MDCS2
U
SER
’
S
M
ANUAL
©
2004
V
IDERE
D
ESIGN
8
4 Installing the 1394 Host Card and Capture
Software
The MDCS2/-C connects to a host computer via a digital 1394 interface.
The host PC must have a 1394 port, and software to interface to the video
stream from the camera. This interface software presents the video stream
from the 1394 hardware as a set of video frames to the user program (see
Error! Reference source not found.
). The MDCS2/-C comes with
interface software for either MS Windows 98SE/ME/2000/XP or Linux
2.4/2.6 kernels.
4.1 1394 Hardware and Drivers
Before installing the software interface, the PC must be equipped with an
IEEE 1394 port. If one is already present, a built-in port, then you can skip
this section. Otherwise you have to install a PCI or PCMCIA card. The
card must be OHCI compliant, which all current cards are.
4.1.1 MS Windows Hardware Installation
For the most up-to-date information about installation, please see the Videre
Design website (
www.videredesign.com/support_dcammsw.htm
).
MS Windows 98SE, ME, 2000, or XP is required.
For a PCI card, insert the card into a free PCI slot with the computer power
off, and start the computer. With a PCMCIA card, insert it into the
PCMCIA slot. In either case, the New Hardware wizard will walk you
through installation steps for the low-level drivers. You may need your MS
Windows OS CD to install some files.
The MDCS2 must be powered from the IEEE 1394 bus. Desktop PCs
supply power to the bus; laptops do not. See Section 6 for information
about cabling and power for the IEEE 1394 bus.
4.1.2 Linux Hardware and Driver Installation
Linux kernels 2.4 or 2.6 kernels are required for operation. Please see the
Videre Design website (
www.videredesign.com/support_dcamlnx.htm
) for
current information. GCC 3.x is recommended as the compiler; there is a
separate DCAM distribution for GCC 2.95.x, but it is not as reliable.
4.2 MDCS2
Software
The MDCS2/-C comes with the DCAM capture software, and several
sample applications, including the GUI application described in this
manual.
For the most up-to-date information about installation, please see the Videre
Design website (
www.videredesign.com/support.htm
). The DCAM Digital
Camera Capture Software Manual, available from the website, is the best
source of information on the capture software and API.
To install the software under MS Windows, execute the file
dcamXXX.exe
. If you have installed a previous version of DCAM, the
installation wizard will ask you if you want to un-install the old version. It
is best to uninstall the old version, then start the installation file again and
install the new one.
The installation process will add the relevant interface and application
software.
To install the software under Linux, untar the file
dcamXXX.tgz
in a new
directory, which will become the top-level directory of the software. You
should also add
bin/
to your LD_LIBRARY_PATH variable.
1394
PC
Hardware
Low-level
1394
driver
STH-MD1
interface
software
1394
video
stream
To
user
program
Figure 4-1 Host PC low-level software structure.
