Possible problem with stk1160 driver

I am not quite sure if the problem is in the driver or if the user space applications are doing something in a weird or wrong way, I hope you can help me.

I have one of those easycap 4x-input devices with a Syntek chip:
Bus 001 Device 002: ID 05e1:0408 Syntek Semiconductor Co., Ltd STK1160 Video Capture Device

I'm on 3.9.9-201.fc18.i686.PAE kernel, using the stk1160 driver.

It generally works fine, I can, for example, open the video device using VLC, select one of the inputs and get the picture.

However, programs like motion or zoneminder fail, I am not quite sure if it is something that they might be doing or if it is a problem in the driver.

Basically, for both of the above, the problem is that VIDIOC_S_INPUT fails with EBUSY.

I do not see any errors in the message log, only:

Jul 16 21:27:24 localhost kernel: [ 9477.574448] stk1160: queue_setup: buffer
+count 8, each 829440 bytes
Jul 16 21:27:24 localhost kernel: [ 9477.595667] stk1160: setting alternate 5

I somewhat assume that it works with VLC because when switching the input you more or less "open a new device", while zoneminder/motion might try to change the input while actually streaming.

I'd appreciate any help or hint, also in case if you think that it's not the driver issue, maybe you have an idea what I should be looking for (i.e. what other operations might cause the VIDIOC_S_INPUT ioctl to fail?).

It generally works fine, I can, for example, open the video device using VLC, select one of the inputs and get the picture.

However, programs like motion or zoneminder fail, I am not quite sure if it is something that they might be doing or if it is a problem in the driver.

Basically, for both of the above, the problem is that VIDIOC_S_INPUT fails with EBUSY.

Quoted 7 lines · Sergey 'Jin' Bostandzhyan

It generally works fine, I can, for example, open the video device using VLC, select one of the inputs and get the picture.

However, programs like motion or zoneminder fail, I am not quite sure if it is something that they might be doing or if it is a problem in the driver.

Quoted 3 lines

Basically, for both of the above, the problem is that VIDIOC_S_INPUT fails with EBUSY.

I've just sent a patch to fix this issue.

Could you try it and let me know if it solves your issue?

Quoted 12 lines · Ezequiel Garcia

Quoted 10 lines · Sergey 'Jin' Bostandzhyan

It generally works fine, I can, for example, open the video device using VLC, select one of the inputs and get the picture.

However, programs like motion or zoneminder fail, I am not quite sure if it is something that they might be doing or if it is a problem in the driver.

Basically, for both of the above, the problem is that VIDIOC_S_INPUT fails with EBUSY.

Quoted 3 lines

I've just sent a patch to fix this issue.

Could you try it and let me know if it solves your issue?

thanks a lot! Just tried it, same fix is needed for vidioc_s_std(), then the errors in motion and zoneminder are gone!

Motion seems to work now, with zoneminder I get a lot of these messages:

Jul 17 23:28:27 localhost kernel: [20641.931990] stk1160_copy_video: 5563 callbacks suppressed
Jul 17 23:28:27 localhost kernel: [20641.931998] stk1160: buffer overflow detected
Jul 17 23:28:27 localhost kernel: [20641.932000] stk1160: buffer overflow detected

Anything to worry about?

Quoted 13 lines · Sergey 'Jin' Bostandzhyan

Quoted 12 lines · Ezequiel Garcia

Quoted 10 lines · Sergey 'Jin' Bostandzhyan

It generally works fine, I can, for example, open the video device using VLC, select one of the inputs and get the picture.

However, programs like motion or zoneminder fail, I am not quite sure if it is something that they might be doing or if it is a problem in the driver.

Basically, for both of the above, the problem is that VIDIOC_S_INPUT fails with EBUSY.

Quoted 7 lines

Quoted 3 lines

I've just sent a patch to fix this issue.

Could you try it and let me know if it solves your issue?

thanks a lot! Just tried it, same fix is needed for vidioc_s_std(), then the errors in motion and zoneminder are gone!

Ah... forgot to mention about that. I haven't included the fix for standard setting, because either the stk1160 chip or the userspace application didn't seem to behave properly: I got wrongly coloured frames when trying to change the standard while streaming.

Can't your problem get fixed by setting an initial standard (e.g. at /etc/motion configuration file)?

Quoted 7 lines

Motion seems to work now, with zoneminder I get a lot of these messages:

Jul 17 23:28:27 localhost kernel: [20641.931990] stk1160_copy_video: 5563 callbacks suppressed
Jul 17 23:28:27 localhost kernel: [20641.931998] stk1160: buffer overflow detected
Jul 17 23:28:27 localhost kernel: [20641.932000] stk1160: buffer overflow detected

Anything to worry about?

Not sure. If you're changing the standard while streaming then maybe some component is not doing things right.

I can take a look at the std thing later, but for now the input fix looks definitely correct.

Hi Sergey,

Quoted 17 lines · Sergey 'Jin' Bostandzhyan

Quoted 15 lines · Ezequiel Garcia

Quoted 10 lines · Sergey 'Jin' Bostandzhyan

It generally works fine, I can, for example, open the video device using VLC, select one of the inputs and get the picture.

However, programs like motion or zoneminder fail, I am not quite sure if it is something that they might be doing or if it is a problem in the driver.

Basically, for both of the above, the problem is that VIDIOC_S_INPUT fails with EBUSY.

I've just sent a patch to fix this issue.

Could you try it and let me know if it solves your issue?

Quoted 3 lines

thanks a lot! Just tried it, same fix is needed for vidioc_s_std(), then the errors in motion and zoneminder are gone!

Ah... forgot to mention about that. I haven't included the fix for standard setting, because either the stk1160 chip or the userspace application didn't seem to behave properly: I got wrongly coloured frames when trying to change the standard while streaming.

Can't your problem get fixed by setting an initial standard (e.g. at /etc/motion configuration file)?

Quoted 7 lines

Motion seems to work now, with zoneminder I get a lot of these messages:

Jul 17 23:28:27 localhost kernel: [20641.931990] stk1160_copy_video: 5563 callbacks suppressed
Jul 17 23:28:27 localhost kernel: [20641.931998] stk1160: buffer overflow detected
Jul 17 23:28:27 localhost kernel: [20641.932000] stk1160: buffer overflow detected

Anything to worry about?

Not sure. If you're changing the standard while streaming then maybe some component is not doing things right.

I can take a look at the std thing later, but for now the input fix looks definitely correct.

Quoted 5 lines · Ezequiel Garcia

Ah... forgot to mention about that. I haven't included the fix for standard setting, because either the stk1160 chip or the userspace application didn't seem to behave properly: I got wrongly coloured frames when trying to change the standard while streaming.

You generally can't switch standards while streaming. That said, it is OK to accept the same standard, i.e. return 0 if the standard is unchanged and EBUSY otherwise.

In the end it is an application bug, though. It shouldn't try to change the standard while streaming has started.

Quoted 4 lines

You generally can't switch standards while streaming. That said, it is OK to accept the same standard, i.e. return 0 if the standard is unchanged and EBUSY otherwise.

Ok, I'll add a check for unchanged standards to overcome this situation.

Quoted 3 lines

In the end it is an application bug, though. It shouldn't try to change the standard while streaming has started.

Ok, so that confirms we should not allow it.

Sergey: Hopefully, with these two patches you won't need any further patching on your side.