004-12-26 - refactored the dibusb-driver, splitted into separate files
73 - i2c-probing enabled
74 2004-12-06 - possibility for demod i2c-address probing
75 - new usb IDs (Compro, Artec)
76 2004-11-23 - merged changes from DiB3000MC_ver2.1
77 - revised the debugging
78 - possibility to deliver the complete TS for USB2.0
79 2004-11-21 - first working version of the dib3000mc/p frontend driver.
80 2004-11-12 - added additional remote control keys. Thanks to Uwe Hanke.
81 2004-11-07 - added remote control support. Thanks to David Matthews.
82 2004-11-05 - added support for a new devices (Grandtec/Avermedia/Artec)
83 - merged my changes (for dib3000mb/dibusb) to the FE_REFACTORING, because it became HEAD
84 - moved transfer control (pid filter, fifo control) from usb driver to frontend, it seems
85 better settled there (added xfer_ops-struct)
86 - created a common files for frontends (mc/p/mb)
87 2004-09-28 - added support for a new device (Unkown, vendor ID is Hyper-Paltek)
88 2004-09-20 - added support for a new device (Compro DVB-U2000), thanks
89 to Amaury Demol for reporting
90 - changed usb TS transfer method (several urbs, stopping transfer
91 before setting a new pid)
92 2004-09-13 - added support for a new device (Artec T1 USB TVBOX), thanks
93 to Christian Motschke for reporting
94 2004-09-05 - released the dibusb device and dib3000mb-frontend driver
95
96 (old news for vp7041.c)
97 2004-07-15 - found out, by accident, that the device has a TUA6010XS for
98 PLL
99 2004-07-12 - figured out, that the driver should also work with the
100 CTS Portable (Chinese Television System)
101 2004-07-08 - firmware-extraction-2.422-problem solved, driver is now working
102 properly with firmware extracted from 2.422
103 - #if for 2.6.4 (dvb), compile issue
104 - changed firmware handling, see vp7041.txt sec 1.1
105 2004-07-02 - some tuner modifications, v0.1, cleanups, first public
106 2004-06-28 - now using the dvb_dmx_swfilter_packets, everything
107 runs fine now
108 2004-06-27 - able to watch and switching channels (pre-alpha)
109 - no section filtering yet
110 2004-06-06 - first TS received, but kernel oops :/
111 2004-05-14 - firmware loader is working
112 2004-05-11 - start writing the driver
113
1141. How to use?
1151.1. Firmware
116
117Most of the USB drivers need to download a firmware to start working.
118
119for USB1.1 (AN2135) you need: dvb-usb-dibusb-5.0.0.11.fw
120for USB2.0 HanfTek: dvb-usb-umt-010-02.fw
121for USB2.0 DiBcom: dvb-usb-dibusb-6.0.0.8.fw
122for USB2.0 AVerMedia AverTV DVB-T USB2: dvb-usb-avertv-a800-01.fw
123for USB2.0 TwinhanDTV Alpha/MagicBox II: dvb-usb-vp7045-01.fw
124
125The files can be found on http://www.linuxtv.org/download/firmware/ .
126
127We do not have the permission (yet) to publish the following firmware-files.
128You'll need to extract them from the windows drivers.
129
130You should be able to use "get_dvb_firmware dvb-usb" to get the firmware:
131
132for USB1.1 (AN2235) (a few Artec T1 devices): dvb-usb-dibusb-an2235-01.fw
133for USB2.0 Hauppauge: dvb-usb-nova-t-usb2-01.fw
134for USB2.0 ADSTech/Kworld USB2.0: dvb-usb-adstech-usb2-01.fw
135for USB2.0 Yakumo/Typhoon/Hama: dvb-usb-dtt200u-01.fw
136
1371.2. Compiling
138
139Since the driver is in the linux kernel, activating the driver in
140your favorite config-environment should sufficient. I recommend
141to compile the driver as module. Hotplug does the rest.
142
143If you use dvb-kernel enter the build-2.6 directory run 'make' and 'insmod.sh
144load' afterwards.
145
1461.3. Loading the drivers
147
148Hotplug is able to load the driver, when it is needed (because you plugged
149in the device).
150
151If you want to enable debug output, you have to load the driver manually and
152from withing the dvb-kernel cvs repository.
153
154first have a look, which debug level are available:
155
156modinfo dvb-usb
157modinfo dvb-usb-vp7045
158etc.
159
160modprobe dvb-usb debug=<level>
161modprobe dvb-usb-vp7045 debug=<level>
162etc.
163
164should do the trick.
165
166When the driver is loaded successfully, the firmware file was in
167the right place and the device is connected, the "Power"-LED should be
168turned on.
169
170At this point you should be able to start a dvb-capable application. I'm use
171(t|s)zap, mplayer and dvbscan to test the basics. VDR-xine provides the
172long-term test scenario.
173
1742. Known problems and bugs
175
176- Don't remove the USB device while running an DVB application, your system
177 will go crazy or die most likely.
178
1792.1. Adding support for devices
180
181TODO
182
1832.2. USB1.1 Bandwidth limitation
184
185A lot of the currently supported devices are USB1.1 and thus they have a
186maximum bandwidth of about 5-6 MBit/s when connected to a USB2.0 hub.
187This is not enough for receiving the complete transport stream of a
188DVB-T channel (which is about 16 MBit/s). Normally this is not a
189problem, if you only want to watch TV (this does not apply for HDTV),
190but watching a channel while recording another channel on the same
191frequency simply does not work very well. This applies to all USB1.1
192DVB-T devices, not just the dvb-usb-devices)
193
194The bug, where the TS is distorted by a heavy usage of the device is gone
195definitely. All dvb-usb-devices I was using (Twinhan, Kworld, DiBcom) are
196working like charm now with VDR. Sometimes I even was able to record a channel
197and watch another one.
198
1992.3. Comments
200
201Patches, comments and suggestions are very very welcome.
202
2033. Acknowledgements
204 Amaury Demol (ademol@dibcom.fr) and Francois Kanounnikoff from DiBcom for
205 providing specs, code and help, on which the dvb-dibusb, dib3000mb and
206 dib3000mc are based.
207
208 David Matthews for identifying a new device type (Artec T1 with AN2235)
209 and for extending dibusb with remote control event handling. Thank you.
210
211 Alex Woods for frequently answering question about usb and dvb
212 stuff, a big thank you.
213
214 Bernd Wagner for helping with huge bug reports and discussions.
215
216 Gunnar Wittich and Joachim von Caron for their trust for providing
217 root-shells on their machines to implement support for new devices.
218
Patrick Boettcher82ff8962005-07-07 17:58:17 -0700219 Allan Third and Michael Hutchinson for their help to write the Nebula
220 digitv-driver.
221
Johannes Stezenbach776338e2005-06-23 22:02:35 -0700222 Glen Harris for bringing up, that there is a new dibusb-device and Jiun-Kuei
223 Jung from AVerMedia who kindly provided a special firmware to get the device
224 up and running in Linux.
225
226 Jennifer Chen, Jeff and Jack from Twinhan for kindly supporting by
227 writing the vp7045-driver.
228
229 Some guys on the linux-dvb mailing list for encouraging me
230
231 Peter Schildmann >peter.schildmann-nospam-at-web.de< for his
232 user-level firmware loader, which saves a lot of time
233 (when writing the vp7041 driver)
234
235 Ulf Hermenau for helping me out with traditional chinese.
236
237 André Smoktun and Christian Frömmel for supporting me with
Patrick Boettcher82ff8962005-07-07 17:58:17 -0700238 hardware and listening to my problems very patiently.