[SOLVED] aiptek pen cam broken after intrepid upgrade doesn't register /dev/video* de

[josephdaniel]

I posted this as a bug here : https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+bug/292379

I am posting it here to see if there is an available work around.

Details:

Aiptek pencam broken after upgrade to intrepid final release.
The appropriate module is loaded (stv680) and it reports registering the device video0 but it's not there in /dev

The same webcam was working fine with hardy since I first tested it. Following is the output from the commands I thought to be relevant.

dmesg output:
[ 300.636049] usb 2-1: new full speed USB device using uhci_hcd and address 2
[ 300.924873] usb 2-1: configuration #1 chosen from 1 choice
[ 301.298679] Linux video capture interface: v2.00
[ 301.320476] stv680: [stv680_probe:1430] STV(i): STV0680 camera found.
[ 301.323115] stv680: [stv680_probe:1470] STV(i): registered new video device: video0
[ 301.326214] usbcore: registered new interface driver stv680
[ 301.327731] stv680: [usb_stv680_init:1551] STV(i): usb camera driver version v0.25 registering
[ 301.327742] stv680: STV0680 USB Camera Driver v0.25
[ 301.411957] stv680: [stv_init:380] STV(i): QVGA is supported
[ 301.423923] stv680: [stv_init:396] STV(i): Camera has 0 pictures.
[ 301.564770] stv680: [usb_stv680_remove_disconnected:1507] STV(i): STV0680 disconnected

lsusb output:
Bus 002 Device 002: ID 0553:0202 STMicroelectronics Imaging Division (VLSI Vision) Aiptek PenCam 1
Bus 002 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0001 Linux Foundation 1.1 root hub
Bus 001 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0002 Linux Foundation 2.0 root hub

ls /dev | grep video
gives nothing. There are no video devices under /dev

This camera has built in memory to store about 25 VGA photos. When it's connected F-spot offers to download the stored photos but it always fails with an I/O error. This was also working on hardy before upgrading.

What do you think might cause this? The same behavior occurs on my desktop machine that has also been upgraded from hardy to intrepid today.

Thanks,
Joseph

[dougfractal]

I had the same problem, it affected my STV0680 USB Camera and my SAA7130 tv card, both were detected but no /dev/video*.

Just had kernel update. now 2.6.27-7-generic. All seems fine (I haven't got my STV0680 with me right now, but the tv card works so i'm feeling it was a v4l issue.)

[dougfractal]

repeat entry

[pierrehenri]

I was able to get it to work.
After you plug the webcam, you need to unmount the desktop camera icon, then unload the stv680 module and then reload it. My guess is there's some kind of conflict between the pictures mode and the webcam mode but I'm no expert.

[josephdaniel]

thanks a lot pierre for this excellent hint. I really appreciate it.

I don't care about having to reload the module each time. I just want the camera to work.

I see that you have also added this workaround to the bug report at launchpad. Lets hope this gets fixed in the future kernel versions.

You're an expert to me, Thanks again.

EDIT: It is working, but I just noticed that the colors are wrong. It seems that the red and blue are exchanged. Do you have the same problem?

EDIT EDIT: Colors were fixed by setting the module parametes: "modprobe stv680 swapRGB_on=-1"

Joe

[gcvisel]

I was able to get it to work.
After you plug the webcam, you need to unmount the desktop camera icon, then unload the stv680 module and then reload it. My guess is there's some kind of conflict between the pictures mode and the webcam mode but I'm no expert.

Any specifics on how to "unload", unmount, and reload modules? I have a similar issue with a Clique Hue camera. The audio is recognized but not the video.
ls /dev/video* gives:
ls: cannot access /dev/video*: No such file or directory

Thanks,
Gerry

[go_beep_yourself]

How did you get the audio working on a Clique Hue Webcam? By audio, do you mean the builtin microphone? What did you mean?

To load modules use modprobe. To remove modules, use rmmod or modprobe -r. You can also load modules with insmod.

[josephdaniel]

Actually my aiptek pencam doesn't have a builtin microphone. The problem described here was only about the video.

[go_beep_yourself]

I was asking gcvisel. He has the Clique Hue camera.

[tonyuk123]

How did you get your pencam working on Ubuntu 8.04?
I can't seem to get mine working
Tony