[pvrusb2] Avg. user looking for a step by step guide when using ubuntu and latest kernel

[Mike Isely]

On Thu, 12 Oct 2006, Wille Wonka wrote:

> Hi and thanks for the great job helping us USB2 users to get going!
> 
> I am not a super Linux user but not a newbe. Still I have some issues 
> getting this to work as I am overwelmed with all information and can not 
> really decide what applies with old version kernel vs. new one...
> Therefore, based on the below setup I would GRATELY appreciate a step by 
> step guide on how to get my Hauppague PVR USB2 card working on:
> 
> Aiming for Ubuntu latest release (Or if there is a better candidate for 
> this)
> With install Mythtv after successfully installing my card
> 
> (Have managed to use the script to extract the firmware but not sure about 
> next step)
> 
> Thanks a million in advance,
> 
> Johan

Johan:

I agree that the documentation can be somewhat difficult to get through 
but it is not easy to write documentation that is both simple and yet 
still covers all the corner cases that hundreds of people are all going to 
hit in different unique ways.  When I originally wrote the documentation 
it was all in one huge inpenetrable page - it started off shorter but as 
people hit various things I kept adding to the documentation to describe 
such cases and provide answers.  Last Spring I looked at what resulted and 
tried to restructure things to be more usable.  What's there now is more 
structured like an outline, with a top level, fairly simple, page that 
tries to describe what to do in broad brush strokes.  Then those "brush 
strokes" refer off to pages with successively greater detail that you can 
click through depending on where you hit issues.

So with that said, let me outline what the overall things are and point 
you to appropriate places in the documentation.  Work through that, and 
where you still have trouble then ask for more help.  I really don't want 
to sit here and do what essentially turns into a restatement of what's 
already on the web site.

On http://www.isely.net/pvrusb2/pvrusb2.html you will find the top-level 
view of things.  This walks you through the overall steps: downloading the 
code, setting it all up, and then using it.  There's a paragraph or two 
for each point.  Your sticking point right now is with the setup, and that 
same page:
 
  http://www.isely.net/pvrusb2/pvrusb2.html#Setup

lists these points:

<quote>
There are 3 basic steps you must complete in order to operate your PVR 
USB2 device in Linux:

    * You must (of course) compile and install the pvrusb2 driver itself.
    * You must extract and install the required firmware images.
    * You might have to compile and install some support modules.
</quote>

Keep that in mind as you go through the steps.  The steps in further 
detail are found here:

  http://www.isely.net/pvrusb2/setup.html

You can find links there that point off to more details.  For example, if 
you aren't sure if you have the right environment (i.e. kernel 
configuration), that's detailed here:

  http://www.isely.net/pvrusb2/setup.html#Prerequisites

Then each of the 3 major steps are laid out here:

1. Compile and install the driver:
  http://www.isely.net/pvrusb2/setup.html#Compilation

2. Extract and install the firmware:
  http://www.isely.net/pvrusb2/setup.html#Firmware

3. Ensure that you have the needed support modules:
  http://www.isely.net/pvrusb2/setup.html#Modules

Step (3) used to be a lot more important in the past, but generally it's a 
non-issue for any kernel that's roughly 2.6.16 or later (take a look at 
the section to be absolutely sure).  So it really comes down to compile & 
install the kernel, the extract & install the firmware.  Take a look again 
at those sections and then tell me where you're having trouble.

  -Mike


-- 
                        |         Mike Isely          |     PGP fingerprint
     Spammers Die!!     |                             | 03 54 43 4D 75 E5 CC 92
                        |   isely @ pobox (dot) com   | 71 16 01 E2 B5 F5 C1 E8
                        |                             |