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Ask Slashdot: Fixing UVC Camera Issues Under Windows?

Posted by timothy on from the you-get-to-keep-both-pieces dept.

Khyber writes: I bought some cheap Chinese camera glasses with built-in microphones. These are (supposedly) UVC cameras manufactured in 2015. Under Windows XP, these cameras are seen perfectly fine and work as web cameras; even the microphones work. Under Windows 7, the camera appears to install just fine, however I get the 'This device can perform faster if you connect to USB 2.0' (which it is connected to) and when I try to load it up with any camera viewer such as manycam or any chat program's built-in previewer, I cannot receive any video from the camera. I can get audio from the camera microphones under Windows 7, so I am wondering if the camera device is having problems enumerating as a USB 2.0 device due to some change in Windows 7 (which it doesn't seem to have issues doing under XP,) or if the UVC driver for Windows 7 is missing something in comparison to the one used for Windows XP. Anybody else had issues getting newer UVC cameras to work in newer operating systems?

31 of 148 comments (clear)

  1. Since when has /. become tech support? by jfdavis668 · · Score: 5, Insightful

    I don't think that technical support for your driver issue is a good reason to post on /.

    1. Re:Since when has /. become tech support? by gstoddart · · Score: 2

      While we're at it, my printer sharing seems to not be working properly.

      Which is this, "my crappy vendor has no current drivers", or "Microsoft hasn't written a driver for my crappy camera glasses"?

      Definitely a big "WTF" on that one.

      --
      Lost at C:>. Found at C.
    2. Re:Since when has /. become tech support? by msauve · · Score: 2

      Apparently, timothy also has a pair of those glasses.

      --
      "National Security is the chief cause of national insecurity." - Celine's First Law
    3. Re:Since when has /. become tech support? by aaron4801 · · Score: 2

      Timothy's getting delirious after not sleeping for a week.

    4. Re:Since when has /. become tech support? by Khyber · · Score: 4, Informative

      You must be new here. :)

      Anyways, this is not a driver issue, per se. I believe this is a Windows issue. I have seen reprts of other UVC devices in laptops (their built-in webcams) having the exact same issue.

      Turns out, those devices are UVC 1.0, and Microsoft, in their infinite wisdom, changed something in their newer USB Video Camera driver that breaks devices following the UVC 1.0 spec, despite Microsoft claiming that Windows 7 has full support for UVC 1.0 devices.

      For those people with laptop issues, usually they could fix it by finding the (semi-rare) updated driver from the manufacturer website.

      This manufacturer has no driver. It is a claimed plug and play. And funnily enough, it works under Linux and OSX 10.4+ as advertised!

      This is what leads me to believe that this is not a driver issue on my end, but a MS driver issue.

      And I really, REALLY don't feel like having to constantly run in Test Mode to run a modified driver that's protected by WFP.

      --
      Still waiting on Serviscope_minor to wake up to fucking reality and realize that Jessica Price isn't going to fuck him.
    5. Re:Since when has /. become tech support? by jtara · · Score: 2

      Did somebody wander in here thinking it was StackOverflow?

      Or did they already try over there and have "discussion closed" for any of a number of picayune reasons?

    6. Re:Since when has /. become tech support? by Khyber · · Score: 2, Interesting

      "Why dont you post your question to /r/techsupport?"

      Because Reddit is a circlejerk shithouse reminiscent of most Linux 'help' forums?

      Because unlike Reddit, I atually expect /. people of my UID or lower to likely have the obviously low-level knowledge required, whereas the majority of Reddit users regurgitate things without bothering to think critically?

      Because Reddit is a shithole that went SJW?

      Need more reasons?

      --
      Still waiting on Serviscope_minor to wake up to fucking reality and realize that Jessica Price isn't going to fuck him.
    7. Re:Since when has /. become tech support? by Coren22 · · Score: 2

      My guess is that there is an embedded USB hub somewhere in the device which is USB1.1, XP ignores that and allows the traffic to go through, while 7 is throwing an error because the camera expects a USB2.0 path, which it apparently isn't getting. Without a link to what device it is though, I have no way to be able to troubleshoot.

      I would call the tech support for the glasses, but likely, as they are cheap chinese knockoffs, the poster got what they paid for.

      --
      APK likes to ask for responses to the same things over and over. Maybe he just likes the responses?
  2. Device compatability / driver problems ... by Alain+Williams · · Score: 4, Funny

    You must be running Linux, why don't you just be safe and come back to Microsoft, all hardware vendors make sure that their kit works with Microsoft Windows. Oh, wait .....

    1. Re:Device compatability / driver problems ... by Anon-Admin · · Score: 5, Interesting

      Ok, I laughed at this one.

      Because I have that same camera and it works perfect under Linux. LOL

    2. Re:Device compatability / driver problems ... by CastrTroy · · Score: 2

      I have a scanner that I recently needed to get working again. It's a 15 year old scanner. First step I tried just plugging it in to my Windows 10 machine. It didn't work. Wasn't much surprised there. Then I remembered that I used to have it working on Linux. So I booted up a virtual machine with Ubuntu. The scanner was detected but trying to scan an image with XSane just caused it to crash. I might possibly be able to get it working, but didn't want to spend too much time messing around with it. I installed Windows XP in a different VM, and installed the drivers from the manufacturer's site. Everything worked perfectly. I don't think that Linux is any better than windows for keeping old hardware working. Some stuff will only work in Windows, and some stuff will only work in Linux. I'm pretty sure there's nobody testing old scanners every time they update the kernel or make changes to SANE. Sometimes you just have to run the same old software stack that you were running 15 years ago to get things working properly.

      --

      Anthropic principle: We see the universe the way it is because if it were different we would not be here to see it.
    3. Re:Device compatability / driver problems ... by Junta · · Score: 4, Interesting

      There's a crapton of stuff that works only well under Linux out of the box now.

      In our lab, there are like a bucket of USB serial adapters. All of them work with every linux device. But almost none of them work well with windows.

      --
      XML is like violence. If it doesn't solve the problem, use more.
    4. Re:Device compatability / driver problems ... by thegarbz · · Score: 2

      You should get one branded FTDI. They are really cheap from Chinese eBay sellers. Even better the company keeps its windows driver up to date with windows update.

    5. Re:Device compatability / driver problems ... by Coren22 · · Score: 2

      Nice joke.

      For those who maybe miss the reference:
      http://slashdot.org/index2.pl?...

      --
      APK likes to ask for responses to the same things over and over. Maybe he just likes the responses?
  3. Welp... by Lab+Rat+Jason · · Score: 3, Insightful

    cheap Chinese

    there's your problem...

    --
    Which has more power: the hammer, or the anvil?
    1. Re:Welp... by Khyber · · Score: 2

      Actually, now that I double-checked the company - it's a USA company and has been around since 2003.

      So no, not cheap Chinese crap. Cheap American crap.

      --
      Still waiting on Serviscope_minor to wake up to fucking reality and realize that Jessica Price isn't going to fuck him.
    2. Re:Welp... by sumdumass · · Score: 2

      It's almost as if you are saying the car doesn't start and when asked for details you insist it is red and other red cars start. Either way, it is likely a codec issue or you need a driver.

      But first, the UVC version doesn't necessarily limit the use of H.264 or any other codec. The class extension can enable the support and i picked the h.264 as an example not a diagnostic. It could be any native compression in the hardware and i will have very little clue without knowing manufacturer or model.

      Now on to some more promising news. I did see mention of the storm codec in the player support section of several camers offered by this company. The storm codec is a codec package not a player so it almost screams to me install that. Just find a clean version without a bunch of crap with a downloader.

      Now to the next step. A lot of these devices are basically rebranded with small changes and sometimes no changes at all. I saw a brand that looks similar to one of the excelvan models and it requires a driver. Now needing a driver doesn't mean it is not UVC standards compliant as you still can need a driver for the extension to the spec if implemented. Baring that, you can use graphedit, KsStudio, and USBEdit to see what is happening. Might be something as simple as a dodgy cable too. But in my experience, audio with no video tends to be codec related.

    3. Re:Welp... by Coren22 · · Score: 2

      http://www.amazon.com/Excelvan...

      My assumption is that there is a USB1.1 hub built into the glasses, XP doesn't care, but 7 detects it and prevents features from working. Poor design is likely the issue, not actually Windows.

      --
      APK likes to ask for responses to the same things over and over. Maybe he just likes the responses?
  4. USB 3.0 chipset, 2.0-only cable/connector by Todd+Knarr · · Score: 5, Interesting

    I've gotten this a lot with devices besides cameras (eg. an LG G3 phone), even when plugged into a 3.0 port. It seems to be caused only by devices with a standard micro-USB connector, not a full-sized one. My thought is that the device's USB chip is 3.0-capable, but the connector and/or cable don't have the extra pins/wires for 3.0 so the device is reporting itself as 3.0 but can only run as 2.0 which makes Windows complain. I haven't seen any problems because of it, even under Windows (I normally connect the devices to Linux machines).

    1. Re:USB 3.0 chipset, 2.0-only cable/connector by denis-The-menace · · Score: 2

      So the solution is to get a USB 2.0 ONLY add-in card.

      Or a USB 2.0 ONLY hub.

      --
      Obama's legacy: (N)othing (S)ecure (A)nywhere and (T)error (S)imulation (A)dministration
  5. Have you tried turning it off and on again? by celeb8 · · Score: 3, Insightful

    yes this forum is totally windows tech support I just hope your post feels welcome

  6. You need the right cable by OzPeter · · Score: 3, Funny

    Once you get the right cable you won't have to worry about your camera issues anymore!

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    I am Slashdot. Are you Slashdot as well?
  7. Ask Slashdot: How Can We Improve Slashdot? by abelenky17 · · Score: 4, Insightful

    By not posting stupid tech-support questions... some random guy's hare-brained scheme... or pseudo-science that isn't backed up by common sense.

  8. Inexcusable (return them) by Billly+Gates · · Score: 2

    Dude in 2015 you bought a device that only works on an unsupported 15 year old obsolete and now dangerous OS for internet streaming??! Seriously

    If the camera was from the XP era I could understand. If you want to keep it then get an ancient XP box and DMZ the LAN behind a firewall to prevent internet access. But if you purchased this to use over the internet then the manufacturer gave you a shoddy and liable product that is negligent.

    --
    http://saveie6.com/
  9. Let me google that for you by dstyle5 · · Score: 2

    By using let me google that for you.

    http://lmgtfy.com/?q=let+me+google+that+for+you

    If that doesn't work maybe someone has a GeoCities site about this issue.

  10. Re:compatibility mode by Khyber · · Score: 3

    There are no consumption applications for the camera. If there were, I'd have mentioned trying them and them not working.

    Don't you find it the least fucking bit odd that a camera made in 2015 will work with XP, works under Linux, Even works in OSX 10.4 or higher (I checked) yet it won't work in Windows 7?

    I suspect the UVC driver has changed between XP and 7.

    --
    Still waiting on Serviscope_minor to wake up to fucking reality and realize that Jessica Price isn't going to fuck him.
  11. Maybe you need to upgrade by Barlo_Mung_42 · · Score: 4, Funny

    Windows 10 probably fixes this.
    I'd just go ahead and upgrade if I were you.
    Couldn't hurt...

  12. Re:More info needed by Khyber · · Score: 3, Informative

    " there's literally nothing to go on in your description"

    Incorrect. As stated, it is a UVC camera. That means it's a USB Video Camera universal device which means no drivers are required - it's the same standard that almost every single laptop webcamera uses and has used for a long time, even OSX and Linux support it.

    Then I provide information that it works under XP, and half works under 7. I describe what does and does not work (Everything works in XP, only the video feed does not work in 7.)

    Mentioning that it is a UVC camera, you would logically think to check for UVC versions, right? This is a UVC 1.0 camera.

    Going to the Microsoft site, it shows that UVC 1.0 is fully supported from 2000/XP on up including in Windows 10.

      Any other device plugged into that port operates at USB 2.0 speed. Same port under Windows XP sees the camera just fine. Under 7? It sees the camera, it simply refuses to acquire a video feed from it.

    --
    Still waiting on Serviscope_minor to wake up to fucking reality and realize that Jessica Price isn't going to fuck him.
  13. Re:More info needed by Red+Herring · · Score: 3, Interesting

    OK, since you're asking Slashdot... how about posting the USB Device descriptors, along with the USB port debug information from windbg (!usb2tree)?

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    #include "standard_disclaimer.h"
  14. It should work under 32 bit... by Grog6 · · Score: 3, Interesting

    ...and will fail 64 bit versions.

    I have a couple of older video capture card that won't work under 64 bit, either xp or 7.

    Both work fine in 32 bit.

    The only other thing I could suggest is a utility to switch the usb mode, or force a different speed.

    Making a custom Linux or XP virtual session might be easier to do.
    Good luck!

    --
    Truth isn't Truth - Guliani
  15. UPDATE: /. poster has the correct answer! by Khyber · · Score: 2

    User Grog6 noted that it would likely work in 32-bit Windows 7 and fail to work entirely under 64-bit Windows 7.

    This ends up being correct. There is something off between the 32-bit and 64-bit usbvideo files that makes this particular set of camera glasses not function 100% under 64-bit Windows.

    Now for the fun part: figuring out whether or not the difference is so drastic that I can't hack in the missing code, and whether or not I can fake the Microsoft driver signature so WFP doesn't flip its lid (and I'm not going to turn WFP off, sorry!)

    --
    Still waiting on Serviscope_minor to wake up to fucking reality and realize that Jessica Price isn't going to fuck him.