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QuickCam VC and Linux. A Lost Cause?
Yakumo
asks:
"I know this is probably a common question, but I have been
unable to find anything very constructive on it; is there
any third-party support for the QuickCam VC for
Linux? I know that neither Connectix, nor currently Logitech
have released any specs on it, but I heard rumors that
there have been a few reverse-engineering attempts made,
and I was wondering if there was any news in that
department." I really wish hardware manufacturers would
release their specs. I really do.
I see there is not much response about the :-(
Quickcam VC thread... hmmm... maybe we can write
same comments like the three before to show
Logitech we are alot of people using linux and
trying to get our Quickcams VC to work on it...
I've written to them too but the response
is the same, a kind of robot responsing that
it's going to forward the question to the proper
department... I hate the day I recieve a Quickcam
VC as a gift instead of those amazing 128 MBs of
RAM I really need now
i'm thinking about buying a cam for linux for more than half a year. :(
My Problem: All these new cams ar'nt supported by linux... There are some really cheap on the market, like that one from Philips, Creative and Logitech (former Connectix)...
Bad, that there are no linux-drivers for them
A few months ago, i've played with a Color Quickcam.. there are supported by Linux, but have problems in low light conditions. furthermore, the only way to get them is a second-hand shop. (I've borrowed it)
I'd like to mention, that at the time, the Quickcam was produced by Connectix, there was a developer-section on their website.. they've published the specs with the condition, that you only develop for systems, which are not supported by them.
This seems to be a good comprimise between the fear of the manufactor, that someone may "steal" their software-market, and to spread their own product across platforms.
either way... The last goal should be more important for every manufactor, shoud'nt it ?
So I simply can't understand, why HW-producers do not publish their specs... They don't even reply on such requests.. (eg. Nokia about their 61x0 IR-protocol)
What do they fear? (I think, for the competition its useless to know the software-protocol)
hope, some day they they will realize, that they may sell a lot more, having open specs. (beside this, open-specs are the only way to build some kind of a standard)
I've seen several drivers which just go ahead and set ioperm(0x378,6,1); and bypass the kernel. Granted this isn't the best way to do things, but I've used parport devices this way and it hasn't crashed my system yet (26 days uptime right now).
I just made the same mistake (didn't look closely enough to make sure, it's a supported version) and would like to know if anybody is currently reverse engineering the VC.
*I* will try my best to sniff the communication between the Quickcam and a PC with a second computer, to gather some information.
If the protocol is similar to the old Quickcam's getting cqcam patched to work can't be so terrible difficult, can it?
and no country field?
Hmmm...
can you tell me about the mailing list? like were to find it?
I didn't have much more luck. I 've asked for technical information and they wrote this.
I don't think faxing them will have any effect ("Please be aware that your fax may not be answered if the information you are requesting is of a proprietary nature.").
Logitech - no, thanks. :-(
I can buy useless (for me as a non-Windows (NetBSD) user) crap for less...
I spose this is a bad time to mention my lemon named "Connectix QuickClip" which is supposed to be "Quickcam compatible"...*sigh*
This is because old Quickcams can't use IRQ, so polling is inevitable, even though it causes huge increase of wasted processor time (I know -- I wrote qcread). Quickcam VC (parallel ones) use ECP, so this is no longer the case.
Contrary to the popular belief, there indeed is no God.
Mmm, I made the stupid mistake of buying a Quick Cam VC thinking it was a noraml Quickcam. I wrote to logitech at the time (a couple of months ago) asking for drivers/support/interface specs and they wrote back saying "we don't support linux"
I would love to buy several quick cams for playing with, but not until they release specs. I've emailed them and they just don't care. Someone else will eventually get my business. In the meantime, I boycott all things Logitech.
I have seen several sites which had some kind of limited functionality out of QuickCams, but I have also heard that new models add quirks and don't work any more. They aren't better, they just changed something and only they know what. No thanks.
--
Infuriate left and right
Talking to support may not work well - they have an incentive to get you off their back, whereas the product manager actually controls product features such as Linux support and may listen a bit more.
Almost all product companies have product managers, who live in the Marketing dept usually. Quantitative arguments are good to use, e.g. how many X million people use Linux, how fast it's growing, as well as competitor arguments - list the names of other videocamera suppliers who support Linux (I know there's at least one).
I bought a Color QuickCam VC because I saw that color quickcams were supported. Not until later when I was actuay looking closely did I see that the VC isn't supported. I'm sending a message to http://www.logitech.globalsupport.com/ right now asking about linux support, and maybe a few others could do the same. Sometimes that works... :)
As a side note, do any of you know of any color cameras that can be bought new and work with linux?
get one from 3com or another company that is supported. If they do not support linux then you can either boycott them as I have or reverse engineer the driver, and go thru a few cams.
Only 'flamers' flame!
I have a simular problem yes I wont be buying these cams unless they work with Linux or other free unix and has a fairly good refresh rate
so the question is WHAT WORKS ??
is there a web page or something you mention a developer doing some work their webpage is? or email or anything
help
a poor student @ bournemouth uni in the UK (a deltic so please dont moan about spelling but the content)
I have had the same problem with Connectix/Logitech's QuickCam VC: last year, disappointed by discovering that the only drivers available were for the QuickCam Color and not for the VC, I wrote to Logitech to hear they wouldn't release the specs. Despite rumors that drivers for the VC exist, every time I tried to follow one of these leads shown me that lots of people confuse this with the Quickcam Color drivers.
"Oh well, i'll live with it" i said, so now there's a 486DX2/66 that sits in the room *only* to drive the Quickcam VC (and rc5des for the rest of the CPU cycles).
I would love to take the time to reverse-engineer the thing and build Linux drivers, though my efforts are best put right now on working to pay my Master's degree debts. Anybody serious willing to fund the project?
C.
You know ,it seems to be Logitech and Saitk both are a little snobbish about the whole Linux OS .
I love their products but getting them to work with Linux has been far too much work . ( logitechs mouseman being the exception )
A quick glossing of the mailing list shows that a driver for the Quickcam VC does exist, and works.
The author cannot release it until the parellel port guys update their code to support ECP, which the driver requires.