Webcamera black screen in Skype

Lubuntu Support
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#1

Hello everyone!

I installed Lubuntu 18.04. The camera works in guvcview. Skype detects the camera but it shows just black screen. It has a built in microphone and it works without any problem. The camera’s name is Inter Chatpack CNR-CP4SP1. webkamera%20ud9813
There is no driver/module for it, but it works with every program except Skype and Chromium.
With lsusb command I get this: ID 093a:2620 Pixart Imaging, Inc. (I think it’s a different camera)
I had other distros installed before but I had Black screen in Skype there too. So Cheese or other programs don’t help. I’ve tried to turn off the auto functions in guvcview but nothing happened.
Can I do something or I have to buy a new camera?

#2

Are you sure that’s the right PCI ID? You can always run lsusb with it in and with it out and compare.

What about using different ports? Does that help?

And what about 19.04?

#3

Yes I’m sure that’s the camera’s PCI ID. I don’t know why.

I’ve tried almost every ports but I’ve got the same result.

I haven’t tried 19.04. but I don’t want to use it if it’s possible. The installation and setup of 18.04 was a lot of work for me. I don’t want to do everything all over again.

#4

The only thing I find mentioned about that PCI ID is old. The most recent one suggests a problem with USB2. Do you have USB3 ports?

If that doesn’t help, try paying attention to dmesg or /var/log/syslog and see if there are any errors that occur either when the webcam is plugged in or when you run a program that uses them. I would run the programs you use in terminal and see if they output any useful information.

As for 19.04: 18.04 support ends in 2021. There is a whole completely different system (LXQt not LXDE and all new applications) in 18.10+. We will not be going back to what was in 18.04. You’d be better off with 18.04.

That said, if you just want to test the webcam, get the 19.04 on live media and test it out in the live system without installing it.

#5

I don’t have USB3 port. I have USB2 and USB1. I’ve tried both types.

My dmesg after I plugged in the camera:

[15014.748090] usb 4-2: new full-speed USB device number 2 using ohci-pci
[15014.973053] usb 4-2: New USB device found, idVendor=093a, idProduct=2620
[15014.973060] usb 4-2: New USB device strings: Mfr=0, Product=0, SerialNumber=0
[15014.976226] gspca_main: gspca_pac7302-2.14.0 probing 093a:2620
[15014.988426] input: gspca_pac7302 as /devices/pci0000:00/0000:00:02.1/usb4/4-2/input/input6

My Syslog after I plugged in the camera:

Jul 23 12:52:20 FODOR-PC kernel: [15014.748090] usb 4-2: new full-speed USB device number 2 using ohci-pci
Jul 23 12:52:20 FODOR-PC kernel: [15014.973053] usb 4-2: New USB device found, idVendor=093a, idProduct=2620
Jul 23 12:52:20 FODOR-PC kernel: [15014.973060] usb 4-2: New USB device strings: Mfr=0, Product=0, SerialNumber=0
Jul 23 12:52:20 FODOR-PC kernel: [15014.976226] gspca_main: gspca_pac7302-2.14.0 probing 093a:2620
Jul 23 12:52:20 FODOR-PC kernel: [15014.988426] input: gspca_pac7302 as /devices/pci0000:00/0000:00:02.1/usb4/4-2/input/input6
Jul 23 12:52:20 FODOR-PC mtp-probe: checking bus 4, device 2: "/sys/devices/pci0000:00/0000:00:02.1/usb4/4-2"
Jul 23 12:52:20 FODOR-PC mtp-probe: bus: 4, device: 2 was not an MTP device
Jul 23 12:52:21 FODOR-PC upowerd[1465]: unhandled action 'bind' on /sys/devices/pci0000:00/0000:00:02.1/usb4/4-2/4-2:1.2
Jul 23 12:52:21 FODOR-PC upowerd[1465]: unhandled action 'bind' on /sys/devices/pci0000:00/0000:00:02.1/usb4/4-2/4-2:1.0
Jul 23 12:52:21 FODOR-PC upowerd[1465]: unhandled action 'bind' on /sys/devices/pci0000:00/0000:00:02.1/usb4/4-2/4-2:1.1
Jul 23 12:52:21 FODOR-PC upowerd[1465]: unhandled action 'bind' on /sys/devices/pci0000:00/0000:00:02.1/usb4/4-2

I will try 19.04 on live CD but I don’t think the problem is the version of the system. I know 18.04 support end in 2021 but my machine is quite old and LXDE is faster on it then LXQT.

#6

Are you sure of this? Shouldn’t be. There should be a very minor difference if any. The “L” still stands for “lightweight.”

Back to your camera, you should know that this is an old pre-UVC device handled by the gspca family of drivers which is part of Video4Linux. It seems to be actively developed. There is a list of supported gspca cards (consistent with the one in the kernel tree). Your card is listed there:

driver 	 	vend:prod 	Device
pac7302 	093a:2620 	Apollo AC-905

and indeed from what you show above it’s using that driver:

gspca_main: gspca_pac7302-2.14.0 probing 093a:2620

None of the messages outside of that (MTP, upowerd) are of particular concern.

That said, I still can’t find any similar experiences as yours on the internet.

What about running Skype (or any other malfunctioning program) in terminal? Do you get any relevant messages?

#7

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