hugerobot Posted January 14, 2003 Report Share Posted January 14, 2003 What's the trick? I bought GE USB webcam at Target. I plugged it in and it doesn't work... I had heard that most any webcam will work, but when I look in USBVIEW it seems to show as an "Unknown Device". I searched in RPMDRAKE for anything with the word 'cam' in the name and installed it, and rebooted, and still nothing. One of the apps I ran, gqcam runs but does not find the cam. I really hope it's not the webcam, but at the same time, I don't even know how to know if it's working. BTW- I am running Mandrake 9, KDE 3, and really want this cam to work with GnomeMeeting, which works fine. I have a TV Tuner card on /dev/video0. I have used Gnomemeeting with my DV Camcorder thru the video-in on the TV tuner card, and it works, but the camcorder turns off automatically after 5 minutes of inactivity, so it doesn't make a good webcam. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pzatch Posted January 14, 2003 Report Share Posted January 14, 2003 Have you tried looking up the camera on the web. It might need a specific driver for the camera, not just an app to see its picture. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SoulSe Posted January 14, 2003 Report Share Posted January 14, 2003 I had heard that most any webcam will work, but when I look in USBVIEW it seems to show as an "Unknown Device". Every webcam except this one, by the looks of it. The fact that it is detected but is 'unknown' means that some sort of driver will probably be required. You could also try disconnecting all your other USB devices and then see if is still unkown. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hugerobot Posted January 14, 2003 Author Report Share Posted January 14, 2003 Ok... I'm not screwing around. I just wrapped it back up and it's going back to target today. The only webcam I see on Mandrake's Hardware Compatability Database is a Creative Labs Webcam Go... I don't think I'm gonna find one at the store. I also don't believe that's my only option. So what webcams out there work? What webcams are everyone else using with Mandrake 9? Also: As I mentioned previously, I have a TV Tuner card on /dev/video0. When I plug a supported webcam in, I expect to have a device on /dev/v4l/video0. If anyone here has used Gnomemeeting, then you will know that you select your video devices from a dropdown list, you dont key in the device path. So will Gnomemeeting know that I have a second video device? Is there a list of "Video Devices" that is maintained by the system? I suspect so, since it knew that there was one at /dev/video0, but I was just wondering. I guess I'll find out when I plug one in! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hugerobot Posted January 14, 2003 Author Report Share Posted January 14, 2003 Ok... I got a creative labs webcam! hooray! Still can't tell if it's working. I plug it in, check USBView, and it's listed, 'Creative Webcam' but its red. Why the heck is it red?! So I started Gnomemeeting, and went to set the video device, and the only video device I can select is /dev/video0, which is my tv tuner card. Even so, how do I tell what device this webcam is now that it's plugged in? I ran gqcam, and selected 'Open new camera' but every device I try locks the app up. I have tried /dev/v4l/video0, /dev/v4l/vbi0 (whatever that is), /dev/usb/hid/hiddev0 (just for kicks, since its a usb cam), and /dev/video, but none of them work... Here is the information from USBview Creative WebCamManufacturer: CTL Speed: 12Mb/s (full) USB Version: 1.00 Device Class: 00(>ifc ) Device Subclass: 00 Device Protocol: 00 Maximum Default Endpoint Size: 8 Number of Configurations: 1 Vendor Id: 041e Product Id: 400d Revision Number: 97.17 Config Number: 1 Number of Interfaces: 1 Attributes: 80 MaxPower Needed: 500mA Interface Number: 0 Name: (none) Alternate Number: 0 Class: ff(vend.) Sub Class: 00 Protocol: 00 Number of Endpoints: 2 Endpoint Address: 81 Direction: in Attribute: 1 Type: Isoc Max Packet Size: 0 Interval: 1ms Endpoint Address: 82 Direction: in Attribute: 3 Type: Int. Max Packet Size: 64 Interval: 1ms Interface Number: 0 Name: (none) Alternate Number: 1 Class: ff(vend.) Sub Class: 00 Protocol: 00 Number of Endpoints: 2 Endpoint Address: 81 Direction: in Attribute: 1 Type: Isoc Max Packet Size: 256 Interval: 1ms Endpoint Address: 82 Direction: in Attribute: 3 Type: Int. Max Packet Size: 16 Interval: 1ms Interface Number: 0 Name: (none) Alternate Number: 2 Class: ff(vend.) Sub Class: 00 Protocol: 00 Number of Endpoints: 2 Endpoint Address: 81 Direction: in Attribute: 1 Type: Isoc Max Packet Size: 512 Interval: 1ms Endpoint Address: 82 Direction: in Attribute: 3 Type: Int. Max Packet Size: 16 Interval: 1ms Interface Number: 0 Name: (none) Alternate Number: 3 Class: ff(vend.) Sub Class: 00 Protocol: 00 Number of Endpoints: 2 Endpoint Address: 81 Direction: in Attribute: 1 Type: Isoc Max Packet Size: 768 Interval: 1ms Endpoint Address: 82 Direction: in Attribute: 3 Type: Int. Max Packet Size: 16 Interval: 1ms Interface Number: 0 Name: (none) Alternate Number: 4 Class: ff(vend.) Sub Class: 00 Protocol: 00 Number of Endpoints: 2 Endpoint Address: 81 Direction: in Attribute: 1 Type: Isoc Max Packet Size: 1016 Interval: 1ms Endpoint Address: 82 Direction: in Attribute: 3 Type: Int. Max Packet Size: 16 Interval: 1ms And here is the information from Hard-drake: Vendor: CTL Bus: USB Location on the bus: 0:400d Description: Creative WebCam Module: unknown Media class: That line "Module: unknown" stood out to me, but then I noticed that my modem and my cordless mouse reciever are also listed as "Module: unknown" and both work fine. I guess it still maybe the problem, but I'm hoping someone here can help me. BTW - I have rebooted as well, just in case.. and it didn't help. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest itti Posted January 16, 2003 Report Share Posted January 16, 2003 creative webcam go? thats wiered because i have this webcam and google told me that there isn't a post-alpha-stage driver for it because of the chipset it uses. i never found any other information on getting it running. someone? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest itti Posted January 16, 2003 Report Share Posted January 16, 2003 btw what module do i have to load in order to get this v4l things? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ab2ms Posted January 17, 2003 Report Share Posted January 17, 2003 just a thought, have you tried running kudzu? not sure if it will help, but it has helped me a few times with new hardware. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest itti Posted January 17, 2003 Report Share Posted January 17, 2003 what is kudzu? can't find it Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aRTee Posted January 17, 2003 Report Share Posted January 17, 2003 Have a look here: http://www.smcc.demon.nl/webcam/ and find out which webcams definitely work. I have the Philips webcam pro 3d (750), works great. I use SDLcam (from the contrib ftp sites, or maybe from plf?) to take pics. Works also great with gnomemeeting. You need an extra driver for high res and high fps, to be found on the above website. Don't believe the hype, it can't do 60fps in vga, 15 maybe. And the advertised resolution is interpolated (the one for snapshots) 1280x960. The true optical resolution is vga, 640x480. But then again, no other webcam really has higher resolution. Anyways, the webcams that are indicated on that site to work, really do. Funnily enough, I can't seem to get it to work on win98se (not that I care)... It worked during installation, and then never again... Like the box said, minimum system requirements: OS: win98. Guess that's like games that require quite a bit more than it says on the box. In my case it required Mandrake linux.... ;) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hugerobot Posted January 17, 2003 Author Report Share Posted January 17, 2003 Finally. I found drivers for the logitech quickcam express, which I remembered seeing at best buy.. So I loaded the drivers, returned the old cam, and picked up the quickcam, and viola! Just as someone on these boards had told me, a Gnomemeeting icon with my new video device showed up on my desktop! Thanks for everyones help Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ab2ms Posted January 18, 2003 Report Share Posted January 18, 2003 kudzu is a console program to detect and configure new hardware. Hasn't failed me yet! (I'm waiting tho') http://rhlinux.redhat.com/kudzu/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest itti Posted January 19, 2003 Report Share Posted January 19, 2003 i'm using mandrake :D and i want to get my creative webcam go working because it is there in the "supported hardware" list. can anyone tell me how to install/activate v4l? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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