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Re: [xine-devel] Re: VIA Enhanced Xine Player
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From: Thomas <uni...@sh...> - 2004-08-26 15:04:46
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Hi, Tim and Miguel. Since this message was copied to me I'd also like to clarify the Unichrom= e projects role and relation to VIA in this. > Hi Tim, > > I'd like to get a better picture of the free software available for > VIA hardware so we could decide how to best proceed. I'm copying this > message to Thomas Hellstr=F6m from the unichrome project. The first > thing I'd like to understand is the relationship between VeXP and > unichrome project and how their approaches differ. The unichrome project sprung from one of the first versions of the X server driver VIA handed over to the XFree86 projects. After it was cleaned up by the XFree86 development team and Alan Cox, A team of interested developers started the unichrome project to be able to do more rapid development than the XFree86 development model allowed for our hardware that lacked proper linux drivers. We keep every effort to maintain compatibility with dri.sourceforge.net, X.org, and XFree86. VIA has continued developing their own Xfree86 drivers and, although thei= r sourcecode is availble, it is not backported to and adapted to the advancing development of XFree86 and X.org, and they have not adapted any of the cleanups that the XFree86 team or the Unichrome project has provided. With mpeg support the situation is the following: In order to work, VEXP needs 1. A closed-source linux kernel addition via_v4l_drv that are only provided for certain kernel versions. 2. A closed-source library libddmpeg.so provided in binary form. This library accesses the hardware directly and one is obliged to run it as root. At least this was the case with VeXP 2.X. It has no means of sharin= g hardware engine resources, like frame blitting etc. with the X server. This library, at least the CLE266 version has an open API, similar to the XvMC API but much more restricted with respect to surface handling. 3. The drm module which is available Open-source at dri.sourceforge.net. It is also based on an old version of Xine-lib and will require some porting to be up-to-date with xine CVS. The unichrome project has chosen a different approach with a nonstandard extension of XvMC that implements a VLD acceleration level. This library is based on the direct rendering infrastructure and, as such, can communicate and share resources with the X server. The XvMC standard also provides means for hardware surface duplication, which is required for DV= D menu support, and is, of course, fully open source under the old style XFree86 license, which should be GPL compatible. The drm kernel module from dri.sourceforge.net is needed for X server interoperability. The newer version of the Xine code in VeXP is much more well written and easier to understand than that of the older version. I have "stolen" some ideas for the unichrome plugin, in particular parts of the ia44 / ai44 blending surface rendering, while most has been implemented in a quite different way, following xine's Xv and XvMC plugins. Almost all of the Xv plugin code in the unichrome XxMC plugin remains intact. Contrary to VeXP, the unichrome plugin can be run as an unprivileged user and it is up to date with current Xine-CVS which means people are testing it with additions such as VDR-xine. The largest drawback with the unichrome plugin is that it, due to lack of documentation, (CN400 docs are not ready) lacks bleeding edge features such as CN400 mpeg4 support, and it will probably lag behind VIAs codes with respect to this also in the future, and since it is a spare-time-people project there is no guarantee that development will continue forever. The development at unichrome.sourceforge.net is not in any way sponsored or supported by VIA, but so far there has been a healty coexistence. And the simultaneous release of the unichrome XxMC plugin and VeXP 3.0 was, i= n fact, a pure coincidence. Regards Thomas > > I remember I checked the source code of the first VeXP release and it > was not much promising from the perspective of trying to merge the > patches back. I have nothing against binary drivers myself* (actually > I'm using a nvidia binary driver here) and if your company, by > whatever reason, cannot provide the full source code for programming > hardware acceleration it doesn't matter. However, xine is free > software and may not be linked to GPL-incompatible libraries. I > believe the first VeXP release was linked to a proprietary library, > therefore these changes would not be accepted back to our codebase. > Fortunately this should not be a difficult issue to solve (note I have > not seen VeXP 3.0 sources yet), you just need to put all your > proprietary stuff accessible through some documented API (like XvMC) > and have a clear separation from GPL'ed software like xine (eg. > providing a kernel or xfree86 driver). > > I look forward hearing your comments. I hope we can merge VeXP, > unichrome, or even both drivers to xine provided they are not too much > intrusive or hacky and, of course, legal. > > regards, > > Miguel > > * ok, I personally prefer to use open source drivers/software whenever > possible. But if the binary driver works well and it is 100% legal > (speaking in terms of license and copyrights) it is fine for me. > > On Wed, 18 Aug 2004 16:03:38 +0200, Guenter Bartsch > <bar...@ra...> wrote: >> hallo tim, >> >> personally i am no longer very active in xine developement that's why >> i'm forwarding your mail to the xine developer's mailing list. >> >> thanks for your great effort and keep up the good work! >> >> guenter >> >> On Wed, 2004-08-18 at 09:18, Tim...@vi... wrote: >> > Hi Gunter >> > >> > VIA has added some code to the Xine player to enable support for the >> > hardware based MPEG2 decoding in the VIA CLE266 chipset and the MPEG= 4 >> > and MPEG2 acceleration in the VIA CN400 chipset. This is available o= n >> > sourceforge.net and more info is available from this URL: >> > http://www.viaarena.com/?PageID=3D325#cle266. >> > >> > We now want to send out a press release to announce that this progra= m >> > (that we call VeXP 3.0 - VIA enhanced Xine Player, version 3.0) and >> > the free source code is available and would like to give the Xine >> > project group all the credit that they deserve in this announcement. >> > Are you the right person to contact in this regard? >> > >> > VIA has four EPIA Mini-ITX mainboards with various configurations >> > based on the CLE266 chipset and we are about to launch the VIA EPIA = SP >> > Mini-ITX >> > <http://www.viaembedded.com/product/epia_sp_spec.jsp?motherboardId=3D= 261> >> and VIA EPIA N Nano-ITX >> <http://www.viaembedded.com/product/epia_N_spec.jsp?motherboardId=3D22= 1> >> mainboards that are based on the CN400 chipset. These boards target >> 'Personal Electronics' devices for the living room. Basically, the >> work that we did on the VeXP 3.0 will enable a reduction in the >> workload of the VIA C3 or VIA Eden processor of more than 50% while >> helping to improve overall system performance. We believe that the >> Linux operating system is the right kind of OS for the x86 consumer >> electronics market because of its customizable nature as well as fast >> boot-up times and the ability to achieve consumer electronics type >> price points. By using low power VIA processor platforms that include >> the VIA CN400 or VIA CLE266 chipsets, many VIA customers are building >> small, low profile and even mobile digital entertainment devices that >> are attractive and quiet enough to qualify for the living room and >> other personal environments. >> > >> > In order to provide the right kind of exposure to the Xine project, = we >> > are considering how best to talk about our work on the player and >> > would like to include a quote from someone involved in the Xine >> > project as part of our good intentions with this project. >> > >> > I look forward to your reply. >> > >> > Best Regards >> > >> > Tim Handley >> > Processor Platform Marketing Manager >> > VIA Technologies, Inc. >> > >> >> ------------------------------------------------------- >> SF.Net email is sponsored by Shop4tech.com-Lowest price on Blank Media >> 100pk Sonic DVD-R 4x for only $29 -100pk Sonic DVD+R for only $33 >> Save 50% off Retail on Ink & Toner - Free Shipping and Free Gift. >> http://www.shop4tech.com/z/Inkjet_Cartridges/9_108_r285 >> _______________________________________________ >> xine-devel mailing list >> xin...@li... >> https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/xine-devel >> > > > ------------------------------------------------------- > SF.Net email is sponsored by Shop4tech.com-Lowest price on Blank Media > 100pk Sonic DVD-R 4x for only $29 -100pk Sonic DVD+R for only $33 > Save 50% off Retail on Ink & Toner - Free Shipping and Free Gift. > http://www.shop4tech.com/z/Inkjet_Cartridges/9_108_r285 > _______________________________________________ > xine-devel mailing list > xin...@li... > https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/xine-devel > |