Logitech QuickCam Messenger

cootetom · 02-26-2006, 04:53 PM

Hi all, i'm trying to get my webcam working under Suse 10.0. If i run the USB device monitor that comes with KDE my camera is listed in here with manufacturer and other such information so i'm guessing suse knows it's there!

However if i try to use my webcam with any program it fails with a message along the lines of "no video grabber device available". So i've read a few other post's and searched on google and found the following site http://home.mag.cx/messenger/ I downloaded and started the install process for the drivers on this site. It all goes well untill it needs to detect the camera which it fails on;

Quote:

I can find the following probably compatible devices:
[!] Didn't find compatible cameras.
If you got message: "Permission denied", it means that
you simply have too old lsusb, and you can ignore this problem.
In this case you have to be root to use lsusb, but I won't do that.
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 --->

Can anyone give me some advice? Or is there anyone who has this camera that has got it working?

bretts5964 · 02-27-2006, 08:46 PM

Hey Tom!

I have a QuickCam Communicate (also supposedly supported by the driver you mentioned). This one:

QuickCam® Communicate™ STX
http://www.logitech.com/index.cfm/pr...ONTENTID=10136

I had no success with the driver, but it did work on SUSE 10.0 when using (only) this software:

Gqcam
http://cse.unl.edu/~cluening/gqcam/

My camera also has a built-in mic, but that wasn't recognized. Pretty sure I installed the RPM of Gqcam via YAST. Sorry, I'm out of town for a few days, so I can't check any details until later in the week. Post again if you make progress.

Brett

paragn · 02-27-2006, 11:02 PM

hi cootetom,
You can find source and binary rpms as well as sourc code for Logitech Quickcam Messenger and its software at
http://sourceforge.net/project/showf...kage_id=177027

cootetom · 02-28-2006, 05:33 PM

Perfect, thank you.

Red Knuckles · 03-04-2006, 04:37 PM

Ok, I just downloaded a Linux driver for my Logitech Quickcam Messenger. Now what are some software programs where I can use it???

For instance I would like to send video e-mails to family. Also are there any video messenger programs that work in Linux???

cootetom · 03-04-2006, 07:04 PM

aMSN is a nice messenger that has webcam working really well. Also check out XawTV i think that program allows you to record from your camera. Other than that try searching for webcam on sourceforge and see what comes up.

Diagmato · 03-14-2006, 11:22 AM

I have written a short guide on getting this working in Suse 10.

Suse 10 setup. This involves compiling from source, but its easier than you may imagine. This has worked for me, but recently, its just not finding the camera anymore (but i think its more usb related - other usb devices have ceased since the recent kernel upgrade).

moocow82 · 03-17-2006, 02:29 PM

Hi guys. Thanks for the great posts. Been trying hard to get the Quickcam Messenger for a while. I got it to work, but after a restart, I also find that it no longer functions. Posting any developments here is appreciated.

bretts5964 · 03-17-2006, 10:42 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by moocow82

I got it to work, but after a restart, I also find that it no longer functions.

Hey moocow,

I'm assuming you followed the guide posted by Diagmato, and that you loaded quickcam automatically by adding it to the /etc/sysconfig/kernel file. Did that myself, and have the same results. Camera works, but not after a reboot. My camera has a blue light on the top that turns on when the driver is loaded, and xawtv or kdetv recognize the device, but show only blank video.

However, if I issue the following commands manually, it starts working again:

Code:

rmmod quickcam
modprobe quickcam

P.S. I stated in my previous post that I had the camera working in SUSE 10, but that was not the case. It WAS working fine, but only under SUSE 9.3.

paragn · 03-18-2006, 01:20 AM

hi moocow82,
Which linux r u using? I have tested quickcam kernel driver + software on RHEL4 from

Quote:

http://sourceforge.net/project/showf...kage_id=177027

From there i tested qcwebcam software 1.1-2 software for webcams and its working fine without need to reboot computer.
But still you found any problem at any time then you can just

Quote:

rmmod quickcam
modprobe quickcam

as stated by bretts5964

bretts5964 · 03-20-2006, 12:23 AM

Just got back from some serious googling, and found a workable, if not perfect solution. Get the qc-usb-messenger driver packaged specifically for SUSE 10.0 here:

http://raoulrpm.youm.org/SuSE_10.0/Q...uSE10.i586.rpm

This works with the latest SUSE kernel (single CPU only), and must be forced to install over the top of /lib/modules/2.6.13-15.8-default/modules.* files, which can be rebuilt with "depmod -a". Install with these commands:

Code:

rpm -Uvh qc-usb-messenger-1.1-modules-2.6.13-15.8-default-SuSE10.i586.rpm --force
depmod -a

Now download the QuickcamAutostart package from here:
http://raoulrpm.youm.org/SuSE_10.0/Q...rt-1.02.tar.gz

Unpack it, then install with this command:

Code:

./install

Apparently, adding the quickcam module to the usual SUSE module startup (in the /etc/sysconfig/kernel file) happens too early in the boot sequence. This QuickcamAutostart utility will wait until KDE starts before loading it. I got my camera to work with Gqcam, kdetv and XawTV.

My output from the command: "dmesg | grep quickcam"

Code:

quickcam: module not supported by Novell, setting U taint flag.
quickcam [19.646665]: ----------LOADING QUICKCAM MODULE------------
quickcam [19.646675]: struct quickcam size: 4028
quickcam: QuickCam USB camera found (driver version QuickCam Messenger/Communicate USB $Date: 2004/12/30 10:00:00 $)
quickcam: Kernel:2.6.13-15.8-default bus:1 class:FF subclass:FF vendor:046D product:08F5
quickcam [19.646739]: poisoning qc in qc_usb_init
quickcam [19.994089]: E00A contains 08F5
quickcam: Sensor VV6450 detected
quickcam [20.171968]: Quickcam snapshot button registered on usb-0000:00:04.2-1/input0
quickcam: Registered device: /dev/video0
usbcore: registered new driver quickcam

Brett

P.S. Some users have had success with the "spca5xx" driver on this site:

Details for: Logitech Quickcam Communicate STX
http://www.qbik.ch/usb/devices/showdev.php?id=3503

SPCA5xx RPM Download
http://raoulrpm.youm.org/SuSE_10.0/S...15.8-.i586.rpm

However, I couldn't get it to work with my camera. If you have a slightly different camera model, it might be worth a try.

paragn · 03-20-2006, 12:35 AM

hi ,
Isnt that information on www.qbik.ch is for Logitech Quickcam Communicate STX? Whereas this thread is for Logitech Quickcam Messenger

paragn · 03-20-2006, 12:37 AM

hi brettes5964,
So does that mean Logiteck Quickcam Messnger will also work with spca5xx driver with spcaview application??

bretts5964 · 03-20-2006, 01:28 AM

Yes, the URL does specify the Communicate, which is what I have, but the spca5xx driver didn't work with mine anyway. And yes, this thread started with the Messenger variety of QuickCam, but the Communicate is very similar, and the qc-usb-messenger driver supports both.

Quickcam Messenger & Communicate driver for Linux
http://home.mag.cx/messenger/

This driver supports any of these models really:

Quote:

# Support for Quickcam Messenger (0x046D, 0x08F0) & (0x046D, 0x08F6)
# Support for Quickcam Communicate (0x046D, 0x08F5)

As for the spca5xx driver, if you know the vendor/model strings for your hardware, then you can look them up on the spca5xx site to see if this driver supports your hardware:

Spca5xx, Spca5xx-LE, Zr364xx WebCams Driver
http://mxhaard.free.fr/spca5xx.html

The main issue here though, is that the qc-usb-messenger SourceForge project site doesn't have an RPM built for SUSE, and the RPM I found should benefit either of the QuickCam hardware models.

Brett

moocow82 · 03-20-2006, 10:27 AM

Beautiful, Brett! Works great.