Linux video capture over firewire (IEEE1394)

Packages

You may need to add the debian multimedia repository to your sources list.

apt-get -y install dvgrab libraw1394-8 libavc1394-0 libiec61883-0

Plug the firewire PCI card into the PC and boot up.

grep 1394 /var/log/messages
Nov  8 11:49:09 colourbox kernel: ohci1394: fw-host0: OHCI-1394 1.1 (PCI): IRQ=[11]  MMIO=[42100000-421007ff]  Max Packet=[2048]  IR/IT contexts=[4/8]
Nov  8 11:49:09 colourbox kernel: eth1394: eth1: IEEE-1394 IPv4 over 1394 Ethernet (fw-host0)

This tells you that linux has registered the card and the 1394 interface.

In order to do DV video we use libraw1394 to import a digital video stream from the camera and also to give it commands like pause, record and fast-forward (known as AVC commands).