Dual (or higher density) Tuner Card Support in Linux OEM

[rleeson]

With the looming switch to TV in February and there being move toward the PCIe interface on motherboards I'm a bit concerned that Hauppauge will soon be moving the PVR-500 to an "End of Life" status. So I was looking for another option that would provide multiple tuner support in a single PCIe backplane slot. I have an application that require a lot of tuners so getting two or more tuners in a card slot is a big plus. The HVR-2250 would a appear to be a good canadate to replace the PVR-500. I wondering if there were any plan to support it or another multi-tuner card on the Linux platform for ATSC, QAM and Analog modes in the near future.

There appears to be some user support for the HVR-2250 under Windows I don't want to use Window for various reasons.

The idea having to field bays of USB boxes isn't really some thing I want want to consider either but I guess it is an option.

Any suggestines welcome...

Thanks

Rob

[bcjenkins]

The 2250 is being worked on by Steve Toth for development. Keep an eye on linux-dvb mailing list.

As you know, I'm writing a driver for the SAA7164 chipset, for the HVR2200 DVB-T and HVR2250 ATSC/QAM products.

People have been asking for status, here's where I am.

Do I have anything to share with people yet? Not yet.


The basic driver framework is done. Firmware is loading, I can talking to the silicon through the proprietary PCIe ring buffer interface. I2C is working, eeprom and tuner/demod access is done.

The HVR2250 is responding to azap commands, the tuners and demods are locking, snr looks pretty good... it's going to be a popular board for people.

The HVR2200 (DVB-T Version) should also worked with tzap, it's untested and I can't comment on SNR at this stage.

I need to add the DMA/buffering code, this is the missing pieces before a first public release.

When I have anything to share I'll put up a tree and post a 'testers required' message here.

- Steve

Also, ViXS has an opening for a linux dev, but who knows how far off that will be.

Personally I am looking for the same but in a PCI configuration.

B

[DigitalMan]

There are PCIe breakout boxes that were talked about around the web a while back. I haven't tried one, but here's one that seems to support a decent variety of OS's:

http://www.magma.com/products/pciexp...ox7/index.html

Warning: this one is NOT cheap.