some docs to go along with the 2.6 kernel

1 files changed, 39 insertions, 0 deletions

diff --git a/linux/Documentation/dvb/FIRMWARE b/linux/Documentation/dvb/FIRMWARE
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+Some DVB cards and many newer frontends require proprietary,
+binary-only firmware.
+
+The DVB drivers will be converted to use the request_firmware()
+hotplug interface (see linux/Documentation/firmware_class/).
+That means you will have to install recent hotplug scripts
+which include an /etc/hotplug/firmware.agent to support this.
+http://linux-hotplug.sourceforge.net/
+
+The firmware.agent script expects firmware binaries in
+/usr/lib/hotplug/firmware/. To avoid naming and versioning
+conflicts we propose the following naming scheme:
+
+  /usr/lib/hotplug/firmware/dvb-{driver}-{ver}.fw	for MPEG decoders etc.
+  /usr/lib/hotplug/firmware/dvb-fe-{driver}-{ver}.fw	for frontends
+
+  {driver} name is the basename of the driver kernel module (e.g. dvb-ttpci)
+  {ver} is a version number/name that should change only when the
+  driver/firmware internal API changes (so users are free to install the
+  latest firmware compatible with the driver).
+
+Currently the drivers still use various different methods
+to load their firmwares, so here's just a short list of the
+current state:
+
+- dvb-ttpci: firmware is compiled in (av7110_firm.h)
+- ttusb-budget: firmware is compiled in (dvb-ttusb-dspbootcode.h)
+- sp887x: firmware is compiled in (sp887x_firm.h)
+- alps_tdlb7: firmware is loaded from path specified by
+		"mcfile" module parameter; the binary must be
+		extracted from the Windows driver (Sc_main.mc).
+- tda1004x: firmware is loaded from path specified in
+		DVB_TDA1004X_FIRMWARE_FILE kernel config
+		variable (default /etc/dvb/tda1004x.bin); the
+		firmware binary must be extracted from the windows
+		driver
+
+
+eof