[Solved] Splitter won't send signal to converter

[heteroerectus]

I've created a setup of this hardware exactly to spec, but I can't seem to get the USB-tv driver working. I have run get-kernel-source.sh, but I cannot make install the driver, I get "no such file or directory."

Can someone give me some advice to get this working?

[heteroerectus]

Ok, solved my problem by following the instructions in another thread, but now I'm faced with another one. Program 0 works, but seems to be showing random colors, not what I would expect, and it doesn't change with the screen. Program 1 also shows a sort of dim white, but again doesn't change. Program 2 works perfectly. I'm guessing this is just a setting with the video device, can you guys who have gotten it working give me a clue as to how to tweak the settings and get it working? It appears to be running at 720x576 now, not sure if that is correct or not.

Also, is there any way to see the video stream so I can tell the input is correct?

EDIT: Figured out how to see what's on the screen with mplayer, it seems as if my splitter won't send a signal to the HDMI/AV converter. I have tried 5 HDMI cables, to no avail. The splitter will split the signal to two ports on my TV, so I'm assuming it's working, and the converter will display the image properly (somewhat, it's very flickery) when plugged into the HDMI source cable. As a result, I'm stumped! Perhaps I need a better HDMI/AV splitter?

Has anyone else encountered this problem?

EDIT: Just wanted to add that the software was actually working with the LED strip, it was just displaying the PAL no signal screen, so I thought it was random.

[hb0mb]

I appear to be having almost the exact same issue. When the TV is off Program 2 looks to be working fine but Program 1 has a soft flickering white. Once I turn on the TV then the LED's go blue and flicker red; unresponsive to what is being displayed.

I tried different cables but still had the same result. It almost seems as if the HDMI splitter might be the issue here and I used the one that was listed in the build. I'm going to try a different one to see if it behaves any differently. I didn't compile the driver with the PAL hack as I'm using it in NTSC mode (720x480 (YUYV)), and am using a USB powered hub to power the peripherals.

Are there any other suggestions on things to try in order to fix this?

[hb0mb]

As an update, since I use a HTPC connected to my TV I just mirrored the two display outputs and the ambi-light is working great in avg. color mode. However, I am not able to get the edge processing to work, has the same result as before where the LED's are just a dim white and don't change with the scene. What could this be attributed to?

[heteroerectus]

I'm still pretty sure my problem is the HDMI->RCA converter, so I've got a newer, shinier one coming in the mail tomorrow. Hopefully that will fix the problem, I'll report back once I get it.

[SchruteRampage]

Are you powering your LED's with an external supply? If you are, you need to run a wire from ground on the external power supply to the ground pin of the pi.

[hb0mb]

I'm running VCC and ground to the GPIO header from the external power supply. Everything works fine but edge processing, which the LED's don't even turn on for.

[heteroerectus]

As for my problem, I got the whole system working beautifully... temporarily. I replaced the MINI with a more expensive HDMI/RCA converter, and it worked like a charm. Then I tried to clean up and do some cable management, and all hell broke loose. Problem now is "v4l2-grab: failed to dequeue a frame: 19 (No such device)"

I confirm at startup that video0 exists in /dev, but after running ambi-tv, it disappears, and is replaced by video1. Then the mplayer trick of displaying the video feed doesn't work either.

Any advice? I'm this close!!

[heteroerectus]

For your problem hb0mb, I would suggest this, which will show you what the video signal is:

apt get install mplayer mplayer tv:// -tv device=/dev/video0 -hardframedrop

Then you can pull in the cropping for your edge processing program in the conf file. I had to do this at first, and raise the blended frames to compensate for some flickering.

[gkaindl]

@heteroerectus people who have reported the "/dev/video0 goes away and comes back as /dev/video1" issue before could solve it by using a powered USB hub between the Pi and the grabber, but I'm quite positive you can also fix it by powering the Pi itself from a beefier power supply (Personally, I don't use a powered USB hub, and the grabber is rock-solid).

[heteroerectus]

Thanks gkaindl (for everything!). I ended up getting it to work last night, and it works pretty good most of the time, but the signal from the RCA is not too clean, and often flickers, which leads to the lights flickering. Bumping the blending frames up to 5 helped, but it still flickers sometimes. Have you encountered that issue?

In the meantime, here's a video of my setup working: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i3TsByuqNF8

EDIT: In response to your comment, gkaindl, I had to find a cable extender, because the grabber is too thick to plug in both it and the keyboard to the pi's USB ports. Maybe a powered hub would help, I think I have one I could misappropriate from work. :)

[SchruteRampage]

Where did you find that video to test the colors?

[heteroerectus]

@SchruteRampage http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sr_vL2anfXA

[SchruteRampage]

Thank you kindly sir.

[heteroerectus]

Now to build a box and frame...

[hb0mb]

@heteroerectus thanks that tip helped! Had to crop the image quite a bit to pick up the edges. It all works nicely now. Also a big thanks to @gkaindl for a great idea and application, it looks really impressive when it's all up and running.

[heteroerectus]

Yep, I had to do the same thing. Enjoy!

[hb0mb]

@heteroerectus do you mind telling me which HDMI to composite converter you purchased? I seem to be having the same problem as you with the HDMI splitting, and purchasing a new splitter didn't resolve the issue. Thanks.

[heteroerectus]

No problem, it was this one: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B009TC9T7K/ Works like a charm.

[mjseid]

My MINI converter finally arrived from china, and looks like I'm having the same issue. Mood light program works fine and the converter has a blue light when power/hdmi are connected, but the edge detection program just has flickering lights and a mplayer screen capture show's the PAL no signal screen. I've tried both splitter ports and multiple cables and everything is powered through a usb hub.

The red light on the hdmi splitter for the output going to the converter doesn't light up, so it's like the splitter isn't recognizing there's a device there to send a signal to.

Is that the same symptoms you guys saw? Guess I'll order a new converter and see what happens....

[heteroerectus]

Sounds exactly like what I was experiencing. A new, better converter should make all the difference. When I plugged the hdmi cable in and saw the red light on the splitter come on, it was a moment of joy.

[mjseid]

I ordered another converter of the same type, from a different supplier and it seems to be working fine. Guess I just got a bad on the first time, although their exterior does look ever so slightly different.

When you guys say "Had to crop the image quite a bit to pick up the edges" how much are you using? I'm still trying to get the flickering eliminated, for reference can you share your settings for the following?

buffers
crop-left
crop-top
crop-right
crop-bottom
box-width box-height blended frames

[hb0mb]

@mjseid not sure if you still need this information but here's my settings. I might still need to tweak some things to get it to read closer to the edge, just haven't had a chance to yet. Changing the blended frames helped with flickering.

crop-left 33 crop-top 19 crop-right 27 crop-bottom 8

box-width 5 box-height 5

blended-frames 8