Bristol Digest, Vol 559, Issue 1

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Today's Topics:

1. Re: WinTV HVR-1100 (was 2 TV cards - can they work
together!?) (Alex Butcher)


----------------------------------------------------------------------

Message: 1
Date: Mon, 14 Jul 2014 10:50:35 +0100 (BST)
From: Alex Butcher <lug@assursys.co.uk>
To: Bristol and Bath Linux User Group <bristol@mailman.lug.org.uk>
Subject: Re: [bristol] WinTV HVR-1100 (was 2 TV cards - can they work
together!?)
Message-ID: <alpine.LFD.2.03.1407141004170.6307@nffheflf.pb.hx>
Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; format=flowed; charset=US-ASCII

On Sun, 13 Jul 2014, Peter Hemmings wrote:

> I have now made a list of my old VHS tapes that I want to keep, thrown lots
> away, indexed the remainder and made labels for each subject, so after all
> this long time I now need something to work!
>
> I realize the HVR should work but whatever I try it doesn't. I also bought
> an EasyCap stick that I have trouble with getting that audio from

If I remember correctly, you did have that working at one point. If so, that
proves the hardware works, and you'll have the same issues with any other
analogue TV card, as the same layers (i.e. PulseAudio, ALSA drivers, mixers
and so on) are involved in both.

>, so I will now have one last go at just getting the 1100 to work! The
> PCI board is the rectangular one and has the following details:
>
> WinTV HVR - 1100
> 94500 Rev C2AO LF
> DVB-T PAL B/G I +D/K +Secam
> FM Radio
> I think it also has an analogue tuner
> Board dated 2005.
>
> Fitted with conexant Chips CX23882-19 Decoder and CX22702-25 DVB-T 2k/8k
>
> Connections:
>
> FM and TV aerials
> S-Video in
> Comp video in
> Audio L & R
> (No R/C)
>
> There is also a 10 pin plug on the board!?

Probably either for inital programming by the manufacturer.

I vaguely remember that, in the mid-90s, some TV cards required an internal
IDC ribbon cable to link to the VGA card. I've never needed that, however.

> To summarize recent history!:
>
> The board is recognized and seems to load modules, when running Kaffeine the
> "sources" show up but when I try to scan channels it says "No device Found".
> Yet on the "Configure TV" window there is a device "Conexant CX22702 DVB-T".

The DVB-T part is the digital side and won't help at all with digitising
analogue video.

Looking at <http://www.gentoo-wiki.info/Hauppauge_WinTV_HVR-1100#Analog_TV>,
it looks like you might need the tda9887 module loaded for the analogue
toner. Then things like xawtv or tvtime should be able to view a signal
present on the composite input. I don't think Kaffeine does anything with
analogue TV.

If you have the right drivers for analogue video, you should have:

/dev/v4l/radio0
/dev/v4l/vbi0
/dev/v4l/video0

> I have just noticed that the scan list no longer has UK transmitters so I set
> it to auto scan and it now reports "No available device found"!

Given all the DVB-T frequency changes over the last few years, it looks like
the (non-UK-based) dvb maintainers haven't kept their tables under
/usr/share/dvb/dvb-t up-to-date. You'll probably need to generate one
yourself for quick scanning, but if the tuning process can find one
multiplex, that'll say which frequencies the others are located on. If
they've /all/ moved, you'll be sunk without generating an up-to-date
frequency table for your transmitter.

And, to re-iterate, DVB-T has nothing to do with digitising VHS tapes.

> As all I need are the inputs from my old recorder and not the DVB-T how do I
> get at those, I can see the card on Pulse Audio Volume control and it looks
> like noise on the audion with the tape playing?

Is your cable known to be good? Is your VHS deck putting out an appropriate
signal (e.g. connect it to the Line In inputs of a stereo to test)?

> Must I only use Alsa for this audio or should I try VLC just to see if I can
> get Audio from it?

Eh?

The HVR-1100 presents its audio inputs as a sound card, so you'll need the
ALSA drivers to bring digital audio from them into the system. VLC will need
to use that to play or record audio.

<http://linuxtv.org/wiki/index.php/VLC_media_player#An_example_with_an_Analog_capture_device>

Looks useful, but you'll need to experiment.

> On the "devices" window I do have "CX23880/1/2/3 PCI Video and Audio Decoder
> [Audio Port] Analog Stereo, but I am not sure what to do to get an output!

You'll need to make sure the mixer for that device is turned up. ALSA
drivers default to starting with all mixer channels turned right down.

> For completeness, Shane's comment on the following:
>
> [ 8.723745] cx88[0]: warning: unknown hauppauge model #94500
>
> I found some information that this is reported when there is no valid
> "Channel.conf" but I thought I did have one.
>
>
> I do think this board should work but not sure how!

To be honest, you'll probably find it quicker and easier to digitise your
old tapes under Windows, then (possibly) use Linux video applications to
edit the recording.

Also, I did this once, and the quality was awful (and, of course, it happens
in real time, so a 4 hour tape takes 4 hours to digitise), so I didn't
bother trying it again. If it was a commercial recording that was still in
print or re-issued, I'd be inclined to look for a used DVD from an Amazon
Marketplace or play.com Playtrade vendor for a couple of quid. Or even,
have a look on youtube to see if someone's digitised it already. And that's
without mentioning illegal sites.

Best Regards,
Alex



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