Hello everyone,
I've got a problem I'm hoping that someone out there can help
solve (surprise, surprise!).
I've got a bunch of capture cards that use 4 Conexant BT878A
capture chips connected through a single HiNT HB1 bridge chip.
When I've tried connecting multiple BT878's directly to the main
PCI bus, the system runs just fine with all slots filled. I've
tried the same thing using the multi-chip capture cards but have
had much less success - the system will run for a period of
time, then spontaneously reboot without warning. It usually
does not leave a kernel dump.
So far, Ive got:
1) Multiple independent BT878A's work fine (devices bktr0
through bktr7 usually, although I've also tweaked things to test
with up to 20 bktr devices)
2) Running only one BT878A per HiNT HB1 bridge works just fine
3) Running multiple BT878A's per HB1 causes reboots
The test software I've been using to try and figure this out is
fxtv. I'll be using some of my own streaming code in the end,
but this provides a nice open source verification of the problem
(thus assuring me that it's not something I did wrong). The
more simultaneous session started ('cause the bktr driver
doesn't automatically disable capture when a connected client
process closes), the quicker the system crashes.
I've talked to Roger Hardiman, who maintains the bktr driver,
who suggested that perhaps some special setup info had to be
given to bridge chip (like what is done to support the newer
Matrox Meteor cards). The only affect I've been able to have by
doing this has been to set the primary and secondary latency
higher - this results in somewhat longer times between reboots.
I've talked to HiNT who thinks this is likely an issue with the
BT878A driver on FreeBSD. I've been trying to get in touch with
Conexant, but the closest I've been able to get is phone tag
with a local field engineer.
Can anyone provide any other suggestions? I can provide specs
sheets for all chips involved, kernel configuration info, run
tests, etc. if it will help. I's also be willing to compensate
someone some for their efforts should we manage to find an
answer.
Thanks, in advance,
Rob McKeever
Vancouver, BC Canada
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
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