
Documentation overview
======================

README		[this file] gives a overview over the package.
		Build instructions, short overview over every
		program, some maybe useful URL's.

man pages	For most programs a manual page is available.

README.xfree4	Some notes about XFree86 4.x and the Xvideo
		extention.

README.recording If you want record videos, have a look at this
		file.  It also has some notes about how to process /
		playback the files recorded by xawtv/streamer.

README.network	How to stream video/audio over the net. Pointers to
		other software for the most part.

README.lirc	Some hints how make lirc work with xawtv.

README.bttv	Some hints to get bttv going, also lists some
		known problems.

UPDATE_TO_v3.0	Some hints for upgrading from 2.x to 3.x (config
		file syntax changes, ...)


before sending me email...
==========================

IMPORTANT:  Don't send me mails with images attached unless I ask you
to do so.  Mails with images attached will go to /dev/null unseen, you
will never ever see an answer for these.

If you have problems after upgrading, please check the ChangeLog for
hints first.  Looking into the ChangeLog is a good idea in general,
because it is updated for every release, the other files are updated
less frequently and might be a bit outdated.

For problem/bug reports:

 * emails with questions answered in the documentation will go to
   /dev/null.
 * emails which don't have any useful informations (like "xawtv
   doesn't work, please help me") will go to /dev/null.

"useful information" includes at least:
 - xawtv version
 - kernel version
 - which driver (+ version if you know)
 - which hardware (although I probably can help with bttv
   driver problems only).
 - which TV norms are used in your country.
 - if xawtv prints errors, include these too (cut+paste)
 - don't forget a description of your problem :-)

If you are using bttv as driver:
 - the insmod arguments for the modules
 - the kernel messages printed by bttv while loading.

If you are _really_sure_ some information isn't important for your
problem, you can skip it.  But if in doubt, better include it...


For patches/changes:

 * Please add a comment on what is changed and why you changed it.
 * Please send unified diffs ("diff -u") against the latest version.
 * Please don't reformat my source code.
 * Complete patches have better chances to go in.  Quick+dirty hacks
   which need cleanups and lack documentation updates are less likely
   to go in simply because I need more time to deal with them.


compile & install
=================

The commands

	$ ./configure [ options ]
	$ make

should compile xawtv, v4l-conf, fbtv and a few other utilities.  You can
also simply type "make" if you don't want to pass any options to
configure.

If it fails, check that all required packages are installed.  Note that
the *-devel packages are also required to compile stuff, i.e. you need
both libjpeg and libjpeg-devel for example.

You can install the programs (as root) with:

	# make install

If you want build RPMs:  No problem, just run

	$ rpm -ta xawtv-3.xx.tar.gz

and install them the usual way with "rpm -i".


usage
=====

bttv
----

bttv isn't bundled with xawtv any more.  You can the latest version
from http://bytesex.org/bttv/.  If you are using kernel 2.4.x, it is
very unlikely that you need an update, the bttv driver in 2.4.x is
updated in regular intervals.


v4l-conf
--------

v4l-conf is a small tool which tells video4linux about the current
video mode (size and color depth).  This requires root privileges,
because it is easy to crash the box by passing bogus values there.
It requires the X-Server with DGA support up and running or a
framebuffer device.  It is a temporary hack, this problem will be
solved in a better way with a X11 extention.  See README.xfree4
for details.

Try "v4l-conf -h" for a short description.  It is installed suid-root,
and xawtv runs it at startup.  Should work out-of-the-box without
extra configuration.  Normally you shouldn't need to worry about it,
but for debugging it is handy do run it from the shell and check the
output.


xawtv
-----

There is a man page now, read it.  Don't expect you can use xawtv
without reading the documentation at least once.  You are lost if you
don't know the keyboard shortcuts,  xawtv isn't a mouse-only program.

xawtv will not work without the app-defaults.  If you want to try
xawtv without installing it, use this...

	$ XUSERFILESEARCHPATH=./%N.ad
	$ export XUSERFILESEARCHPATH
	$ ./xawtv

...to make sure xawtv finds the application defaults (the Xawtv.ad
file).  If v4l-conf isn't installed too, you have to run it once
(as root) before starting xawtv.


motv
----

That's basically xawtv with better (IMO), motif-based GUI.  Feature set
is very close to xawtv, they share a lot of code (basically everything
but the athena/motif GUI code).

motv uses Motif 2.x features (utm, render tables).  This means you
need openmotif, lesstif does *not* work.


xawtv-remote
------------

remote control for xawtv.  Works with motv too.  Takes commands for
xawtv as command line arguments.  Check 'xawtv-remote -h' for details.
A man-page exists too.

ObSecurity:  This uses X Properties, everyone who is allowed to connect
to your X11 Display can control xawtv.

There is a GUI (Qt) version at:
http://www.ben2.ucla.edu/~wtho/xawtv-qremote/xawtv-qremote-0.01.tar.gz


fbtv
----

TV program for the linux console.  Runs on top of a framebuffer
device.  Check out man-page and source code for details.


ttv
---

aa-lib based TV app which renders the TV image on any text terminal.


scantv
------

scans for tv stations and writes a initial config file for xawtv and
motv.


v4lctl
------

This tool allows to control a v4l device from the command line.
Also can capture images.  Check the man-page for details.


streamer
--------

Command line tool for streaming capture, including audio.  Single
frames work too.  Try the '-h' switch for a description.  A (short)
man page is available too.


pia
---

simple movie player, should play every movie file (mov+avi) recorded
by streamer, xawtv and motv.


radio
-----

You have to load the driver using "insmod bttv radio=1" for radio
support.  The MAKEDEV script should create the required /dev/radio*
devices.

radio is a console application (curses).  up/down tune, 'q' quits,
the function keys recall the programmed stations.  radio reads the
kradio config file.  You can't configure anything with radio, you'll
have to use kradio or vi for this.  The config file format is
documented in the man page.

kradio (my KDE radio app) isn't included any more, it is available as
separate tarball now.


videotext / teletext
--------------------

alevt is _the_ videotext application for bttv.  URL below.

A http server for videotext called 'alevtd' is in the vbistuff
subdirectory.  Recent xawtv version also come with mtt, which is a
interactive videotext application for X11 (Motif) and console.


webcam
------

This is a webcam tool.  Captures a image, annotates with a text +
current time and uploads it to the webserver using ftp in an endless
loop.  Needs the ftp utility.  Should survive dropped ftp-connections
(webserver reboot) without problems.  It has a man-page...


perl
----

Hint for all perl users/hackers:  There is a Video::Capture::V4l module
available at CPAN.  It can do capture, vbi decoding, and it comes with a
nifty tool to do a channel scan (decodes the station ID from vbi).


resources
=========

http://bytesex.org/xawtv/				- xawtv	[me]
http://bytesex.org/bttv/				- bttv	[me]
http://lecker.essen.de/~froese/				- alevt	[Edgar]
http://bttv-v4l2.sourceforge.net/			- bttv2 [Justin]
http://roadrunner.swansea.uk.linux.org/v4l.shtml	- v4l	[Alan]
http://www.thedirks.org/v4l2/				- v4l2	[Bill]
http://www.tk.uni-linz.ac.at/~simon/private/i2c/	- i2c	[Simon]
http://www-mice.cs.ucl.ac.uk/multimedia/software/vic/	- vic

Have fun!

  Gerd

--
Gerd Knorr <kraxel@bytesex.org>
