gkaindl/ambi-tv

a flexible ambilight clone for embedded linux

ambi-tv's Issues

Possible SPI Problem

I followed the setup as described by @sn00zerman in another issue thread (#7 (comment)). Everything built and ran correctly, but with no output on the LED strip, even in moodlight mode. I'm thinking there may be a SPI issue.

I downloaded and ran spidev_test.c (http://git.kernel.org/cgit/linux/kernel/git/torvalds/linux.git/plain/Documentation/spi/spidev_test.c) on spidev0.0, and it failed. The output it produced was as all 0xFF's.

Any ideas?

v4l2-grab: failed to start

So I have followed these directions

You need to download the sources for your running kernel, as well as its module symbol file. I've recently added a script in the 'misc' folder in this repo which should install the sources for the running kernel on Raspbian (I did not write this script, I found it as a gist and added it to the repo to preserve it, since it works well for me). Then, change into the the misc/usbtv folder and run 'make'. next, make sure the 'videobuf2_core' and 'videobuf2_vmalloc' modules are loaded, then insert the usbtv module with 'sudo insmod usbtv'.

But after running the makefile inside the usbtv folder, I do not see the modules videobuf2_core and the other module. And so when I go to use the command sudo insmod usbtv, it says directory cannot be found.

The main error I'm getting is this one when I try to execute the program.

v4l2-grab: failed to stat ' /dev/video0' : 2 (so such file or directory)

I'm assuming I still have something wrong with the drivers. Any help would be great.

Thanks

Noob with a Frozen Pi. Desperate

I could really use some help all.
I'm about as novice as it comes with this stuff- never done anything remotely like this- I am teaching myself as I move along.

My pi freezes when I get to a certain step.

This is what I have been doing:
1.) •Install Debian Wheezy on SD card
2.)•Run raspi-config, Expand the root file system, overclock, set to boot up into a desktop GUI.
Reboot
3.) Launch LXTerminal and type in:
sudo apt-get install git-core
4.) Typed: git clone https://github.com/gkaindl/ambi-tv.git
Pressed enter.
5.) cd ambi-tv/misc
6.) sudo bash get-kernel-source.sh
7.) cd usbtv-driver
8.) make
9.) sudo mkdir /lib/modules/3.6.11+/extra
10.) sudo cp usbtv.ko /lib/modules/3.6.11+/extra/
11.) sudo depmod 3.6.11+
12.) sudo modprobe videobuf2_core
13.) sudo modprobe videobuf2_vmalloc
14.) sudo modprobe usbtv

As soon as I press enter after typing in sudo modprobe usbtv, the raspberry pi freezes completely and does not respond- I even let it sit over night to see if it would free up, not no luck.

I am determined to have ambi-tv as I have been obsessed with ambilight since Phillips debuted it. I am to the point where I will pay someone to code the card properly and give step by step instructions on how to enter in LED light numbers. If not, I am willing to pay to have someone teach me how to do this.

I am in desperate need and have neither the knowhow nor the resources around me to address the problem locally.

Nick
[email protected]

Incorporating Audio

Most USB video capture devices, including the one you recommend, also capture audio channels.

How easy would it be to incorporate such data into the LED effects? For example, you could have one program that does "mood lighting" but the colors are driven by some parameter(s) of the audio. Or perhaps, in the traditional ambilight mode, the intensity of the LEDs could be modulated by the volume of the left and right channels.

not an issiue but me asking for help

I have bought EXACTLY the same hardware as stated. Im just waiting for the last component to find its way to me from Ebay.
Im perfectly fine with soldering and that stuff, however I have a low threshold for failure and my linux skills is not what they used to be.

Could someone please help me. I know its a LOT to ask but do you think you could provide a real step-by-step instruction.
Starting with chosing, downloading and installing the operative system.
Then step-bystep (preferablly command-by-command) for the rest of the installation.
I got spooked by the "hard to handle" usb grabber for example.
Then getting the right leds to light up at the right time is something I tried to read in to but didn't fully undetstand. I have applied the heatsinks but I need help with the overclocking. you see, I'm out of my depth.
So pretend I'm 5 years old, go basic all the way through and think like I do not know anything.
Anyone willing? I'll pay you if need be. I really want this working and I'm afraid I will screw it up

Mounting suggestions

I was wondering what all of you were using to mount your LED strips.

I was thinking that it might be best to mount them on the back of the TV with a bracket that is angled at 45 degrees. Does anyone know where to buy or have the resources to make a bracket like that?

Flickering LED's On left hand side of TV others working fine!

Hi,

I've got the software up and running currently (Great work by the way). But im having a slight issue with the LEDS on the left hand side of my tv. Flickering and randomly adjusting, all other three sides are working fine it's really distracting when watching.. I'm sure it's just a setting that I've overlooked but if anyone has had the same issue or advice I'm happy to hear it.

Thanks Luke

top leds not right

I've got everything working, using a NTSC signal from my cable box. Everything looks great except the top leds just don't look right to me. Very little output from them. I'm sure it's just a setting somewhere, I've tried cropping the top several pixels but it changes nothing. Any ideas?

unsupported video format in ambitv_video_fmt_detect_crop_for_frame.

i get the error:
unsupported video format in ambitv_video_fmt_detect_crop_for_frame.

after sudo bin/ambi-tv --button-gpio 3

mplayer is ok!

i make a video
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MzT5AHSQhPw

thanks
regards

Change blue static light?

Hi,

I'm running AmbiTV with WS2801 LEDs (fork available) and couldn't be happier how well it works. I've just one question. When there is no signal a static blue light is present on every single LED. Is it possible to change this color? Or turn it off so there is no light? I don't want to turn off the Pi or AmbiTV.

-- Max

LED in corner

Hey guys,

my setup has an own LED in every corner.

as I understand the ambi-tv was made for setups looking like this:
(x stands for LED)

--x x x x x x x x x x x x--
x---------------------------------x
x---------------------------------x
x---------------------------------x
x---------------------------------x
--x x x x x x x x x x x x--

But my setup looks like this:

x x x x x x x x x x x x x x
x----------------------------------x
x----------------------------------x
x----------------------------------x
x----------------------------------x
x x x x x x x x x x x x x x

the problem is, when i put this "corner-LED" to one side it always behaves like the next LED on that side and has no own region that it "calculates" the colors from.

Has someone here a setup with LED in corner as well and can help me out?

Infrared control instead of hardware button

Is it possible to control this setup with a infrared remote like the Logitech Harmony series? It would be perfect to switch it on and off from the couch!

I have no coding skills, but if someone has this working, please share it!

TV usb port

I have a Samsung tv with a usb port marked 5v 5a. Anyone foresee any issues with using this port for power? It would allow me to power up my leds with the tv remote.

ID 1c88:0007 Somagic, Inc. SMI Grabber (EasyCAP DC60+ clone) (no firmware) [SMI-2021CBE]

Hi. Was someone able to install drivers for this device?
I have also got this one which seems one of the three chips present in easycap,
Since it is a lottery, on which chip your easycap will be besed, it would be nice if we could add support for all three.

STK1160 scaled picture

MPlayer stream to test video-grabbing is showing a black bar at the left side and missing parts of the picture at the top, bottom and right side. Picture seems to be scaled up and aligned left.
The used driver is easycap as I did not find STK1160 drivers for kernel 3.6.

If I use MPlayer at different resolution(720x576 instead of standard values) the picture is shown correctly. Is there a way to change grabbing settings for ambi-tv?

I also tried newer kernels with STK1160 included which showed the correct picture but unfortunately SPI did not work with those. (No spidev in /dev with modules loaded)

Hopefully a new official release of raspbian will include a kernel >3.6 as those have STK1160 drivers and working spi-modules.

1080p video playback issue

This question may not be related to ambi-tv itself, but if anyone here had to deal with it, I would appreciate it (I've asked it at stackexchange but thought peeps over here would have more experience with something similar):

http://raspberrypi.stackexchange.com/questions/12178/raspbian-wheezy-with-xbmc-plays-only-audio-for-1080p-videos

32 or 52 leds?

Hi, the RGB 52 LED STRIP LPD8806 works like the 32 led?

Thanks you

BR

Emanuele

LED output offset

Have finished the ambi-tv setup and all hardware seems to be working great.
I'm now fine-tuning the LED output. The best way for me to describe this is if I were able to apply a negative value to the "Crop" values I would be able to make the output perfect.

This is what I am seeing: If I use my laptop for input to the ambi-tv setup and drag an image with a solid color to the top, bottom, left, right, sides of the display, the best I can do by adjusting the crop values to 0 is get the LED strip on the L side of my TV to change to the color of the image exactly when it hits that edge. On the R side and bottom, the LED strips change color at least a couple inches before the image hits that edge of the screen. I'm not sure about the top because I can't drag the image past the border of the display but it's pretty obvious that my "grab" is too small and shifted to the Left.

I am using PAL and have also tried the NTSC setting after commenting out the Pal hack and re-compiling the usbtv driver. It does then start the program with 720x480 instead of 720x576 with absolutely no change in the symptoms I describe above.

Changing the LED inset values does change the dimensions of the LED output to screen size like it's supposed to but has absolutely no effect on what I describe above.

Any insight to this challenge is welcome!

Hyperion ambilight as alternative.

Hi. Just to inform you that the same is possible to do with alternative software for Raspberry Pi called Hyperion.
You can read more here https://github.com/tvdzwan/hyperion/wiki
The benefits are that there should be no blue light issue. It is faster and uses much less CPU power only around 2%. There is also config tool to create configuration file.

There are very short manuals on how one of the users did it.
Try and report.
http://forum.stmlabs.com/showthread.php?tid=11053&page=10

The compilation of capturing drivers is the same as here.

strip lenght for 58" screen

Please a little help, to have a good result how many mt of RGB led strip i should by for my 58" screen?

Thanks you

Emanuele

v4l2-grab: failed to start video streaming: 71 (Protocol error)

Well after lots of trouble getting the usbtv module loaded I have finally got that but now it seems to have problems with the video capture:

pi@raspberrypi ~/ambi-tv $ sudo bin/ambi-tv

*********************************************************
*  ambi-tv: diy ambient lighting for your screen or tv  *
*                                         (c) @gkaindl  *
*********************************************************

registration: registered component 'v4l2-video' (class v4l2-grab-source).
        device name:              /dev/video0
        buffers:                  4
        crop-top:                 1
        crop-right:               4
        crop-bottom:              1
        crop-left:                4
        auto-crop luma threshold: 8
registration: registered component 'timer-30fps' (class timer-source).
        millis: 33
registration: registered component 'led-frame' (class lpd8806-spidev-sink).
        device name:       /dev/spidev0.0
        spi hz:            2500000
        number of leds:    32
        blending frames:   3
        led insets (tblr): 0.0%, 0.0%, 0.0%, 0.0%
        gamma (rgb):       1.55, 1.60, 1.50
registration: registered component 'avg-color' (class avg-color-processor).
registration: registered component 'edge-color' (class edge-color-processor).
        box-width:  8
        box-height: 8
registration: registered component 'mood-light' (class mood-light-processor).
        speed:  2.0
program: 'program_tv_edge_color': appended component 'v4l2-video'.
program: 'program_tv_edge_color': appended component 'edge-color'.
program: 'program_tv_edge_color': appended component 'led-frame'.
program: registered program 'program_tv_edge_color'.
program: 'program_tv_avg_color': appended component 'v4l2-video'.
program: 'program_tv_avg_color': appended component 'avg-color'.
program: 'program_tv_avg_color': appended component 'led-frame'.
program: registered program 'program_tv_avg_color'.
program: 'program_mood_light': appended component 'timer-30fps'.
program: 'program_mood_light': appended component 'mood-light'.
program: 'program_mood_light': appended component 'led-frame'.
program: registered program 'program_mood_light'.
main: configuration finished, 3 programs available.
        program_tv_edge_color
        program_tv_avg_color
        program_mood_light
component: activating component 'v4l2-video'...
v4l2-grab: video format: 720x576 (YUYV).
v4l2-grab: failed to start video streaming: 71 (Protocol error).
main: failed to start initial program 'program_tv_edge_color', aborting...

As far as I can tell, all the required modules are loaded:

pi@raspberrypi ~/ambi-tv $ lsmod
Module                  Size  Used by
spidev                  5224  0
spi_bcm2708             4816  0
snd_bcm2835            16304  0
snd_pcm                77560  1 snd_bcm2835
snd_page_alloc          5145  1 snd_pcm
snd_seq                53329  0
snd_seq_device          6438  1 snd_seq
snd_timer              19998  2 snd_pcm,snd_seq
snd                    58447  5 snd_bcm2835,snd_timer,snd_pcm,snd_seq,snd_seq_device
usbtv                   6366  0
videobuf2_vmalloc       2425  1 usbtv
videobuf2_memops        2584  1 videobuf2_vmalloc
videobuf2_core         26995  1 usbtv
videodev              104342  2 usbtv,videobuf2_core
media                  13424  1 videodev
leds_gpio               2235  0
led_class               3562  1 leds_gpio

And the EasyCap device is there:

pi@raspberrypi ~/ambi-tv $ lsusb
Bus 001 Device 002: ID 0424:9512 Standard Microsystems Corp.
Bus 001 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0002 Linux Foundation 2.0 root hub
Bus 001 Device 003: ID 0424:ec00 Standard Microsystems Corp.
Bus 001 Device 005: ID 1b71:3002

dmesg shows:

[  631.202385] usb 1-1.3: USB disconnect, device number 5
[  631.522303] usb 1-1.3: new high-speed USB device number 6 using dwc_otg
[  631.625871] usb 1-1.3: config 1 interface 0 altsetting 1 bulk endpoint 0x83 has invalid maxpacket 256
[  631.629241] usb 1-1.3: New USB device found, idVendor=1b71, idProduct=3002
[  631.629268] usb 1-1.3: New USB device strings: Mfr=3, Product=4, SerialNumber=2
[  631.629284] usb 1-1.3: Product: usbtv007
[  631.629299] usb 1-1.3: Manufacturer: fushicai
[  631.629313] usb 1-1.3: SerialNumber: 300000000002
[  631.630888] size is 3072, interval is 1
[  631.631250] usbtv 1-1.3:1.0: Fushicai USBTV007 Video Grabber

Would it give this error if it didn't like the video input? Would it not work with no input?

Many thanks,
Andy

STK1160 with 640x480 (UYVY) Format

Hi gkaindl,

First of all, thanks for the great software and the tutorial. The second i saw it, i ordered the parts and started to build it. The RGB LED Strip is attached to the TV and the mood-light is working just fine.
The only problem i have, is the video format my video grabber spits out. Of course it's not the YUYV format as you already have integrated. Mine has a UYVY Format.

I copied all the functions specific to the YUYV format, and changed everything that made sense to me to the UYVY format. when i start the software it doesn't complain anymore about an unsupported format, but the average rgb color is not nearly the color it should be, and the edge-color doesn't change the color in anyway. As i see it the only difference between UYVY and YUYV is the component order of the macropixel.

I'd be very glad if i could show you my modified video-fmt.c and video-fmt.h files, if you see where i'm wrong. If we get it to work, of course you could use it to add it as supported format in your code. I'd be very glad to hear from you.

Thanks in advance.

Need help with executing the code

Ok, so I have used the make command and I believe everything worked. But when I go into bin in the command line and then do ./ambi-tv to execute the file, it says failed to open configuration file '/etc/ambi-tv.conf'....and I noticed that there is no etc folder anywhere, so do I have to create it and then rename the sample.conf to ambi-tv.conf? Where should this file be located. Also, I cannot figure out how to run the executable file with the options.. So you have an option of -b/--button-gpio [i] but what do I actually type after ./ambi-tv to get the options to run? So pretty much what is the exact format for typing in the options? And do we need to make sure the selector switch is on the PAL setting?

Too much red in leds

Hi all,

Firstly I'd like to thank gkaindl, this is an great project.

I've got everything set up and working, my issue is that there appears to be too much red in the leds. Yellows are a bit too orange, as is skin tone.

I've tried changing gamma levels but without much joy.

Can anyone advise me of the best way to correct this?

Thanks in advance.

Jonathan

Clone LEDs / zones

Its a bit funny that I am asking for a "feature" even if I'm not able to get the ambi-tv working for me (different topic :-) )

But is it possible to "copy" zones?
To be more precise: I would like to copy the color of one LED to another LED

For example I have 50 LEDs on the TV.
Then I have some additional LEDs (not on the TV) and want so make somethink like this:
LED[51] = LED[1];
LED[52] = LED[2];
ect..

I hope you understand what I want to do ^^
Thanks for every help

Cheaper leds with arduino interpreter

Do you think I'd be able to use these:
http://www.adafruit.com/products/1460#Description
if I set it up to send a string of serial data to an arduino that would then change the lights on the strip? these are about half the price of the linked strips but do require a more strictly timed controller.

questions reg power supply

Hi,
Thanks for everyone for putting up such a great project. I am kind off new to this type of projects so my questions might be a bit too naive. I ordered the parts and waiting for them to come by this week. I do have a couple of questions:

1. Regarding using two power supplies:
   Can I power the RPi using the regular Micro USB power port and power the RGB strip using a differnt 5V power supply?
   In one of the previous posts i did read that we need to connect the ground pins if two independent power supplies are used. If two power sources are used (where the rpi is powered by micro-usb power port) can we just connect the ground of RGB strip to GND of RPi GPIO pin?

2. I am keeping my fingers crossed as to which chipset my USB grabber will have.
   Based on the comments so far can you tell me if these are the supported devices:
   a) If the chipset says STK1160 (from lsusb) then it is supposed to work as is.
   b) If the chipset says Fushicai USBTV007 we should be able to get to working as if we follow the steps mentioned in this projects wiki.

Thanks in advance for your help.

Regards,
Venkat

Invalid Module Format

Hello, I seem to have everything running a built correctly except I am getting one error that I can't figure out.

When I run the 'sudo insmod usbtv.ko' command when I am located in the usbtv folder, I get the error: could not insert module usbtv.ko: invalid module format.

Any ideas?

Powering LED strip

Your documentation suggests that we power the LED strip from extra leads soldered into the power supply cable directly in parallel to the USB power for the Pi.

Is there a specific reason you chose to do it this way? If I recall correctly, the 5V GPIO pins are connected to the USB power. You could reduce the mess of cutting and splicing a USB cable, if you just plug the unmodified cable into the Pi and power the LED strip from the GPIO. This would have the added benefit of using the voltage regulation circuitry in the USB port to prevent potential overvoltage damage to the LED strip.

WS2811/WS281x support

I saw the WS2801 issue and wonder if WS2811 could work?

I know timing is critical on the Raspberry but maybe someone could make it work anyway?
I saw this article http://www.raspberrypi.org/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=44&t=43442

Or maybe the data (colors for every LED) could be given to an µC (like Arduino) using the UART of the PI, which then controls the LEDs.
Any Ideas?

As I am beginner - please make it easy to understand (maybe with a tutorial?) ;-)
Thanks a lot!

HDMI2AV Firmware Dump

Hi Everyone,

So This is not an ambi-tv issue but more of a call for help for the HDMI2AV converter.

So I wasn't paying attention when I bought my HDMI2AV converter and I got the AV2HDMI. Not realizing it until I saw no edge color being spit out from the LEDs I looked at the converter and saw my mistake instantly. The AV2HDMI is RCA in and HDMI out. I believe the hardware is identical just the Firmware had been changed (correct me if I'm wrong as I have not cracked open a HDMI2AV as I don't have one at my disposal)

Can one of you please make a dump of the HDMI2AV for me, I saw jtag pins when I cracked it open so bitbanging it should work fine, and post the bin up so I can flash this AV2HDMI and see if I'm correct. I think this will also help people in the future if they made the same mistake I have.

Thanx
~evil

Can't seem to get this setup working

I followed #7 (comment) exactly as is and all steps have correct output (I've spidev0.0 and 0.1 as well as video0 under /dev).
I copied sample.conf to /etc/ambi-tv.conf (even tried sudo ambi-tv -f sample.conf -p 2)

I'm simply trying to see if my setup is working correctly (I don't have GUI interface yet -- getting everything working before installing xbmc-standalone)

I've attached few images to make sure my connections are proper. Yellow - CLK, Green - Data, Black - Gnd, Red - 5V (I'm using 5V 10A adapter, since I bought 5meters of strip). As you can see no matter what program is running, strip is white bright as shows in pic. I was using moodlight as a test program assuming it would show a constant color.

Do I need XBMC running?

Get video signal from tv SCART ?

Hi,

Is it possible to get the video signal from tv scart with a scart adaptator (scart --> s-video) and directly plug in the USB grabber in the scrat adaptator (set in OUT mode) ?

Thx

NTSC support

Hello,
I am using the same USB capture device you are (verified same chipset) but since all my content is in NTSC format, I've commented the "define AMBITV_PAL_HACK" out of the usbtv driver and compiled the kernel module.

It looks like the device is getting recognized from "v4l-info" and "v4l2-compliance -T", but when I try to run the program with composite NTSC 480i input I get the following error:

root@raspberrypi:/ambi-tv/bin# ./ambi-tv

---

• ambi-tv: diy ambient lighting for your screen or tv *

•                                     (c) @gkaindl  *
  

  ---

registration: registered component 'v4l2-video' (class v4l2-grab-source).
device name: /dev/video0
buffers: 4
crop-top: 1
crop-right: 4
crop-bottom: 1
crop-left: 4
auto-crop luma threshold: 8
registration: registered component 'timer-30fps' (class timer-source).
millis: 33
registration: registered component 'led-frame' (class lpd8806-spidev-sink).
device name: /dev/spidev0.0
spi hz: 2500000
number of leds: 98
blending frames: 3
led insets (tblr): -0.8%, -3.0%, -9.0%, -9.0%
gamma (rgb): 1.55, 1.60, 1.50
registration: registered component 'avg-color' (class avg-color-processor).
registration: registered component 'edge-color' (class edge-color-processor).
box-width: 8
box-height: 8
registration: registered component 'mood-light' (class mood-light-processor).
speed: 2.0
program: 'program_tv_edge_color': appended component 'v4l2-video'.
program: 'program_tv_edge_color': appended component 'edge-color'.
program: 'program_tv_edge_color': appended component 'led-frame'.
program: registered program 'program_tv_edge_color'.
program: 'program_tv_avg_color': appended component 'v4l2-video'.
program: 'program_tv_avg_color': appended component 'avg-color'.
program: 'program_tv_avg_color': appended component 'led-frame'.
program: registered program 'program_tv_avg_color'.
program: 'program_mood_light': appended component 'timer-30fps'.
program: 'program_mood_light': appended component 'mood-light'.
program: 'program_mood_light': appended component 'led-frame'.
program: registered program 'program_mood_light'.
main: configuration finished, 3 programs available.
program_tv_edge_color
program_tv_avg_color
program_mood_light
component: activating component 'v4l2-video'...
v4l2-grab: video format: 720x480 (YUYV).
v4l2-grab: failed to start video streaming: 71 (Protocol error).
main: failed to start initial program 'program_tv_edge_color', aborting...
root@raspberrypi:/ambi-tv/bin#

Have you seen this in your testing, or any suggestions?

LED position and push button functions

Alright, so I got the grabber to work after running the correct rasbian version (2013-07-26) but I don't get how to configure the leds.
I started at bottom left and went right, skipped 6 leds for the foot, and continued right. after that I curved the ledstrip and continued up and around the screen. I have no idea how to correctly adress them other then the bottom bit (I think) 0-21, X6, 28-51. I have 32 leds on both sides and 53 on top. Can anyone help me make sense of this?

My leds are located aprox. 1 cm from the actual screen making them a little bit bigger then 46''. How do I configure so that looks good? I installed a push button and I would like to have it as on/off for the strip. I only want the ambilight function, no mood light or anything like that.
How is that done?
I want this to start in the background when the R-PI starts. How should my rc.local look and will I need to send options with the command? If I do, what should the options be?

A lot of questions, I know but I want the best possible experiance from this project.

Even though its not working yet and I have had several setbacks and "back to the top of the list" issues, I'm having a blast. Soldering, tinkering and playing around makes Drefk a very happy old man..

EDIT: I changed the ledstrip so I no longer have a hole for the foot. I still need help with the config file though

No video signal

My Setup:
.........................................................//=> TV
Uverse Cable Box => HDMI SPLITTER ||
.........................................................\=> HDMI to SVideo Converter => EasyCap

Using this splitter
Using this converter

I've compiled and installed the usbtv module according to @sn00zerman's instructions (here).

The edge color and average color programs have no output on the LEDs. The mood light program works fine. When I run mplayer, the signal is just black with the occasional green line.

Not sure where to go from here.

ambi-tv start in background - button doesn't work

Hi,

i have installed ambi-tv and it works very well. Additionally i installed netio (http://netio.davideickhoff.de/) which gives me the possibility to simulate a button on gpio 3 and start and stop the ambi-TV via smartphone.
I works well, as long as ambi-tv is started in a normal way.
As soon as i start it via rc.local or in the background with "ambi-tv --button-gpio 3"
ambi-tv doesn't recognize the pushed button.
Even with a hardware button on the pins 5 and 6 it doesn't work when ambi-tv is started in the background.

Do you have any suggestions?

Thank you,

Alex

Green and blue colors are inverted.

Everything is working except the fact that the green and blue color are inverted. When I display a blue image the LED turn green and when I display a green image the LED turn blue. Please help.

WS2801 support

Hi! Can you please help me to give some guidance to add support for WS2801 leds. I think a lot of people will love to see that.

smd5050 leds

can these type of leds be used, do they have to have the lpd8806?

Easycap Driver

I tried to compile the driver but every time I try to load it the Pi stops responding. The procedure I followed from a fresh install is:

1. Run rpi-update to get the latest kernel/firmware
2. Get ambi-tv from git
3. Run the get-kernel-source.sh script as root
4. Run make in the usbtv-driver folder
5. modprobe videobuf2 modules as suggested in another topic
6. insmod usbtv,ko file

After step 6 everything stops working until I reboot. Tried loading the module with and without the easycap device connected. Am I doing something wrong?

WS2801

I see in some posts that folks are using the WS2801 for this project and seem to get it working. How do you do that? I have a 5 meter WS2801 laying around and would love to use it for the next projext. But how exactly would I go about it?
The pin out is not the same and I quess I have to add support in some way for it on a software level.

A step by step guide would be loveley... Especially regarding hardware installation..

[Solved] Splitter won't send signal to converter

I've created a setup of this hardware exactly to spec, but I can't seem to get the USB-tv driver working. I have run get-kernel-source.sh, but I cannot make install the driver, I get "no such file or directory."

Can someone give me some advice to get this working?

Gamma for RGB channels

When I change the values for the RGB gamma values in the config file the color temperature stays the same. Shouldn't different gamma values result in a changed color output? At the moment my white has a distinctive blue hue...
EDIT: Ok, I have made some progress: Changing the RGB gamma values makes a difference, but this difference only becomes visible once something else than the debian desktop is displayed. Plus, if I adjust the values so that white in the debian desktop is really white, the values go crazy once I play a movie via my PS3. Weird.

Is there like a range of values for the gamma? Everything above 10 seems to create this kind of behaviour (but only values above 10 yield a decent value for white).

v4l2-grab: select() timed out.

Hi guys followed Mrjohns42 instructions to the T. I have spidev0.0 and spidev0.1. i also have video 0. this is my lsusb
Bus 001 Device 002: ID 0424:9512 Standard Microsystems Corp.
Bus 001 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0002 Linux Foundation 2.0 root hub
Bus 001 Device 003: ID 0424:ec00 Standard Microsystems Corp.
Bus 001 Device 004: ID 2001:f103 D-Link Corp. DUB-H7 7-port USB 2.0 hub
Bus 001 Device 005: ID 1b71:3002

i get mood light working fine but keep getting v4l2-grab: select() timed out.

on edge light.

I have also tested my hdmi====composite converter when i plug it in(direct composite from the hdmi to composite converter) to the tv i get a picture from the composite cable. i am using a NTFS signal .Please help thanks

Feature Request: Quit Button

Pretty simple, pressing "Q" or ESC should exit the program.

Hi! a simple scheme how to connect led strip to raspberry

Hi, great work! Thanks you!

I need a little help, I'm not so skilled and I don't understand ho to connect the led strip to GPIO (I have to cut in 4 pieces the led strip one for the side of the TV?).

Please can share a detailed Hw scheme?

Thanks you

BR

Emanuele

NTSC picture artifacts, dropped frames, jagged image; any way to clean it up?

Hi all,

I've been working on building this excellent project for some time now. Overall I've got things put together very well. I'm in the US, so I wanted to keep everything in NTSC. I found the tip for commenting out the PAL hack in the usbtv driver and did that, which seemed to work fine.

I'm using a Raspberry Pi rev B, the recommended HDMI-to-composite converter, an EasyCAP with Fushicai chipset, and running Raspbian Wheezy dated 7-26-2013. I'm driving 128 of the recommended LEDs from Adafruit.com. I successfully compiled the usbtv driver and the Ambi-TV program, made a custom .conf file to reflect my exact LED count and placement, and got it all working. Party mode works great, so clearly the main Ambi-TV program and the LEDs are working correctly.

However, in normal use the LED lighting has been rather flickery (even after adjusting the .conf file), and also often seems to have some trouble tracking the on-screen action properly. Sometimes a part of the screen is clearly very bright, but the LEDs just don't seem to track it.

So I decided to investigate just how good the incoming video signal really was using mplayer. I ran this command to do so:

mplayer tv:// -tv device=/dev/video0 -hardframedrop

The resulting video looked pretty messed up; there were all sorts of blocky artifacts, odd interlacing glitches, split frames, and even lots of dropped frames (according to the output report from mplayer). I imagine this bad video signal explains why my LEDs aren't working as smoothly as I'd like!

I tried overclocking to full 1GHz on the Pi using raspi-config, and it didn't make any appreciable difference. So the issue isn't CPU speed.

Does anyone have any thoughts on what I can do to improve the quality of the incoming video signal? Is there a newer version of the usbtv driver that I could use? Or are there any other settings I could adjust, such as frame buffers or something?

Would I be better off trying to get the STK1160 version of the EasyCAP?

Any help is most appreciated!!

ambi-tv with mic input

If it possible to use ambi-tv with an mic input to make LEDs light in Rythm to my DJ Station, because I didn't wind how i use the Mic Input with XBMC and Boblight.
Or do I need a Video Signal ?

Help with drivers

Hello,

First, thank you very much for creating and sharing this computer less Ambiligth system. I was looking for this kind of solution for a long time.
However, I'm pretty new to linux systems and i'm having a hard time installing and running the drivers on my RPI running Raspbian Wheezy with Kernel 3.6.11+. I will appreciate if you can help me answering the following questions.

1-What distribution are you running on your RPI with what kernel version?

2-How did you compile and install the v4l2loopback driver? I tried following this tutorial but i'm getting a bad linux bad linux headers issue when compiling (http://lcaballero.wordpress.com/2012/09/11/dispositivo-de-video-virtual-con-v4l2loopback-en-debian-wheezy/).

3-How did you compile and install the usbtv driver?

Thank you for your time.