Documentation overview
======================
README[this file] gives a overview over the package.
Build instructions, short overview over every
program, some maybe useful URL's.
man pagesFor most programs a manual page is available.
README.xfree4Some notes about XFree86 4.x and the Xvideo
extention.
README.recording If you want record videos, have a look at this
file. It also has some notes about how to process /
playback the files recorded by xawtv/streamer.
README.networkHow to stream video/audio over the net. Pointers to
other software for the most part.
README.lircSome hints how make lirc work with xawtv.
README.bttvSome hints to get bttv going, also lists some
known problems.
UPDATE_TO_v3.0Some hints for upgrading from 2.x to 3.x (config
file syntax changes, ...)
before sending me email...
==========================
IMPORTANT: Don't send me mails with images attached unless I ask you
to do so. Mails with images attached will go to /dev/null unseen, you
will never ever see an answer for these.
If you have problems after upgrading, please check the ChangeLog for
hints first. Looking into the ChangeLog is a good idea in general,
becauce it is updated for every release, the other files are updated
less freqently and might be a bit outdated.
For problem/bug reports:
* emails with questions answered in the documentation will go to
/dev/null.
* emails which don't have any useful informations (like "xawtv
does'nt work, please help me") will go to /dev/null.
"useful informations" includes at least:
- xawtv version
- kernel version
- which driver (+ version if you know)
- which hardware (althrouth I'll probably can help with bttv
driver problems only).
- which TV norms are used in your country.
- if xawtv prints errors, include these too (cut+paste)
- don't forget a description of your problem :-)
If you are using bttv as driver:
- the insmod arguments for the modules
- the kernel messages printed by bttv while loading.
If you are _really_sure_ some information is'nt important for your
problem, you can skip it. But if in doubt, better include it...
For patches/changes:
* Please add a comment what is changed and and why you changed it.
* Please send unified diffs ("diff -u") against the latest version.
* Please don't reformat my source code.
* Complete patches have better chances to go in. Quick+dirty hacks
which need cleanups and lack documentation updates are less likely
to go in simply because I need more time to deal with them.
compile & install
=================
The commands
$ ./configure [ options ]
$ make
should compile xawtv, v4l-conf, fbtv and a few other utilities. You can
also simply type "make" if you don't want to pass any options to
configure.
If it failes, check that all required packages are installed. Note that
the *-devel packages are also required to compile stuff, i.e. you need
both libjpeg and libjpeg-devel for example.
You can install the programs (as root) with:
# make install
If you want build RPMs: No problem, just run
$ rpm -ta xawtv-3.xx.tar.gz
and install them the usual way with "rpm -i".
usage
=====
bttv
----
bttv is'nt bundled with xawtv any more. You can the latest version
from http://bytesex.org/bttv/. If you are using kernel 2.4.x, it is
very unlikely that you need a update, the bttv driver in 2.4.x is
updated in regular intervals.
v4l-conf
--------
v4l-conf is a small tool which tells video4linux about the current
video mode (size and color depth). This requires root priviliges,
becauce it is easy to crash the box by passing bogous values there.
It requires the X-Server with DGA support up and running or a
framebuffer device. It is a temporary hack, this problem will be
solved in a better way with a X11 extention. See README.xfree4
for details.
Try "v4l-conf -h" for a short description. It is installed suid-root,
and xawtv runs it at startup. Should work out-of-the-box without
extra configuration. Normally you should'nt need to worry about it,
but for debugging it is handy do run it from the shell and check the
output.
xawtv
-----
There is a man page now, read it. Don't expect you can use xawtv
without reading the documentation at least once. You are lost if you
don't know the keyboard shortcuts, xawtv is'nt a mouse-only program.
xawtv will not work without the app-defaults. If you want to try
xawtv without installing it, use this...
$ XUSERFILESEARCHPATH=./%N.ad
$ export XUSERFILESEARCHPATH
$ ./xawtv
...to make sure xawtv finds the application defaults (the Xawtv.ad
file). If v4l-conf is'nt installed too, you have to run it once
(as root) before starting xawtv.
motv
----
That's basically xawtv with better (IMO), motif-based GUI. Feature set
is very close to xawtv, they share alot of code (basically everything
but the athena/motif GUI code).
motv uses Motif 2.x features (utm, render tables). This means you
need openmotif, lesstif does *not* work.
xawtv-remote
------------
remote control for xawtv. Works with motv too. Takes commands for
xawtv as command line arguments. Check 'xawtv-remote -h' for details.
A man-page exists too.
ObSecurity: This uses X Properties, everyone who is allowed to connect
to your X11 Display can control xawtv.
There is a GUI (Qt) version at:
http://www.ben2.ucla.edu/~wtho/xawtv-qremote/xawtv-qremote-0.01.tar.gz
fbtv
----
TV program for the linux console. Runs on top of a framebuffer
device. Check out man-page and source code for details.
ttv
---
aa-lib based TV app which renders the TV image on any text terminal.
v4lctl
------
This tool allows to control a v4l device from the command line.
Also can capture images. Check the man-page for details.
streamer
--------
Command line tool for streaming capture, including audio. Single
frames work too. Try the '-h' switch for a description. A (short)
man page is available too.
radio
-----
You have to load the driver using "insmod bttv radio=1" for radio
support. The MAKEDEV script should create the required /dev/radio*
devices.
radio is a console application (curses). up/down tune, 'q' quits,
the function keys recall the programmed stations. radio reads the
kradio config file. You can't configure anything with radio, you'll
have to use kradio or vi for this. The config file format is
documented in the man page.
kradio (my KDE radio app) is'nt included any more, it is available as
separate tarball now.
videotext / teletext
--------------------
alevt is _the_ videotext application for bttv. URL below.
A http server for videotext which is based on alevt's vbi decoder engine
is in the http subdirectory. It's called alevtd.
webcam
------
This is a webcam tool. Captures a image, annotates with a text +
current time and uploads it to the webserver using ftp in an endless
loop. Needs the ftp utility. Should survive dropped ftp-connections
(webserver reboot) without problems. It has a man-page...
perl
----
Hint for all perl users/hackers: There is a Video::Capture::V4l module
available at CPAN. It can do capture, vbi decoding, and it comes with a
nifty tool to do a channel scan (decodes the station ID from vbi).
resources
=========
http://bytesex.org/xawtv/- xawtv[me]
http://bytesex.org/bttv/- bttv[me]
http://lecker.essen.de/~froese/- alevt[Edgar]
http://bttv-v4l2.sourceforge.net/- bttv2 [Justin]
http://roadrunner.swansea.uk.linux.org/v4l.shtml- v4l[Alan]
http://www.thedirks.org/v4l2/- v4l2[Bill]
http://www.tk.uni-linz.ac.at/~simon/private/i2c/- i2c[Simon]
http://www-mice.cs.ucl.ac.uk/multimedia/software/vic/- vic
Have fun!
Gerd
--
Gerd Knorr <kraxel@bytesex.org>