These instructions are for installing the ivtv driver as a module.

IMPORTANT: In case of problems first read this page:
	   http://www.ivtvdriver.org/index.php/Troubleshooting

Firmware
========

Instructions on how to obtain and install the required firmware files
can be found here:

http://www.ivtvdriver.org/index.php/Firmware

Kernel 2.6
==========

CONFIG needed:

 1. unpack the tarball
 2. cd ivtv
 3. make
 4. make install (as root)
 5. unload any old drivers
 6. depmod
 7. modprobe ivtv

Comments:
 * The driver is not affected by the 4k/8k stacks kernel configuration.

Kernel 2.4
==========

CONFIG needed:

(can we check this?)

 1. unpack the tarball
 2. cd ivtv
 3. make
 4. make install (as root)
 5. unload any old drivers
 6. depmod
 7. modprobe ivtv

General Comments
================

Note that the msp3400, tuner, tveeprom, and tda9887 drivers supplied here are 
not the same as the ones that come with the kernel. 'make install' will tell
you if the kernel has the standard drivers built as modules already.

Creating device entries
=======================
If you are using udev or devfs then devices should be created automatically.
Otherwise you may need to: 

for i in 0 1 2 3 16 32 224 ; do \
    if [ ! -f /dev/video$i ]; then \
        echo "Creating /dev/video$i" && mknod /dev/video$i c 81 $i && \
        chown video /dev/video$i && chmod 660 /dev/video$i; \
    else echo "/dev/video$i already exists"; \
    fi; \
done

ln -s video0 /dev/video 

Here is a list of the base v4l devices:
crw-rw----    1 root     video     81,   0 Jun 19 22:22 /dev/video0
crw-rw----    1 root     video     81,  16 Jun 19 22:22 /dev/video16
crw-rw----    1 root     video     81,  24 Jun 19 22:22 /dev/video24
crw-rw----    1 root     video     81,  32 Jun 19 22:22 /dev/video32
crw-rw----    1 root     video     81,  48 Jun 19 22:22 /dev/video48
crw-rw----    1 root     video     81,  64 Jun 19 22:22 /dev/radio0
crw-rw----    1 root     video     81, 224 Jun 19 22:22 /dev/vbi0
crw-rw----    1 root     video     81, 228 Jun 19 22:22 /dev/vbi8
crw-rw----    1 root     video     81, 232 Jun 19 22:22 /dev/vbi16

Note the permissions of the device entries; your system may differ, so
ensure users have appropriate read/write access if receiving "permission
denied" errors.

Testing the installation
========================

install the modules
  modprobe ivtv

Capture some video
  cat /dev/video0 > my.mpg
(press ctrl-c after a few seconds)

play it back (for cards with a decoder only)
  cat my.mpg >/dev/video16
or
  mplayer my.mpg
or
  xine my.mpg

With any luck you'll see a picture (or more likely static) and hear some sound.

You can now use ivtvctl to set the input (s-video, audio etc) and ivtv-tune to
select a channel.

You may also now install the ivtv-fb module: (for cards with a decoder only)
  modprobe ivtv-fb

Check the output from dmesg as this will show you which fb device ivtv-fb has
grabbed; e.g. in a system already using the vesafb module may show:
  fb1: iTVC15 TV out frame buffer device

This value is what you need in your XF86Config-4/xorg.conf.

This can result in a black screen as nothing is being shown.
ivtvfbctl allows you to change the alpha (transparency) settings:
 ivtvfbctl /dev/fb1 -noglobalalpha -nolocalalpha
would turn off the fb display (clearest possible video)

 ivtvfbctl /dev/fb1 -globalalpha -localalpha -alpha 50
would set the framebuffer to be transparency level 50 over the video.


Debugging the framebuffer
=========================

First make sure everything is wired up correctly.

Check video out
---------------
remove the video generating module and start it with a testcard image:
 rmmod saa7127
 modprobe saa7127 test_image=1

You should see 8 coloured bars on the screen.

Then restore normal operation:
 rmmod saa7127
 modprobe saa7127


Troubleshooting
===============

1. If having memory allocation errors, try rebooting fresh, and putting this
   into /etc/sysctl.conf (or the corresponding /proc filessystem config
   under /proc/vm/min_free_kbytes doing 'echo 16384 > /proc/vm/min_free_kbytes`)...

#for making ivtv happier with memory usage:
vm.min_free_kbytes=16384

2. Always reboot cold when troubleshooting, the card will keep settings over
   normal reboots

3. The framebuffer will not allow direct writing safely, it will mess up
   encoding and decoding, usually making the chip inoperable until another
   reboot.