Webcam "no device found"

[rodrifo_]

Hello all,
I'm using Linux Mint 20.1 Cinnamon and I've been having trouble with the system recognizing my built-in webcam. Sometimes it works but most of the times I open up Cheese I get the message "no device found".
One thing I realised is that the Webcam will appear and disappear from lsusb randomly. For instance, today I typed lsusb right after booting up and got these results:
lsusb
Bus 002 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0003 Linux Foundation 3.0 root hub
Bus 001 Device 004: ID 04f3:2494 Elan Microelectronics Corp. Touchscreen
Bus 001 Device 003: ID 0cf3:e007 Qualcomm Atheros Communications
Bus 001 Device 002: ID 0bda:58c6 Realtek Semiconductor Corp. Integrated_Webcam_HD
Bus 001 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0002 Linux Foundation 2.0 root hub

I opened up cheese and got the "no device found", so I typed lsusb once more just to see and got these results:
lsusb
Bus 002 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0003 Linux Foundation 3.0 root hub
Bus 001 Device 004: ID 04f3:2494 Elan Microelectronics Corp. Touchscreen
Bus 001 Device 003: ID 0cf3:e007 Qualcomm Atheros Communications
Bus 001 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0002 Linux Foundation 2.0 root hub

That is all I did, there were no updates, no apps opened other than Cheese, no other commands. Does anyone know what could be going on? Thanks!

[hglee]

That is all I did, there were no updates, no apps opened other than Cheese, no other commands. Does anyone know what could be going on? Thanks!

Confirm that Secure Boot is disabled in your BIOS, as it can disrupt device drivers.

If the problem persists, consider removing the mystery of your system...


How to post your Linux Mint System Information (inxi report)

[rodrifo_]

Thank you for your answer. Secure Boot is disabled.

Code: Select all

[code]
System:    Kernel: 5.4.0-66-generic x86_64 bits: 64 compiler: gcc v: 9.3.0 Desktop: Cinnamon 4.8.6 
           wm: muffin dm: LightDM Distro: Linux Mint 20.1 Ulyssa base: Ubuntu 20.04 focal 
Machine:   Type: Laptop System: Dell product: Inspiron 13-5368 v: N/A serial: <filter> Chassis: 
           type: 9 serial: <filter> 
           Mobo: Dell model: 01R5YW v: A00 serial: <filter> UEFI: Dell v: 1.22.0 date: 08/04/2020 
Battery:   ID-1: BAT0 charge: 1.1 Wh condition: 1.1/42.0 Wh (3%) volts: 12.5/11.4 
           model: SMP DELL 3CRH35B serial: <filter> status: Unknown 
CPU:       Topology: Dual Core model: Intel Core i5-6200U bits: 64 type: MT MCP arch: Skylake 
           rev: 3 L2 cache: 3072 KiB 
           flags: avx avx2 lm nx pae sse sse2 sse3 sse4_1 sse4_2 ssse3 vmx bogomips: 19200 
           Speed: 2700 MHz min/max: 400/2800 MHz Core speeds (MHz): 1: 2700 2: 2730 3: 2700 
           4: 2709 
Graphics:  Device-1: Intel Skylake GT2 [HD Graphics 520] vendor: Dell driver: i915 v: kernel 
           bus ID: 00:02.0 chip ID: 8086:1916 
           Display: x11 server: X.Org 1.20.9 driver: modesetting unloaded: fbdev,vesa 
           resolution: 1920x1080~60Hz 
           OpenGL: renderer: Mesa Intel HD Graphics 520 (SKL GT2) v: 4.6 Mesa 20.2.6 
           direct render: Yes 
Audio:     Device-1: Intel Sunrise Point-LP HD Audio vendor: Dell driver: snd_hda_intel v: kernel 
           bus ID: 00:1f.3 chip ID: 8086:9d70 
           Sound Server: ALSA v: k5.4.0-66-generic 
Network:   Device-1: Qualcomm Atheros QCA6174 802.11ac Wireless Network Adapter vendor: Dell 
           driver: ath10k_pci v: kernel port: f040 bus ID: 01:00.0 chip ID: 168c:003e 
           IF: wlp1s0 state: up mac: <filter> 
           Device-2: Qualcomm Atheros type: USB driver: btusb bus ID: 1-6:3 chip ID: 0cf3:e007 
Drives:    Local Storage: total: 931.51 GiB used: 35.57 GiB (3.8%) 
           ID-1: /dev/sda vendor: Western Digital model: WD10SPZX-75Z10T2 size: 931.51 GiB 
           speed: 6.0 Gb/s serial: <filter> 
Partition: ID-1: / size: 64.32 GiB used: 32.26 GiB (50.2%) fs: ext4 dev: /dev/sda5 
           ID-2: /home size: 109.50 GiB used: 3.24 GiB (3.0%) fs: ext4 dev: /dev/sda7 
USB:       Hub: 1-0:1 info: Full speed (or root) Hub ports: 12 rev: 2.0 chip ID: 1d6b:0002 
           Device-1: 1-5:2 info: Realtek Integrated_Webcam_HD type: Video driver: uvcvideo 
           rev: 2.0 chip ID: 0bda:58c6 
           Device-2: 1-6:3 info: Qualcomm Atheros type: Bluetooth driver: btusb rev: 2.0 
           chip ID: 0cf3:e007 
           Device-3: 1-7:4 info: Elan Micro Touchscreen type: HID driver: hid-multitouch,usbhid 
           rev: 2.0 chip ID: 04f3:2494 
           Hub: 2-0:1 info: Full speed (or root) Hub ports: 6 rev: 3.0 chip ID: 1d6b:0003 
Sensors:   System Temperatures: cpu: 61.0 C mobo: 49.0 C sodimm: 34.0 C 
           Fan Speeds (RPM): cpu: 0 
Repos:     No active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list 
           Active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list.d/linrunner-tlp-focal.list 
           1: deb http: //ppa.launchpad.net/linrunner/tlp/ubuntu focal main
           Active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list.d/obsproject-obs-studio-focal.list 
           1: deb http: //ppa.launchpad.net/obsproject/obs-studio/ubuntu focal main
           Active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list.d/official-package-repositories.list 
           1: deb http: //packages.linuxmint.com ulyssa main upstream import backport #id:linuxmint_main
           2: deb http: //archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu focal main restricted universe multiverse
           3: deb http: //archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu focal-updates main restricted universe multiverse
           4: deb http: //archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu focal-backports main restricted universe multiverse
           5: deb http: //security.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ focal-security main restricted universe multiverse
           6: deb http: //archive.canonical.com/ubuntu/ focal partner
Info:      Processes: 242 Uptime: 4m Memory: 7.64 GiB used: 2.00 GiB (26.1%) Init: systemd v: 245 
           runlevel: 5 Compilers: gcc: 9.3.0 alt: 9 Client: Unknown python3.8 client inxi: 3.0.38 

[hglee]

One thing I realised is that the Webcam will appear and disappear from lsusb randomly.

I was hoping you'd find Secure Boot causing mischief, because it's a quick'n'easy fix.

Otherwise the symptoms you describe suggest troubled hardware -- either a loose physical connection, or a component that's failing.

Being an internal webcam, it's in the laptop lid with the display -- what a nuisance to disassemble for do-it-yourselfers!

There's no software to install or configure when a device just randomly winks in and out of operation.

At least it's something that can be affordably replaced by an external webcam.

[kato181]

Cheese will not always work at detecting webcams.
Try guvcview from the following..
https://sourceforge.net/projects/guvcview/
In terminal copy & paste the following command and post the results back here in between the code display brackets </>
inxi -Fxz

[hglee]

Cheese will not always work at detecting webcams.
Try guvcview from the following..
https://sourceforge.net/projects/guvcview/
In terminal copy & paste the following command and post the results back here in between the code display brackets </>
inxi -Fxz

The guvcview app is available in the Mint repository...

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sudo apt install guvcview

While you're at it, also install the multipurpose xawtv utility...

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sudo apt install xawtv mokutil

Then post the output of this command-line...

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xawtv -hwscan; mokutil --sb-state