Audio Input From Pinnacle USBTV NTSC Not Working

lfields3456 · March 15, 2019, 4:21am

Leap 15.0
Have PCI sound card that is working.

Recording video with Pinnacle USBTV. I would like to also use the audio input in this usb device so I can have 2 audio inputs and swap between them in OBS Studio.

The usbtv device is loaded and using snd_usb_audio.
It shows up under /snd/by-id/usb-Pinnacle_Systems_GmbH_PCTV_USB2_NTSC-01
I also have it in the mixer from the sound icon in the tray and can see it in OBS studio.

No sound input comes in through this input. As far as I can tell it’s up, not muted, and should be working.

Here is the output of (/usr/sbin/alsa-info.sh)
http://alsa-project.org/db/?f=ed6bb64974dfae75d384f0194676bf4ff3e02360

Any suggestions would be awesome. Thanks for the help.

oldcpu · March 15, 2019, 8:47pm

Is there any chance this requires a pulse audio configuration? I’ve never played with such hardware, which is why I am asking, as opposed to providing an immediate solution.

wrt pulse audio, have you tried installing ‘pulse audio volume control’ (pavucontrol) and then see if you can that to initially configure the input?

lfields3456 · March 16, 2019, 5:16am

Thank you. The machine is not here, I’ll try that tomorrow. Hopefully it doesn’t spawn new issues lol.

It’s weird because it shows it as a capture device and enabled (on) for capture.

!!-------Mixer controls for card 1 [NTSC]

Card hw:1 'NTSC'/'Pinnacle Systems GmbH PCTV USB2 NTSC at usb-0000:00:12.2-1, high speed'
  Mixer name	: 'USB Mixer'
  Components	: 'USB2304:0208'
  Controls      : 4
  Simple ctrls  : 1
Simple mixer control 'Line',0
  Capabilities: cvolume cvolume-joined cswitch cswitch-joined
  Capture channels: Mono
  Limits: Capture 0 - 16
  Mono: Capture 16 [100%] [16.00dB] [on]

I have 2 video inputs working in OBS and hopefully soon will have 2 audio inputs to switch between…

mrmazda · March 16, 2019, 6:24am

Please include the command that produced it when you paste in command output. I don’t recognize what you pasted.

I have something similar, but very very old, as is anything NTSC:

> inxi -AxxS
System:    Host: big31 Kernel: 4.12.14-lp150.12.28-default x86_64 bits: 64 compiler: gcc v: 7.3.1
           Desktop: KDE 3.5.10 tk: Qt 3.3.8c wm: kwin dm: KDM Distro: openSUSE Leap 15.0
Audio:     Device-1: Intel NM10/ICH7 Family High Definition Audio vendor: Biostar Microtech Intl Corp
           driver: snd_hda_intel v: kernel bus ID: 00:1b.0 chip ID: 8086:27d8
           Device-2: AMD Cape Verde/Pitcairn HDMI Audio [Radeon HD 7700/7800 Series] vendor: Dell
           driver: snd_hda_intel v: kernel bus ID: 01:00.1 chip ID: 1002:aab0
           Device-3: Pinnacle Systems Dazzle DVC100 Audio Device type: USB driver: em28xx,snd-usb-audio
           bus ID: 1-2:3 chip ID: 2304:021a
           Sound Server: ALSA v: k4.12.14-lp150.12.28-default

I never actually plugged into anything before now. :

> inxi -AxxS
System:    Host: big31 Kernel: 4.12.14-lp150.12.28-default x86_64 bits: 64 compiler: gcc v: 7.3.1
           Desktop: KDE 3.5.10 tk: Qt 3.3.8c wm: kwin dm: KDM Distro: openSUSE Leap 15.0
Audio:     Device-1: Intel NM10/ICH7 Family High Definition Audio vendor: Biostar Microtech Intl Corp
           driver: snd_hda_intel v: kernel bus ID: 00:1b.0 chip ID: 8086:27d8
           Device-2: AMD Cape Verde/Pitcairn HDMI Audio [Radeon HD 7700/7800 Series] vendor: Dell
           driver: snd_hda_intel v: kernel bus ID: 01:00.1 chip ID: 1002:aab0
           Device-3: Pinnacle Systems Dazzle DVC100 Audio Device type: USB driver: em28xx,snd-usb-audio
           bus ID: 1-2:3 chip ID: 2304:021a
           Sound Server: ALSA v: k4.12.14-lp150.12.28-default
> # lsusb
Bus 005 Device 002: ID 2304:021a Pinnacle Systems, Inc. Dazzle DVC100 Audio Device
> hwinfo --usb
05: USB 00.2: 11200 TV Card
  [Created at usb.122]
  Unique ID: q8Yy.CULN9zy_AiE
  Parent ID: 2XnU.9T1GDCLyFd9
  SysFS ID: /devices/pci0000:00/0000:00:1d.7/usb5/5-2/5-2:1.2
  SysFS BusID: 5-2:1.2
  Hardware Class: tv card
  Model: "Pinnacle Dazzle DVC100 Audio Device"
  Hotplug: USB
  Vendor: usb 0x2304 "Pinnacle Systems, Inc."
  Device: usb 0x021a "Dazzle DVC100 Audio Device"
  Revision: "1.00"
  Driver: "snd-usb-audio"
  Driver Modules: "snd_usb_audio"
  Speed: 480 Mbps
  Module Alias: "usb:v2304p021Ad0100dc00dsc00dp00ic01isc02ip00in02"
  Driver Info #0:
    Driver Status: em28xx is active
    Driver Activation Cmd: "modprobe em28xx"
  Config Status: cfg=new, avail=yes, need=no, active=unknown
  Attached to: #12 (Hub)

It causes creation of /dev/video0, but I’m having no luck figuring out to get VLC to play from /dev/video0. YaST2 sound doesn’t see it at all.

mrmazda · March 16, 2019, 6:31am

When I open pavucontrol, all the window does is report “Establishing connection to PulseAudio. Please wait…”.

deano_ferrari · March 16, 2019, 7:20am

That will happen if pulseaudio is not active. What does the following report?

sudo setup-pulseaudio --status

mrmazda · March 16, 2019, 7:38am

disabled, so I enabled it, and rebooted. Pavucontrol works, but VLC still does nothing when I select /dev/video0 as capture device.

My alsa-info.sh output: http://fm.no-ip.com/Tmp/Hardware/Audio/alsa-info-big31-s150-pinnacleUSB.txt

oldcpu · March 16, 2019, 2:29pm

Where are you doing the selection? Inside pavucontrol only? Inside vlc only? or inside both?

mrmazda · March 16, 2019, 5:01pm

Both, and YaST2 still doesn’t see the Pinnacle.

lfields3456 · March 17, 2019, 12:07am

Tried pavucontrol. Didn’t change anything. It basically shows the same thing the sound applet in the task bar shows.

Please include the command that produced it when you paste in command output. I don’t recognize what you pasted.

That is part of the output from the command I included in the original post.

Both, and YaST2 still doesn’t see the Pinnacle.

Like mrmazda above Yast does not see it in the sound config module of yast. But it does show in the task bar applet with controls, pavucontrol, and in OBS studio.

I tried adding a generic USB sound device in yast but nothing showed up and there was no association to the pinnacle input.

Is there a differrence between (/dev/snd/by-id) and (/dev/snd/by-path)? My pci card shows under path. The usb sound shows up under id…

lfields3456 · March 17, 2019, 12:14am

Are you saying no video either? Or just no sound?
I think in vlc you open capture device. Select video0 under “video device name” and then also select your sound input under “audio device name”
I have had mixed luck getting VLC to play capture cards in general. My pinnacle USB will not run in vlc but does work in OBS and command line.

If your not seeing video in vlc try

cat /dev/video0 > test.mpg

to test it.
If the usb video capture is working you should see a picture in the video.

deano_ferrari · March 17, 2019, 1:33am

Did you investigate the pavucontrol configuration tab?

mrmazda · March 17, 2019, 3:14am

Neither, what I pretty much expect from a device YaST2 doesn’t find.

I think in vlc you open capture device. Select video0 under “video device name” and then also select your sound input under “audio device name”
VLC only offers main menu audio choice between built-in analog and Radeon HDMI. On selecting capture, only video option is /dev/video0, and audio options are hw:0,0 hw:0,2 & hw:2,0. I also tried to try SMplayer, but it doesn’t offer capture as a source type, only add/edit. I tried adding /dev/video0, but it hung the menu open.

If your not seeing video in vlc try
cat /dev/video0 > test.mpg
to test it.
If the usb video capture is working you should see a picture in the video.
It generated a file that was up to 40M before I hit Ctrl-C. VLC wouldn’t play it.

In pavucontrol’s input devices tab, the Pinnacle is listed, but the only port offered is Line In. In the configuration tab, it’s in the bottom profile tab with 3 choices: analog stereo input, digital stereo (IEC958) input, and off.

deano_ferrari · March 17, 2019, 4:37am

This reads like an issue at the driver level IMHO.

oldcpu · March 20, 2019, 6:37pm

lfields3456, Your hardware is the 2304:0208. I note that from:

!-------Mixer controls for card 1 [NTSC]

Card hw:1 ‘NTSC’/‘Pinnacle Systems GmbH PCTV USB2 NTSC at usb-0000:00:12.2-1, high speed’
Mixer name : ‘USB Mixer’
Components : ‘USB2304:0208’
Controls : 4
Simple ctrls : 1

Mr.Mazda, Your hardware is the 2304:021a. I note that from:

lsusb

Bus 005 Device 002: ID 2304:021a Pinnacle Systems, Inc. Dazzle DVC100 Audio Device

The hardware is different, and so the solution could be different. Its very confusing have both in the same thread, for someone else who does not own the hardware but who thought it might be possible to help. One is constantly having to jump between user’s setup, and its easy to get both confused.

Have either of you checked linuxtv.org site to see if you can obtain information to help?

For example on the em28xx cardlist both the 2304:0208 and the 2304:021a have the em2820 or em2840 Empia Chip.

Armed with that information, one can then search deeper.

Almost a decade ago … I recall reading of users who had such hardware working. Nominally GNU/Linux ‘as is’ does not work, but rather tuning is needed.

I think one needs to use v4l (video for linux) and install additional software (in particular one’s hardware’s firmware) as appropriate. There are likely internet articles on each.

Its not clear to me if either of you have searched on the 2304:0208 or the 2304:021a, or on the em2820 or em2840 Empia chip for GNU/Linux support. If I missed you noting you researched/surfed on that above, my apologies.

oldcpu · March 20, 2019, 8:00pm

oldcpu:

lfields3456, Your hardware is the 2304:0208. I note that from:
!-------Mixer controls for card 1 [NTSC]

Card hw:1 ‘NTSC’/‘Pinnacle Systems GmbH PCTV USB2 NTSC at usb-0000:00:12.2-1, high speed’
Mixer name : ‘USB Mixer’
Components : ‘USB2304:0208’
Controls : 4
Simple ctrls : 1

lfields3456, for this hardware, I note this link (Pinnacle PCTV USB2 ) may be relevant. Reading that page makes me wonder if you may need some libdvbv libraries ?

Mr.Mazda, have you checked to see if any of the suggestions in this thread (wrt vlc) help: https://linuxforums.org.uk/index.php?topic=11214.0

There is also a youtube video here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MPniJiAl93c which may or may not be of help. I note they had “frei0r-plugins” to get this to work.

mrmazda · March 20, 2019, 8:09pm

I saw this thread as an opportunity to help, and dived in before realizing OPs and my devices were so different. I bought mine cheaply by mistake off of woot.com and didn’t return it because not worth the bother. I never tried connecting it to anything before this thread. It’s going back into the box until such time as I have a personal use for it, or stumble accidentally onto a solution for my exact device.

oldcpu · March 20, 2019, 11:23pm

ok… lfields3456 … a suggestion … Try the following …


arecord -D hw:1.0 -r 480000 -c 2 -f S16_LE | aplay

I copied that off of this ancient openSUSE-11.2 bug thread: Access Denied … and so I can not confirm if that syntax is still valid for LEAP-15. Possibly it should be instead (ie ‘comma’ instead of ‘period’:


arecord -D hw:1,0 -r 480000 -c 2 -f S16_LE | aplay

I note that command originated from this site: Gentoo Forums :: View topic - Sound question and report of a success with Dazzle To Go

Does that yield any sound?

Also try per Takashi Iwai’s suggestion (in 2009) … Can you record the sound from this TV card properly via the command below?

    arecord -Dplughw:1,0 -fdat foo.wav

Or is it also only noise?