Baslinux mailing list

[sindi keesan <keesan AT sdf.lonestar.org>]

On Mon, 26 Feb 2007, Samual Acorn wrote:

> On 25/02/07, sindi keesan <keesan AT sdf.lonestar.org> wrote:
> > On Sun, 25 Feb 2007, Samual Acorn wrote:
> >
> > > mplayer -vo xvidix -framedrop file
> >
> > Vidix is a portable interface to provide DGA.  Video Interface for Unix.
> > Found the source code for drivers. vidix-0.9.9.3 was released Dec 2006.
> > vidix-0.9.9.3.tar.bz2 331K
> >
> > Using glibc 2.2.5 and gcc 2.95.3 I tried to compile:
> > ./configure
> > make - a few warnings then
> > Error 1 Error 2  mga_vid.c various things are undeclared.
> >
> > uclibc (0.27 precompiled) worked to compile vidix.  I have drivers
> > genfb_vid.o nvidia_vid.o rage128_vid.o mga_vid.o mach64_vid.o etc.  Tried
> > to insmod nvidia_vid.o - lots of unresolved symbols.  Exited uclibc and
> > now I have the wrong kernel version.  It might help to have the uclibc
> > that was compiled around 2.4.31 since that is my kernel version.
> >
> > Sam, can you explain how to compile and use vidix?
>
> vidix was already compiled and useable in a mplayer package you had on
> your site... at least at one point in time..
>
> should already be a /usr/local/lib/mplayer/vidix on your system with a
> handfull of *.so files in it... its these .so files that do it... you
> dont need to install any modules...

Found it!  mga_vid.so etc.  Not .o. The library files in this directory 
are larger than what I compiled - perhaps it has something to do with the 
kernel used when compiling?  Or maybe David compiled his own uclibc (a 
later version)?

mga_vid.so is 15952 bytes, and mine is 11513.

mplayer -vo cvidix dvd://1  - sort of works.  But the image is 
transparently on top of the original text.  I can see the numbers go up as 
it plays.  Interesting effect.  It fills the entire screen.  Vesa only 
fills about 3/4 of it.

And 'Your system is too SLOW to play this!' - try -ao sdl or ALSA, try a 
different -vo driver or -framedrop, slow media such as DVD (try -cache 
8192) etc.  I could try a different DVD drive with vesa.  This one is nice 
because the CD part is not broken and the door works all the time.

Now the sound is dead.  That has been happening a lot.  Maybe the vesa 
driver conflicts somehow (it is the one where sound lags and then stops). 
So I can't test -cache 8192 with vesa.  This sound card shares IRQ5.

Maybe riva has buggy vidix as well as xfbdev.  I knew I should not have 
closed up the case so soon ;=(  This card lets me view at 1600 in full 
color and the matrox has only 2MB RAM so I may stick with x11 -framedrop.


> one of the problems tho is even tho i still have this package i took
> it apart from its original form and ran the script in it manually to
> install it... (redhat doesnt have the 'pkg' command) so i dunno how i
> would get it back to you if you dont have it... (been a while since i
> took it apart so i dunno how it was originally constructed)... the
> version was 1.0pre5 ... the install script will print (to the screen)
> info on where it put the vidix files if you are using the same version
> i am..

I have it on all my computers but thanks.  David probably has it at his 
site and I have it at mine too.  1.0pre5-2.95.3 2004

> > With this nvidia Riva pci video card, -vo svga does not work.
> > -vo vesa works, sort of, but the sound lags then stops.
> > x11 works (with -framedrop).
>
> close X if you use vesa.... (if you didnt already) .. ive never tried svga...

If I forget, it closes itself I think.  Works anyway.

Why would a monitor start squealing after a while?


> > x11 always works.
>
> it always will... but it will be horridly slow...

Better than vesa on this setup.  Usable.  My other option is a 13" RGB 
Magnavox monitor with DVD player.  Or amber on black TTL.   You can't skip 
past the warnings.
> > The AGP cards don't need it on a fast computer.  PCI do.  I don't
> > multitask while watching a DVD, it tends to crash mplayer.

> AGP is just a modified version of PCI... other cards can still get in 
> its way...
It seems to be fast enough not to need -framedrop.  I don't run other 
programs at the same time as playing a DVD.  If I try I lose the picture.

> > > if you are watching DVDs turn DMA on for the dvd drive... you cant put
> > > every function on the cpu...
> >
> > How do I do that?  I left BIOS alone for the most part.  Prefetch mode was
> > disabled for the second controller but I can try enabling it.  Do I turn
> > on DMA when I load linux?
>
> hdparm -d1 /dev/<dvddrivelocation>

I was going to but I seem to have lost BOTH my VGA vts now and will have 
to reboot to get sound and video back first.  I have a dual-head system 
with MGA/TTL on vt1 and vt2 and VGA on vt3 and vt4.  Something killed them 
both - black screens.  I could set up a separate computer just for DVD 
watching with AGP and one monitor but I also want to use the fast computer 
for compiling on.

> linux turns DMA off -- it doesnt matter what the bios says... you have
> to turn it back on..

Does it always turn it off?  I had one computer where I had to disable DMA 
in BIOS to speed up boot, because linux would complain about it not 
working otherwies.

> i dunno if you have hdparm or not tho...

I do.  Used it to stop a reset problem with one odd drive.  From bin.tgz.
Also in busybox that I compiled.  Useful for determining buffer size in 
drives which lets you copy files faster with dd.

> > mplayer -vo help lists:
> > xmga (Matrox - not my version)
> > mga (ditto)
> > xv (X11/Xv)  ??
> > dga (Direct Graphic Access V2.0)
> > sdl
> > fbdev
> > fbdev2
> > vesa  VESA VBE 2.0 (worked but not well here)
> > xvidix X11 (VIDIX)
> > cvidix - console vidix

I only copied the ones I thought might be useful and did not go on top of 
X.

> i get;
> Available video output drivers:
>        xmga    Matrox G200/G4x0/G550 overlay in X11 window (using 
> /dev/mga_vid)
>        mga     Matrox G200/G4x0/G550 overlay (/dev/mga_vid)
>        xv      X11/Xv
>        x11     X11 ( XImage/Shm )
>        xover   General X11 driver for overlay capable video output drivers
>        dga     DGA ( Direct Graphic Access V2.0 )
>        sdl     SDL YUV/RGB/BGR renderer (SDL v1.1.7+ only!)
>        fbdev   Framebuffer Device
>        fbdev2  Framebuffer Device
>        null    Null video output
>        pgm     PGM file
>        md5     MD5 sum
>        mpegpes Mpeg-PES file
>        yuv4mpeg        yuv4mpeg output for mjpegtools (to "stream.yuv")
>        vesa    VESA VBE 2.0 video output
>        xvidix  X11 (VIDIX)
>        cvidix  console VIDIX
>        tga     Targa output
>
>
> > svga is not listed here but works with some video cards.
>
> guess i never used 'svga' cos i dont have it *grin*

svgalib - I installed it for use with the delilinux links2 graphical, bmv, 
and zgv.  But it does not show up on the list.

> > > On 25/02/07, sindi keesan
> > <keesan AT sdf.lonestar.org> wrote:
> > > > The driver works fine for streaming audio, but when playing dvds all the
> > > > sounds repeat a second or so after.  Is this related to converting 44Khz
> > > > to 48KHz, or to sharing IRQ 10?
>
> DVD audio is natively at 48khz (or more.. but most are 48) so you
> shouldnt need to convert it...

So this is some other odd problem with the onboard sound.  Forget it.
Sounds sort of scratchy anyway.

Thanks for all the info and for getting me further with vidix.
I have lots of experiments to run now - different DVD drive, enable DMA, 
fbdev and cvidix with the matrox card.

Sindi