Logitech Webcam Pro 9000

From ZoneMinder Wiki
Jump to navigationJump to search

Here are some initial clues toward making a Logitech Webcam Pro 9000 camera co-operate with Zoneminder. On the Zoneminder console:

 http://localhost/zm/index.php

when one selects the "Add New Monitor" command button, some appropriate values may resemble:

General tab
 Name  Whose_webcam
 Source Type  Local
  :
Source tab
 Device Path  /dev/video0
 Capture Method  Video For Linux version 2
 Device Channel 0
 Device Format  PAL B
 Capture Palette  YUYV
 Capture Width (pixels)  1600
 Capture Height (pixels)  1200

One clue for the correct value to supply for the Device Path is to scan (as the root user) through the entries in the /dev directory for an entry created at the time the webcam was first connected to this computer system.

 /dev:
 crw-rw----+  1 root video    81,   0 Aug 16 19:20 video0

If Zoneminder drops FATAL error messages in e.g. /var/log/messages such as:

 zmc ... [Failed to stat video device /dev/video: No such file or directory]

the guess for the Device Path was incorrect or entered with a typographical error.

More clues for the correct values to supply for the Device Format and Capture Palette may be found using the zmu utility program which is included with your Zoneminder installation:

[root@who ~]# zmu -d /dev/video0 --query
error22
[root@who ~]# zmu -d /dev/video0 -V2 --query 
error22
[root@who ~]# zmu -d /dev/video0 -V1 --query
d:/dev/video0|N:UVC Camera   (046d:0809)|T:1|nC:1|nA:0|mxW:1600|mxH:1200|mnW:48|mnH:32|X:0|Y:0|W:640|H:480|P:8|D:16|B:32896|h:0|Cl:7196|Cn:8224|w:0|n0:Camera 1|C0:0|Fl0:0|T0:2|F0:0
[root@who ~]# zmu -d /dev/video0 --verbose -V1 --query
Video Device: /dev/video0
Video Capabilities
  Name: UVC Camera (046d:0809)
  Type: 1
    Can capture
  Video Channels: 1
  Audio Channels: 0
  Maximum Width: 1600
  Maximum Height: 1200
  Minimum Width: 48
  Minimum Height: 32 
Window Attributes
  X Offset: 0
  Y Offset: 0
  Width: 640
  Height: 480
Picture Attributes
  Palette: 8 - YUYV
  Colour Depth: 16
  Brightness: 32896
  Hue: 0
  Colour :7196
  Contrast: 8224
  Whiteness: 0
Channel 0 Attributes
  Name: Camera 1
  Channel: 0
  Flags: 0
  Type: 2 - Camera
  Format: 0 - PAL
[root@who ~]# 

I have not found a combination of values using Capture Method "Video for Linux version 1" that works with this camera. Some forum postings point toward imperfections in zmu, and other Logitech cameras that need Device Format "PAL B", which is only available under "Video for Linux version 2". Thus far, I have only used one value for the Capture Width (1600) and the Capture Height (1200), but there are many other image sizes that this camera may supply. See:

 http://www.quickcamteam.net/devices/logitech_uvc_frame_format_list.pdf

pages 5 and 6 (of 19) lists the ~18 frame formats for motion JPEG and the ~18 frame formats for still images. (No, I do not understand why each resolution and frame rate is listed twice in each list.)

If you are wishing to use a higher-resolution choice from this list, or you are seeing ERROR messages such as:

 zm ... [Can't shmget, probably not enough shared memory space free: Invalid argument]

in the logs, you want to read and implement the instructions near:

 http://www.zoneminder.com/wiki/index.php/FAQ#What_does_a_.27Can.27t_shmget:_Invalid_argument.27_error_in_my_logs_mean.3F_and_my_cameras_won.27t_display_video_at_higher_resolutions

If you see FATAL messages such as:

 zmc... [Failed to setup memory: Invalid argument]

you did not select the correct Device Format.

Following through this chain of references:

 http://www.quickcamteam.net/documentation/reference
 http://www.usb.org/developers/devclass_docs
 http://www.usb.org/developers/devclass_docs/USB_Video_Class_1_1.zip

can lead one to documentation for "USB Video Class 1.1", the current version of the UVC specification.