Logitech Quickcam Pro 9000 - Mint 9

[smac]

I am having issues with this camera on Mint 9 main.
It's being detected OK, but testing using Skype and GUVCVIEW gives me a good solid 4.5 frames per second - unusable. This does not vary if resolution and other settings are changed, so I do not believe it's a hardware performance issue (this system plays HD video no problem) . It's like I've hit some invisible ceiling. I have searched and searched, but almost everything I have found is either out of date, or relates to the camera not working at all.

lsmod |grep vide gives:

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uvcvideo               56990  0 
videodev               34361  1 uvcvideo
v4l1_compat            13251  2 uvcvideo,videodev

lspci gives:

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00:00.0 Host bridge: nVidia Corporation MCP79 Host Bridge (rev b1)
00:00.1 RAM memory: nVidia Corporation MCP79 Memory Controller (rev b1)
00:03.0 ISA bridge: nVidia Corporation MCP79 LPC Bridge (rev b2)
00:03.1 RAM memory: nVidia Corporation MCP79 Memory Controller (rev b1)
00:03.2 SMBus: nVidia Corporation MCP79 SMBus (rev b1)
00:03.3 RAM memory: nVidia Corporation MCP79 Memory Controller (rev b1)
00:03.5 Co-processor: nVidia Corporation MCP79 Co-processor (rev b1)
00:04.0 USB Controller: nVidia Corporation MCP79 OHCI USB 1.1 Controller (rev b1)
00:04.1 USB Controller: nVidia Corporation MCP79 EHCI USB 2.0 Controller (rev b1)
00:06.0 USB Controller: nVidia Corporation MCP79 OHCI USB 1.1 Controller (rev b1)
00:06.1 USB Controller: nVidia Corporation MCP79 EHCI USB 2.0 Controller (rev b1)
00:08.0 Audio device: nVidia Corporation MCP79 High Definition Audio (rev b1)
00:09.0 PCI bridge: nVidia Corporation MCP79 PCI Bridge (rev b1)
00:0a.0 Ethernet controller: nVidia Corporation MCP79 Ethernet (rev b1)
00:0b.0 IDE interface: nVidia Corporation MCP79 SATA Controller (rev b1)
00:0c.0 PCI bridge: nVidia Corporation MCP79 PCI Express Bridge (rev b1)
00:10.0 PCI bridge: nVidia Corporation MCP79 PCI Express Bridge (rev b1)
00:15.0 PCI bridge: nVidia Corporation MCP79 PCI Express Bridge (rev b1)
00:16.0 PCI bridge: nVidia Corporation MCP79 PCI Express Bridge (rev b1)
00:17.0 PCI bridge: nVidia Corporation MCP79 PCI Express Bridge (rev b1)
00:18.0 PCI bridge: nVidia Corporation MCP79 PCI Express Bridge (rev b1)
03:00.0 VGA compatible controller: nVidia Corporation ION VGA (rev b1)
04:00.0 Network controller: Atheros Communications Inc. AR928X Wireless Network Adapter (PCI-Express) (rev 01)

lsusb gives:

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Bus 004 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0001 Linux Foundation 1.1 root hub
Bus 003 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0001 Linux Foundation 1.1 root hub
Bus 002 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0002 Linux Foundation 2.0 root hub
Bus 001 Device 004: ID 0d3d:0028 Tangtop Technology Co., Ltd 
Bus 001 Device 003: ID 04b4:6560 Cypress Semiconductor Corp. CY7C65640 USB-2.0 "TetraHub"
Bus 001 Device 002: ID 046d:0990 Logitech, Inc. QuickCam Pro 9000
Bus 001 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0002 Linux Foundation 2.0 root hub

I am assuming some sort of driver/configuration issue, but that's a big fat uninformed assumption on my part and I have no idea where to start looking
Thanks in advance

[JasonLG]

It's not a driver issue or hardware issue per-say. I have a Logitech MP webcam and have had similar experiences. Webcams(al least Logitech webcams) require A LOT of light with the default settings to get usable frame rates. You'll have to either point a lamp at yourself from behind the webcam or tweak the gain and exposure settings.

[smac]

ahh! Progress......thanks so much.

Boosted the room light, started fiddling, and finally get that frame rate to budge.

OK, slight deviation, but I'm not sure I understand where I should be setting up these....settings. If I run guvcview I have all the normal settings, but I'm not sure these settings are being used if I switch to skype (which is what I would normally use for cam). I have no such settings in the skype video settings.....should i??

[JasonLG]

ahh! Progress......thanks so much.

Boosted the room light, started fiddling, and finally get that frame rate to budge.

OK, slight deviation, but I'm not sure I understand where I should be setting up these....settings. If I run guvcview I have all the normal settings, but I'm not sure these settings are being used if I switch to skype (which is what I would normally use for cam). I have no such settings in the skype video settings.....should i??

I'm not sure where those settings would be in Skype as I don't use it.