I haven’t messed with openSUSE other than as servers, so please forgive my ignorance. I’ve been trying to get my Chicony webcam on my Toshiba laptop to work for some time now. Every so often I load a new distribution with high hopes. The webcam once worked under “one of those other Linux flavors.” I’ve recently decided to just use openSUSE on everything…but have some learning-curve issues. I have tried using the default and the desktop kernels from the distribution DVD.
I have seen it identified on occasion when I did: dmesg| grep Chic
but not with openSUSE 12.2. The past is the past…What must I do?
lsusb shows only the hubs. Same thing in Yast. I’m pretty sure it requires the ovcvideo kernel driver module, but can’t get the Build/webcam repository up, nor can I find it in any searches. Perhaps that I should mention that when I plug in a USB storage drive, lsusb shows the drive immediately.
Even an unrecognised device should show up with ‘lsusb’. If this is not happening, I would suspect a problem with the webcam hardware, cable, or usb port first.
I’m pretty sure it requires the ovcvideo kernel driver module,
I think you mean the uvcvideo driver, which is part of the kernel.
I also wanted to bring to your attention that there are numerous issues reported concerning Toshiba laptops and Chicony webcams. In particular, problems relating to users who have tried to restore from sleep mode with MS Vista, and found the webcam hardware disabled. Are you dual-booting, and could this be your situation? If so, try getting the camera active in that OS, then reboot and try Linux again.
Thank you, yes…uvcvideo driver…and if it is included in the kernel, then that’s not it. While it is possible there is a hardware failure, I can get it to work with an old Mandriva 10.x distro if I boot and run it off the CD. Even when it shows up in dmesg, it does not show in lsusb.
This is the internal webcam, not an external device. It has a complex structure of USB ports connected to a series of internal USB hubs. I would say it was the layering that masks the device, but I am leaning toward the startup command that “coldplugs” all devices. Again, I don’t know openSUSE and am just grasping at straws.
Oh GAD!!! I found the problem.
…not the solution, but I know what’s wrong:
When I close the lid, the webcam shows up in lsusb. If I have booted with the lid down (as I frequently do, when I use it remotely), it shows up in dmesg. I found this accidentally today while running a remote session and checking. With the lid down, there was the camera…lid up, it magically disappeared. Exactly BACKWARD from the way the lid switch should work. I’m not really sure if the camera is working with the lid closed…It is going to be tough to test that. I guess I should run a remote session with*** luvcvideo*** and see if I get a picture of “dark.”
Any ideas on how to get past this without resorting to wire cutters?
…oh…and I should mention that the camera works perfectly with the lid down. In a VNC session, I can see the little drive light come on and off (the drive light is near where the camera lens ends up with the lid down) when I run guvcview. It doesn’t seem to like*** luvcview*** for some reason.
I should mention that the LCD screen operates properly with relation to the lid switch. If there is a place somewhere I can change to make it think the lid is opposite, it might blank my screen…marvelous!
Yeah…thought of that. It is a Toshiba Satellite A305…UNFORTUNATELY, there is a known cabling problem associated with the lid that comes up all over the forums if you ask the right question. Apparently, this is strictly a hardware issue and software isn’t going to be the answer. The lid actually “disconnects” the webcam when it is opened making it appear related to the switch.
Yeah…thought of that. It is a Toshiba Satellite A305…UNFORTUNATELY, there is a known cabling problem associated with the lid that comes up all over the forums if you ask the right question. Apparently, this is strictly a hardware issue and software isn’t going to be the answer. The lid actually “disconnects” the webcam when it is opened making it appear related to the switch.
Along the lines of what I was suspecting. Maybe a BIOS update will fix?
Nope…just a bad design for the lid wiring. If it was still under warranty, there is a replacement cable that is supposed to fix the problem. It is about 10mm longer than the original. I opened it up and took a look. I think I can make a small extension. I hate trying to solve intermittent problems.