Hi everybody.

http://www.retroreview.com/iang/AmiTV_0.4.lha

is where you want to go if you want to try out my current development version.

It currently looks first for a Cx2388x chipset, then falls back to the Bt8x8. If you only have one TV card installed, like any sane person, this won't make much difference.
If however you have one of each, then use the command line option NOCX2388X or NOBT8X8 to disable one or other of the libraries. Or just delete the relevant library.

Please give generously (feedback, that is!). You'll still need a graphics card capable of overlay support and a 32 bit Workbench (I imagine).

It's possible if you get a blank window try activating it and pressing Enter. I think I fixed that bug but I'm not certain!
It's currently hardcoded to use what on my card is composite video - your input may vary!

Thanks to anyone who tries it and reports their findings!

@Spirantho

Hi,

How come this sudden burst of progress? I've been reading posts
about some problem you've been having for about 1 1/2 years.

What was the stumbling block that you solved?


Best regards,
Kotler

@Kotler

He just gave up waiting for a new SDK and new hardware and decided to work around the issues. The SDK was needed for the new memory system (which only affects drivers using DMA), but he's managed to work around that for now. AFAIK, the lockup problem due to excess interrupts still exists.

Hans

Last edited by Hans on 23-Aug-2007 at 08:01 PM.

_________________
http://hdrlab.org.nz/ - Amiga OS 4 projects, programming articles and more. Home of the RadeonHD driver for Amiga OS 4.x project.
https://keasigmadelta.com/ - More of my work.

@Spirantho

Hi!

I have a BT878, CPH06X.
And while it does not fail with crash'n'burn immediately all I get is a blue background
in the window.
Normally I am using the card in my PC to display the picture from my C64DTV so my setup works with the composite input.

I have to switch the muxer to channel #2 if this is of any help.

MMU opened at 0x6ff96000.
bt8x8.library opened at 0x693c4d48.
Bt8x8 main interface at 0x693c4dd0.
cx2388x.library opened ok.
Cx2388x main interface opened ok.
Searching for suitable cards....
Detected cards at 0x68e9c680:
Found card Hauppauge Bt878 WinTV.
AmiTV Version 0.4 23/08/2007
width 384 height 288
Window opened OK!
Getting bitmap from overlay.
Allocating 288 lines of 768.
First Frame Buffer Memory allocated at 0x68e1b000.
Display bitmap at 0x68ec6078.
Getting physical address of frame buffer. MMU is 0x6ff96000.
locking memory.
Frame buffer is at 0x000000.
mCard initially at 0x68e9c680.
mCard->MemorySpace = 0x68e9d8d0.
Start DMA chunks - 288 blocks of 768.
DMA done.
Creating the program on the Bt8x8 chipset....
OK!
Interrupt 26 at 0x6a3327a0 added OK.
Stopping program!
Starting program on card 0x68e9c680.

My SE does not like it much though, system is pretty sluggish and AmiTV crashes on exit.

@Shadowolf

Try www.retroreview.com/iang/AmiTV_0.5.lha and use the up and down arrow keys to select an input.

The system will be sluggish, yes - it's having to copy the entire bitmap from main memory to the overlay memory 50 times a second! This'll be fixed with a future update of OS4 (can't DMA to graphics memory at the moment.)

@Kotler

I didn't exactly solve the stumbling block at all.. I just worked around it.

The problem is though the code is nastier, and on the Bt8x8 chipset I'm currently limited to 50% PAL size, which isn't much cop really. It's all to do with contiguous memory - it can't be done without the new SDK (which still isn't out) and while I did need a contiguous lump to DMA to before, I don't any more. However, the Bt8x8 chipset has no RAM (the Cx2388x does so that's ok), which means the RISC program has to be stored in main RAM. Splitting the RISC program into various parts because I can't create a single page is the answer, but it's all getting horribly complicated and is really not necessary, if only I could get a working contiguous lump of RAM!!

Quite frustrating really. Hence also why I'm concentrating on the Cx2388x chipset at the moment.

@Spirantho

I was about to report that all I get is a blue screen and that loading it a second time causes the machine to lock up, and then you post a new version.

Ok, I can now confirm that I can switch to channels and see an image. However, it's rather unstable; often locking up within a few seconds. The fields are also misaligned, resulting in a double image vertically (I see two versions of everything. The problem is because my video sources are NTSC. When I switch my laptop to PAL, I can see a properly aligned image. However, I can't get any colour; this is probably because, for some reason, I can't change my laptop graphics card settings to use 50Hz instead of 60, so it's generating a PAL60 signal.

Hans

EDIT: For reference, I have a Leadtek WinFast TV2000XP RM.

Last edited by Hans on 24-Aug-2007 at 01:10 AM.

_________________
http://hdrlab.org.nz/ - Amiga OS 4 projects, programming articles and more. Home of the RadeonHD driver for Amiga OS 4.x project.
https://keasigmadelta.com/ - More of my work.

@Spirantho

Quote:

The system will be sluggish, yes - it's having to copy the entire bitmap from main memory to the overlay memory 50 times a second! This'll be fixed with a future update of OS4 (can't DMA to graphics memory at the moment.)

Could you change the update rate? Maybe as a tooltype?

I don't use it myself, just a suggestion.

_________________
'unfixed' A1XE, 512mb RAM, plug-in USB card, Sil 0680 IDE card, Radeon 9250, built-in sound, OS4.1 update 5.

@Spirantho

Downloaded 0.5 amitv.
I will try later today.

_________________
A1/G4 1GHZ

OS4.1 latest update.
1ghz Radeon Club3d 9250
Usb/Dma fixed.

@Spirantho

With 0.5 I get a picture.
Excellent!

One time cursor-down - Composite.
Although It's PAL there are no colors.
And there is some unused space on top and to the right.

When I press cursor-down again I get distortion, looks like the TV channel,
this mode makes the machine hang within seconds.
I also get there by pressing cursor-up two times from the start.