Help with identifying a DV capture card and its drivers

KodzghlyCZ · 04-24-2022, 03:45 AM

Hi. I have a capture card I would like to use to record my old VCR videos to a digital form.

The card looks like this: https://ibb.co/cNn204R
It has a SAA 7146A, DC1051A, TSB12LV23, 9AA38ET, SAA7113H and AD8073JR chips on it, the weird thing is that it also has an internal firewire connector aswell as an external one.
Along with those firewire connectors, there are two RCA connectors and two S-Video connectors at the back of the card
The card itself has a PCI connector, after plugging it in I was able to find some information about the card using lspci.

Code:

04:00.0 FireWire (IEEE 1394): Texas Instruments TSB12LV23 IEEE-1394 Controller (prog-if 10 [OHCI])
        Subsystem: Fast Multimedia AG TSB12LV23 IEEE-1394 Controller
        Control: I/O- Mem+ BusMaster+ SpecCycle- MemWINV- VGASnoop- ParErr- Stepping- SERR- FastB2B- DisINTx-
        Status: Cap+ 66MHz- UDF- FastB2B- ParErr- DEVSEL=medium >TAbort- <TAbort- <MAbort- >SERR- <PERR- INTx-
        Latency: 32 (750ns min, 1000ns max), Cache Line Size: 64 bytes
        Interrupt: pin A routed to IRQ 16
        Region 0: Memory at dfb04000 (32-bit, non-prefetchable) [size=2K]
        Region 1: Memory at dfb00000 (32-bit, non-prefetchable) [size=16K]
        Capabilities: <access denied>
        Kernel driver in use: firewire_ohci
        Kernel modules: firewire_ohci

04:04.0 Multimedia controller: Philips Semiconductors SAA7146 (rev 01)
        Subsystem: Fast Multimedia AG SAA7146
        Control: I/O- Mem+ BusMaster+ SpecCycle- MemWINV- VGASnoop- ParErr- Stepping- SERR- FastB2B- DisINTx-
        Status: Cap- 66MHz- UDF- FastB2B+ ParErr- DEVSEL=medium >TAbort- <TAbort- <MAbort- >SERR- <PERR- INTx-
        Latency: 32 (3750ns min, 9500ns max)
        Interrupt: pin A routed to IRQ 5
        Region 0: Memory at dfb04800 (32-bit, non-prefetchable) [size=512]

Next thing I know about this card is that it has a FAST "FAST DV.now V1.0c BMK" label at the back of it, but I wasn't able to find anything similar on the internet.

If anybody has a clue of what this card could be and how could I make it work under any linux distro, I would be really grateful.

Arnulf · 04-24-2022, 05:35 AM

Your lspci output shows a well configured IEEE1394 device and a not configured video capture device "Philips Semiconductors SAA7146".

Have a look at https://www.linuxtv.org/wiki/index.php/Saa7146_devices.

teckk · 04-24-2022, 01:49 PM

Quote:

Hi. I have a capture card I would like to use to record my old VCR videos to a digital form.

VHS VCR was 240p, awfull. Half of the 480i of NTFS. Don't waste your time. The digital videos will be so fuzzy and bad and small. Modern day 720p videos are considered to be just fair, but ok.

Get a modern version of those movies from a mail video place, or a video store or download them etc.

You did not ask that but, you won't be happy with the results. You can get old movies on youtube in beter quality than VHS tapes.

This is a good deal better than VHS.

Time limited link.

Code:

Link expired

Edit:

teckk · 04-24-2022, 02:00 PM

Or movies, just about anything you are looking for is online.

Code:

Link expired

That one starts out black by the way.

Edit:

KodzghlyCZ · 04-25-2022, 03:37 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by teckk

VHS VCR was 240p, awfull. Half of the 480i of NTFS. Don't waste your time. The digital videos will be so fuzzy and bad and small. Modern day 720p videos are considered to be just fair, but ok.

Get a modern version of those movies from a mail video place, or a video store or download them etc.

You did not ask that but, you won't be happy with the results. You can get old movies on youtube in beter quality than VHS tapes.

This is a good deal better than VHS.

Time limited link.

Code:

#Preview
ffplay "https://xege.mcloud.to/12a3c523f210040ae8d4785897aeeb0bc52efd\
5c01f1bbb2030c7baea969d0842f54d0184d6920eff935c248a146eb8df28dc31a877ad2\
e8c0eefd680420b4836f9547f1161ab15c5e94a7a36b472a51383de24107083f96d19bbc\
1bcba0279a7810a55f5337ef56eded774cf51c148cb03d84bf2f4d0eb0c0cf874bcd/r/\
hls/480/480.m3u8"

#Get
ffmpeg -i "https://xege.mcloud.to/12a3c523f210040ae8d4785897aeeb0bc52efd\
5c01f1bbb2030c7baea969d0842f54d0184d6920eff935c248a146eb8df28dc31a877ad2\
e8c0eefd680420b4836f9547f1161ab15c5e94a7a36b472a51383de24107083f96d19bbc\
1bcba0279a7810a55f5337ef56eded774cf51c148cb03d84bf2f4d0eb0c0cf874bcd/r/\
hls/480/480.m3u8" -c:a copy -c:v copy StarTrek1.mp4

Thanks for your reply. However these tapes contain a rare footage only available on those pieces, so obtaining them from the internet would be simply impossible.

rokytnji · 04-25-2022, 01:30 PM

Code:

harry@biker:~
$ apt-cache policy hwinfo
hwinfo:
  Installed: 21.72-1
  Candidate: 21.72-1
  Version table:
 *** 21.72-1 500
        500 http://ftp.de.debian.org/debian bullseye/main amd64 Packages
        100 /var/lib/dpkg/status

To get more info on that card

Code:

HWINFO(8)                    System configuration                    HWINFO(8)

NAME
       hwinfo - probe for hardware

SYNOPSIS
       hwinfo [ OPTIONS ]

DESCRIPTION
       hwinfo  is used to probe for the hardware present in the system. It can
       be used to generate a system overview log which can be later  used  for
       support.

OPTIONS
       Note  that  running hwinfo without any options is roughly equivalent to
       'hwinfo --all --log=-'.

       --<HARDWARE_ITEM>
              This option can be given more than once.  Probe for a particular
              HARDWARE_ITEM. Available hardware items are:

              all,  arch,  bios,  block,  bluetooth,  braille, bridge, camera,
              cdrom, chipcard,  cpu,  disk,  dsl,  dvb,  fingerprint,  floppy,
              framebuffer,   gfxcard,   hub,   ide,  isapnp,  isdn,  joystick,
              keyboard, memory,  mmc-ctrl,  modem,  monitor,  mouse,  netcard,
              network,  partition,  pci,  pcmcia, pcmcia-ctrl, pppoe, printer,
              redasd, reallyall, scanner, scsi, smp, sound, storage-ctrl, sys,
 Manual page hwinfo(8) line 1 (press h for help or q to quit)

computersavvy · 04-25-2022, 06:45 PM

If you can play the tape to your tv, there are video capture devices ( I got one from haupauge) that can be connected in line between the vcr and the tv that can record to digital for you. Mine can connect with HDMI or RGB phono connections so that should work for you.

michaelk · 04-25-2022, 09:12 PM

https://linux-hardware.org/index.php...7146-13c2-1019

What happens when you try to load the module.

modprobe budget-ci

You need to be root or use sudo.

Check to see if you have a /dev/v4l/video0 device.

KodzghlyCZ · 04-26-2022, 05:26 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by computersavvy

If you can play the tape to your tv, there are video capture devices ( I got one from haupauge) that can be connected in line between the vcr and the tv that can record to digital for you. Mine can connect with HDMI or RGB phono connections so that should work for you.

Yes, this also should be a card suitable for recording video. The issue is that reaching the best image quality can be done either on the professional machine, or the machine the tape was previously recorded on. Both those devices have some kind of output, sadly no HDMI.

KodzghlyCZ · 04-26-2022, 05:27 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by rokytnji

Code:

harry@biker:~
$ apt-cache policy hwinfo
hwinfo:
  Installed: 21.72-1
  Candidate: 21.72-1
  Version table:
 *** 21.72-1 500
        500 http://ftp.de.debian.org/debian bullseye/main amd64 Packages
        100 /var/lib/dpkg/status

To get more info on that card

Code:

HWINFO(8)                    System configuration                    HWINFO(8)

NAME
       hwinfo - probe for hardware

SYNOPSIS
       hwinfo [ OPTIONS ]

DESCRIPTION
       hwinfo  is used to probe for the hardware present in the system. It can
       be used to generate a system overview log which can be later  used  for
       support.

OPTIONS
       Note  that  running hwinfo without any options is roughly equivalent to
       'hwinfo --all --log=-'.

       --<HARDWARE_ITEM>
              This option can be given more than once.  Probe for a particular
              HARDWARE_ITEM. Available hardware items are:

              all,  arch,  bios,  block,  bluetooth,  braille, bridge, camera,
              cdrom, chipcard,  cpu,  disk,  dsl,  dvb,  fingerprint,  floppy,
              framebuffer,   gfxcard,   hub,   ide,  isapnp,  isdn,  joystick,
              keyboard, memory,  mmc-ctrl,  modem,  monitor,  mouse,  netcard,
              network,  partition,  pci,  pcmcia, pcmcia-ctrl, pppoe, printer,
              redasd, reallyall, scanner, scsi, smp, sound, storage-ctrl, sys,
 Manual page hwinfo(8) line 1 (press h for help or q to quit)

Thanks, I will try this ASAP and let you all know if I got any extra info.

KodzghlyCZ · 04-26-2022, 05:28 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by michaelk

https://linux-hardware.org/index.php...7146-13c2-1019

What happens when you try to load the module.

modprobe budget-ci

You need to be root or use sudo.

Check to see if you have a /dev/v4l/video0 device.

Pretty sure I tried this before, I have tried to load many of those drivers, but none of them did actually work. I will check it once again and let you know if it made any change to the system devices, thanks! I could also do a hwprobe of that machine so I know better about it.

michaelk · 04-26-2022, 05:41 AM

What linux distribution and version are you running?

What were the errors when you tried to load the module?

If not found you will need to recompile the kernel or switch to something that still includes support.

KodzghlyCZ · 04-26-2022, 05:51 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by michaelk

What linux distribution and version are you running?

What were the errors when you tried to load the module?

If not found you will need to recompile the kernel or switch to something that still includes support.

I don't have the access to the machine right now, but I have just installed the latest Debian 11 back then. I am running a headless version only gaining access through the SSH. There were no specific errors while loading, it just didn't have any effect on the card. I have checked with ls /dev/vid* if there is some video device after that, but nothing has appeared.

Arnulf · 04-27-2022, 05:17 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by KodzghlyCZ

There were no specific errors while loading,

Post output of dmesg after trying to load a module. Some TV cards require load of a firmware.

KodzghlyCZ · 05-04-2022, 01:04 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by rokytnji

Code:

harry@biker:~
$ apt-cache policy hwinfo
hwinfo:
  Installed: 21.72-1
  Candidate: 21.72-1
  Version table:
 *** 21.72-1 500
        500 http://ftp.de.debian.org/debian bullseye/main amd64 Packages
        100 /var/lib/dpkg/status

To get more info on that card

Code:

HWINFO(8)                    System configuration                    HWINFO(8)

NAME
       hwinfo - probe for hardware

SYNOPSIS
       hwinfo [ OPTIONS ]

DESCRIPTION
       hwinfo  is used to probe for the hardware present in the system. It can
       be used to generate a system overview log which can be later  used  for
       support.

OPTIONS
       Note  that  running hwinfo without any options is roughly equivalent to
       'hwinfo --all --log=-'.

       --<HARDWARE_ITEM>
              This option can be given more than once.  Probe for a particular
              HARDWARE_ITEM. Available hardware items are:

              all,  arch,  bios,  block,  bluetooth,  braille, bridge, camera,
              cdrom, chipcard,  cpu,  disk,  dsl,  dvb,  fingerprint,  floppy,
              framebuffer,   gfxcard,   hub,   ide,  isapnp,  isdn,  joystick,
              keyboard, memory,  mmc-ctrl,  modem,  monitor,  mouse,  netcard,
              network,  partition,  pci,  pcmcia, pcmcia-ctrl, pppoe, printer,
              redasd, reallyall, scanner, scsi, smp, sound, storage-ctrl, sys,
 Manual page hwinfo(8) line 1 (press h for help or q to quit)

I got this output from hwinfo, sadly, there is nothing that I don't know so far

Code:

13: PCI 404.0: 0480 Multimedia controller
  [Created at pci.386]
  Unique ID: rChK.WQCuTHmxGaF
  Parent ID: svHJ.qPhtXRdxRG6
  SysFS ID: /devices/pci0000:00/0000:00:1e.0/0000:03:00.0/0000:04:04.0
  SysFS BusID: 0000:04:04.0
  Hardware Class: unknown
  Model: "Philips Semiconductors SAA7146"
  Vendor: pci 0x1131 "Philips Semiconductors"
  Device: pci 0x7146 "SAA7146"
  SubVendor: pci 0x10fe "Fast Multimedia AG"
  SubDevice: pci 0x0000 
  Revision: 0x01
  Memory Range: 0xdfb04800-0xdfb049ff (rw,non-prefetchable)
  IRQ: 5 (no events)
  Module Alias: "pci:v00001131d00007146sv000010FEsd00000000bc04sc80i00"
  Config Status: cfg=new, avail=yes, need=no, active=unknown
  Attached to: #19 (PCI bridge)