[pvrusb2] Gamebridge AVC 1400

[Mike Isely]

On Wed, 4 Jun 2008, Bandan wrote:

> Hi all,
> 
> I recently bought a Gamebridge AVC 1400 and would like to know if it
> works with pvrusb2. I searched around and found out that it uses a
> Conexant cx25840 chip which is known to work with pvrusb2 and so was
> curious if I can somehow make the Gamebridge work ?
> Here's the lsusb output:
> 
> Device 003: ID 03f3:0099 Adaptec, Inc.
> Device Descriptor:
>  bLength                18
>  bDescriptorType         1
>  bcdUSB               2.00
>  bDeviceClass          255 Vendor Specific Class
>  bDeviceSubClass       255 Vendor Specific Subclass
>  bDeviceProtocol       255 Vendor Specific Protocol
>  bMaxPacketSize0        64
>  idVendor           0x03f3 Adaptec, Inc.
>  idProduct          0x0099
>  bcdDevice            1.00
>  iManufacturer           0
>  iProduct                0
>  iSerial                 0
>  bNumConfigurations      1
>  Configuration Descriptor:
>   bLength                 9
>   bDescriptorType         2
>   wTotalLength          171
>   bNumInterfaces          1
>   bConfigurationValue     1
>   iConfiguration          0
>   bmAttributes         0x80
>     (Bus Powered)
>   MaxPower              100mA
> 
> Thanks,

Not sure why I received 3 copies of this post but anyway...

The key attributes for a potential pvrusb2-supported device are:

1. Being USB-connected via a Cypress FX2 microcontroller.

2. Having a Conexant cx23416 mpeg encoder or similar part.

The cx25840 is a video digitizer and audio processor which appears in a 
lot of different devices.  The presence of that chip isn't going to 
automatically mean that the pvrusb2 driver is going to work with it.  
(In fact, there are some pvrusb2-supported devices which don't even have 
the cx25840.)

Given the purpose of this device (video capture of game play), low 
latency for the capture pipeline is going to be pretty important.  One 
thing that cx23416-equipped devices do NOT have is low latency.  I found 
a page on Adaptec's site about this device:

http://www.adaptec.com/en-US/support/Video/prod/AVC-1400/

The page talks about VCD output and software mpeg encoding.  I also note 
that this device is USB-powered - the cx23416 draws too much current to 
be in a USB powered device (it needs its own power brick).

This is not likely to be a good candidate for the pvrusb2 driver.  
Sorry :-(

  -Mike


-- 

Mike Isely
isely @ pobox (dot) com
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