How to get TV-Out running???

Problems and successes with specific brands/models of computer video hardware
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kochanderbarbar
Posts: 9
Joined: Mon 21 Apr 2008, 22:19

How to get TV-Out running???

#1 Post by kochanderbarbar »

Hi to everyone,
I just installed Puppy (3.1) to my old PC, it is running fabulous so far (booting from cf-card, wireless-lan, accepting several usb-sticks), BUT:
The TV-Out does not work. Because of the fact, that I want to use this old P2, 500 MHz, 265 SDRAM as a HTPC, it would be nice if it would work...
The video card is a ATI Rage 128 Fury (TV-Out is composite).
Appreciate any suggestions!!!
Michael (Linux noob!!!)

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Aitch
Posts: 6518
Joined: Wed 04 Apr 2007, 15:57
Location: Chatham, Kent, UK

#2 Post by Aitch »

Hi Michael

fellow noob, well recent anyway, I'm still learning by helping, I think

this seems to show driver/3D updates for the ATI

http://www.murga-linux.com/puppy/viewto ... b3d18f6464

though I remember reading that BarryK has included ATI drivers in puppy 4

http://puppylinux.org/wikka/Puppy4

You could test it, & post your results

Aitch

kochanderbarbar
Posts: 9
Joined: Mon 21 Apr 2008, 22:19

#3 Post by kochanderbarbar »

I tried the new puppy beta (made a new live-cd and run it) but no TV-Out.
I did not really understand the thread you posted, nevertheless, i installed the following packages via package manager as suggested:
xorg_DRI_MODULES-7.2.pet
xorg_OPENGL-7.2.pet
installation was successful, but still no tv-out...

kochanderbarbar
Posts: 9
Joined: Mon 21 Apr 2008, 22:19

#4 Post by kochanderbarbar »

here, my xorg.conf:

#Special base config file used in Puppy Linux.

# **********************************************************************
# Module section -- this section is used to specify
# which dynamically loadable modules to load.
# **********************************************************************
#
Section "Module"

# This loads the DBE extension module.

Load "dbe" # Double buffer extension

# This loads the miscellaneous extensions module, and disables
# initialisation of the XFree86-DGA extension within that module.
SubSection "extmod"
Option "omit xfree86-dga" # don't initialise the DGA extension
EndSubSection

# This loads the font modules
Load "type1"
Load "freetype"

# This loads the GLX module
Load "glx"

# This loads xtrap extension, used by xrandr
Load "xtrap"

EndSection

# **********************************************************************
# Files section. This allows default font and rgb paths to be set
# **********************************************************************

Section "Files"

# The location of the RGB database. Note, this is the name of the
# file minus the extension (like ".txt" or ".db"). There is normally
# no need to change the default.

RgbPath "/usr/X11R7/lib/X11/rgb"

# Multiple FontPath entries are allowed (which are concatenated together),
# as well as specifying multiple comma-separated entries in one FontPath
# command (or a combination of both methods)

FontPath "/usr/X11R7/lib/X11/fonts/misc/"
FontPath "/usr/X11R7/lib/X11/fonts/Type1/"
FontPath "/usr/X11R7/lib/X11/fonts/TTF/"

EndSection

# **********************************************************************
# Server flags section.
# **********************************************************************

Section "ServerFlags"

# Uncomment this to disable the <Crtl><Alt><Fn> VT switch sequence
# (where n is 1 through 12). This allows clients to receive these key
# events.

# Option "DontVTSwitch"

# Enables mode switching with xrandr
# There is a report that this can cause Xorg not to work on some
# video hardware, so default is commented-out...
# but i want to use it in xorgwizard so leave on...

Option "RandR" "on"

EndSection

#everything past here is auto-generated by Puppy's Xorg Wizard...


Section "ServerLayout"
Identifier "X.org Configured"
Screen 0 "Screen0" 0 0
InputDevice "Mouse0" "CorePointer"
InputDevice "Keyboard0" "CoreKeyboard"
EndSection

Section "InputDevice"
Identifier "Keyboard0"
Driver "kbd"
Option "XkbRules" "xorg"
Option "XkbModel" "pc102"
Option "XkbLayout" "de" #xkeymap0
EndSection

Section "InputDevice"
Identifier "Mouse0"
Driver "mouse"
Option "Protocol" "auto" #mouse0protocol
Option "Device" "/dev/mouse"
#Option "Emulate3Buttons"
#Option "Emulate3Timeout" "50"
Option "ZAxisMapping" "4 5" #scrollwheel
EndSection

Section "Monitor"
#DisplaySize 330 240 # mm
Identifier "Monitor0"
VendorName "GSM"
ModelName "85NF"
### Comment all HorizSync and VertRefresh values to use DDC:
Option "DPMS"
HorizSync 30.0-85.0
VertRefresh 50.0-85.0
#UseModes "Modes0" #monitor0usemodes
EndSection

Section "Modes"
Identifier "Modes0"
#modes0modeline0
EndSection

Section "Device"
### Available Driver options are:-
### Values: <i>: integer, <f>: float, <bool>: "True"/"False",
### <string>: "String", <freq>: "<f> Hz/kHz/MHz"
### [arg]: arg optional
#Option "NoAccel" # [<bool>]
#Option "SWcursor" # [<bool>]
#Option "Dac6Bit" # [<bool>]
#Option "Dac8Bit" # [<bool>]
#Option "DMAForXv" # [<bool>]
#Option "ForcePCIMode" # [<bool>]
#Option "CCEPIOMode" # [<bool>]
#Option "CCENoSecurity" # [<bool>]
#Option "CCEusecTimeout" # <i>
#Option "AGPMode" # <i>
#Option "AGPSize" # <i>
#Option "RingSize" # <i>
#Option "BufferSize" # <i>
#Option "EnablePageFlip" # [<bool>]
#Option "Display" # <str>
#Option "PanelWidth" # <i>
#Option "PanelHeight" # <i>
#Option "ProgramFPRegs" # [<bool>]
#Option "UseFBDev" # [<bool>]
#Option "VideoKey" # <i>
#Option "ShowCache" # [<bool>]
#Option "VGAAccess" # [<bool>]
Identifier "Card0"
Driver "ati" #card0driver
VendorName "ATI Technologies Inc"
BoardName "Rage 128 RF/SG AGP"
BusID "PCI:1:0:0"
EndSection

Section "Screen"
Identifier "Screen0"
Device "Card0"
Monitor "Monitor0"
DefaultDepth 16
Subsection "Display"
Depth 16
Modes "800x600"
EndSubsection
EndSection

#PuppyHardwareProfile=ATI_RAGE128GSM42fd

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ttuuxxx
Posts: 11171
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Location: Ontario Canada,Sydney Australia
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#5 Post by ttuuxxx »

what works for me is -----
start the xorg wizard and do the test, when its fininshed testing hit the ctrl+Backaspace then select Generic drivers and do that test, you'll see the screnn blink about 3 times and you'll now have your tv-out running
only with the generic drivers works for me, I've been doing it this way for a couple of years now:)
Some reason the defualt xorg drivers never work for tvout
just the generic ones do
ttuuxxx
http://audio.online-convert.com/ <-- excellent site
http://samples.mplayerhq.hu/A-codecs/ <-- Codec Test Files
http://html5games.com/ <-- excellent HTML5 games :)

tempestuous
Posts: 5464
Joined: Fri 10 Jun 2005, 05:12
Location: Australia

#6 Post by tempestuous »

Just to clarify; kochanderbarbar has a "Rage128" which is based on the ATI r128 chipset. Don't confuse this with earlier "Rage' models which have the ATI mach64 chipset.
I provided a comprehensive rundown of the various ATI cards and their corresponding Xorg/3D drivers here
http://www.murga-linux.com/puppy/viewtopic.php?p=48924
kochanderbarbar wrote:i installed the following packages via package manager as suggested:
xorg_DRI_MODULES-7.2.pet
xorg_OPENGL-7.2.pet
installation was successful, but still no tv-out...
After installing those packages, configuration is still necessary.
Open /etc/X11/xorg.conf in geany and change Driver "ati" to Driver "r128"
In Section "Module" add this line

Code: Select all

Load "dri"
Run "lsmod" and check that the "r128" DRM kernel module is loaded.
Of course, all of this relates to 3D graphics and has nothing to do with TV out. Regarding TV out, there are 3 options:
1. Use the "xrandr" utility, which is the "official" Xorg method, explained here -
http://dri.freedesktop.org/wiki/ATI
2. Use the atitvout utility, which is simply a bios/hardware switch. See here
http://www.murga-linux.com/puppy/viewto ... 1111#41111
3. Configure xorg.conf to enable TV out. I think that this only works with patched versions of the ati Xorg driver, such as those from the Gatos project.

kochanderbarbar
Posts: 9
Joined: Mon 21 Apr 2008, 22:19

#7 Post by kochanderbarbar »

Thanks for all your help, i have a good feeling, that this problem is solvable...

@ ttuuxxx: I tried the generic driver method and TV-Out works BUT i am not able to run any videos fluently with Gxine media player (heavy studdering).
This problem does not appear with the original xorg drivers.

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ttuuxxx
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#8 Post by ttuuxxx »

kochanderbarbar wrote:Thanks for all your help, i have a good feeling, that this problem is solvable...

@ ttuuxxx: I tried the generic driver method and TV-Out works BUT i am not able to run any videos fluently with Gxine media player (heavy studdering).
This problem does not appear with the original xorg drivers.
I watch dvd's that way all the time without any studdering hmmm hows your pc for memory?
I used to use a 64MB tv-out card, then128MB, and now 256MB with tv-out all with the same method. And never had that problem. But the slowest pc was 1800 amd with 768 mb of memory, now its am2 dual core 4800 with 2 gigs of ddr2 800 on a sata2 hd.
http://audio.online-convert.com/ <-- excellent site
http://samples.mplayerhq.hu/A-codecs/ <-- Codec Test Files
http://html5games.com/ <-- excellent HTML5 games :)

kochanderbarbar
Posts: 9
Joined: Mon 21 Apr 2008, 22:19

#9 Post by kochanderbarbar »

@ ttuuxxx: see the first post - pentium 2, 500 MHz, 256 SDRAM

@ tempestuous: i started with the 2nd option: downloaded both files, unzipped them with pupzip (could't find gunzip)
doubleklicked the atitest.sh - new file has been created test.out
doubleklicked the atitvout - nothing happened (what am i supposed to do with this file???)
Last edited by kochanderbarbar on Tue 22 Apr 2008, 17:57, edited 1 time in total.

kochanderbarbar
Posts: 9
Joined: Mon 21 Apr 2008, 22:19

#10 Post by kochanderbarbar »

The content of the test.out file:

TEST: Running 'atitvout -f vbe' ...
Forcing Rage Mobility/Rage 3D Pro LT mode
VBE Version: 2.0
VBE OEM Identification: ATI RAGE128
TEST: ... finished. Return value is 0. Please wait 3 seconds.

TEST: Running 'atitvout -f tvout' ...
Forcing Rage Mobility/Rage 3D Pro LT mode
VBE call failed.
Maybe this command is not supported by your graphics adapter?
Did your parameters (if you specified some) really make sense?
Please try all other available commands before complaining!
TEST: ... finished. Return value is 7. Please wait 3 seconds.

TEST: Running 'atitvout -f standard' ...
Forcing Rage Mobility/Rage 3D Pro LT mode
VBE call failed.
Maybe this command is not supported by your graphics adapter?
Did your parameters (if you specified some) really make sense?
Please try all other available commands before complaining!
TEST: ... finished. Return value is 8. Please wait 3 seconds.

TEST: Running 'atitvout -f pal' ...
Forcing Rage Mobility/Rage 3D Pro LT mode
VBE call failed.
Maybe this command is not supported by your graphics adapter?
Did your parameters (if you specified some) really make sense?
Please try all other available commands before complaining!
TEST: ... finished. Return value is 10. Please wait 3 seconds.

TEST: Running 'atitvout -f ntsc' ...
Forcing Rage Mobility/Rage 3D Pro LT mode
VBE call failed.
Maybe this command is not supported by your graphics adapter?
Did your parameters (if you specified some) really make sense?
Please try all other available commands before complaining!
TEST: ... finished. Return value is 10. Please wait 3 seconds.

TEST: Running 'atitvout -f detect' ...
Forcing Rage Mobility/Rage 3D Pro LT mode
VBE call failed.
Maybe this command is not supported by your graphics adapter?
Did your parameters (if you specified some) really make sense?
Please try all other available commands before complaining!
TEST: ... finished. Return value is 3. Please wait 3 seconds.

TEST: Running 'atitvout -f active' ...
Forcing Rage Mobility/Rage 3D Pro LT mode
VBE call failed.
Maybe this command is not supported by your graphics adapter?
Did your parameters (if you specified some) really make sense?
Please try all other available commands before complaining!
TEST: ... finished. Return value is 6. Please wait 3 seconds.

TEST: Running 'atitvout -f auto' ...
Forcing Rage Mobility/Rage 3D Pro LT mode
VBE call failed.
Maybe this command is not supported by your graphics adapter?
Did your parameters (if you specified some) really make sense?
Please try all other available commands before complaining!
TEST: ... finished. Return value is 3. Please wait 3 seconds.

TEST: Running 'atitvout -f off' ...
Forcing Rage Mobility/Rage 3D Pro LT mode
VBE call failed.
Maybe this command is not supported by your graphics adapter?
Did your parameters (if you specified some) really make sense?
Please try all other available commands before complaining!
TEST: ... finished. Return value is 11. Please wait 3 seconds.

TEST: Running 'atitvout -f l' ...
Forcing Rage Mobility/Rage 3D Pro LT mode
VBE call failed.
Maybe this command is not supported by your graphics adapter?
Did your parameters (if you specified some) really make sense?
Please try all other available commands before complaining!
TEST: ... finished. Return value is 11. Please wait 3 seconds.

TEST: Running 'atitvout -f c' ...
Forcing Rage Mobility/Rage 3D Pro LT mode
VBE call failed.
Maybe this command is not supported by your graphics adapter?
Did your parameters (if you specified some) really make sense?
Please try all other available commands before complaining!
TEST: ... finished. Return value is 11. Please wait 3 seconds.

TEST: Running 'atitvout -f t' ...
Forcing Rage Mobility/Rage 3D Pro LT mode
VBE call failed.
Maybe this command is not supported by your graphics adapter?
Did your parameters (if you specified some) really make sense?
Please try all other available commands before complaining!
TEST: ... finished. Return value is 11. Please wait 3 seconds.

TEST: Running 'atitvout -f lc' ...
Forcing Rage Mobility/Rage 3D Pro LT mode
VBE call failed.
Maybe this command is not supported by your graphics adapter?
Did your parameters (if you specified some) really make sense?
Please try all other available commands before complaining!
TEST: ... finished. Return value is 11. Please wait 3 seconds.

TEST: Running 'atitvout -f lt' ...
Forcing Rage Mobility/Rage 3D Pro LT mode
VBE call failed.
Maybe this command is not supported by your graphics adapter?
Did your parameters (if you specified some) really make sense?
Please try all other available commands before complaining!
TEST: ... finished. Return value is 11. Please wait 3 seconds.

TEST: Running 'atitvout -f ct' ...
Forcing Rage Mobility/Rage 3D Pro LT mode
VBE call failed.
Maybe this command is not supported by your graphics adapter?
Did your parameters (if you specified some) really make sense?
Please try all other available commands before complaining!
TEST: ... finished. Return value is 11. Please wait 3 seconds.

TEST: Running 'atitvout -f lct' ...
Forcing Rage Mobility/Rage 3D Pro LT mode
VBE call failed.
Maybe this command is not supported by your graphics adapter?
Did your parameters (if you specified some) really make sense?
Please try all other available commands before complaining!
TEST: ... finished. Return value is 11. Please wait 3 seconds.

TEST: Running 'atitvout -r vbe' ...
Forcing Radeon/Rage 128 mode
VBE Version: 2.0
VBE OEM Identification: ATI RAGE128
TEST: ... finished. Return value is 0. Please wait 3 seconds.

TEST: Running 'atitvout -r tvout' ...
Forcing Radeon/Rage 128 mode
TVOut chip is detected but not supported in BIOS
TV Out is enabled.
Reference frequency is 29.49892 Hz
TEST: ... finished. Return value is 0. Please wait 3 seconds.

TEST: Running 'atitvout -r standard' ...
Forcing Radeon/Rage 128 mode
VBE call failed.
Maybe this command is not supported by your graphics adapter?
Did your parameters (if you specified some) really make sense?
Please try all other available commands before complaining!
TEST: ... finished. Return value is 8. Please wait 3 seconds.

TEST: Running 'atitvout -r pal' ...
Forcing Radeon/Rage 128 mode
VBE call failed.
Maybe this command is not supported by your graphics adapter?
Did your parameters (if you specified some) really make sense?
Please try all other available commands before complaining!
TEST: ... finished. Return value is 10. Please wait 3 seconds.

TEST: Running 'atitvout -r ntsc' ...
Forcing Radeon/Rage 128 mode
VBE call failed.
Maybe this command is not supported by your graphics adapter?
Did your parameters (if you specified some) really make sense?
Please try all other available commands before complaining!
TEST: ... finished. Return value is 10. Please wait 3 seconds.

TEST: Running 'atitvout -r detect' ...
Forcing Radeon/Rage 128 mode
CRT is attached.
TV is attached via Composite.
TEST: ... finished. Return value is 0. Please wait 3 seconds.

TEST: Running 'atitvout -r active' ...
Forcing Radeon/Rage 128 mode
CRT is active.
TV is active.
TEST: ... finished. Return value is 0. Please wait 3 seconds.

TEST: Running 'atitvout -r auto' ...
Forcing Radeon/Rage 128 mode
TEST: ... finished. Return value is 0. Please wait 3 seconds.

TEST: Running 'atitvout -r off' ...
Forcing Radeon/Rage 128 mode
TEST: ... finished. Return value is 0. Please wait 3 seconds.

TEST: Running 'atitvout -r l' ...
Forcing Radeon/Rage 128 mode
TEST: ... finished. Return value is 0. Please wait 3 seconds.

TEST: Running 'atitvout -r c' ...
Forcing Radeon/Rage 128 mode
TEST: ... finished. Return value is 0. Please wait 3 seconds.

TEST: Running 'atitvout -r t' ...
Forcing Radeon/Rage 128 mode
TEST: ... finished. Return value is 0. Please wait 3 seconds.

TEST: Running 'atitvout -r lc' ...
Forcing Radeon/Rage 128 mode
TEST: ... finished. Return value is 0. Please wait 3 seconds.

TEST: Running 'atitvout -r lt' ...
Forcing Radeon/Rage 128 mode
TEST: ... finished. Return value is 0. Please wait 3 seconds.

TEST: Running 'atitvout -r ct' ...
Forcing Radeon/Rage 128 mode
TEST: ... finished. Return value is 0. Please wait 3 seconds.

TEST: Running 'atitvout -r lct' ...
Forcing Radeon/Rage 128 mode
TEST: ... finished. Return value is 0. Please wait 3 seconds.

kochanderbarbar
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Joined: Mon 21 Apr 2008, 22:19

#11 Post by kochanderbarbar »

@ tempestuous: Option 1 does not help either, entered all three commands in console as suggested:
xrandr --addmode S-video 800x600
xrandr --output S-video --mode 800x600
xrandr --output S-video --set tv_standard ntsc
looked also at the options but could not find or get any TV-Out
(I don't think, that S-video is approptiate, because i am using composite,
-> this is just an unqualified thought of a linux noob, so please correct me, if i am wrong)

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ttuuxxx
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#12 Post by ttuuxxx »

kochanderbarbar wrote:@ ttuuxxx: see the first post - pentium 2, 500 MHz, 256 SDRAM

@ tempestuous: i started with the 2nd option: downloaded both files, unzipped them with pupzip (could't find gunzip)
doubleklicked the atitest.sh - new file has been created test.out
doubleklicked the atitvout - nothing happened (what am i supposed to do with this file???)
Well with specs like this I hope You aren't trying to play a 700MB divx video? Because if the method I told you about works and its studdering maybe its just that you don't have enough memory and the speed of the memory would be 100/133. Maybe you could try my method again but change your preferences and look for buffering and change it to double or triple the buffer, That might help. Maybe test it with a 20mb video clip or a online radio stream, something small. Because if that works then you know thats you might need some more ram.
But a few years ago I had a pent 233 mmx with 72MB of ram using windows "ME" and I was able to view 400MB vcd video's and listen to online radio etc, Thats actually what I using when I met my wife on "Yahoo chat Australia" Amazing what you could do with so little resources back then.
anyways just an idea, and I think you should be able to do wonders with it its just getting it tweaked.
ttuuxxx
http://audio.online-convert.com/ <-- excellent site
http://samples.mplayerhq.hu/A-codecs/ <-- Codec Test Files
http://html5games.com/ <-- excellent HTML5 games :)

tempestuous
Posts: 5464
Joined: Fri 10 Jun 2005, 05:12
Location: Australia

#13 Post by tempestuous »

kochanderbarbar wrote:I tried the generic driver method and TV-Out works BUT i am not able to run any videos fluently with Gxine media player (heavy studdering).
This problem does not appear with the original xorg drivers.
Yes, neither Xvesa nor the generic (vesa) Xorg driver support hardware graphics acceleration for video playback.
Without this support, the CPU must handle colour space conversion and scaling, which will be a noticeable performance penalty on older hardware.
As I've said many times on the forum before, for best video playback performance you must use Xorg plus the "xv" output option of MPlayer or Xine. (Or better still, "xvmc" ... but that's another story).

I did some more reading here http://dri.freedesktop.org/wiki/ATI
about TV out support and xrandr.
It appears that TV support has been merged into recent ATI Xorg drivers from the GATOS project, but it's unclear whether this support applies to both "ati" and "r128" drivers. I suspect that TV support may only apply to the "ati" Xorg driver, so I suggest that you configure this driver in your xorg.conf. This will mean that you cannot enable 3D acceleration, but it appears that TV out is a more important feature to you.
Make sure your video monitor is connected and powered on. Now run the xrandr commands again. If still no success, restart the Xserver with Ctrl > Alt > Backspace, and run "xwin".

Don't worry about the "S-Video" designation, I did a Google search on this command and I think it can be considered a generic command to enable video output.

kochanderbarbar
Posts: 9
Joined: Mon 21 Apr 2008, 22:19

#14 Post by kochanderbarbar »

Thanks for your help, but xrandr does not help me at all. Shouldn´t i change the xorg.conf first? is it true that xrandr supports tv-out only when the graphic-driver does? maybe, the xorg drivers just don´t support tv-out in this case... you see, i am a real noob, and i have no idea how to solve this, but only the three commands for xrandr won´t solve the problem...

kochanderbarbar
Posts: 9
Joined: Mon 21 Apr 2008, 22:19

#15 Post by kochanderbarbar »

Hi @ all,
I gave up and installed Win 2k (shame on me) and all problems solved...
Thanks for your help anyway...

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