is there a usb webcam that will work with debian with the default install,
simple yes or no. I am in danger ( I should actually say "facing certainty of")
of being fired from my job is this is not up and running and serving video by
this evening (saturday). I've had good experiences with linux as a web server,
file server, etc... so this took me off guard. I'm using the most recent stable
release of debian (typing this on my mac, so don't ask the exact kernel version.
I ran the update ran hour ago, so it IS up to date.) with a brand spanking new
quickcam messenger. I have tried a dozen different tutorials, most recently this
one: http://www.aboutdebian.com/webcam.htm , and have reinstalled from disk
again and again. I have followed the above tutorial to the letter. xawtv does
NOT see the camera, this is what it reports:

This is xawtv-3.95.dfsg.1, running on Linux/i686 (2.6.18-6-686)
looking for available devices
port 65-65
type : Xvideo, image scaler
name : NV Video Overlay

port 66-97
type : Xvideo, image scaler
name : NV Video Blitter

/dev/video0: OK [ -device /dev/video0 ]
type : v4l2
name : BT878 video ( *** UNKNOWN/GENER
flags: overlay capture tuner

/dev/video1: OK [ -device /dev/video1 ]
type : v4l2
name : BT878 video ( *** UNKNOWN/GENER
flags: overlay capture tuner

/dev/video2: OK [ -device /dev/video2 ]
type : v4l2
name : BT878 video ( *** UNKNOWN/GENER
flags: overlay capture tuner

/dev/video3: OK [ -device /dev/video3 ]
type : v4l2
name : BT878 video ( *** UNKNOWN/GENER
flags: overlay capture tuner


This is lsmod, a hideous mess after hair pulling for 72 hours at this point:


Module Size Used by
nls_iso8859_1 4256 1
isofs 32540 1
udf 73156 0
nfs 202860 0
nfsd 197936 17
exportfs 5600 1 nfsd
lockd 54344 3 nfs,nfsd
nfs_acl 3584 2 nfs,nfsd
sunrpc 138812 13 nfs,nfsd,lockd,nfs_acl
appletalk 33228 0
ppdev 8676 0
lp 11012 0
button 6672 0
ac 5188 0
battery 9636 0
ipv6 226272 29
dm_snapshot 15552 0
dm_mirror 19152 0
dm_mod 50200 2 dm_snapshot,dm_mirror
cx2341x 10308 0
parport_pc 32132 0
c_qcam 11512 0
parport 33256 4 ppdev,lp,parport_pc,c_qcam
ultracam 11084 0
ibmcam 43980 0
vgastate 7776 0
uvcvideo 31016 0
quickcam_messenger 12324 0
usbvideo 24388 3 ultracam,ibmcam,quickcam_messenger
sisusbvga 47612 0
sbp2 20840 0
scsi_mod 124168 1 sbp2
loop 15048 0
bt878 10392 0
bttv 159732 1 bt878
video_buf 23012 1 bttv
firmware_class 9600 1 bttv
ir_common 27780 1 bttv
compat_ioctl32 1472 3 c_qcam,usbvideo,bttv
i2c_algo_bit 8424 1 bttv
btcx_risc 4776 1 bttv
tveeprom 13840 1 bttv
videodev 21120 4 c_qcam,uvcvideo,usbvideo,bttv
v4l1_compat 12036 2 uvcvideo,videodev
v4l2_common 20448 4 cx2341x,uvcvideo,bttv,videodev
snd_usb_audio 69024 0
snd_usb_lib 14976 1 snd_usb_audio
snd_seq_dummy 3844 0
snd_seq_oss 28768 0
snd_seq_midi 8192 0
snd_seq_midi_event 7008 2 snd_seq_oss,snd_seq_midi
snd_intel8x0 30332 1
snd_ac97_codec 83104 1 snd_intel8x0
snd_ac97_bus 2400 1 snd_ac97_codec
snd_seq 45680 6
snd_seq_dummy,snd_seq_oss,snd_seq_midi,snd_seq_mid i_event
snd_pcm_oss 38368 0
snd_mixer_oss 15200 1 snd_pcm_oss
serio_raw 6660 0
snd_rawmidi 22560 2 snd_usb_lib,snd_seq_midi
snd_seq_device 7820 5
snd_seq_dummy,snd_seq_oss,snd_seq_midi,snd_seq,snd _rawmidi
rtc 12372 0
i2c_sis96x 5380 0
snd_hwdep 8836 1 snd_usb_audio
psmouse 35016 0
pcspkr 3072 0
tsdev 7520 0
sis_agp 8420 1
i2c_core 19680 4 bttv,i2c_algo_bit,tveeprom,i2c_sis96x
snd_pcm 68676 4
snd_usb_audio,snd_intel8x0,snd_ac97_codec,snd_pcm_ oss
snd_timer 20996 2 snd_seq,snd_pcm
snd 47012 14
snd_usb_audio,snd_seq_oss,snd_intel8x0,snd_ac97_co dec,snd_seq,snd_pcm_oss,snd_mix
er_oss,snd_rawmidi,snd_seq_device,snd_hwdep,snd_pc m,snd_timer
snd_page_alloc 10184 2 snd_intel8x0,snd_pcm
soundcore 9248 1 snd
shpchp 33024 0
pci_hotplug 28704 1 shpchp
agpgart 29896 1 sis_agp
evdev 9088 2
eth1394 18212 0
ext3 119240 1
jbd 52456 1 ext3
mbcache 8356 1 ext3
ide_disk 14848 3
ide_cd 36064 1
cdrom 32544 1 ide_cd
generic 4868 0 [permanent]
usbhid 37248 0
8139cp 21920 0
via_rhine 22664 0
sis5513 12360 0 [permanent]
ide_core 110504 4 ide_disk,ide_cd,generic,sis5513
ohci1394 30800 0
8139too 25120 0
mii 5344 3 8139cp,via_rhine,8139too
ieee1394 86904 3 sbp2,eth1394,ohci1394
ehci_hcd 28136 0
ohci_hcd 18276 0
usbcore 112644 12
ultracam,ibmcam,uvcvideo,quickcam_messenger,usbvid eo,sisusbvga,snd_usb_audio,snd_
usb_lib,usbhid,ehci_hcd,ohci_hcd
thermal 13608 0
processor 28840 1 thermal
fan 4804 0


I'm perfectly willing to start over from scratch with a fresh install (probably
best, at this point) but it must work the first time. PLEASE.


TIA!

Joshua

Joshua Whalen wrote:
> is there a usb webcam that will work with debian with the default install,
> simple yes or no.

Surely there are, but you would most likely get better help if you tell which
brand and model you are trying to use, as you have to load the right driver
for the usb camera.

If you are unsure, you can install usbutils and then run "lsusb -vvv" and that
should give enough information or/and for you to google for Linux and the name
of the web cam for information.

You can also visit http://www.qbik.ch/usb/devices/ to find drivers for
different web cams.



--

//Aho

After takin' a swig o' grog, Joshua Whalen belched out
this bit o' wisdom:

> is there a usb webcam that will work with debian with the default install,
> simple yes or no. I am in danger ( I should actually say "facing certainty of")
> of being fired from my job is this is not up and running and serving video by
> this evening (saturday).

Sounds like an employer it would be good to lose.

--
All of the true things I am about to tell you are shameless lies.
-- The Book of Bokonon / Kurt Vonnegut Jr.

In article <6nm1tdFm3eglU1@mid.individual.net>, "J.O. Aho" <user@example.net>
wrote:

> Joshua Whalen wrote:
> > is there a usb webcam that will work with debian with the default install,
> > simple yes or no.
>
> Surely there are, but you would most likely get better help if you tell which
> brand and model you are trying to use, as you have to load the right driver
> for the usb camera.
>
> If you are unsure, you can install usbutils and then run "lsusb -vvv" and that
> should give enough information or/and for you to google for Linux and the name
> of the web cam for information.
>
> You can also visit http://www.qbik.ch/usb/devices/ to find drivers for
> different web cams.
uhhhh -- I could have sworn I said "logitech quickcam messenger", but maybe I
said "logitech quickcam messenger" when what I really meant was "logitech
quickcam messenger".

pardon the sarcasm, but I have vastly less hair today than I did last night.

Thanks!

Joshua

Joshua Whalen wrote:
> In article <6nm1tdFm3eglU1@mid.individual.net>, "J.O. Aho" <user@example.net>
> wrote:
>
>> Joshua Whalen wrote:
>>> is there a usb webcam that will work with debian with the default install,
>>> simple yes or no.
>> Surely there are, but you would most likely get better help if you tell which
>> brand and model you are trying to use, as you have to load the right driver
>> for the usb camera.
>>
>> If you are unsure, you can install usbutils and then run "lsusb -vvv" and that
>> should give enough information or/and for you to google for Linux and the name
>> of the web cam for information.
>>
>> You can also visit http://www.qbik.ch/usb/devices/ to find drivers for
>> different web cams.
> uhhhh -- I could have sworn I said "logitech quickcam messenger", but maybe I
> said "logitech quickcam messenger" when what I really meant was "logitech
> quickcam messenger".
>
> pardon the sarcasm, but I have vastly less hair today than I did last night.

There is a driver for it found at:
http://home.mag.cx/messenger/

It seems to support three different Quickcam models, hopefully the one you
have is one of those. You will need to install the kernel source that your
current kernel is built with (not the vanilla kernel form kernel.org, but the
one from debian) and then build the driver and install it.

You can of course install the driver with apt-get:

apt-get install qc-usb-messenger

Don't forget to load the driver and run dmesg to see if there was any problems
loading it.


Another option would be testing the ndiswrapper, which allows you to use
drivers for microsoft for your USB devices in Linux, it's mainly used for
wireless drivers, but should work with other drivers too.

http://sourceforge.net/projects/ndiswrapper/
--

//Aho

Joshua Whalen wrote:

> is there a usb webcam that will work with debian with the default install,
> simple yes or no. I am in danger ( I should actually say "facing certainty
> of") of being fired from my job is this is not up and running and serving
> video by this evening (saturday). I've had good experiences with linux as
> a web server, file server, etc... so this took me off guard. I'm using the
> most recent stable release of debian (typing this on my mac, so don't ask
> the exact kernel version. I ran the update ran hour ago, so it IS up to
> date.) with a brand spanking new quickcam messenger. I have tried a dozen
> different tutorials, most recently this one:
> http://www.aboutdebian.com/webcam.htm , and have reinstalled from disk
> again and again. I have followed the above tutorial to the letter. xawtv
> does NOT see the camera, this is what it reports:
>
> This is xawtv-3.95.dfsg.1, running on Linux/i686 (2.6.18-6-686)
> looking for available devices
> port 65-65
> type : Xvideo, image scaler
> name : NV Video Overlay
>
> port 66-97
> type : Xvideo, image scaler
> name : NV Video Blitter
>
> /dev/video0: OK [ -device /dev/video0 ]
> type : v4l2
> name : BT878 video ( *** UNKNOWN/GENER
> flags: overlay capture tuner
>
> /dev/video1: OK [ -device /dev/video1 ]
> type : v4l2
> name : BT878 video ( *** UNKNOWN/GENER
> flags: overlay capture tuner
>
> /dev/video2: OK [ -device /dev/video2 ]
> type : v4l2
> name : BT878 video ( *** UNKNOWN/GENER
> flags: overlay capture tuner
>
> /dev/video3: OK [ -device /dev/video3 ]
> type : v4l2
> name : BT878 video ( *** UNKNOWN/GENER
> flags: overlay capture tuner

I would use something other than XawTV. It doesn't seem to understand or
work with your devices. The Linux video layer is kind of restricted/dumb
in some ways. It expects the application to implement a layer for dealing
with all of the video formats, rather than supporting conversions from the
various hardware formats. This means there are like 10 different apps for
webcam servers, and display, and quite often only a few will work,
depending on if your webcam uses YUYV, or MJPEG, or JPEG...

I wrote a webcam server for my UVC-based device. A Creative webcam that
provides MJPEG. The uvc driver is one of the better drivers for webcams,
but it also doesn't support the read() interface (only mmap()); which
causes some problems, and various apps don't work with V4L2/uvc, such as
Gyachi, and kopete.

>
> This is lsmod, a hideous mess after hair pulling for 72 hours at this
> point:
>
>
> Module Size Used by
> nls_iso8859_1 4256 1
> isofs 32540 1
> udf 73156 0
> nfs 202860 0
> nfsd 197936 17
> exportfs 5600 1 nfsd
> lockd 54344 3 nfs,nfsd
> nfs_acl 3584 2 nfs,nfsd
> sunrpc 138812 13 nfs,nfsd,lockd,nfs_acl
> appletalk 33228 0
> ppdev 8676 0
> lp 11012 0
> button 6672 0
> ac 5188 0
> battery 9636 0
> ipv6 226272 29
> dm_snapshot 15552 0
> dm_mirror 19152 0
> dm_mod 50200 2 dm_snapshot,dm_mirror
> cx2341x 10308 0
> parport_pc 32132 0
> c_qcam 11512 0
> parport 33256 4 ppdev,lp,parport_pc,c_qcam
> ultracam 11084 0
> ibmcam 43980 0
> vgastate 7776 0
> uvcvideo 31016 0
> quickcam_messenger 12324 0
> usbvideo 24388 3 ultracam,ibmcam,quickcam_messenger
> sisusbvga 47612 0
> sbp2 20840 0
> scsi_mod 124168 1 sbp2
> loop 15048 0
> bt878 10392 0
> bttv 159732 1 bt878
> video_buf 23012 1 bttv
> firmware_class 9600 1 bttv
> ir_common 27780 1 bttv
> compat_ioctl32 1472 3 c_qcam,usbvideo,bttv
> i2c_algo_bit 8424 1 bttv
> btcx_risc 4776 1 bttv
> tveeprom 13840 1 bttv
> videodev 21120 4 c_qcam,uvcvideo,usbvideo,bttv
> v4l1_compat 12036 2 uvcvideo,videodev
> v4l2_common 20448 4 cx2341x,uvcvideo,bttv,videodev

This indicates you have V4L2 drivers and one of them is uvc-based. Try
using luvcview.

> snd_usb_audio 69024 0
> snd_usb_lib 14976 1 snd_usb_audio
> snd_seq_dummy 3844 0
> snd_seq_oss 28768 0
> snd_seq_midi 8192 0
> snd_seq_midi_event 7008 2 snd_seq_oss,snd_seq_midi
> snd_intel8x0 30332 1
> snd_ac97_codec 83104 1 snd_intel8x0
> snd_ac97_bus 2400 1 snd_ac97_codec
> snd_seq 45680 6
> snd_seq_dummy,snd_seq_oss,snd_seq_midi,snd_seq_mid i_event
> snd_pcm_oss 38368 0
> snd_mixer_oss 15200 1 snd_pcm_oss
> serio_raw 6660 0
> snd_rawmidi 22560 2 snd_usb_lib,snd_seq_midi
> snd_seq_device 7820 5
> snd_seq_dummy,snd_seq_oss,snd_seq_midi,snd_seq,snd _rawmidi
> rtc 12372 0
> i2c_sis96x 5380 0
> snd_hwdep 8836 1 snd_usb_audio
> psmouse 35016 0
> pcspkr 3072 0
> tsdev 7520 0
> sis_agp 8420 1
> i2c_core 19680 4 bttv,i2c_algo_bit,tveeprom,i2c_sis96x
> snd_pcm 68676 4
> snd_usb_audio,snd_intel8x0,snd_ac97_codec,snd_pcm_ oss
> snd_timer 20996 2 snd_seq,snd_pcm
> snd 47012 14
>
snd_usb_audio,snd_seq_oss,snd_intel8x0,snd_ac97_co dec,snd_seq,snd_pcm_oss,snd_mix
> er_oss,snd_rawmidi,snd_seq_device,snd_hwdep,snd_pc m,snd_timer
> snd_page_alloc 10184 2 snd_intel8x0,snd_pcm
> soundcore 9248 1 snd
> shpchp 33024 0
> pci_hotplug 28704 1 shpchp
> agpgart 29896 1 sis_agp
> evdev 9088 2
> eth1394 18212 0
> ext3 119240 1
> jbd 52456 1 ext3
> mbcache 8356 1 ext3
> ide_disk 14848 3
> ide_cd 36064 1
> cdrom 32544 1 ide_cd
> generic 4868 0 [permanent]
> usbhid 37248 0
> 8139cp 21920 0
> via_rhine 22664 0
> sis5513 12360 0 [permanent]
> ide_core 110504 4 ide_disk,ide_cd,generic,sis5513
> ohci1394 30800 0
> 8139too 25120 0
> mii 5344 3 8139cp,via_rhine,8139too
> ieee1394 86904 3 sbp2,eth1394,ohci1394
> ehci_hcd 28136 0
> ohci_hcd 18276 0
> usbcore 112644 12
>
ultracam,ibmcam,uvcvideo,quickcam_messenger,usbvid eo,sisusbvga,snd_usb_audio,snd_
> usb_lib,usbhid,ehci_hcd,ohci_hcd
> thermal 13608 0
> processor 28840 1 thermal
> fan 4804 0
>
>
> I'm perfectly willing to start over from scratch with a fresh install
> (probably best, at this point) but it must work the first time. PLEASE.

A fresh reinstall probably won't solve anything. Be thankful if any of them
work, because the manufacturers often change chipsets without warning, and
a device that has a certain lsusb id now, possibly won't in a few weeks...
That said, the logitech company makes some effort to support Linux. See:
http://www.quickcamteam.net/hcl/linux/logitech-webcams

It's similar to the crazy network card issues; where a wireless card works
in a certain model with Linux or BSD, but then the manufacturer changes
chipsets without changing the model number or name.

--George

Joshua Whalen wrote:
> In article <6nm1tdFm3eglU1@mid.individual.net>, "J.O. Aho" <user@example.net>
> wrote:
>
>> Joshua Whalen wrote:
>>> is there a usb webcam that will work with debian with the default install,
>>> simple yes or no.
>> Surely there are, but you would most likely get better help if you tell which
>> brand and model you are trying to use, as you have to load the right driver
>> for the usb camera.
> uhhhh -- I could have sworn I said "logitech quickcam messenger", but maybe I
> said "logitech quickcam messenger" when what I really meant was "logitech
> quickcam messenger".

Sorry for misreading your original post. Maybe you should try some other
software, a simple way could be trying to use one of all those popular IM,
seems like kopeter supports MSN Video Conferences and later versions of Skype
support this too.


--

//Aho