I think my integrated webcam is stuffed

Using applications, configuring, problems
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greengeek
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#16 Post by greengeek »

Any chance of posting a clear photo of the integrated webcam? On some models you can see a small "eye" next to the Webcam lens.

The purpose of the eye is to sense environmental light intensity and lighten or darken the Webcam output accordingly. I think I have a utility somewhere that overrides this intensity detector and streams the Webcam output regardless of background light intensity. I will post back if I find it.

mow9902
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#17 Post by mow9902 »

..thanks greengeek - certainly worth a try.

Bit difficult to get clear photos, but here's a couple which I think shows what you want to see.
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image 2 of integrated webcam
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1.JPG
image 1 of integrated webcam
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greengeek
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#18 Post by greengeek »

One of your comments suggested that you did see a flash of image at one point (unless i read it wrong). When i was making a security webcam script i encountered something similar when using ffmpeg to grab images from webcam. It seemed that you had to trap multiple frames and collect the best of them as the darkness/intensity settings "warmed up"

Just for interest sake maybe you could try my webcam image trapper here:

http://www.murga-linux.com/puppy/viewto ... 750#969750

If you load the pet it creates a directory called /root/jpglooprecorder_portable

Inside that directory you can see a start script and a stop script.

Start it and let it cycle for about 20 seconds, then stop it and inspect the images it accumulates in the /root/jpglooprecorder_portable/jpgstore directory.

Are they all still black?

(the script contains a parameter defining which camera we want to trap so try it first with the usb cam unplugged at boot time. We can change the parameter manually if necessary - i have not built a gui yet)

(no menus or other files are installed so just delete the directories from /root once testing is finished and that leaves everything tidy)

EDIT : Also, this discussion starting here:
http://murga-linux.com/puppy/viewtopic. ... 994#959994 may offer some ideas and test syntaxes that could help understand what your webcam is/isnot doing - especially if this is an issue with calibration of environmental backlight sensing.

Your webcam looks like it uses the light intensity sampled through it's own lens/CCD, rather than having a separate light intensity sensor.
(maybe this functionality has gone faulty on your webcam hardware)

EDIT : what happens if you try this syntax:
mplayer tv:// -tv driver=v4l2:device=/dev/video0
or:
mplayer tv:// -tv driver=v4l2:device=/dev/video1

EDIT : what happens if you try MochiMoppel's test here:
http://murga-linux.com/puppy/viewtopic. ... 402#960402?
(Look in /tmp for the trapped images)

mow9902
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#19 Post by mow9902 »

@ greengeek:-
One of your comments suggested that you did see a flash of image at one point (unless i read it wrong). When i was making a security webcam script i encountered something similar when using ffmpeg to grab images from webcam. It seemed that you had to trap multiple frames and collect the best of them as the darkness/intensity settings "warmed up"

Yes - about a half second of dark (but discernible) output before it goes all black.

Just for interest sake maybe you could try my webcam image trapper here:

http://www.murga-linux.com/puppy/viewto ... 750#969750

Tried it first after boot without the USB cam plugged in: all images produced were completely black
Plugged in USB cam and retried it with video1: all images perfectly normal

EDIT : what happens if you try this syntax:
mplayer tv:// -tv driver=v4l2:device=/dev/video0
all images produced were black
mplayer tv:// -tv driver=v4l2:device=/dev/video1
All images produced were perfectly normal
EDIT : what happens if you try MochiMoppel's test here:
http://murga-linux.com/puppy/viewtopic. ... 402#960402?
All images produced were black

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Mike Walsh
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#20 Post by Mike Walsh »

Hm.

I think all of the above confirms that the integrated web-cam is definitely "stuffed". After trying so many different things with both that and the USB webcam, you're finding that nothing does what it should with /dev/video0, yet everything's behaving itself with /dev/video1.

All credit to greengeek for sticking with you & trying out alternatives, but I really don't see what other conclusion you can draw...

(*shrug*)


Mike. :wink:

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greengeek
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#21 Post by greengeek »

I'm still tantalised by the fact that VLC showed a brief flicker of image.

Could you try covering the top half of the webcam with dark paper (leaving the bottom hemisphere uncovered) and running the following syntax:

mplayer tv:// -tv driver=v4l2:device=/dev/video0:width=1600:height=1200:outfmt=rgb24 -frames 12 -vo jpeg

(may need to choose different height/width)
(and do this test with save file hidden or not loaded)

My thinking is that by fooling the webcam into thinking the room is darker than it actually is, then it might progressively crank up the capture intensity of the CCD.
(Seems to me the CCD thinks the room is REALLY bright so it dims the image capture to minimum intensity).
[wear a light coloured shirt while you do this]

The syntax will accumulate some images in /root - do any of them show anything other than 50 shades of black?
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wiak
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#22 Post by wiak »

I have no real idea about this. I have in the past had my integrated audio card stop working altogether after running some Linux version or other that somehow 'upset' it seriousl. I found that entering BIOS and resetting to factory default settings was the only way to bring that audio card back to life, but would be lucky indeed if the same worked for your webcam...

wiak

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greengeek
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#23 Post by greengeek »

...and just a couple more tests to suggest...

1) Also perform the above testing in a room that is dimly lit with a single incandescent lamp - no fluorescents and no LEDs.

2) Perform the above testing in a completely dark room with a single bright spotlight placed behind the pc screen, and illuminating your face (ie no light falling directly on the webcam

mow9902
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#24 Post by mow9902 »

@ greengeek:-

Thanks for the persistence...
Could you try covering the top half of the webcam with dark paper (leaving the bottom hemisphere uncovered) and running the following syntax:

mplayer tv:// -tv driver=v4l2:device=/dev/video0:width=1600:height=1200:outfmt=rgb24 -frames 12 -vo jpeg

(may need to choose different height/width)
(and do this test with save file hidden or not loaded)

I did 3 separate tests using different size width/height ratios. Actually - there is a couple of interesting results:
(a) the test using 1600x1200 did produce some partial images in frames 2-6, and all green in frame 1
(b) the tests using 1280x960 and 1024x768 produced only black in frames 2-6, and green in frame 1
(c) I captured the terminal output, and there is a message in there saying something about

~~~~~~~~~~~
Opening video decoder: [raw] RAW Uncompressed Video
Could not find matching colorspace - retrying with -vf scale...
Opening video filter: [scale]
Movie-Aspect is undefined - no prescaling applied.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I will try the other "dark room" test later tonight.


Update:
I just removed the covering of the cam and ran again. I now get an image (poor) on frames 2-6 ...and then dark again for the rest.
[[/img]
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image now
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1024x768output.zip
1024x768 output
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1280x960output.zip
1280x960 output
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1600x1200output.zip
1600x1200 output
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jakobcornelis
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#25 Post by jakobcornelis »

[quote="Mike Walsh"]@ mow9902:-

Do you run this on a puppyÉ Reason I am asking, I just bought the same item after you had mentioned it somewhere recently and I saw it OVERPRICED. It says on the logitech website it is only supposed to run on Windows and Mac. It runs with Pavrecord Audio-Video recorder-player, but does not load to a calling website. No software came with it. So now I am wondering. Does it need software (query) ( Iève got some keyboard problems, like É for question mark).

Jake
Slacko 6.3.2
HP Compaq
P4 3.0 GHz
HDD 80 Gb - SATA
RAM 1024 Mb

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Mike Walsh
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#26 Post by Mike Walsh »

Hi, Jake.

Mm. Clarify a couple of points for me, will you?

Which Logitech item are we talking about? A webcam, I assume.....but which one? And what d'you consider to be over-priced? The top-end Logitech items are expensive (around the 3-figure mark), but my God, are they worth it. You definitely get what you pay for.

As for only works with Windoze & Crapple....nah. They say that because Windoze and Crapple are the two biggest OSs in terms of 'desktop sales'.....and also because since those two are 'paid-for' systems, they're considered to be 'official'. Linux, 'cos it's free, ain't.

For Windoze & Crapple, driver software is supplied via the website (if you want it). Linux doesn't need it.

Do remember that with Linux, all drivers are supplied as part of the kernel. (The kernel is, at this point in time, better than 95% nothing but drivers.....and runs to more than 30 million lines of code.)

Most current or recent webcams are presently supported by the UVC kernel driver module.....if they are supported, that is. Not all are, by a long chalk; as with all hardware & Linux, it always boils down to the chipset in use.....and whether that chipset is supported by the requisite driver module.

If you have a thorough 'dig' into the fine-print for any webcam you're interested in, and find the magic incantation 'UVC-compatible', then you're 'good-to-go'. That's all that's needed.

This page should help sort the 'wheat' from the 'chaff':-

http://www.ideasonboard.org/uvc/

Personally, I came to the conclusion, a long time ago, that it makes far more sense to shop around for stuff that's guaranteed to work with Linux, than it does to buy something shiny that catches your eye, and then have to spend days or weeks in trying to 'force' it to work. If you're 'UVC-compatible', all you do is plug it in. And it'll work. Literally 'plug'n'play'.

In my own case, I've had 2 or 3 cams over the last couple of years.....but always with the eventual aim of treating myself to a Logitech c920, as & when I could afford it. I finally did so last year; our local PC 'chainstore' was offering them for just over £50.....little more than half its usual RRP, and I'd just had a wee win on the Lottery. I was more than chuffed to find out that it was also 'UVC-compatible'; that really 'made my day'! :D

No way was I paying the best part of £100 for one; I knew, if I waited long enough, that sooner or later someone would have a decent 'sale-price' on it. And so it proved.....

----------------------------------------------

More than happy to help, dear boy; just need some clarification of those above-mentioned points, please. And yes; anything I've bought during the last 5 years runs in Puppy.....'cos that's all I use.


Mike. :wink:

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jakobcornelis
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#27 Post by jakobcornelis »

Hi, Mike:
I was talking about the logitec c920 webcam, yes; sorry I didn't make that clear. (I have my english keyboard layout back, by the way.) The "OVERPRICED" thing is, I assume, a little wit thrown in by the forum management. It seems whenever you write "for sale" it replaces that with OVERPRICED. I guess that is supposed to deter people from trying to sell stuff on this forum. Oh, well.
To come back to the c920, I'd made a note of it when you mentioned having bought it. Just recently I found that my local computer store could get it for me, like you, at a discount, not to mention the dirty words again. Webcams is a field a have minimal expertise about. My main reason for getting acquainted is to use it for Skype, which, I meanwhile found out, is no longer avaIlable to me being all 64-bit, which is a bit much for my old HP-Compaq, I believe. I am trying out a web calling app, by the way, that appeals to me because of it's utter simplicity, called Appear.in. It is recommended in one of those "the five best ...s" presentations. I have some compunctions about its security, but security is not one of my priorities. The issue is, when I try to log on with Appear, it reports it can't load my camera. So I wonder whether there's something missing, such as set-up software. If you can enlighten me, it would be much appreciated, Mike.

Jake

PS: This seems a bit off topic for this thread and maybe not worth a new thread, so perhaps a PM would do. J.

mow9902
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#28 Post by mow9902 »

@ jakobcornelis:-

You can continue to use skype if that is what you prefer. You can use it via the web interface web.skype.com.

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jakobcornelis
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#29 Post by jakobcornelis »

Thanks, mow. I will try that.

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jakobcornelis
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#30 Post by jakobcornelis »

Thanks, mow, I will try that. Apologies for trespassing on this thread.
Jake

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