javaguy Posted February 10, 2009 Report Share Posted February 10, 2009 Is there a plain-English guide to how to install a USB camera and get it working? I'd like to get a Vimicro 301 Neptune recognized as a video device, but I'm stumped. I don't even begin to know what to do. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
neddie Posted February 10, 2009 Report Share Posted February 10, 2009 If you mean a webcam (rather than a normal digital camera which connects via usb) then just search this forum for "webcam" - there are lots of good threads in there. Just try plugging it in, and see what happens, does the light come on? (if it has one) do any apps recognise it, does anything happen in the logs? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
javaguy Posted February 10, 2009 Author Report Share Posted February 10, 2009 It's a webcam. The light on the camera comes on when I plug it in--there's power to the camera from the USB port to be sure. No apps that I've found recognize it. Here's what appears in syslog when I plug it in: Feb 9 22:21:39 localhost kernel: usb 2-9: New USB device found, idVendor=0ac8, idProduct=303b Feb 9 22:21:39 localhost kernel: usb 2-9: New USB device strings: Mfr=1, Product=2, SerialNumber=0 Feb 9 22:21:39 localhost kernel: usb 2-9: Product: PC Camera Feb 9 22:21:39 localhost kernel: usb 2-9: Manufacturer: Vimicro Corp. Feb 9 22:21:40 localhost kernel: zc0301: V4L2 driver for ZC0301[P] Image Processor and Control Chip v1:1.10 Feb 9 22:21:40 localhost kernel: usb 2-9: ZC0301[P] Image Processor and Control Chip detected (vid/pid 0x0AC8:0x303B) Feb 9 22:21:40 localhost kernel: usb 2-9: No supported image sensor detected Feb 9 22:21:40 localhost kernel: usbcore: registered new interface driver zc0301 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
javaguy Posted February 22, 2009 Author Report Share Posted February 22, 2009 I am currently trying to get a Logitech QuickCam Chat WebCam 2.0 to work. Here's what appears in syslog when I plug it in: Feb 22 09:09:06 localhost kernel: hda-intel: IRQ timing workaround is activated for card #0. Suggest a bigger bdl_pos_adj. Feb 22 09:09:06 localhost kernel: usb 2-9: new full speed USB device using ohci_hcd and address 3 Feb 22 09:09:06 localhost kernel: usb 2-9: configuration #1 chosen from 1 choice Feb 22 09:09:06 localhost kernel: gspca: probing 046d:092e Feb 22 09:09:06 localhost kernel: gspca: probe ok Feb 22 09:09:06 localhost kernel: usb 2-9: New USB device found, idVendor=046d, idProduct=092e Feb 22 09:09:06 localhost kernel: usb 2-9: New USB device strings: Mfr=1, Product=2, SerialNumber=0 Feb 22 09:09:06 localhost kernel: usb 2-9: Product: Camera Feb 22 09:09:06 localhost kernel: usb 2-9: Manufacturer: Here's my lsusb: Bus 001 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0002 Bus 002 Device 003: ID 046d:092e Logitech, Inc. Bus 002 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0001 This time around, all software packages "see" it, i.e. when I go to select my video device in Skype, Ekiga, camstream, frameworks or whatever, the camera is listed as /dev/video1. (I have a TV card at /dev/video0). However, when I attempt to use it I either get green static or the application shuts down. In camstream when I try to use the camera I get a message that says "The device experienced an error -22 (Invalid argument). The window will be closed." Any thoughts? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AussieJohn Posted February 22, 2009 Report Share Posted February 22, 2009 Have you tried GTKam package ???. John. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
javaguy Posted February 22, 2009 Author Report Share Posted February 22, 2009 I installed and took a look at it. It looks to me like it's an application to download photos from digital cameras. Quickcam is a webcam. In any case I couldn't figure out how to connect to it in GTKam. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
javaguy Posted February 22, 2009 Author Report Share Posted February 22, 2009 Update: I can get it to work with Cheese (the application, not the dairy product). The picture is really dark, but I suspect that has more to do with it being one of the cheaper Logitech cameras. Unfortunately what I really wanted it for was Skype, and neither Skype nor Ekiga seem to grab a picture from it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ianw1974 Posted February 22, 2009 Report Share Posted February 22, 2009 Have you tried to see if it works with kopete? Just another application to test if it's working or not. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ianw1974 Posted February 22, 2009 Report Share Posted February 22, 2009 OK, thought I'd do some testing. I installed Skype 2 for Linux, and then got these results from dmesg when I connected my Creative Webcam Vista: [ 3580.173065] CE: hpet increasing min_delta_ns to 15000 nsec [ 3612.533443] process `skype.real' is using obsolete setsockopt SO_BSDCOMPAT [ 3671.288111] usb 4-1: new full speed USB device using uhci_hcd and address 3 [ 3671.473125] usb 4-1: configuration #1 chosen from 1 choice [ 3671.655562] Linux video capture interface: v2.00 [ 3671.715742] gspca: main v2.2.0 registered [ 3671.722186] gspca: probing 041e:405f [ 3671.908472] ov519: I2C synced in 1 attempt(s) [ 3671.908482] ov519: starting OV7xx0 configuration [ 3671.920471] ov519: Sensor is an OV7670 [ 3673.277673] gspca: probe ok [ 3673.277720] usbcore: registered new interface driver ov519 [ 3673.277728] ov519: registered Skype reported the device on /dev/video0, so I then clicked test, and it was working fine. Not tried Ekiga or kopete, but in theory it should work. Your dmesg results are somewhat different and maybe missing a load of info or kernel module that is needed to get it going. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
javaguy Posted February 22, 2009 Author Report Share Posted February 22, 2009 I get comparable results in dmesg. It works fine in Cheese, but just green static in everything else. Kopete crashes when I try it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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