Arch Linux

brazzmonkey

Member

From: between keyboard and chair

Registered: 2006-03-16

Posts: 818

Re: webcam issues (Logitech orbicam on Acer)

I just try a 64-bit openSUSE 11.0 live CD (couldn't get my hands on Kubuntu live CD), I installed GSPCA driver and my webcam works perfectly on cheese.

Here's openSUSE lsmod :

~> lsmod
Module                  Size  Used by
gspca                 704144  1
iptable_filter         20736  0
ip_tables              39056  1 iptable_filter
ip6table_filter        20608  0
ip6_tables             40720  1 ip6table_filter
x_tables               43144  2 ip_tables,ip6_tables
af_packet              42624  2
ipv6                  331544  14
edd                    28176  0
microcode              32808  0
binfmt_misc            30220  1
cpufreq_conservative    26248  0
cpufreq_userspace      23556  0
cpufreq_powersave      18816  0
acpi_cpufreq           27536  1
snd_pcm_oss            68992  0
snd_mixer_oss          35584  1 snd_pcm_oss
snd_seq                83600  0
snd_seq_device         26516  1 snd_seq
dm_mod                 88600  0
arc4                   19072  2
saa7134               175452  2
ecb                    20992  2
snd_hda_intel         497452  4
compat_ioctl32         25984  2 gspca,saa7134
crypto_blkcipher       38788  1 ecb
videodev               52096  6 gspca,saa7134,compat_ioctl32
v4l1_compat            29444  1 videodev
iwl3945               116196  0
snd_pcm               115208  2 snd_pcm_oss,snd_hda_intel
pcmcia                 61336  0
v4l2_common            29824  1 saa7134
videobuf_dma_sg        32644  1 saa7134
yenta_socket           45836  1
snd_timer              45072  2 snd_seq,snd_pcm
videobuf_core          38276  2 saa7134,videobuf_dma_sg
firmware_class         27776  3 microcode,iwl3945,pcmcia
sdhci                  35980  0
rsrc_nonstatic         29824  1 yenta_socket
ohci1394               50868  0
fan                    23944  0
ir_kbd_i2c             28048  1 saa7134
snd_page_alloc         28688  2 snd_hda_intel,snd_pcm
irda                  164676  0
mac80211              220436  1 iwl3945
acer_wmi               30280  0
mmc_core               74304  1 sdhci
pcmcia_core            61604  3 pcmcia,yenta_socket,rsrc_nonstatic
ir_common              57476  2 saa7134,ir_kbd_i2c
snd_hwdep              28424  1 snd_hda_intel
thermal                43040  0
video                  43156  0
battery                33672  0
wmi                    26048  1 acer_wmi
sky2                   69892  0
tveeprom               34704  1 saa7134
container              22528  0
snd                    96248  16 snd_pcm_oss,snd_mixer_oss,snd_seq,snd_seq_device,snd_hda_intel,snd_pcm,snd_timer,snd_hwdep
output                 21248  1 video
button                 27040  0
ac                     24328  0
ieee1394              122216  1 ohci1394
rtc_cmos               28728  0
iTCO_wdt               30800  0
processor              72668  4 acpi_cpufreq,thermal
tifm_7xx1              25472  0
rtc_core               41012  1 rtc_cmos
tifm_core              28856  1 tifm_7xx1
led_class              22920  1 acer_wmi
i2c_i801               27804  0
iTCO_vendor_support    21124  1 iTCO_wdt
rtc_lib                20224  1 rtc_core
cfg80211               39568  1 mac80211
joydev                 30848  0
soundcore              26000  1 snd
intel_agp              48240  0
i2c_core               45344  5 saa7134,v4l2_common,ir_kbd_i2c,tveeprom,i2c_i801
serio_raw              24708  0
crc_ccitt              19072  1 irda
aufs                  337968  1
fuse                   72256  3
squashfs               58376  1
loop                   37508  2
nls_utf8               19072  1
BusLogic               43424  0
usb_storage           112672  0
uhci_hcd               43936  0
ehci_hcd               56204  0
usbcore               188248  5 gspca,usb_storage,uhci_hcd,ehci_hcd
brd                    25860  0
sg                     56912  0
st                     58404  0
sd_mod                 47280  0
sr_mod                 35636  1
ide_disk               33664  0
ide_cd_mod             56208  0
cdrom                  53416  2 sr_mod,ide_cd_mod
ide_core              160048  2 ide_disk,ide_cd_mod
ata_piix               43268  1
ahci                   50696  0
libata                194976  2 ata_piix,ahci
dock                   29344  1 libata
scsi_mod              194904  7 BusLogic,usb_storage,sg,st,sd_mod,sr_mod,libata
parport_pc             59592  0
parport                60448  1 parport_pc

~> uname -a
Linux linux 2.6.25.5-1.1-default #1 SMP 2008-06-07 01:55:22 +0200 x86_64 x86_64 x86_64 GNU/Linux

It looks like GSPCA uses VC0321 driver on openSUSE, vc032x on Arch.

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brazzmonkey

Member

From: between keyboard and chair

Registered: 2006-03-16

Posts: 818

Re: webcam issues (Logitech orbicam on Acer)

Setting higher resolutions in Arch doesn't help, I still get garbled output.
Setting lower resolutions is not supported, it defaults to 320x240.

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assisp

Member

Registered: 2009-03-04

Posts: 12

Re: webcam issues (Logitech orbicam on Acer)

I've been looking around gspca linuxtv.org mercurial repo and there are a couple of changes to saa7146, you could try this latest version.

http://linuxtv.org/hg/~jfrancois/gspca/

There is a tarball for the latest version but I would advise you to use mercurial instead.

Installation is a bit tricky you should do a depmod -a before loading the driver: modprobe gspca
first you will probably need to remove the older version of gspca and some other incompatible modules: rmmod module-name

Best regards,
Paulo

brazzmonkey

Member

From: between keyboard and chair

Registered: 2006-03-16

Posts: 818

Re: webcam issues (Logitech orbicam on Acer)

I've been looking around gspca linuxtv.org mercurial repo and there are a couple of changes to saa7146, you could try this latest version.

I'm a bit lost here. Aren't saa71xx supposed to be TV-card drivers?

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what goes up must come down

assisp

Member

Registered: 2009-03-04

Posts: 12

Re: webcam issues (Logitech orbicam on Acer)

Yes , I'm sorry.
But VC0321 is an older version, VC032X supports a couple more ICs, I've seen plenty of reports for bugs on this driver since 2.6.27 that have been sort out in the latest version, so you should really upgrade it.
use the full source tree, download the tarball at:
http://linuxtv.org/hg/v4l-dvb

then before compiling you should configure it, on the source root:
cp /boot/config-$(uname -r) .config

then in .config, in the line after CONFIG_USB_GSPCA=m
add CONFIG_USB_GSPCA_vc032x=m

then just run:
make && make install

Best regards,
Paulo

brazzmonkey

Member

From: between keyboard and chair

Registered: 2006-03-16

Posts: 818

Re: webcam issues (Logitech orbicam on Acer)

my kernel is stock Arch 2.6.28. Isn't that current enough?

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what goes up must come down

assisp

Member

Registered: 2009-03-04

Posts: 12

Re: webcam issues (Logitech orbicam on Acer)

Current changes in the video drivers won't come up until 2.6.30, so unless you prefer waiting for new kernel releases you should upgrade.
Another option is downgrade to a working version but I don't think that is a good idea, upgrading is always preferable.

Remember to remove the older gspca modules and dependencies (rmmod) and to run depmod -a before running modprobe gspca_vc032x.

Best regards,
Paulo

Last edited by assisp (2009-03-08 22:15:27)

brazzmonkey

Member

From: between keyboard and chair

Registered: 2006-03-16

Posts: 818

Re: webcam issues (Logitech orbicam on Acer)

Thanks for your advices. I don't feel confident enough to update those drivers, so I'll prefer to wait for new kernel releases.
I'd like to report the regression that's affecting my webcam driver. I couldn't find linuxtv bugtracker, do you think I should contact JF Moine directly?

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assisp

Member

Registered: 2009-03-04

Posts: 12

Re: webcam issues (Logitech orbicam on Acer)

In this case I think you should report the regression in arch Bug tracker, this is a kernel bug (remember that gspca is integrated in the kernel since 2.6.27), arch should then report it to the mainstream developers, and maybe fix the drivers by releasing a new patched kernel.
Although I can't really see any problems on also reporting it directly to the gspca development team ( I think there is a mailing list for that purpose).

Best regards,
Paulo

brazzmonkey

Member

From: between keyboard and chair

Registered: 2006-03-16

Posts: 818

Re: webcam issues (Logitech orbicam on Acer)

Same symptoms with latest 2.6.29 kernel.

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