HOWTO: logitech, labtec webcams with qc-usb driver

[trollzor]

This is a HOWTO guide to install the logitech webcam drivers from this
sourceforge project http://qce-ga.sourceforge.net/


==Quick n Dirty guide for the brave==

#kernel headers, compilers and v4l1 for gnome

sudo apt-get install linux-headers-$(uname -r)
sudo apt-get install build-essential
sudo apt-get install libpt-plugins-v4l

#get the driver

wget http://optusnet.dl.sourceforge.net/sourceforge/qce-ga/qc-usb-0.6.3.tar.gz
tar zxvf qc-usb-0.6.3.tar.gz
cd qc-usb-0.6.3

#become root because script doesn't understand sudo, it whinges a lot about not working, but then it does.

sudo -s -H
./quickcam.sh

==Longer Guide==


==Checking you have the right webcam==

you can do this with the command:

lsusb

Which should give you a couple of lines, one looking like this:

Bus 002 Device 003: ID 046d:0870 Logitech, Inc. QuickCam Express

According to the website:

Generally any USB camera with Vendor Id 0x46d and Product Id 0x840,
0x850, or 0x870 should work

There are other links on the page to check out if your camera ID is different. Also there are some other threads on the forums that concern another driver which might work for you if this one doesn't here and here.



==Extras you need==

Ok before you can install the driver you need these things and I
describe how to get them next:

• kernel headers for your kerne
• compilers to.... compile
• video for linux ver 1 interface if you want to use gnomemeeting

==Installing Kernel Headers==

Ok if you know how to do this, or have them installed, skip to the next
section.

*the apt-get way*

To make sure they are there:

sudo apt-cache search linux-headers-$(uname -r)

To install them:

sudo apt-get install linux-headers-$(uname -r)

*the synaptic way*

Type "uname -r" in a terminal

Then go into synaptic and type "headers"

Grab the package labeled "linux-headers-2.6.10-5-***" that matches your
machine. I don't think it hurts to grab others if you need them.


==Installing compilers==

This is a series of compilers your ubuntu distro doesn't come with by default, but are used to make programs from source.

sudo apt-get install build-essential

OR search synaptic for "build-essential"


==Installing video for linux ver 1==

Ubuntu comes with V4L2, but that won't work for gnomemeeting with this driver.

sudo apt-get install libpt-plugins-v4l

OR search synaptic for "v4l" and tick 'em.




==Installing the Driver==

Now that you have the prerequisites go to the quickcam express driver sourceforge page:

http://sourceforge.net/projects/qce-ga/

Download the qc-usb package to your home folder (~150kb):

wget http://optusnet.dl.sourceforge.net/s...b-0.6.3.tar.gz

(N.B. the driver might update in the course of this HOWTO being on the
forums, check the page to make sure.)

uncompress the package:

tar zxvf qc-usb-0.6.3.tar.gz

enter the folder:

cd qc-usb-0.6.3

Now the script in the folder doesn't understand sudo, so we have to
become root.

sudo -s -H

Now run the script, accepting the defaults should be ok, read what
it says, it may give errors, but soldier on because it worked anyway for
me (that said, have you backed up your files?):

./quickcam.sh

==Testing==

Open gnomemeeting, make sure you select v4l and not v4l2 in setup. Should be working. My Labtec cam (which registers as a logitech) is washed out and shifted to the yellow/red side of the spectrum, other cameras should not be, if anyone has a fix for this problem, post it here.


==Last notes==

Camera works on reboot without adding "quickcam" to /etc/modules, so you are done. Hope this helps people, I will check in on the guide to correct any typos etc.

good luck,

Trollzor

[Raj]

Absolute genius

I love you!!!

Cheers man. Now all I have to do is find people to chat with, lol

Raj

[globalman]

ok
iam using qc-usb-messenger-0.8
but i follow these steps
everything went fine.. but got missing gcc.
this error

./quickcam.sh
....
Warning: gcc missing

i installed gcc-3.4
and 4.0 is already installed i think by defult
(Ubuntu 5.10 'Breezy Badger')
(kernel-2.6.12-9-386)

what else is missing ?

[CarbonPlexus]

Ok I get to the end of the installer and it says

Now I finally will try to load the module.
If you're unlucky, your computer might crash right now!!!!
Consider long if you really want to continue.
Press Ctrl+C to quit, Enter to continue --->

You decided to do it, here we go...
=== Leaving root mode ===
The driver detected the following supported cameras:
[!] No cameras detected.
Try unloading and reloading the driver manually with
rmmod quickcam; insmod ./quickcam.ko debug=-1
and then checking whether there are any messages indicating
problems with command
dmesg
WARNING: If you press Enter, I'll try to continue anyway,
but this probably will fail. You SHOULD press Ctrl+C now.

so then I tried the 2 commands it showed

k---@M-------:~/Desktop/qc-usb-0.6.3$ rmmod quickcam; insmod ./quickcam.ko debug=-1
insmod: error inserting './quickcam.ko': -1 Operation not permitted
k---@M-------:~/Desktop/qc-usb-0.6.3$ dmesg
[4297560.236000] usbcore: registered new driver quickcam
[4297576.374000] atkbd.c: Unknown key pressed (translated set 2, code 0xaa on isa0060/serio0).
[4297576.374000] atkbd.c: Use 'setkeycodes e02a <keycode>' to make it known.
[4297576.462000] atkbd.c: Unknown key released (translated set 2, code 0xaa on isa0060/serio0).
[4297576.462000] atkbd.c: Use 'setkeycodes e02a <keycode>' to make it known.
[4297699.500000] usbcore: deregistering driver quickcam

Any idea what this is about? I have a Logitech Quickcam Messenger but I got the special driver for it that was moddified from the other Logitech webcams because it's supposed to be slightly different. Also I see a camera in the Device Manager so it shows up but it's not registering with the driver Any thoughts/help would be appreciated ^_^

[sabitha]

how about my webcam driver

Bus 004 Device 006: ID 0c45:612f Microdia

anybody knows

[Turtle.net]

Here is an alternate method
In fact I simply followed the instructions on this site http://home.mag.cx/messenger/

This method should work for

• Quickcam Messenger (0x046D, 0x08F0) & (0x046D, 0x08F6)
• Quickcam Communicate (0x046D, 0x08F5)

I downloaded from this page the driver qc-usb-messenger-0.9.tar.gz (2005-11-21) and untarred this archive in /usr/src/

# cd /usr/src/qc-usb-messenger-0.9/
# sudo apt-get install linux-headers-$(uname -r)
# sudo apt-get install build-essential
# sudo apt-get install libpt-plugins-v4l
# make install
# modprobe videodev
# modprobe quickcam

And after that I was able to use my Quickcam messenger in Gnomemeeting (automatic detection of the webcam).

According to the same site the button on the webcam should work with special configuration of the kernel (I do not use this function so I never tried...)

Enjoy

[dixonstalbert]

Thanks Trollzer for very clearly written HOWTO and also to Turtle.net for his alternative method

I ran into some problems trying to replace my old logitech webcam with a new Logitech Quickcam Communicate.

The old drivers prevented installing new ones. I found the answer here

http://wiki.ubuntu-fr.org/materiel/webcam_logitech_msn

on the french ubuntu wiki- very good HOWTO if you speak french

the guide recommends making sure you start by checking to see if any old drivers are loaded and cleaning them out by typing:

lsmod | grep videodev
sudo rmmod quickcam
sudo rmmod videodev

after this I was able to successfully install my Quickcam Communicate driver using procedure outlined by turtle.net above

My next problem was that the webcam stopped working after rebooting computer

The french ubuntu wiki page also gave an answer to that. You have to put in a startup script in your /etc/init.d directory so driver will unload/reload at startup. you create one by typing:

sudo touch /etc/init.d/quickcam && sudo chmod 755 /etc/init.d/quickcam

sudo gedit /etc/init.d/quickcam
#! /bin/sh
# /etc/init.d/quickcam: reload the Logitech Quickcam Communicate driver.
rmmod quickcam
modprobe quickcam

save and exit out of gedit text editor and type this to put the same script in your /etc/rcS.d/ directory

sudo ln -s /etc/init.d/quickcam /etc/rcS.d/S99quickcam

after I did this Quickcam Communicate worked without a problem in camorama, xawtv and amsn

hope this helps someone

[Neo40]

Hi,

I have Breezy installed and it seems my usb quickcam camera is not detected.
If I type lsusb, I got this:

Bus 002 Device 001: ID 0000:0000
Bus 001 Device 001: ID 0000:0000


Someone can help me?

Thanks

[gosh]

I also have a problem with recoginizing my webcam.

lsusb says:

Bus 004 Device 001: ID 0000:0000
Bus 003 Device 002: ID 0451:2046 Texas Instruments, Inc. TUSB2046 Hub
Bus 003 Device 001: ID 0000:0000
Bus 002 Device 001: ID 0000:0000
Bus 001 Device 003: ID 046d:08c5 Logitech, Inc.
Bus 001 Device 002: ID 046d:c01a Logitech, Inc.
Bus 001 Device 001: ID 0000:0000

One logitech device is my mouse, the other should be my quickcam

[alinuxfan]

I get...i did the howto exactly (even copied and pasted)...j

./quickcam.sh
/usr/bin/whoami
/bin/su
/bin/ls
/bin/cat
Warning: gcc missing
Warning: gcc missing
Warning: make missing
/bin/grep
/bin/egrep
/usr/bin/awk
/bin/sed
/usr/bin/tail
/usr/bin/head
/usr/bin/install
Warning: ld missing
/bin/uname
/usr/bin/tr
Warning: xawtv missing
/usr/bin/xdpyinfo
/bin/dmesg
/usr/bin/wc
[!] Some important programs can not be found on default path.
Probably they aren't installed.
You should install them, for example, by using apt-get or rpm.
WARNING: If you press Enter, I'll try to continue anyway,
but this probably will fail. You SHOULD press Ctrl+C now.
Press Ctrl+C to quit, Enter to continue ---> 

ust curious where to go from here...thanks