1 Video device' s internal representation
2 =======================================
4 The actual device nodes in the ``/dev`` directory are created using the
5 :c:type:`video_device` struct (``v4l2-dev.h``). This struct can either be
6 allocated dynamically or embedded in a larger struct.
8 To allocate it dynamically use :c:func:`video_device_alloc`:
12 struct video_device *vdev = video_device_alloc();
17 vdev->release = video_device_release;
19 If you embed it in a larger struct, then you must set the ``release()``
20 callback to your own function:
24 struct video_device *vdev = &my_vdev->vdev;
26 vdev->release = my_vdev_release;
28 The ``release()`` callback must be set and it is called when the last user
29 of the video device exits.
31 The default :c:func:`video_device_release` callback currently
32 just calls ``kfree`` to free the allocated memory.
34 There is also a ::c:func:`video_device_release_empty` function that does
35 nothing (is empty) and should be used if the struct is embedded and there
36 is nothing to do when it is released.
38 You should also set these fields of :c:type:`video_device`:
40 - :c:type:`video_device`->v4l2_dev: must be set to the :c:type:`v4l2_device`
43 - :c:type:`video_device`->name: set to something descriptive and unique.
45 - :c:type:`video_device`->vfl_dir: set this to ``VFL_DIR_RX`` for capture
46 devices (``VFL_DIR_RX`` has value 0, so this is normally already the
47 default), set to ``VFL_DIR_TX`` for output devices and ``VFL_DIR_M2M`` for mem2mem (codec) devices.
49 - :c:type:`video_device`->fops: set to the :c:type:`v4l2_file_operations`
52 - :c:type:`video_device`->ioctl_ops: if you use the :c:type:`v4l2_ioctl_ops`
53 to simplify ioctl maintenance (highly recommended to use this and it might
54 become compulsory in the future!), then set this to your
55 :c:type:`v4l2_ioctl_ops` struct. The :c:type:`video_device`->vfl_type and
56 :c:type:`video_device`->vfl_dir fields are used to disable ops that do not
57 match the type/dir combination. E.g. VBI ops are disabled for non-VBI nodes,
58 and output ops are disabled for a capture device. This makes it possible to
59 provide just one :c:type:`v4l2_ioctl_ops` struct for both vbi and
62 - :c:type:`video_device`->lock: leave to ``NULL`` if you want to do all the
63 locking in the driver. Otherwise you give it a pointer to a struct
64 ``mutex_lock`` and before the :c:type:`video_device`->unlocked_ioctl
65 file operation is called this lock will be taken by the core and released
66 afterwards. See the next section for more details.
68 - :c:type:`video_device`->queue: a pointer to the struct :c:type:`vb2_queue`
69 associated with this device node.
70 If queue is not ``NULL``, and queue->lock is not ``NULL``, then queue->lock
71 is used for the queuing ioctls (``VIDIOC_REQBUFS``, ``CREATE_BUFS``,
72 ``QBUF``, ``DQBUF``, ``QUERYBUF``, ``PREPARE_BUF``, ``STREAMON`` and
73 ``STREAMOFF``) instead of the lock above.
74 That way the :ref:`vb2 <vb2_framework>` queuing framework does not have
75 to wait for other ioctls. This queue pointer is also used by the
76 :ref:`vb2 <vb2_framework>` helper functions to check for
77 queuing ownership (i.e. is the filehandle calling it allowed to do the
80 - :c:type:`video_device`->prio: keeps track of the priorities. Used to
81 implement ``VIDIOC_G_PRIORITY`` and ``VIDIOC_S_PRIORITY``.
82 If left to ``NULL``, then it will use the struct :c:type:`v4l2_prio_state`
83 in :c:type:`v4l2_device`. If you want to have a separate priority state per
84 (group of) device node(s), then you can point it to your own struct
85 :c:type:`v4l2_prio_state`.
87 - :c:type:`video_device`->dev_parent: you only set this if v4l2_device was
88 registered with ``NULL`` as the parent ``device`` struct. This only happens
89 in cases where one hardware device has multiple PCI devices that all share
90 the same :c:type:`v4l2_device` core.
92 The cx88 driver is an example of this: one core :c:type:`v4l2_device` struct,
93 but it is used by both a raw video PCI device (cx8800) and a MPEG PCI device
94 (cx8802). Since the :c:type:`v4l2_device` cannot be associated with two PCI
95 devices at the same time it is setup without a parent device. But when the
96 struct :c:type:`video_device` is initialized you **do** know which parent
97 PCI device to use and so you set ``dev_device`` to the correct PCI device.
99 If you use :c:type:`v4l2_ioctl_ops`, then you should set
100 :c:type:`video_device`->unlocked_ioctl to :c:func:`video_ioctl2` in your
101 :c:type:`v4l2_file_operations` struct.
103 In some cases you want to tell the core that a function you had specified in
104 your :c:type:`v4l2_ioctl_ops` should be ignored. You can mark such ioctls by
105 calling this function before :c:func:`video_register_device` is called:
107 :c:func:`v4l2_disable_ioctl <v4l2_disable_ioctl>`
108 (:c:type:`vdev <video_device>`, cmd).
110 This tends to be needed if based on external factors (e.g. which card is
111 being used) you want to turns off certain features in :c:type:`v4l2_ioctl_ops`
112 without having to make a new struct.
114 The :c:type:`v4l2_file_operations` struct is a subset of file_operations.
115 The main difference is that the inode argument is omitted since it is never
118 If integration with the media framework is needed, you must initialize the
119 :c:type:`media_entity` struct embedded in the :c:type:`video_device` struct
120 (entity field) by calling :c:func:`media_entity_pads_init`:
124 struct media_pad *pad = &my_vdev->pad;
127 err = media_entity_pads_init(&vdev->entity, 1, pad);
129 The pads array must have been previously initialized. There is no need to
130 manually set the struct media_entity type and name fields.
132 A reference to the entity will be automatically acquired/released when the
133 video device is opened/closed.
138 The V4L core provides optional locking services. The main service is the
139 lock field in struct :c:type:`video_device`, which is a pointer to a mutex.
140 If you set this pointer, then that will be used by unlocked_ioctl to
141 serialize all ioctls.
143 If you are using the :ref:`videobuf2 framework <vb2_framework>`, then there
144 is a second lock that you can set: :c:type:`video_device`->queue->lock. If
145 set, then this lock will be used instead of :c:type:`video_device`->lock
146 to serialize all queuing ioctls (see the previous section
147 for the full list of those ioctls).
149 The advantage of using a different lock for the queuing ioctls is that for some
150 drivers (particularly USB drivers) certain commands such as setting controls
151 can take a long time, so you want to use a separate lock for the buffer queuing
152 ioctls. That way your ``VIDIOC_DQBUF`` doesn't stall because the driver is busy
153 changing the e.g. exposure of the webcam.
155 Of course, you can always do all the locking yourself by leaving both lock
156 pointers at ``NULL``.
158 If you use the old :ref:`videobuf framework <vb_framework>` then you must
159 pass the :c:type:`video_device`->lock to the videobuf queue initialize
160 function: if videobuf has to wait for a frame to arrive, then it will
161 temporarily unlock the lock and relock it afterwards. If your driver also
162 waits in the code, then you should do the same to allow other
163 processes to access the device node while the first process is waiting for
166 In the case of :ref:`videobuf2 <vb2_framework>` you will need to implement the
167 ``wait_prepare()`` and ``wait_finish()`` callbacks to unlock/lock if applicable.
168 If you use the ``queue->lock`` pointer, then you can use the helper functions
169 :c:func:`vb2_ops_wait_prepare` and :c:func:`vb2_ops_wait_finish`.
171 The implementation of a hotplug disconnect should also take the lock from
172 :c:type:`video_device` before calling v4l2_device_disconnect. If you are also
173 using :c:type:`video_device`->queue->lock, then you have to first lock
174 :c:type:`video_device`->queue->lock followed by :c:type:`video_device`->lock.
175 That way you can be sure no ioctl is running when you call
176 :c:func:`v4l2_device_disconnect`.
178 Video device registration
179 -------------------------
181 Next you register the video device with :c:func:`video_register_device`.
182 This will create the character device for you.
186 err = video_register_device(vdev, VFL_TYPE_GRABBER, -1);
188 video_device_release(vdev); /* or kfree(my_vdev); */
192 If the :c:type:`v4l2_device` parent device has a not ``NULL`` mdev field,
193 the video device entity will be automatically registered with the media
196 Which device is registered depends on the type argument. The following
199 - ``VFL_TYPE_GRABBER``: ``/dev/videoX`` for video input/output devices
200 - ``VFL_TYPE_VBI``: ``/dev/vbiX`` for vertical blank data (i.e. closed captions, teletext)
201 - ``VFL_TYPE_RADIO``: ``/dev/radioX`` for radio tuners
202 - ``VFL_TYPE_SDR``: ``/dev/swradioX`` for Software Defined Radio tuners
203 - ``VFL_TYPE_TOUCH``: ``/dev/v4l-touchX`` for touch sensors
205 The last argument gives you a certain amount of control over the device
206 device node number used (i.e. the X in ``videoX``). Normally you will pass -1
207 to let the v4l2 framework pick the first free number. But sometimes users
208 want to select a specific node number. It is common that drivers allow
209 the user to select a specific device node number through a driver module
210 option. That number is then passed to this function and video_register_device
211 will attempt to select that device node number. If that number was already
212 in use, then the next free device node number will be selected and it
213 will send a warning to the kernel log.
215 Another use-case is if a driver creates many devices. In that case it can
216 be useful to place different video devices in separate ranges. For example,
217 video capture devices start at 0, video output devices start at 16.
218 So you can use the last argument to specify a minimum device node number
219 and the v4l2 framework will try to pick the first free number that is equal
220 or higher to what you passed. If that fails, then it will just pick the
223 Since in this case you do not care about a warning about not being able
224 to select the specified device node number, you can call the function
225 :c:func:`video_register_device_no_warn` instead.
227 Whenever a device node is created some attributes are also created for you.
228 If you look in ``/sys/class/video4linux`` you see the devices. Go into e.g.
229 ``video0`` and you will see 'name', 'dev_debug' and 'index' attributes. The
230 'name' attribute is the 'name' field of the video_device struct. The
231 'dev_debug' attribute can be used to enable core debugging. See the next
232 section for more detailed information on this.
234 The 'index' attribute is the index of the device node: for each call to
235 :c:func:`video_register_device()` the index is just increased by 1. The
236 first video device node you register always starts with index 0.
238 Users can setup udev rules that utilize the index attribute to make fancy
239 device names (e.g. '``mpegX``' for MPEG video capture device nodes).
241 After the device was successfully registered, then you can use these fields:
243 - :c:type:`video_device`->vfl_type: the device type passed to
244 :c:func:`video_register_device`.
245 - :c:type:`video_device`->minor: the assigned device minor number.
246 - :c:type:`video_device`->num: the device node number (i.e. the X in
248 - :c:type:`video_device`->index: the device index number.
250 If the registration failed, then you need to call
251 :c:func:`video_device_release` to free the allocated :c:type:`video_device`
252 struct, or free your own struct if the :c:type:`video_device` was embedded in
253 it. The ``vdev->release()`` callback will never be called if the registration
254 failed, nor should you ever attempt to unregister the device if the
257 video device debugging
258 ----------------------
260 The 'dev_debug' attribute that is created for each video, vbi, radio or swradio
261 device in ``/sys/class/video4linux/<devX>/`` allows you to enable logging of
264 It is a bitmask and the following bits can be set:
266 .. tabularcolumns:: |p{5ex}|L|
268 ===== ================================================================
270 ===== ================================================================
271 0x01 Log the ioctl name and error code. VIDIOC_(D)QBUF ioctls are
272 only logged if bit 0x08 is also set.
273 0x02 Log the ioctl name arguments and error code. VIDIOC_(D)QBUF
275 only logged if bit 0x08 is also set.
276 0x04 Log the file operations open, release, read, write, mmap and
277 get_unmapped_area. The read and write operations are only
278 logged if bit 0x08 is also set.
279 0x08 Log the read and write file operations and the VIDIOC_QBUF and
281 0x10 Log the poll file operation.
282 ===== ================================================================
287 When the video device nodes have to be removed, either during the unload
288 of the driver or because the USB device was disconnected, then you should
289 unregister them with:
291 :c:func:`video_unregister_device`
292 (:c:type:`vdev <video_device>`);
294 This will remove the device nodes from sysfs (causing udev to remove them
297 After :c:func:`video_unregister_device` returns no new opens can be done.
298 However, in the case of USB devices some application might still have one of
299 these device nodes open. So after the unregister all file operations (except
300 release, of course) will return an error as well.
302 When the last user of the video device node exits, then the ``vdev->release()``
303 callback is called and you can do the final cleanup there.
305 Don't forget to cleanup the media entity associated with the video device if
306 it has been initialized:
308 :c:func:`media_entity_cleanup <media_entity_cleanup>`
311 This can be done from the release callback.
317 There are a few useful helper functions:
319 - file and :c:type:`video_device` private data
321 You can set/get driver private data in the video_device struct using:
323 :c:func:`video_get_drvdata <video_get_drvdata>`
324 (:c:type:`vdev <video_device>`);
326 :c:func:`video_set_drvdata <video_set_drvdata>`
327 (:c:type:`vdev <video_device>`);
329 Note that you can safely call :c:func:`video_set_drvdata` before calling
330 :c:func:`video_register_device`.
334 :c:func:`video_devdata <video_devdata>`
335 (struct file \*file);
337 returns the video_device belonging to the file struct.
339 The :c:func:`video_devdata` function combines :c:func:`video_get_drvdata`
340 with :c:func:`video_devdata`:
342 :c:func:`video_drvdata <video_drvdata>`
343 (struct file \*file);
345 You can go from a :c:type:`video_device` struct to the v4l2_device struct using:
349 struct v4l2_device *v4l2_dev = vdev->v4l2_dev;
353 The :c:type:`video_device` node kernel name can be retrieved using:
355 :c:func:`video_device_node_name <video_device_node_name>`
356 (:c:type:`vdev <video_device>`);
358 The name is used as a hint by userspace tools such as udev. The function
359 should be used where possible instead of accessing the video_device::num and
360 video_device::minor fields.
362 video_device functions and data structures
363 ------------------------------------------
365 .. kernel-doc:: include/media/v4l2-dev.h