NthCode alpha release

[pietro]

Hi,

I've downloaded and installed the first alpha release. The player
starts, even if there are some errors reported on the console, but
video play is quite slow. I've tried different video resolutions and
different formats: the player was not able to play correctly some hi-
res videos (i.e. the 1280x720 version of Big Buck Bunny)

Other issues:

- The USB Host port doesn't work (I've got a BeagleBoard rev C3):
only connecting the USB hub to the OTG port using a mini-a cable I
managed to use the mouse and other peripherals;
- [minor] the legal shows the HTML source code instead of the
rendered page.

Anyway, very good stuff indeed! Please continue the development of the
NthCode player: I look forward to trying forthcoming releases.

Cheers

Pietro

[Peter McDermott]

Pietro,

Thank you for trying NthCode Player.  I didn't do a good job of documenting what's in the the alpha.  The first alpha uses software-only decoders for video until we can make TI's DSP work for us.  If we can do that, and get permission to release an alpha with the DSP decoders, then you should have much better video playback.

I have the legal-notices issue on the list of things to fix for next week.  Thanks for the note on it.  And we currently only have revision B boards at the office, so we haven't been able to try out the USB-host functionality that was made operational in Rev C, but we will see what we can do to enable this in a future release. 

By the way, were you playing video off the SD-card, over SMB, or UPnP?  And did the browser work OK for you?

-Peter

P.S. I think you are the first person outside of NthCode to run our software.  I'm thrilled that it worked.

[pietro]

Thanks Peter,

I was suspecting the software wasn't using the DSP... Don't worry
about the documentation: it's an alpha and people must accept it as
is. It was quite straight forward for me to install it on an empty SD
card and getting it work. I put the video dicertly on the SD card, in
a subdirectory under /nthcode/latest/data/Media directory, because I
thought it was the right place to place media content.

I didn't try the network because my USB wireless dongle (zd1211)
doesn't work with NthCode player: it doesn't load the firmware, I
think it's an issue with the Angstrom distribution because it works
well with the Debian distribution on the BeagleBoard. I've also a
wired USB-Ethernet interface (the Apple USB Ethernet Adapter
http://store.apple.com/us/product/MB442Z/A) which was correctly
recognised by NthCode Player, but I'm on holiday at the moment and the
TV is quite far from the wi-fi router and I don't want to buy a longer
cable (I've kilometers of Ethernet cable at home...). However, I will
try the network soon when I've time, using my Linux laptop as a
wireless bridge, and will also try other features and will report my
feedbacks.

A couple of considerations. I've tried the following distributions/
software on my BeagleBoard: Angstrom, Debian Lenny and NthCode Player.
To be honest, the configuration that works better for video decoding
is the Debian I've installed by myself using the mplayer binary copied
from the Angstrom distribution, because that version of mplayer it's
compiled with NEON optimisations. All other players dont' work or give
a very low frame rate. I'm now trying to compile the DSP stuff on my
Debian but the documentation is quite fragmented and there is no clear
direction on which method should be used (DSP bridge vs link vs
gateway). I managed to get the DSP bridge working but the resulting
kernel had other problems (lack of USB) and I'm still investigating
and trying other ways (DSP link).

The "dvi:hd720-24@60" boot parameter was not good for the TV I'm using
at the moment (a 32" LCD TV) so I changed the resolution to "dvi:
1280x768MR-16@60" and it worked well.

Anyway, I've enjoyed very much The NthCode video player interface and
the ability to control the volume and seek the movie just using the
mouse. I've also enjoyed the iPod-style stars. The overall GUI is very
pleasant and I think the software has all the feature I was looking
for in a media player. Your'de doing a good job, I was following your
project since I was planning to buy a BeagleBoard and I look forward
to seeing your progress with the project.

By the way, I'm Italian.

Kind Regards,

Pietro

[rubik...@googlemail.com]

Hallo,

I have installed the NthCode Player on my Rev C.
Beagleboard too.
And it started with no problems!!
Previously i tried to compile the kernel with support for my LG-HDTV
without success
and now with Nthcode Player i get a picture!!!
Good work with this Software, my only problem is that i can't use my
peripherals with my USB-Hub on the USB Host Port.
And i have no USB-Converter for the OTG Port.
But good work so far!!

Regards
Michael

On 15 Aug., 15:37, pietro <pietro.pi...@gmail.com> wrote:
> Thanks Peter,
>
> I was suspecting the software wasn't using the DSP... Don't worry
> about the documentation: it's an alpha and people must accept it as
> is. It was quite straight forward for me to install it on an empty SD
> card and getting it work. I put the video dicertly on the SD card, in
> a subdirectory under /nthcode/latest/data/Media directory, because I
> thought it was the right place to place media content.
>
> I didn't try the network because my USB wireless dongle (zd1211)
> doesn't work with NthCode player: it doesn't load the firmware, I
> think it's an issue with the Angstrom distribution because it works
> well with the Debian distribution on the BeagleBoard. I've also a

> wired USB-Ethernet interface (the Apple USB Ethernet Adapterhttp://store.apple.com/us/product/MB442Z/A) which was correctly

[Pietro Pizzo]

Hi Michael,

you don't need any USB-converter: just replace the USB cable of your
existing hub with a cable ending with a mini-a plug. Do not buy a
cable ending with a mini-b plug otherwise the otg port will not act as
master (a = master side, b = device side)

The following image shows the differences among plugs:

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/cb/Types-usb_new.svg

Regards

Pietro

On Aug 17, 9:01 pm, "rubiktu...@googlemail.com"

[rubik...@googlemail.com]

Ok then i must buy the other cable.
Thanks pietro.

I have a question for Peter:

In Nthcode the kernel recognize my LG-HDTV !
This settings are stored in the file modedb.c of the kernel
Can you post your version of modedb.c which is in
drivers/video of the kernel directory?

That would help me very much because i search for the right timings
for my TV for a long
time without success!

Regards
rubiktubik

[yon...@nthcode.com]

Hi:

Here are modedb.c, Enjoy it :)

Regards

Tang YongJun

[rubik...@googlemail.com]

Thank you for the file!

>  modedb.c
> 33KAnzeigenHerunterladen