How to use the IPU6 webcam with kernel 6.10+?

shtrom · 2026-01-12 05:50:55

reacocard wrote:

Steps that should replicate my setup:

Thanks for this! I finally have a working IPU6 cam on my 2024 XPS 16 (9640) https://wiki.archlinux.org/title/Dell_XPS_16_(9640) with 6.18.4-arch1-1 and the V4L2 loopback.

merijn · 2026-01-12 19:53:31

I've been able to get my webcam to work with libcamera, gstreamer, v4l2loopback, and chromium. I'll share the details here.
I'm not using the intel proprietary packages (intel-ipu6-dkms-git intel-ipu6-camera-bin intel-ipu6-camera-hal-git icamerasrc-git)

With the newest kernel I could immediately get a picture with qcam but I could not get it to work with either firefox or chromium.
With the following configuration I am finally able to use my webcam with nextcloud talk under chromium. The quality is not great, its greenish and a bit low on light. Its clearly missing calibration data. But its responsive and very usable.

laptop: Dell Latitude 7450
Kernel: 6.18.4-arch1-1
Sensor: INT3537
Camera name: hi556

dmesg |grep intel-ip6
intel-ipu6 0000:00:05.0: Found supported sensor INT3537:00

recognised by libcamera as: (leaving out the warnings here)

cam -l
Available cameras:
1: 'hi556' (\_SB_.PC00.LNK1)

Related packages I have installed:

local/pipewire-v4l2 1:1.4.9-2
local/v4l2loopback-dkms 0.15.3-1
local/v4l2loopback-utils 0.15.3-1
local/gst-plugin-libcamera 0.6.0-2
local/libcamera 0.6.0-2
local/libcamera-ipa 0.6.0-2
local/libcamera-tools 0.6.0-2
local/pipewire-libcamera 1:1.4.9-2
local/gstreamer 1.26.10-2

Create the following file:

cat /etc/modprobe.d/v4l2loopback.conf     
options v4l2loopback video_nr=60 card_label="v4l2_hi556_loopback" exclusive_caps=1

modprobe v4l2loopback

Now you've created a v4l2 loopback device /dev/video60

Use gstreamer to send the signal from your webcam to the v4l2loopback device:

gst-launch-1.0 libcamerasrc name="hi556" ! queue ! videoconvert ! video/x-raw,format=YUY2 ! v4l2sink name=v4l2sink-hi556 device=/dev/video60

I noticed that adding any other video settings here, like the resolution, would result in no video output
if all goes well you should see a counter going up (counting seconds of video stream sent to v4l2 sink.

Test it with ffplay:

ffplay /dev/video60

After this you should see a webcam device in chromium called: "v4l2_hi556_loopback" (don't let ffplay run in the background)

First I had "PipeWire Camera support" disabled in chrome://flags/
But now I've set it to "Default" again and its still working
Firefox does not see my v4l2loopback device for some reason.
obs works

edit
After using the camera for some time the image can start to flicker. And Gstreamer would show the following warnings:

WARNING: from element /GstPipeline:pipeline0/GstV4l2Sink:v4l2sink-hi556: A lot of buffers are being dropped.                                                  
Additional debug info:        
../gstreamer/subprojects/gstreamer/libs/gst/base/gstbasesink.c(3146): gst_base_sink_is_too_late (): /GstPipeline:pipeline0/GstV4l2Sink:v4l2sink-hi556:        
There may be a timestamping problem, or this computer is too slow.

Last edited by merijn (2026-01-13 11:13:00)

duzhuo · Yesterday 06:15:33

merijn wrote:

I've been able to get my webcam to work with libcamera, gstreamer, v4l2loopback, and chromium. I'll share the details here.
I'm not using the intel proprietary packages (intel-ipu6-dkms-git intel-ipu6-camera-bin intel-ipu6-camera-hal-git icamerasrc-git)
With the newest kernel I could immediately get a picture with qcam but I could not get it to work with either firefox or chromium.
With the following configuration I am finally able to use my webcam with nextcloud talk under chromium. The quality is not great, its greenish and a bit low on light. Its clearly missing calibration data. But its responsive and very usable.
laptop: Dell Latitude 7450
Kernel: 6.18.4-arch1-1
Sensor: INT3537
Camera name: hi556
dmesg |grep intel-ip6
intel-ipu6 0000:00:05.0: Found supported sensor INT3537:00
recognised by libcamera as: (leaving out the warnings here)
cam -l
Available cameras:
1: 'hi556' (\_SB_.PC00.LNK1)
Related packages I have installed:
local/pipewire-v4l2 1:1.4.9-2
local/v4l2loopback-dkms 0.15.3-1
local/v4l2loopback-utils 0.15.3-1
local/gst-plugin-libcamera 0.6.0-2
local/libcamera 0.6.0-2
local/libcamera-ipa 0.6.0-2
local/libcamera-tools 0.6.0-2
local/pipewire-libcamera 1:1.4.9-2
local/gstreamer 1.26.10-2
Create the following file:
cat /etc/modprobe.d/v4l2loopback.conf     
options v4l2loopback video_nr=60 card_label="v4l2_hi556_loopback" exclusive_caps=1
modprobe v4l2loopback
Now you've created a v4l2 loopback device /dev/video60
Use gstreamer to send the signal from your webcam to the v4l2loopback device:
gst-launch-1.0 libcamerasrc name="hi556" ! queue ! videoconvert ! video/x-raw,format=YUY2 ! v4l2sink name=v4l2sink-hi556 device=/dev/video60
I noticed that adding any other video settings here, like the resolution, would result in no video output
if all goes well you should see a counter going up (counting seconds of video stream sent to v4l2 sink.
Test it with ffplay:
ffplay /dev/video60
After this you should see a webcam device in chromium called: "v4l2_hi556_loopback" (don't let ffplay run in the background)
First I had "PipeWire Camera support" disabled in chrome://flags/
But now I've set it to "Default" again and its still working
Firefox does not see my v4l2loopback device for some reason.
obs works
edit
After using the camera for some time the image can start to flicker. And Gstreamer would show the following warnings:
WARNING: from element /GstPipeline:pipeline0/GstV4l2Sink:v4l2sink-hi556: A lot of buffers are being dropped.                                                  
Additional debug info:        
../gstreamer/subprojects/gstreamer/libs/gst/base/gstbasesink.c(3146): gst_base_sink_is_too_late (): /GstPipeline:pipeline0/GstV4l2Sink:v4l2sink-hi556:        
There may be a timestamping problem, or this computer is too slow. 

Thanks for sharing. Its work on my Acer Swift SF314-512 with Debian sid.

schard · Yesterday 07:12:31

Mod note: @duzhuo please refrain from unnecessary full-quotes. Thank you.

Arch Linux

#176 2026-01-12 05:50:55

Re: How to use the IPU6 webcam with kernel 6.10+?

#177 2026-01-12 19:53:31

Re: How to use the IPU6 webcam with kernel 6.10+?

#178 Yesterday 06:15:33

Re: How to use the IPU6 webcam with kernel 6.10+?

#179 Yesterday 07:12:31

Re: How to use the IPU6 webcam with kernel 6.10+?

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