Arch Linux

eomanis

Member

Registered: 2013-04-17

Posts: 67

Timeout when trying to use Logitech C505e USB Webcams

I have two of them, so a hardware fault on the cameras is unlikely, also their audio still works.
The issues also are the same on two Arch machines, so it isn't some other hardware problem on the computer side.

Kernel is linux-6.13.8.arch1-1.

This only affects the Logitech C505e. Another "Pleomax 1.3MP UVC Webcam" works well, or at least as well as can be expected for that model, as does an internally-USB-attached laptop camera.
I think the issues have started about 2 months ago.

The device nodes etc. look good:

[root@the-system ~]# lsusb | grep Webcam
Bus 003 Device 004: ID 04f2:a13b Chicony Electronics Co., Ltd PLEOMAX 1.3MP UVC Webcam
Bus 005 Device 003: ID 046d:08e4 Logitech, Inc. C505e HD Webcam

[root@the-system ~]# v4l2-ctl --list-devices
PLEOMAX 1.3MP UVC Webcam: PLEOM (usb-0000:07:00.3-3):
	/dev/video2
	/dev/video3
	/dev/media1

C505e HD Webcam (usb-0000:0c:00.3-4):
	/dev/video0
	/dev/video1
	/dev/media0

[root@the-system ~]# lsusb -d "046d:08e4" -v | grep "14 Video"
      bFunctionClass         14 Video
      bInterfaceClass        14 Video
      bInterfaceClass        14 Video
      (snip, 11 more of those)

However, as soon as something tries to capture video from a C505e, the respective application freezes (e.g. mpv) or shows a "timeout"-related error message, as demonstrated here with cameractrlsgtk4:

[the-user@the-system ~]$ cameractrlsgtk4 
Cannot use /home/the-user/.cache/radv_builtin_shaders for shader cache (not a directory)---disabling.
xkbcommon: ERROR: couldn't find a Compose file for locale "" (mapped to "")
xkbcommon: ERROR: couldn't find a Compose file for locale "" (mapped to "")
WARNING:root:/dev/v4l/by-id/usb-046d_C505e_HD_Webcam_22649B20-video-index0: timeout occured
WARNING:root:/dev/v4l/by-id/usb-046d_C505e_HD_Webcam_22649B20-video-index0: timeout occured
WARNING:root:/dev/v4l/by-id/usb-046d_C505e_HD_Webcam_22649B20-video-index0: timeout occured
WARNING:root:/dev/v4l/by-id/usb-046d_C505e_HD_Webcam_22649B20-video-index0: timeout occured
WARNING:root:/dev/v4l/by-id/usb-046d_C505e_HD_Webcam_22649B20-video-index0: timeout occured

Here is a uvcvideo trace of that happening:

Mar 31 14:40:35 the-system kernel: usb 5-4: uvc_v4l2_open
Mar 31 14:40:35 the-system kernel: usb 5-4: Setting frame interval to 1/30 (333333)
Mar 31 14:40:35 the-system kernel: usb 5-4: uvc_v4l2_mmap
Mar 31 14:40:35 the-system kernel: usb 5-4: uvc_v4l2_mmap
Mar 31 14:40:35 the-system kernel: usb 5-4: uvc_v4l2_mmap
Mar 31 14:40:35 the-system kernel: usb 5-4: uvc_v4l2_mmap
Mar 31 14:40:35 the-system kernel: usb 5-4: uvc_v4l2_mmap
Mar 31 14:40:35 the-system kernel: usb 5-4: uvc_v4l2_mmap
Mar 31 14:40:35 the-system kernel: usb 5-4: Control ffe52d21-8030-4e2c-82d9-f587d00540bd/1 not found
Mar 31 14:40:35 the-system kernel: usb 5-4: Control ffe52d21-8030-4e2c-82d9-f587d00540bd/2 not found
Mar 31 14:40:35 the-system kernel: usb 5-4: Control ffe52d21-8030-4e2c-82d9-f587d00540bd/2 not found
Mar 31 14:40:35 the-system kernel: usb 5-4: Device requested 944 B/frame bandwidth
Mar 31 14:40:35 the-system kernel: usb 5-4: Selecting alternate setting 6 (944 B/frame bandwidth)
Mar 31 14:40:35 the-system kernel: usb 5-4: Allocated 5 URB buffers of 32x944 bytes each
Mar 31 14:40:35 the-system kernel: usb 5-4: uvc_v4l2_poll
Mar 31 14:40:36 the-system kernel: usb 5-4: uvc_v4l2_poll
Mar 31 14:40:36 the-system kernel: usb 5-4: uvc_v4l2_poll
Mar 31 14:40:37 the-system kernel: usb 5-4: uvc_v4l2_poll
Mar 31 14:40:37 the-system kernel: usb 5-4: uvc_v4l2_poll
Mar 31 14:40:38 the-system kernel: usb 5-4: uvc_v4l2_poll
Mar 31 14:40:38 the-system kernel: usb 5-4: uvc_v4l2_poll
Mar 31 14:40:39 the-system kernel: usb 5-4: uvc_v4l2_poll
Mar 31 14:40:39 the-system kernel: usb 5-4: uvc_v4l2_poll
Mar 31 14:40:40 the-system kernel: usb 5-4: uvc_v4l2_poll
Mar 31 14:40:40 the-system kernel: usb 5-4: uvc_v4l2_release
Mar 31 14:40:40 the-system kernel: usb 5-4: uvc_v4l2_poll
Mar 31 14:40:40 the-system kernel: usb 5-4: uvc_v4l2_poll

Rarely, after a system boot, or a resume-from-suspend, the C505e webcams work on the first use, but not subsequent ones.
Unplugging them and re-plugging them does not appear to change that either.

Anyone else have trouble with Logitech USB webcams?

Keywords: logitech webcam usb uvc uvcvideo v4l2

Last edited by eomanis (2025-03-31 14:38:33)

gromit

Administrator

From: Germany

Registered: 2024-02-10

Posts: 1,523

Website

Re: Timeout when trying to use Logitech C505e USB Webcams

Which is the first kernel that exhibits this issue?

Also could you try the latest mainline kernel?

sudo pacman -U https://archive.archlinux.org/packages/l/linux/linux-6.14.arch1-1-x86_64.pkg.tar.zst

eomanis

Member

Registered: 2013-04-17

Posts: 67

Re: Timeout when trying to use Logitech C505e USB Webcams

sudo pacman -U https://archive.archlinux.org/packages/l/linux/linux-6.14.arch1-1-x86_64.pkg.tar.zst

That kernel broke networking, and presumably modesetting too because it only gave me a single screen at 1024x768.
Also, cameractrlsgtk4 did not detect any camera.

Last edited by eomanis (2025-03-31 17:17:25)

eomanis

Member

Registered: 2013-04-17

Posts: 67

Re: Timeout when trying to use Logitech C505e USB Webcams

Which is the first kernel that exhibits this issue?

I have so far found these boundaries by booting older kernels:

- 2024-09-10, linux-6.10.9.arch1-2: Logitech C505e works
- 2024-11-18, linux-6.11.9.arch1-1: Logitech C505e does not work (timeout error)

Disregard that, these results are not reproducible.

Right now at least the one C505e that I have hooked up to the PC works again with both the current linux-6.13.8.arch1-1 and linux-lts-6.12.21-1.

These things seem to be fickle, maybe they dislike some settings that can be changed with cameractrlsgtk4.
Apart from the timeouts, sometimes there is video corruption (weird colors, a blue bar on top, these sort of things).

Maybe I should get other webcams to put a pin into this.

Last edited by eomanis (2025-03-31 18:00:30)

eomanis

Member

Registered: 2013-04-17

Posts: 67

Re: Timeout when trying to use Logitech C505e USB Webcams

On further thought, it could be fallout from a current OBS bug which has me not using OBS since a month or so.

Before that issue, OBS was the exclusive user of the C505e webcams, and they worked.
Since I currently can't use OBS I had Discord go at the C505e directly; maybe Discord messed with the C505e in a way that left it in a confused state, and me fiddling with cameractrlsgtk4 did not help things either.

mmy8x

Member

Registered: 2025-03-02

Posts: 97

Re: Timeout when trying to use Logitech C505e USB Webcams

The universal brute force solution to kernel regressions is git-bisect.
How much do you hate this idea?