Two weeks ago, the boss hands me a large box marked "TMDXEVM8148"
Boss: "Can you make this work?"
Me: "Ooh, it's got HDMI, and Ethernet and USB and S-video and composite and SATA and Toslink, and... and... and... - it must be able to do ANYTHING!"
2 weeks later I still don't have the foggiest idea how to make it do anything of those things, or more importantly, what it cannot do (like USB device?)*. Now I'm not very clever and doubtless after 28 years of embedded systems on 6 different processor families my wits are gradually lapsing into senility, but does it really have to be THIS hard ?
When I asked for help on Code Composer not listing the TMDXEVM8148 target, I was told a) use a generic device (WRONG) b) select the XYZ simulator (not even possible), when the right answer was that the code delivered in the box couldn't actually support it without a 3 hour upgrade (thanks colleague!). And what a wizard wheeze to deliver documentation and examples (perhaps) on an SD card only readable to Linux! I soon coined the new word "mockumentation" for the laughable mishmash of wikis and PDFs which continually hold out the promise of enlightnment whilst delivering little but jargon-riddled obfuscation. I have 25 tabs open in my browser trying to keep the few useful snippets in different documents handy :( I now flinch when seeing the characters "spru".
My design brief is a simple sentence "Acquire video, overlay text, record, display and control over TCPIP". I fear I'm further from that now than when I started.
* imagine my surprise after 3 days when I found it also has USB JTAG!
Welcome, Simon.
You are not alone. Select "Start a Conversation" with me and I'll try to at least point you in the right direction.
Chris
Thanks, Chris
Thanks Chris, but I don't want to put upon you. I'll list some of my most immediate questions, and you may comment as you see fit.
How does video capture work ?
Does the video frame get DMA'd into memory? In what format ? How do I determine the incoming video standard ? Where can I find example code ?
How do I generate a frame programmatically, including transparency?
How does the audio subsystem work ? For that matter how does all that lovely hardware work - at the moment it might as well be in Alaska for all the good it's doing!
Simon,
Those are big questions without simple answers. Consider your first question. Which input were you trying to use? Component? Composite? HDMI? Camera sensor? Bayer or YUV? Parallel or serial input? Some choices, and depending upon what you hope to achieve with the captured video, you'll probably need to purchase additional dev kits and software.
I suggest you message me directly.
I am in almost exactly the same spot and predicament as you! perhaps we need to gang up on it!!!
I'm going on holiday for a week... perhaps that will de-frazzle my brain!cheers
/Tim
I think the trouble is, as emphasised by the recent disclaimer, that Texas are looking for large volume customers they're not that interested in us minnows :(