On Mon, Dec 22, 2008 at 4:52 PM, Devin Heitmueller <devin.heitmueller@xxxxxxxxx> wrote: > On Mon, Dec 22, 2008 at 8:13 AM, Matt R <mattr121@xxxxxxxxx> wrote: >> Dear Devin, >> >> I recently purchased a Pinnacle PCTV HD Pro Stick (801e) without realizing >> that it's different from the 800e version of the model. I was able to play >> OTA digital channels on a Jaunty snapshop (dec 12) of Ubuntu after copying >> in the more recent firmware version(s) mentioned at the wiki page for this >> model. >> >> I was wondering whether and which of these features of the 801e currently >> work or might be supported in the near future: >> 1. clear QAM digital cable >> 2. analog >> 3. FM radio >> as I am considering returning the unit if support for clear QAM and FM by >> open source projects such a linuxtv/mythtv is going to take some time. What >> would be your recommendation on this, and what is your recommendation for >> the best USB tuner stick out there in terms of both model features as well >> as current/forthcoming linux support for those features? >> >> Also, in this mailing list thread, were you referring to Pinnacle's new >> "Ultimate" stick (whose number seems to be 880e and not 80e)? If so, I am a >> bit confused about what Markus Rechberger said in response: >> >> Not so fast, even though I wasn't involved at knocking this down. >> We have a custom player now which is capable of directly interfacing the >> I2C chips from those devices. Another feature is that it supports all the >> >> features of those devices, there won't be any need of different applications >> anymore. There's also the thought about publishing an SDK, most applications >> have problems of detecting all corresponding devicenodes which are required >> >> for those devices anyway. i2c-dev is an already available and accepted >> kernel interface >> to userland just as usbfs is. >> >> best regards, >> Markus Rechberger >> >> Is a full-featured custom player (including device drivers) is available for >> that model? If so, are you able to point me where to look for it? >> >> Thanks and best regards >> Matt > > Putting the ML on the CC so others can benefit from the information. > > First off - the mistake you made in buying the 801e thinking you were > getting an 800e is a common one - I made that mistake myself and that > is what prompted me to add Linux support for the 801e (for the record > though, I later added the 800e support too). > > Just to make things confusing, Pinnacle makes four different products > with nearly identical model numbers (800e, 801e, 880e, 80e). > > Let's start with the one you have: the 801e (Pro). This device > supports ATSC, ClearQAM, analog, and radio. However, only the ATSC > and ClearQAM are implemented in Linux. Because of some limitations in > the Linux dvb_usb stack, I couldn't make the analog support work > without adding all the necessary infrastructure. And the FM support > falls under analog. Also, the ClearQAM support should work in theory > but I couldn't test it when I added support since I didn't have access > to cable. I really do need to follow up on that now and correct any > problems I find. > > The 800e (Pro) is the older version of the product you have. The ATSC > and analog both are supported, however the hardware does not support > ClearQAM or FM Radio. > > The 880e (Ultimate) hardware supports ATSC, ClearQAM, analog, but no > FM radio. The device is currently completely unsupported in Linux as > I have just last week gotten the datasheets and started working on > analog support (it uses chips that are not supported at all in Linux > so it will take longer). > > The 80e (Mini) hardware only has ATSC and ClearQAM support (no analog > or FM). As indicated in the Wiki, this device will never be supported > in an open source manner because Micronas refused to let me release > the driver source (after I did all the work). > > Regarding your question on Markus's player, he is working on a piece > of commercial software for playing video, and because it is closed > source and he has relationships with Micronas he was able to include > their driver source required for the 80e Mini. That said, his player > will not allow you to use applications such as MythTV or Kaffeine, as > none of those projects are going to create a dependency on his > closed-source player. Also, his product is locked to Empia based > devices, so it will not work with products such as the 801e. You can > go to his website at http://mcentral.de for more information. > > You're going to be hard pressed to find a USB product that does all > four in Linux - ATSC, ClearQAM, analog, and FM. Most of the older > products that do ATSC have analog/FM working (but the hardware doesn't > support QAM), but most of the products that do ClearQAM and ATSC do > not have any analog or FM support implemented in the Linux driver. > The Pinnacle Ultimate driver I am working on (when it is completed) > will support ClearQAM, ATSC, and analog, but the hardware doesn't > support FM). You should also refer that eg. BSD does the whole tuner and demod configuration stuff does in Userland (cx88 freebsd), I guess sooner or later there will be a library interface (or the calls can just be overriden with LD_PRELOAD without modifying existing applications). There are a few possibilities which got mentioned earlier already. Markus _______________________________________________ linux-dvb mailing list linux-dvb@xxxxxxxxxxx http://www.linuxtv.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/linux-dvb
