v4l-conf(8)

📦
version 3.107 · 2 versions
, in debian bookworm, debian trixie, ubuntu jammy, ubuntu noble, ubuntu questing, ubuntu resolute, ubuntu stonking

💖 v4l-conf — the little helper that configures your video4linux driver 💖

okay bestie, welcome to the v4l-conf(8) page from the System Manager's Manual. it's short, it's sweet, it's giving "tiny tool, huge responsibility" energy. let's get into it 🫶

✨ NAME ✨

v4l-conf — configure a video4linux driver

🌸 SYNOPSIS 🌸

v4l-conf [ options ]

🦋 DESCRIPTION 🦋

so v4l-conf is a small helper tool. like, small small. but it does the absolute most: it figures out the video mode and the framebuffer base address of your graphics board, and then it configures a video4linux driver like bttv for you. this is needed for drivers that can DMA the video over PCI directly into the video memory. no cap, that's the whole job.

usually you do not need to run v4l-conf by hand. xawtv(1) and fbtv(1) literally run it automatically at startup. it might be useful for trouble-shooting though. and heads up: v4l-conf must be installed suid-root. 🔥

v4l-conf knows three ways to get the information:

  • Query the X-Server using the XF86 DGA extension. this is the default if the DISPLAY environment variable is set. 👑
  • Query the framebuffer driver. this is the default if DISPLAY is not set.
  • Query the console driver. this is used on mklinux only.

💅 OPTIONS 💅

  • -h — print a short description of all command line options. the classic "help me help you" moment.
  • -q — be quiet. 🤫
  • -d dpy — use the X11 display dpy to get the parameters.
  • -f — use the framebuffer driver to get the parameters.
  • -c device — set the video4linux device.
  • -b n — enforce n bpp color depth. works for switching between 15/16 and 24/32 bpp.
  • -s n — shift the video display by n bytes.
  • -a adr — set framebuffer address to adr. the value should be specified in hex. this option is allowed for root only. you can't overwrite the autodetected value, this switch is only useful if autodetect doesn't work because the X-Server lacks DGA support. you can put this into /etc/conf.modules, as "post-install bttv ..." for example. 💀
  • -p pitch — set framebuffer pitch to pitch bytes. the value should be specified in decimal. allowed for root only.

🙈 BUGS 🙈

hope I haven't any security flaws in there. if you find one, drop me a note. mails with patches are preferred :-)

like... a whole BUGS section that's just "please be nice to me"?? iconic honestly. 😭

🌈 SEE ALSO 🌈

xawtv(1), fbtv(1)

👑 AUTHOR 👑

Gerd Knorr <kraxel@goldbach.in-berlin.de>

Copyright (C) 1997-99 Gerd Knorr <kraxel@goldbach.in-berlin.de>

This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by the Free Software Foundation; either version 2 of the License, or (at your option) any later version.

This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful, but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. see the GNU General Public License for more details.

You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License along with this program; if not, write to the Free Software Foundation, Inc., 675 Mass Ave, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA.

and that's the whole page bestie 💜 stay slay, keep your suid-root helper close, and remember: it's (c) 1997-99 Gerd Knorr, v4l-conf(8), and that's periodt. ✨

📦 where this page comes from