I don't C TV! version 0.0.2
© 2005 by Oscar Lesta.


What is this?

This is a work in progress BeOS/Haiku driver and supporting apps for TV/FM tuner cards based on the Philips SAA7130, SAA7133, SAA7134 and SAA7135 video (and audio) decoder chips.

Example of cards using these chips are:

- LifeView FlyVIDEO 2000/3000 (now named Fly Prime 30/33/34/35) and its many clones.
- AverMedia AverTV Studio 305/307.
- Pinnacle PCTV Stereo (models with a SAA7134 chip).
- Terratec Cinergy 200/400/600 TV.

...and what seems to be a gazillion more, even some hybrid cards (DVB-T and analog TV).

As for this version, FM and analog TV sound is known to work on these cards:

- FlyVIDEO 2000 FM (Fly Prime 30 FM) with a TCL-2002N tuner (M/N systems = America)
- FlyVIDEO 3000 FM (Fly Prime 34 FM) with a Philips MK2 tuner (B/G, D/K = Europe)

"Clones" of these ones should work too (ie. "Genius VideoWonder Pro III").

If you have another SAA713x based card it will surely not work yet, but please keep reading anyway.


What it's done already?

Not much, but it's still more than you had before. You should be able to:

- Tune, and listen to (!!!), FM radio stations.

- Tune, but just listen to, Air/Cable TV channels (using the analog audio output).

- Witness in total awe (I command you! :-P) how the command line program intercepts the keys you press on the IR remote control (assuming you have one and its similar to mine).

- Fetch some valuable info from the hardware that, provided that you send it to me, may help me to improve this stuff.

- Have I mentioned that it works under Haiku?

As development is in an early state, only the analog sound output is usable by now (ie, audio from PCI bus is not available, and as I don't have that type of hardware...).

The main reasons for these early releases are:
- to let people know that someone is working on this.
- to see if there is anyone else on the BeOS world having one of these cards.
- to let BeOS users of these cards use at least the FM and TV sound parts until I get something better.


Package content.

This .zip file should contain the following files:

- Readme.txt		<-- this StyledEdit text file.
- (Un)Install.sh		<-- (Un)Install scripts.
- saa713x			<-- a tiny kernel mode driver.
- saa713x_testapp	<-- a small, but somehow usefull, test app (console).
- SAA713xFM		<-- a BeRadio add-on (was called FlyVIDEO2k in the previous version).


How to (un) install it?

Use the provided (Un)Install.sh files, under BeOS just double-click on them and follow the white rabbit. Please run the Uninstall.sh script first.
If you dare to test in under Haiku, you'll have to install it manually. If you are already testing Haiku, then you know how to do it.


About the BeRadio addon:

The said addon is provided just as a convenience for you (in case you don't like the shell too much) and serves its purpose, at least for now, but... please note that BeRadio has some bugs/quirks on its own. It's sources are not available, AFAIK, so you'll have to live with its nuances until a replacement is made.

That's to say: don't expect too much changes in that part (other than, *maybe*, support for more tuner modules).

By the way, I'm using BeRadio 1.5 (got it long ago from BeShare), don't know if it will work with 1.3 (on http://bezip.de AFAIK).


Usage of the console test app:

If you call "saa713x_testapp" in a Terminal window, without arguments, it will show the available options. As of today these are:

--help		--> Shows the list of options
--info		--> Prints some valuable information about your SAA713x based card.

--radio Freq	--> Tunes to the FM station at the given frequency.
--tv F	req		--> Tunes to the TV channel at the given frequency.

--RC			--> Read IR remote control codes (hit [Enter] to end).

--on			--> Wake up the card (not needed for normal operation).
--off			--> Put the card to sleep (mute the card in the hard way :-)).
--reset		--> Do a full reset of the card.

Example 1: tuning FM 94.1 MHz
/> saa713x_testapp --radio 94.1

Example 2: tuning Cable TV channel # 21 (US IRC mapping, equals to 163.25 MHz)
/> saa713x_testapp --tv 163.25

Example 3: wait for IR remote control events, print the pressed keys. Hit [Enter] to stop.
/> saa713x_testapp --RC

Example 4: collecting hardware info (for feedback purpose)
/> saa713x_testapp --reset
/> saa713x_testapp --info > CardInfo.txt

Then send me the resulting "CardInfo.txt" file, along with as much info about your card as you can.

Among the things I need to know:
- Card vendor and model (link to detailed product page welcomed).
- What tuner does it has? It's NTSC, PAL-B/G-D/K, what?.
- Does the card works in Linux (v4l) or in Windows (DScaler/Fly 2000 TV)?
  If yes, what card and tuner are those programs reporting/using for your card?.
- Names of the chips on the board (and inside the tuner block)
- What types, and number, of connectors it has (S-Video, Composite, etc.).
- etc., etc.


Not yet Asked Question.

Q.- What's up with the name? Shouldn't it be at least "I don't Watch TV!"?
A.- Aye. It is, more than anything else, a joke on myself:
   1.- My English is broken, as you should be well aware by now.
   2.- I really don't "C", neither I "C++". I'm learning as I go.
   3.- I'm, still, unable to "see" TV under BeOS.

Q.- Is this text longer than the actual source code?
A.- Believe it or not... it is not, by far. I didn't knew what mess I was entering to when I started to work on this.

Q.- Is this the last question you'll answer?
A.- Yes.


Contact Information.

Please send any feedback, money, unused hardware, hot sister in his late 20s and anything else (in no particular order) to the following addresses:

E-Mail:
oscar.lesta@gmail.com _or_ bipolar@softhome.net

Postal address:
Oscar Lesta
Bayley 2227
Mar del Plata - Pcia. Buenos Aires
C.P. (7600)
Argentina


Thanks to:

All the testers, specially to:
- Matjaž Kovač.
- RBF from (and the rest of) the Russian BeOS community.
for all the testing, and for their patience! :-)


Aditional credits:

Gerd Knorr and Andrey Zolotarev - for sharing some valuable hardware information.
All the Haiku's developers - for all what I'm learning by reading their code.
Argentina's awful, and shameful, economy - No job = plenty of time to spend on this.