Logitech 9000 web cam... pretty useless without apps that work...


Results 1 to 6 of 6

Thread: Logitech 9000 web cam... pretty useless without apps that work...

  1. #1
    Join Date
    Sep 1999
    Location
    Santa Cruz, CA, USA
    Posts
    1,212

    Logitech 9000 web cam... pretty useless without apps that work...

    So I have a Logitech 9000 web cam installed and working (again) with Skype. That's great when I want to video chat with family, but that's all I can do with it.

    I would like to record some movies using my web cam but I can't because of the following reasons:

    1. I can't find an application for Linux that actually works. So far they all fail to work for a variety of reasons.

    2. The ones that sort of work, don't allow me to do what I want, record a video with my web-cam and save the file for future use or distribution.

    I just want a simple application that allows me to click on record, stop recording and save. Why isn't there anything around that can do that? Seriously, this is something I have been looking for since, 2001. And so far I have only found one application that kind of worked, but it's no longer developed and I can't find it anymore.

    Cheese... locks up when I try to record. -- FAIL

    Camorama... "Could not connect to video device (/dev/video0) Please check connection." Ummm it works with Skype and Cheese at least sees it. -- FAIL

    Kopete... well it worked once, I was able to see a movie but that was in the Configure section. Nothing on how to record a movie, let alone save it. And when I went back into Configuration, it sees the camera but no video now. -- FAIL

    Gqcam... it starts up, identified the camera and gave me a big black box. The controls are limited so no worky there either. -- FAIL

    VLC... "Your input can't be opened:
    VLC is unable to open the MRL 'v4l2:///dev/video0'. Check the log for details." -- that's the error message for that. -- FAIL Oh and... where the hell is the log? -- FAIL

    Skype... Hey works great when I chat with my family half way around the world! But I can't record anything with it. There are no record / save options. So that sucks. -- Partial FAIL

    So let's recap. In another thread I am trying to get .wmv files to play (they work on one system but not another?) and none of the applications for web cams work as I want. Oh, and wine? It's a joke, not one application I have tried to run with wine works. The either just don's start OR they start but half the components never paint and it runs like a flea in frozen molasses.

    Yeah, I am a bit frustrated and rather tired of not being able to easily do what Windows folk can do with relative ease. Something wrong with that. And I haven't even begun to tack text to speech yet.
    Last edited by MkIII_Supra; 02-21-2010 at 05:59 PM.
    One by one the penguins steal my sanity...

    Vanpooling now...

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Dec 2002
    Location
    Montreal Canada
    Posts
    383
    Hi,
    Have you tried luvcview ?
    It works for me, but it's very basic.
    There may be a package for your distribution, if not try this link:
    http://www.quickcamteam.net/software...ware/luvcview/
    Last edited by Davno; 02-21-2010 at 09:08 PM.

    Linux Counter


    Debian "Lenny"
    Mandriva 2010.2

    "Where am I?" "In the Village." "What do you want?" "Information.""Whose side are you on?" "That would be telling.... We want information. Information! INFORMATION!"

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Sep 1999
    Location
    Santa Cruz, CA, USA
    Posts
    1,212
    Well it appears to be working in that I can see my image moving on the screen, but where does it save the .avi file? I tried taking a picture as well... but nothing came up to prompt me for where it went. I don't see anything in my home directory that remotely looks like it's associated with it and when I tried to run:

    ffmpeg -vd /dev/video0 -an -vcodec mpeg4 -s 640x480 output.avi

    From the CLI as directed from their web site I get this...

    Code:
    MkIII_Supra: ffmpeg -vd /dev/video0 -an -vcodec mpeg4 -s 640x480 output.avi
    ffmpeg: symbol lookup error: /usr/lib64/libschroedinger-1.0.so.0: undefined symbol: oil_function_class_ptr_avg2_32xn_u8
    MkIII_Supra:
    Getting closer to a solution but still not there.
    One by one the penguins steal my sanity...

    Vanpooling now...

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Dec 2002
    Location
    Montreal Canada
    Posts
    383
    Hi, At first i installed the source program, then i found that my Mandriva had a .rpm for it, somehow a bit better.
    With both programs, the pictures and .avi are saved (by default) in my /home/user directory with numbers like P-02:22:2010-04:41:57.jpg (date) for pictures (all loose in the user directory) and the .avi will overwrite itself with the next one (video.avi) if left it that directory.
    My version has a little gui with 16 buttons at the bottom, and i don't have to use the shell with the Mandriva package.
    luvcview -h tells a bit more info but there is no man luvcview (at least with my version).
    If your using the source tarball looked up for luvcview.cfg.
    Sorry if i can't help more with shell commands because i don't have the source program installed anymore, just the Mandriva package.
    Last edited by Davno; 02-22-2010 at 06:07 AM.

    Linux Counter


    Debian "Lenny"
    Mandriva 2010.2

    "Where am I?" "In the Village." "What do you want?" "Information.""Whose side are you on?" "That would be telling.... We want information. Information! INFORMATION!"

  5. #5
    Join Date
    Sep 1999
    Location
    Santa Cruz, CA, USA
    Posts
    1,212
    I am using the rpm provided by OpenSuSE. I looked in my home directory and several below it for any new .avi or .jpg files and can't find any new files with those extensions. This tells me the application isn't completely working, it isn't creating the files.

    I can't use source tarballs with OpenSuSE as even with all the correct files installed none of them will compile as they all exit with an error that prevents them from building. This has been another issue I have run into for several years and still haven't had the time nor inclination to resolve. So if there isn't an rpm for OpenSuSE I don't install anything. I have just resigned myself to accept that simple fact.

    The only reason I stick with OpenSuSE is I am familiar with it and it does RAID set up very easy. And like most Linux's when it works it works for a long time. That being said the software issues I am having are a curse I have had to deal with some time now. The biggest thing that drives me bonkers is applications that don't work on one machine will work on another, even though the only difference is hardware (Intel / AMD...).

    For reiteration, I generally do not mess with a system once it's set up. I use it and don't install new applications or remove old ones. And I don't do that due to the issues I am currently running into, I don't want the frustrations I have encountered. All I want is to be able to do a few extra things I see Windows users do easily and even some other Linux users (although I have to be honest I have never seen another Linux setup other than my own or the ones I built for people...). Don't think I am asking too much.
    One by one the penguins steal my sanity...

    Vanpooling now...

  6. #6
    Join Date
    Sep 1999
    Location
    Santa Cruz, CA, USA
    Posts
    1,212
    Okay... so after spending a whole lot of time (well wasted too!) nothing seemed to fix the issue. Never got anything to work. So I slicked the OS drive and re-installed. Problem solved. Selected the same packages I always do and now several of the applications that didn't work... now work. Damn, so many hours I could have used for other things.

    At least some of the apps seem to be working, I am still doing final tweaks after the re-install and then I can start to test. But so far it appears that the web cam apps are working. We'll see, I had to reinstall for other reasons but... man I am not happy about the hours spent without any success.
    One by one the penguins steal my sanity...

    Vanpooling now...

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •