CD32 FMV Amplifier & PlayMPEG for MP3 & MPG decoding

[Rochabian]

Just got an FMV card and i've read that it can decode MP3 with Amplifier

So i have to set cd32mpeg.device in the decoder settings of amplifier, and use AHI for sound output

Then if i play an MP3, i hear a shrill sound for a fraction of second then the CD32 freeze.

Has anyone ever managed to read an mp3 with Amplifier with a FMV card or is it a legend ?

Did i miss something ?

I've read on amiga.org a thread about a guy who has developed a program called PlayMPEG wich is able to play .mpg files with an FMV card.

Apparently there was a demo of this program released.

The developer of PlayMPEG comes on Amiga.org in 2021 to say that it can publish the program on Aminet but he had to find the source files before. It was in july 2021 and then no more answer from him.

Does someone has at least the demo release to test ?

If someone has more info about playing MP3 or MPG files with an FMV card it would be very appreciated !

[Matt_H]

First: does the FMV card work as an FMV card? i.e., can you play VideoCDs with it?
Second: what version of Amplifier? I believe 2.35 was the last one.

You may also want to try MHI with AmigaAMP as another test.

[Toni Wilen]

FMV module audio decoder chip (L64111) can only decode MPEG layer 1 and layer 2 audio streams. MP3 (layer 3) is not supported.

[Rochabian]

Yes the FMV card works as an FMV card, if it wasn't the case i would try to run VideoCD first

I've used Amplifier 2.12 that works with 68020.

I've not tried with AmigaAmp because i don't think that the FMV use mpeg.device, but cd32mpeg.device that is included in the FMV rom

I've seen some threads on other forums about mp3 playing but i've not found a proof anywhere.

If the chip can't deal with MPEG Layer III, it explains why it doesn't work

I've to try with mp2 to see if amplifier can use cd32mpeg.device to decode mp2
(i assume a simple 14Mhz 68020 can't do that )

[Matt_H]

What I meant was, is the FMV card functioning properly? Is your unit working correctly for its original intended purpose of playing VideoCDs?

Amplifier 2.34 was part of OS3.9 BB2, so it should definitely be 020 compatible. I assume 2.35 has the same compatibility. I imagine there were many, many bugfixes between 2.12 and 2.35.

MHI is supposedly compatible with cd32mpeg.device. You need to set an ENV variable. See the docs.

[Rochabian]

Ok thanks Matt. Of course it runs VideoCD flawlessly.
I'll try your suggestions with an updated Amplifier or MHI

I've just tested with Amplifier 2.12 and MP2 file 192kbps @ 44100Hz , and i can hear the song 2 seconds (buffer time), then it freeze. Perhaps it has to do with AHI or another settings, i have to test deeper

In Winuae with same config (i use the sdcard from my SX1 and setup FMV rom in Winuae) it doesn't hangs, it plays the file but i have no sound from Amplifier at all. The cd32mpeg.device is the same version 105.22 with rom 40.30.

[Rochabian]

Some news about my tests for playing mp2 file with FMV hardware decoding :

I've tried with AMplifier 2.35 with OS3.9 -> Freeze after 1 second of music heard, like it was in OS 3.1 & Amplifier 2.12
Tested with another CD32 motherboard -> idem
Tested with AmigaAmp3 & MHI :
I've added to the startup : setenv MHIMDEV cd32mpeg.device 0
copy env:MHIMDEV ENVARC:
In AmigaAmp prefs i've set the MHI driver
But when i load AmigaAmp after that, it is stuck in "Init" State....

I really have doubt about the utility of the FMV in workbench, if no hardware decoding is possible......

In WinUAE, it's the same thing with AmigaAmp & MHI, but with Amplifier, it seems to read the mp2 file, no freeze,but i can't hear any sound, whenever i've checked 'Include CD & FMV audio' in the sound tab.

Any advice is welcome

[Rochabian]

I've contacted Beth Richard via Linkedin about that, this is his answer :

"Hi! I don't check LinkedIn very often, so sorry for the delay.

Akiko manages the CD control and routes the data based on the packet type. MPEG video and audio are routed to the FMV module, and the rest are put into system memory to be managed by CD32. Akiko also manages the synchronization between the MPEG video and audio streams. On the FMV, there is an FPGA that routes the MPEG streaming packets to a C-Cube CL-450 MPEG Video decoder chip and an LSI Logic L64111 MPEG Audio decoder chip. These output a video pixel stream and audio stream, respectively.

The CL450 outputs the video as RGB888 pixel data which is sent to a video DAC to be genlocked onto the CD32 video output stream. See http://bitsavers.trailing-edge.com/c...anual_1994.pdf

The L64111 outputs the audio as 16-bit PCM audio stream to a standard CD audio DAC, which is then mixed with the audio stream from the CD32. See https://datasheetspdf.com/pdf-file/3...Logic/L64111/1

There may be a way to get an MPEG file sent in the same format as the CD MPEG stream into FMV, but I don't know how that would be done. I know the MPEG 4000 prototype that was built for Zorro (which was the reference design for the FMV card) could play MPEG from a hard drive, so it should be possible. Maybe one of the software folks could help with that part. I think Jerry Horanoff did a lot of the software work for MPEG 4000 and CD32.

Good Luck!"

So apparently it's possible to play MPEG file from HDD but we need a software.
I'll try to check that.

[Rochabian]

After a lot of search, i can say that the CD32 FMV module can play mpg file from HDD :

[ Show youtube player ]

It doesn't work on my real hardware for now, it hangs when video start, but i'll try with another hardware in case mine is faulty

So theorically it works ! Needs to be verified on real hardware though.

MP3 doesn't work because the FMV hardware doesn't handle MP3

It should work with audio MP2 file because the program allow to specifiy if it's an audio file with an argument but i have no sound in winuae, although the file seems to be played

[nujack]

I've done some research/testing by myself over the years. The program that should be able to play mpeg-files with fmv-module is named vpeg and is available in Aminet: http://aminet.net/package/gfx/show/vpeg
I was able to use it with a PeggyPlus in my A4000 but it doesn't work with my FMV-module in CD32. The screen is flashing but no video-output so far.
The only known way to use an MPEG-file with an FMV-module on CD32 is explained in the following Video and I can confirm that it works: [ Show youtube player ].
If you find another solution please let me know.

[Rochabian]

Yes i've tested this and it works on real hardware too. But cdmpeg program only allow to play VCD track, not a .mpeg file from HDD
Vpeg doesn't work for me too, freeze at the video start on real hardware & Winuae. The readme says it has not been tested with the Cd32 FMV module.
Do you still have FMV & SX-1 ?

[nujack]

My actual setup is based on CD32 with ProModule and FMV-Card. I also own an SX-1 and a CD32FWSI. On all setups the same results. Would be cool to get the vpeg program fixed, but no sources are in the archive as far as I remember.

[QuikSanz]

Real good reason why we need a new batch of Prisma Megamix.

[Rochabian]

For now, with the help of nujack, i can say the CD32 FMV module can play MP2 audio file & MPG video file from HDD on a CD32 + Promodule with the software PlayMPEG (you need to disable fastram thoug)
It needs to be confirmed for SX-1 & CD32FWSI. SX-1 has some problems with scsi.device, so it could be tricky on this one.

Daniel Nyberg,if you see that, please help us to have a good video & audio player for FMV Module!!!!!

[DarrenHD]

Originally Posted by Rochabian

For now, with the help of nujack, i can say the CD32 FMV module can play MP2 audio file & MPG video file from HDD on a CD32 + Promodule with the software PlayMPEG (you need to disable fastram thoug)
It needs to be confirmed for SX-1 & CD32FWSI. SX-1 has some problems with scsi.device, so it could be tricky on this one.

Daniel Nyberg,if you see that, please help us to have a good video & audio player for FMV Module!!!!!

It's really too bad the chip in the FMV module doesn't support layer 3

[Rochabian]

After a few unsuccessful attempts with the SX-1, i'm now able to read mpeg video and mp2 audio file from HDD using the CD32 FMV module and Fastram with Plaympeg software within the workbench
The scsi.device needs to be the one from Don Adan version 46.1 and loaded with loadmodule
I've also changed my filesystem to SFS, perhaps block size of 512 helps too
Before i had PFS3 and scsi.device from the BB2, known has the most compatible with the SX-1 but it was freezing the CD32 at video start.

Now it's working great and surely with better transfer speed from HDD

[Rochabian]

Originally Posted by DarrenHD

It's really too bad the chip in the FMV module doesn't support layer 3

It's not supporting layer 3 but layer 2 at 320kbps is OK, so you just have to convert mp3 to mp2, can be really fast with tools like dBPowerAMp.

I'm testing some different use of the FMV module and Video & Audio chips that are on the board are really not used at the max capacity.

C-Cube video chip can decode MPEG-1 videos up to 3000 kbps and Lattice audio chip can decode MP2 at 384kbps. The VCD use 1150 kbps for video and 224kbps for audio........

I'm finalizing my tests and i'll surely make a video or a thread about the different ways to use the FMV at his full potential if i have some spare time

With the right software, you'll see that the FMV is really a great add-on

[Rochabian]

Conclusion to this thread is here :

https://eab.abime.net/showthread.php?t=114922

[HardStep]

The FMV module and right software us really amazing.
Not connected to CD32 side if things but has anyone tested VPeg on Delfina with delfinampeg.device?

[neocdtv2]

Originally Posted by nujack

My actual setup is based on CD32 with ProModule and FMV-Card. I also own an SX-1 and a CD32FWSI. On all setups the same results. Would be cool to get the vpeg program fixed, but no sources are in the archive as far as I remember.

Source code is included in the archive: https://aminet.net/package/gfx/show/vpeg
In the files: vpeg.c and vpeg.h
vpeg works really good with for what is what written i.e. peggy plus card. The cooles setup, which I've owned and tested is:
Amiga 4000, BFG9060, PeggyPlus, CV64

With vpeg one can use one monitor that of course need to support 15khz and switch between aga screens, mpeg decoding from peggy plus and rtg from cv64.

I get the biggest problem is the scarcity of the FMV.