VIA enhances player for Linux digital entertainment systems

[Posted August 26, 2004 by ris]

From:		patmeier-AT-patmeier.com
To:		lwn-AT-lwn.net
Subject:		VIA enhances player for Linux digital entertainment systems
Date:		Thu, 26 Aug 2004 03:00:34 EDT

For Immediate Release 

VIA Releases Enhancements to Open Source Xine Media Player 

VIA expands software element of embedded platforms to boost support for
hardware-based video acceleration in VIA digital media chipsets 

Taipei, Taiwan, 26 August 2004 - VIA Technologies, Inc, a leading innovator
and developer of silicon chip technologies and PC platform solutions, today
released enhancements to the open source Xine project in the form of VeXP 3.0
(VIA enhanced Xine Player, version 3.0) supporting hardware-based MPEG-4 and
MPEG-2 video acceleration for entertainment devices based on VIA C-series
digital media chipsets.

VIA processor platforms, comprising a wide range of power efficient x86
processors, feature rich chipsets and a full compliment of companion chips,
incorporate cutting edge hardware-based features that spread the workload
across the platform to improve performance of critical applications while
reducing the workload on the system. VeXP 3.0 and the accompanying source
code make it easier for software developers to incorporate support for MPEG-4
and MPEG-2 hardware acceleration in Linux-based Personal Electronics devices
based on VIA processor platforms that feature the VIA CN400 or VIA CLE266
chipset. 

"VeXP 3.0 is the latest in a growing range of free source code and programs
from VIA that bring a valuable software element to our total silicon
platforms," said Justin Hsu, Executive Assistant to the President, VIA
Technologies, Inc. "By providing such a complete solution we are helping our
partners to gain a competitive edge in the development of smart Personal
Electronics devices and expedite implementation of new features and
capabilities." 

Hardware digital video acceleration in VeXP 3.0 will work on systems based on
the VIA CN400 and VIA CLE266 digital media chipsets. With support for an
extensive range of media formats that include AVI, ASF, CDDA, DVD, MP3, VCD
and RM, VeXP 3.0 is able to reduce the workload on the system processor by
more than 50% when used with, for example, the forthcoming VIA EPIA SP
Mini-ITX and VIA EPIA N Nano-ITX mainboards.

Linux distributions supported by the player include Fedora Core 1, Mandrake
9.2, MontaVista 3.1, Red Flag 4.0, Red Hat 7.3/8.0/9, and SuSE 8.1. 

More information is available from VIA Arena (www.viaarena.com/?PageID=325)
and the VeXP 3.0 application can be downloaded from SourceForge.net
(sourceforge.net/projects/viaexp/).



VIA also provides the VIA PadLock ZIP Utility and source code that utilizes
the VIA PadLock ACE (Advanced Cryptography Engine) as a free download for
developers who wish to incorporate support for VIA PadLock hardware security
features into existing software or customize the utility to meet their
individual needs. More information may be found at:

VIA PadLock ZIP Utility and source code:
www.via.com.tw/en/padlock/padlock_software.jsp 

VIA PadLock ACE: www.via.com.tw/en/padlock/padlock_hardware.jsp 

For further information on the VIA EPIA SP Mini-ITX and VIA EPIA N Nano-ITX
mainboards, please visit the VIA Embedded Platform Division website at:

VIA EPIA SP: www.viaembedded.com/product/epia_sp_spec.jsp?motherboardId=261

VIA EPIA N Nano-ITX:
www.viaembedded.com/product/epia_N_spec.jsp?motherboardId=221



About VIA Technologies, Inc. 

VIA Technologies, Inc. (TSE 2388) is the foremost fabless supplier of
market-leading core logic chipsets, low power x86 processors, advanced
connectivity, multimedia, networking and storage silicon, and complete
platform solutions that are driving system innovation in the PC and embedded
markets. Headquartered in Taipei, Taiwan, VIA's global network links the high
tech centers of the US, Europe and Asia, and its customer base includes the
world's top OEMs, motherboard vendors and system integrators. www.via.com.tw

VIA PR Contacts 

North America:
Pat Meier-Johnson
Pat Meier Associates PR
415.389.1700
patmeier@patmeier.com    

Note to reporters, editors and writers: VIA is written in ALL CAPS.

(Log in to post comments)

Posted Aug 26, 2004 18:25 UTC (Thu) by allesfresser (subscriber, #216) [Link]

Hey, that's great and all, but of course there's no source involved... binary-only drivers (which include a DRI driver, by the way) from viaarena.com required to use this.

Sure would be nice to have these drivers integrated into the x.org source tree... but then again, porcine flight is always imminent, isn't it? :-(

VIA enhances player for Linux digital entertainment systems

Posted Aug 26, 2004 18:56 UTC (Thu) by lacostej (guest, #2760) [Link]

I am greatly disapointed by VIA. I've bought an EPIA Mini ITX card with a CLE266 mpeg2 decoder and I am still waiting for the Linux support they claimed 1.5 years ago.
Ah yes, if you have one of their supported distribution it will work. But I run Debian and it is not.

Ah yes. You can make it work. You have to find the unofficial patch for X, the unofficial patch for the kernel, the reverse engineered mpeg2 decoder, etc...

Then compile all the stuff. Wait a lot of time as your box is not the fastest on earth. And test.

Repeat for each new fix applied on one the patches.

Thanks VIA. Next time I buy an XBox and a modchip. It will be easier to mess with.

And the license is OK?

Posted Aug 26, 2004 19:46 UTC (Thu) by jmayer (subscriber, #595) [Link]

The video_out_cle266.c #includes "viampg.h" which contains the following
copyright notice:

* This PROPRIETARY SOURCE CODE contains proprietary information of both
* S3 Graphics, Inc. (S3G) & VIA Technologies, Inc. (VIA); Contents of
this file
* shall not be disclosed to any 3rd party, copied or duplicated in any
form, in
* whole or in part without prior written consent of S3G & VIA. THIS
SOURCE CODE &
* ANY RELATED DOCUMENTATION (COLLECTIVELY SOFTWARE) ARE PROVIDED AS IS,
WITH ALL
* FAULTS, & WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND. S3G & VIA DISCLAIM ALL EXPRESS
OR
* IMPLIED WARRANTIES. USER ACKNOWLEDGES THAT PARTIES FOR ANY DAMAGES
ARISING FROM
* USE OF SOFTWARE OR ITS DERIVATIVE,INCLUDING, W/O LIMITATION, LOSS OF
USE, DATA OR
* PROFITS. USER WHOLLY ASSUMES ALL RISK ARISING FROM USE & PERFORMANCE OF
SOFTWARE.

but xine-lib is covered by the GPL. How does this work?

And the license is OK?

Posted Aug 26, 2004 19:49 UTC (Thu) by allesfresser (subscriber, #216) [Link]

Perhaps the "prior written consent" is covered by them advertising the package's availablility for download (through their PR agency?)

Just a thought...

VIA enhances player for Linux digital entertainment systems

Posted Aug 27, 2004 5:19 UTC (Fri) by bronson (subscriber, #4806) [Link]

Via came so close to offering the perfect PVR/home theater platform. Small, power efficient, quiet -- it should be phenomenal.

In reality, though, it's one of the worst. After trying and failing to get both Windows and Linux to play movies with decent quality on my M10000, I've given up. And the 1GHz Eden box has less kick than a 600 MHz Athlon so it's not really good for anything else.

The hardware seems great, but Via can't write drivers to save its life. And they won't provide specs. It's really a shame.

VIA enhances player for Linux digital entertainment systems

Posted Aug 27, 2004 6:52 UTC (Fri) by dmantione (guest, #4640) [Link]

I once asked if there is an optimization guide for their processors. They require
you to sign an nda for it...

VIA enhances player for Linux digital entertainment systems

Posted Aug 27, 2004 14:28 UTC (Fri) by allesfresser (subscriber, #216) [Link]

I bought my CL6000 to use as a firewall, and it performs admirably at this task. I certainly wouldn't use it to do POV-Ray rendering or a full stage-1 Gentoo bootstrap, :-) but it chugs along passing packets back and forth very nicely, and is *very* quiet (the only thing that makes any sound at all, other than the CD, is the 2.5" drive that emits small scratching sounds if it's doing a lot of seeking, and that's not often.)

But I would advise to avoid the Travla C150 case--too much of a tight fit. If they'd made it just 2mm taller, it would have been fine.

On VIA's failure to provide adequate linux support

Posted Aug 28, 2004 15:50 UTC (Sat) by laf0rge (subscriber, #6469) [Link]

VIA is definitely one of the most innovative producers of PC-hardware. Their EPIA-series mini-ITX and nano-ITX mainboards are ideal for small appliances, such as firewalls, VPN-gateways, and especially home entertainment platforms such as PVR/DVR applications, DVB-Receivers, DVD/VCD/AVI-players, VideoLan receivers and such.

To the unfamiliar reader, this press release raises the impression that VIA is really involved with Linux and the Free Software community.

This is just terribly wrong. They do anything but to support GNU/Linux. Comparing this press release with reality, I think VIA's Linux involvement as a whole is nothing more than a PR strategy.

I've recently investigated the "Linux support" they make available for their EPIA platforms. Even from the first glance it was obvious, that VIA just doesn't have any idea on on what it takes to "Support Linux".

All they do is to publish proprietary, pre-compiled kernel frame buffer and XFRee86 display drivers for a limited number of particularly old GNU/Linux distributions.

Oh yes, I almost forgot it: They also publish the source to some 'lite' driver which lacks all the functionality needed for hardware-assisted mpeg2 decoding. This is obviously useless, since the whole point of buying a small fan-less board with hardware mpeg acceleration and TV-Out is to use the acceleration.

So their "Linux Support" is so good, that a number of people have to spend days and days in reverse engineering their binary proprietary drivers. You can find more information about the reverse engineering effort. My special thanks are going to Ivor Hewitt for doing all this work.

But wait, wasn't that what the Linux folks usually did with Windows drivers? Welcome to the world of "VIA Linux support", where instead of reverse engineering Windows drivers, we now have to do it with Linux drivers.

If VIA was really interested in providing good GNU/Linux support for their EPIA products, they would

write full source code drivers licensed und appropriate Free Software licenses.
make those drivers use standard interfaces, the respective project's coding style, contain usesful comments.
publish those drivers as patches against the latest development version of the respective project (kernel, XFree86, Xine)
Work with the respective project maintainers to integrate those patches
not have to care about maintaining RPMs for each and every distribution
not have to care about porting their drivers to ever-changing API's, since they are included in the respective Free Software projects
Provide documentation for their hardware down to the register level, so the Free Software community can continue development extending to features maybe not yet covered by the current driver.

On VIA's failure to provide adequate linux support

Posted Aug 29, 2004 12:11 UTC (Sun) by mbp (guest, #2737) [Link]

... so it's a bit disappointing for LWN to just uncritically reprint the press release without making these shortcomings clear.