I’ve just noticed that my Logitech webcam is totally unusable in openSUSE 11.4. It worked perfectly in 11.3.
I tried it with Skype-2.1.0.47, -2.1.0.81 and -2.2.0.25 - no change, too dark (but it works though). I wanted to try it with Cheese but it shows me it failed to detect a camera. Tried the Webcam, it also failed to detect the camera. Tried with Kopete - it works but also too dark (the brightness/contrast/gamma barely change anything).
I also tried both versions of v4l - one from the OSS and one from the Webcam drivers repo - no difference. If I use this Skype command: LD_PRELOAD=/usr/lib/libv4l/v4l1compat.so skype - the camera works but is too dark, if I simply use ‘skype’ the camera doesn’t work.
Anyone know what’s changed from 11.3 to 11.4 and how to fix this? Thank you.
On Fri, 06 May 2011 18:36:01 +0530, linuxoidoz
<linuxoidoz@no-mx.forums.opensuse.org> wrote:
>
> I’ve just noticed that my Logitech webcam is totally unusable in
> openSUSE 11.4. It worked perfectly in 11.3.
>
> I tried it with Skype-2.1.0.47, -2.1.0.81 and -2.2.0.25 - no change,
> too dark (but it works though). I wanted to try it with Cheese but it
> shows me it failed to detect a camera. Tried the Webcam, it also failed
> to detect the camera. Tried with Kopete - it works but also too dark
> (the brightness/contrast/gamma barely change anything).
if you’re running a 64bit system, the command to open cheese is
LD_PRELOAD=/usr/lib64/libv4l/v4l1compat.so cheese
since cheese is a 64bit app., unlike skype.
> I also tried both versions of v4l - one from the OSS and one from the
> Webcam drivers repo - no difference. If I use this Skype command:
> LD_PRELOAD=/usr/lib/libv4l/v4l1compat.so skype - the camera works but is
> too dark, if I simply use ‘skype’ the camera doesn’t work.
>
> Anyone know what’s changed from 11.3 to 11.4 and how to fix this? Thank
> you.
this didn’t happen to me after upgrading to 11.4. my webcam’s still the
same; perhaps a little better quality with the latest skype beta, but not
sure about that.
i’ve had limited success improving webcam quality using the v4lctl
command. (there’s a man page for that.)
per example, “v4lctl bright 180”, or even 200, increases brightness. the
command “v4lctl list” lists all attributes the command understand.
unfortunately, my webcam understands only two or three of them. worth
playing around with perhaps.
–
phani.
phanisvara, Thank you for the Cheese command, it worked.
But video is still dark in both Skype and Cheese. Is it anything to do with the newer webcam driver in openSUSE 11.4?
PS. Just to clarify - I have good lighting, so it’s not that. Something’s changed from 11.3 to 11.4.
On Sun, 08 May 2011 06:06:01 +0530, linuxoidoz
<linuxoidoz@no-mx.forums.opensuse.org> wrote:
>
> phanisvara, Thank you for the Cheese command, it worked.
>
> But video is still dark in both Skype and Cheese. Is it anything to do
> with the newer webcam driver in openSUSE 11.4?
>
> PS. Just to clarify - I have good lighting, so it’s not that.
> Something’s changed from 11.3 to 11.4.
>
then it must be due to a different camera; for me there was no change. did
you try those “v4lctl” commands, to be run from the command line? like
“v4lctl bright 200”, that should brighten up your image; unfortunately
they tend to get washed out. there are other commands too, for contrast &
color, but not all cameras understand all of them. look into “man v4lctl”
for more details.
–
phani.
it must be due to a different camera
No, it’s the same camera I used in 11.3.
did
you try those “v4lctl” commands, to be run from the command line? like
“v4lctl bright 200”, that should brighten up your image; unfortunately
they tend to get washed out.
Yes, I tried that and this is exactly what happens.
On Sun, 08 May 2011 13:36:05 +0530, linuxoidoz
<linuxoidoz@no-mx.forums.opensuse.org> wrote:
>
>> it must be due to a different camera
> No, it’s the same camera I used in 11.3.
i meant difference in cameras between your’s and mine. for me nothing
changed after upgrading to 11.4, for you it did.
>> did
>> you try those “v4lctl” commands, to be run from the command line? like
>> “v4lctl bright 200”, that should brighten up your image; unfortunately
>> they tend to get washed out.
> Yes, I tried that and this is exactly what happens.
nothing else comes to mind, unfortunately. would be a strange coincidence
if your camera went bad at the same time you upgraded. i’d borrow some
other webcams from friends and see how they perform. after my last one
died i bought a real cheap one off the shelve, some strange no-name
assembled god-knows-where, and it works fine. if you find one that works
ok, just buy a new one?
–
phani.
On Sun, 08 May 2011 13:36:05 +0530, linuxoidoz
<linuxoidoz@no-mx.forums.opensuse.org> wrote:
>
>> it must be due to a different camera
> No, it’s the same camera I used in 11.3.
>
>> did
>> you try those “v4lctl” commands, to be run from the command line? like
>> “v4lctl bright 200”, that should brighten up your image; unfortunately
>> they tend to get washed out.
> Yes, I tried that and this is exactly what happens.
>
just seen an interesting post of someone who had a similar problem, and
his somewhat radical solution. so you’re not alone with the problem it
seems:
http://forums.opensuse.org/showthread.php?t=458894
I thought that I would report that I have resolved this issue. It seems
that the zc3xx driver has been adjusted over time to respond to user
complaints that their quickcams are too dark. The end result is that
mine is too bright. Sigh.
I resolved this problem by pulling the latest gspca source (2.12.24)
from ‘here’ (http://moinejf.free.fr/) and the 2.6.35.13 kernel source
from kernel.org. I pulled the files zc3xx-reg.h, zc3xx.c, and
coarse_expo_autogain.h from the 2.6.35.13 kernel and copied them into
the gspca build directory and built/installed the drivers. My quickcam
not behaves as it did under SUSE 11.3.
–
JJMT
–
phani.