v4l + webcamd + Logitech C210 + Skype (FreeBSD 8-stable)

[Oliver Fromme]

Yuri <yuri at rawbw.com> wrote:
 > On 01/23/2011 12:40, Oliver Fromme wrote:
 > > I'm trying to get Skype working with video support on my
 > > 8-stable machine at home.  I've got a shiny new Logitech
 > > C210 webcam.  This webcam works perfectly fine on my wife's
 > > Windows machine, FWIW.
 > > 
 > > On my FreeBSD box I've installed webcamd and all of its
 > > dependencies, as per HPS' documentation.  Basically the
 > > webcam seems to work:  I get a clear picture in pwcview(1).
 > > However, Skype doesn't seem to recognize the video device
 > > (I have installed skype-2.0.0.72,1 from ports).
 > 
 > Webcamd doesn't work with skype. I tried 4 different cameras with the 
 > same outcome as yours.
 > 
 > Webcamd only supports V4L1 and skype normally uses V4L2 first and then 
 > falls back to V4L1.

No, webcamd also supports V4L2.  Otherwise I wouldn't be
able to use pwcview with an UVC camera, because the UVC
driver is V4L2-only.

The problem is that the linux emulation translates only
V4L1 ioctls yet, so linux binaries cannot access drivers
that only support V4L2.  Of course, there might also be
bugs in Skype.  But I think webcamd is not the culprit.

 > [...] But there is no easy and obvious fix to this problem.

As Alexander Leidinger pointed out, the obvious fix is to
add V4L2 support to the Linux emulation.  Whether that's
easy is another question.  I didn't have time to look at
it any further.

Best regards
   Oliver

-- 
Oliver Fromme, secnetix GmbH & Co. KG, Marktplatz 29, 85567 Grafing b. M.
Handelsregister: Registergericht Muenchen, HRA 74606,  Geschäftsfuehrung:
secnetix Verwaltungsgesellsch. mbH, Handelsregister: Registergericht Mün-
chen, HRB 125758,  Geschäftsführer: Maik Bachmann, Olaf Erb, Ralf Gebhart

FreeBSD-Dienstleistungen, -Produkte und mehr:  http://www.secnetix.de/bsd

"Python is an experiment in how much freedom programmers need.
Too much freedom and nobody can read another's code; too little
and expressiveness is endangered."
        -- Guido van Rossum