BlueFish444Module

This page contains information about the BlueFish444 module as well as downloads to the most recent versions.

BlueFish444Module

SD Playout

SD Playout is the most mature and stable option available. Reliable playout requires known-good combinations of versions of the Linux kernel, the BlueFish444 BlueLinuxDriver, and the MLT bluefish module.

Linux kernel

It works best with a 2.6.23 or newer Linux kernel as it provides the new Completely Fair Scheduler. This is the stock kernel in Fedora 8, which makes that distro a good candidate for running this. However, Arch Linux is another good choice. More than likely, other distros that provide this work as well, but you might run into compilation issues with much newer kernels and the BlueLinuxDriver.

BlueFish444 BlueLinuxDriver

The latest fully approved driver is V5_25, but I have applied a patch from BlueFish444 that prevents an unrecoverable buffer underrun. V5_25_1 contains a fix to eliminate a kernel memory leak when reloading the BlueDriver kernel module; however, it does not contain the underrun patch, so I have supplied a patched version of it as well. You can find a copy of V5_25_1 on the BlueFishSource page, for those who have access to it. V5_33 is currently in testing, and it looks promising.

Version Testing Reports

version	cards	OS	notes
4.33	HD Fury	Ubuntu 2007.10	This is the latest version I have that supports the HD Fury. It works rather well for output on Ubuntu 7.10 and Arch Linux ~2008; however, I have not conducted long duration tests. It does not support embedded audio. This version is untested against any other cards.
5.15	Iridium AV	Fedora 8, Arch Linux ~2008	This is stable for long durations. Later versions of the BlueLinuxDriver SDK no longer support Iridium. It probably leaks kernel memory when reloading BlueDriver.
5.15	Link Pro	Fedora 8	This works, but is not stable for long durations - goes into unrecoverable video fifo underrun. Also, it probably leaks kernel memory when reloading BlueDriver.
5.20	Link Pro	Fedora 8	Crashes the kernel when using the ALSA embedded audio if the userspace user of the driver (MLT) crashes or causes video fifo underruns. Compiles on kernels newer than 2.6.23. Leaks kernel memory when reloading BlueDriver.
5.25	Link Pro	Fedora 8	Resolves crashing issues with 5.20. There is a patch available to fix unrecoverable video fifo underruns. So, this is quite stable; however, it still leaks kernel memory when reloading the BlueDriver.
5.25.1	Link Pro	Fedora 8	After applying the video underrun patch, this is the most stable version that does not leak memory when reloading the BlueDriver!
5.28	Link Pro	*	Adds BYPASS_RELAY_A_ENABLE property, which is handy to internally route an SDI input to an output. This was not tested much.
5.30	Link Pro	*	This integrates the kernel memory leak fix of 5.25.1 into the main development branch, but it is largely untested.
5.33	Link Pro	Fedora 8	This is quite stable, but kernel memory is leaking again.
5.36	Link Pro	Fedora 8	This version is stable and improves the compatibility of the embedded audio output; however, it still leaks kernel memory. After analyzing the differences between v5.36 and v5.37, I would be surprised if 5.36 is any more stable than 5.37.
5.37	Link Pro	Fedora 8	This version fixes the kernel memory leak, but now there is some new instability with reappearance of unrecoverable video fifo underrun problems after 24 - 48 hours.

MLT bluefish module

This is the MLT module that works with the BlueLinuxDriver. It is not currently versioned according to a numbering system. Rather, I make dated snapshots. The last known good working version is 20090324.

HD Playout

HD playout is known to work with on some configurations of hardware and kernel. It works on my Arch Linux workstation using a variety of kernel versions. It does not work on my Intel quad core server running Fedora 8 or 10. It does work, however, on Ubuntu 7.10. I have not tested any newer versions of Ubuntu. Also, the BlueFish444 HD Fury card does not support embedded audio - at least on Linux. You must use the AES/EBU digital audio output or a separate ALSA card if you want analog.

SD Ingest

This is not ready yet. I already have something working, but embedded audio is not working good. It can capture from ALSA fine, otherwise. Also, not yet working is full duplex, which is simultaneous capture and playout with processing. Note, however, that SD playout does support the relay capability of routing an SDI input directly to the output, but that means audio and video does not pass through the computer memory for processing. Stay tuned.

Downloads

Source

Binary

Attachments

Topic attachments
I	Attachment	Action	Size	Date	Who	Comment
gz	kernel26-2.6.23.9-1-i686.pkg.tar.gz	manage	23532.8 K	2009-03-20 - 06:43	DanDennedy	Arch Linux kernel 2.6.23 package in case new versions do not work or cause compilation errors

Topic revision: r7 - 2011-02-16 - DanDennedy