Alright so i found a program that i downloaded to make videos with my easycap 2.0, the program is located here

http://bentrask.com/easycap/

i downloaded the file and its a java run file!
can you get java on linux ubuntu 10.04?

The Java Runtime Environment for Linux is in the Ubuntu repository.

Genuine sun java for Ubuntu 10.04 Lucid :
http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=1486951
After install, check that it is configured :
'sudo update-alternatives --config java'
... and choose sun.

Can also be checked with the command : java -version
..

There are several kinds of EasyCAP out there. With the EasyCAP plugged in, running the command

lsusb

will produce output including a line like

Bus XXX Device XXX: ID 05e1:0408 Syntek Semiconductor Co., Ltd

or a line like

Bus XXX Device XXX: ID eb1a:2861 eMPIA Technology, Inc.

or maybe even a line like

Bus XXX Device XXX: ID 1c88:0007 Somagic, Inc.

The Empia EasyCAP should work out of the box on Ubuntu 10.04 (maybe without sound initially). The Syntek EasyCAP will work with a driver downloaded from

http://sourceforge.net/projects/easycapdc60/

As far as I know, no Linux driver exists for the Somagic EasyCAP.

Mike

Bus 005 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0001 Linux Foundation 1.1 root hub
Bus 004 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0001 Linux Foundation 1.1 root hub
Bus 003 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0001 Linux Foundation 1.1 root hub
Bus 002 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0001 Linux Foundation 1.1 root hub
Bus 001 Device 003: ID 05e1:0408 Syntek Semiconductor Co., Ltd
Bus 001 Device 002: ID 04f2:b084 Chicony Electronics Co., Ltd
Bus 001 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0002 Linux Foundation 2.0 root hub

i found the device
" Bus 001 Device 003: ID 05e1:0408 Syntek Semiconductor Co., Ltd "

but what do i do with it now?

Point your browser at the website

http://sourceforge.net/projects/easycapdc60/

Click on the green box labelled "Download Now!" and, when prompted, opt to "Save File". If you are using Firefox on Ubuntu 10.04 this will create a file

easycap_dc60.0.8.2.tar.gz

in directory ~/Downloads (in other words: in the Downloads subdirectory of your home directory). Then open a terminal window (by clicking on Applications->Accessories->Terminal if using Gnome) and type this:

cd ~
mkdir EASYCAP
cd EASYCAP
cp -p ~/Downloads/easycap* .
tar zxf easycap_dc60.0.8.2.tar.gz
cd easycap_dc60.0.8.2
ls

This will list a lot of files, one of which is called README. Open this file with your favourite editor (for example by clicking on Applications->Accessories->gedit Text Editor...File->Open->EASYCAP->easycap_dc60.0.8.2->README if using Gnome) and follow the instructions in the section of this file headed "QUICK START GUIDE", starting with the line

./install.sh

This command needs to be run as root, so on Ubuntu you will need to type it as

sudo ./install.sh

Some of the other commands mentioned in the README may also need to be run using sudo.

Mike

thanks a bunch! do i have to run the code in terminal everytime i want too use it or will it turn on when i plug it in?

Personally I always open a terminal window and simply run

./install.sh

before plugging in the EasyCAP. This gives a reliable result.

Whether or not the EasyCAP will automatically work immediately after booting the computer depends on which Linux distribution you are using: it may work for Debian Lenny but not for Ubuntu 10.04, for example. The problem is that the Linux kernel includes a driver called snd-usb-audio which competes with the Sourceforge easycapdc60 driver for the EasyCAP's sound channel. If snd-usb-audio wins out, the EasyCAP will not work properly. The script ./install.sh temporarily removes the snd-usb-audio driver from the kernel and so allows the easycapdc60 driver to take control of the EasyCAP sound channel without any competition. I'm sure it must be possible to configure things (udev?) so that the easycapdc60 driver always get full control of the EasyCAP (both video and audio) whenever it's plugged in - I just don't know how to do it.

Mike

ok i get it to show video in mplayer, but when i try to record in mencoder with this code

it records with the webcam on my laptop. anything wrong with this terminal code. btw i run this code out of a shell script.

The "device=/dev/video0" needs to be replaced by "/dev/easycap0", but you'll have to make further changes if, for example, you want the recording to include sound. I recommend this useful website (not mine, I hasten to add) for tips on how to record:

http://easycap.blogspot.com/p/recording.html

Mike

any suggestions?

imagine that it was on ntsc instead of pal-60, it still does the same thing.

Its been nearly a month, did you fix this or is there no response because you gave up?

The most immediately obvious problem is you are trying to capture 720p when EasyCAP can only do 576i. You should be using width 720 height 576 or width 640 height 480, but the latter overscans (crops the outer edge of the image) at least for PAL signals.

The biggest problem I am having is trying to get 720x576 to work in anything other than mencoder. ffmpeg seems to refuse to work at anything other than 640x480 (thus the overscan problem as I am using it for CCTV and do not want to lose the edge of the picture) and gstreamer I can't even get above 320x240 so far.

hello there i am glad to hear from you,

no i have not given up, i have been on a business trip with no access to the easycap but am back and still trying to get it to work. so far i get the test image videos to work that comes with the drivers you download, ./test 5
./test 4
etc.

but that as far as i can get with getting an image to appear.
last time i was able to get it too start to record all it did was skip frames the whole time, i will post a reply with the advice you listed around 12 between 6 tonight i hope you will bookmark this page and continue to help.

drew@drew-laptop:~$ mencoder tv:// -tv device=/dev/easycap0:input=1:norm=NTSC:width=640: height=480 -vf pp=md -o Recording -ovc lavc -lavcopts vcodec=mpeg4:vbitrate=8000
MEncoder 1.0rc4-4.4.5 (C) 2000-2010 MPlayer Team
success: format: 9 data: 0x0 - 0x0
TV file format detected.
Selected driver: v4l2
name: Video 4 Linux 2 input
author: Martin Olschewski <olschewski@zpr.uni-koeln.de>
comment: first try, more to come ;-)
Selected device: EasyCAP DC60
Capabilites: video capture audio read/write streaming
supported norms: 0 = PAL_BGHIN; 1 = NTSC_N_443; 2 = PAL_Nc; 3 = NTSC_N; 4 = SECAM; 5 = NTSC_M; 6 = NTSC_M_JP; 7 = PAL_60; 8 = NTSC_443; 9 = PAL_M;
inputs: 0 = CVBS0; 1 = CVBS1; 2 = CVBS2; 3 = CVBS3; 4 = CVBS4; 5 = S-VIDEO;
Current input: 0
Current format: UYVY
tv.c: norm_from_string(NTSC): --->Bogus norm parameter, setting default.<--- (fixed below)
Selected input hasn't got a tuner!
--->Unable to open '/dev/dsp': No such file or directory<---
v4l2: 0 frames successfully processed, 0 frames dropped.
============ Sorry, this file format is not recognized/supported =============
=== If this file is an AVI, ASF or MPEG stream, please contact the author! ===
Cannot open demuxer.

i believe that is what is causing the problem. any solutions?