Laptop Webcam not Working Linux 20.2 (Cheese not Working)

[eef4de]

I installed Cheese but it can't capture anything. The LED turns on, indicating camera access but it's just black screen.

I pasted this on my terminal:

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ls -ltr /dev/video*

And I got:

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crw-rw----+ 1 root video 81, 1 Sep  8 13:09 /dev/video1
crw-rw----+ 1 root video 81, 0 Sep  8 13:09 /dev/video0

I don't know what that means. I also don't know what the problem is. I don't have any other webcam besides the one built-in my laptop.

System Information:

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System:    Kernel: 5.4.0-84-generic x86_64 bits: 64 compiler: gcc v: 9.3.0 Desktop: Cinnamon 5.0.5 
           wm: muffin dm: LightDM Distro: Linux Mint 20.2 Uma base: Ubuntu 20.04 focal 
Machine:   Type: Laptop System: Acer product: Nitro AN515-55 v: V1.07 serial: <filter> 
           Mobo: CML model: Stonic_CMS v: V1.07 serial: <filter> UEFI: Insyde v: 1.07 
           date: 08/27/2020 
Battery:   ID-1: BAT1 charge: 26.2 Wh condition: 56.6/57.5 Wh (98%) volts: 14.7/15.4 
           model: LGC AP18E8M serial: <filter> status: Discharging 
CPU:       Topology: Quad Core model: Intel Core i5-10300H bits: 64 type: MT MCP arch: N/A 
           L2 cache: 8192 KiB 
           flags: avx avx2 lm nx pae sse sse2 sse3 sse4_1 sse4_2 ssse3 vmx bogomips: 39999 
           Speed: 2647 MHz min/max: 800/4500 MHz Core speeds (MHz): 1: 2651 2: 2641 3: 2639 
           4: 2646 5: 2643 6: 2622 7: 2645 8: 2663 
Graphics:  Device-1: Intel UHD Graphics vendor: Acer Incorporated ALI driver: i915 v: kernel 
           bus ID: 00:02.0 chip ID: 8086:9bc4 
           Device-2: NVIDIA vendor: Acer Incorporated ALI driver: nouveau v: kernel 
           bus ID: 01:00.0 chip ID: 10de:1f95 
           Display: x11 server: X.Org 1.20.11 driver: modesetting unloaded: fbdev,vesa 
           resolution: 1920x1080~144Hz 
           OpenGL: renderer: Mesa Intel UHD Graphics (CML GT2) v: 4.6 Mesa 21.0.3 
           direct render: Yes 
Audio:     Device-1: Intel Comet Lake PCH cAVS vendor: Acer Incorporated ALI driver: snd_hda_intel 
           v: kernel bus ID: 00:1f.3 chip ID: 8086:06c8 
           Device-2: NVIDIA driver: snd_hda_intel v: kernel bus ID: 01:00.1 chip ID: 10de:10fa 
           Sound Server: ALSA v: k5.4.0-84-generic 
Network:   Device-1: Intel Wi-Fi 6 AX201 driver: iwlwifi v: kernel port: 5000 bus ID: 00:14.3 
           chip ID: 8086:06f0 
           IF: wlp0s20f3 state: up mac: <filter> 
           Device-2: Realtek vendor: Acer Incorporated ALI driver: r8169 v: kernel port: 3000 
           bus ID: 07:00.0 chip ID: 10ec:2600 
           IF: enp7s0 state: down mac: <filter> 
Drives:    Local Storage: total: 238.47 GiB used: 367.91 GiB (154.3%) 
           ID-1: /dev/nvme0n1 vendor: Western Digital model: PC SN530 SDBPNPZ-256G-1014 
           size: 238.47 GiB speed: 31.6 Gb/s lanes: 4 serial: <filter> 
Partition: ID-1: / size: 231.54 GiB used: 183.80 GiB (79.4%) fs: ext4 dev: /dev/dm-1 
           ID-2: /boot size: 704.5 MiB used: 308.5 MiB (43.8%) fs: ext4 dev: /dev/nvme0n1p2 
           ID-3: swap-1 size: 976.0 MiB used: 2.8 MiB (0.3%) fs: swap dev: /dev/dm-2 
USB:       Hub: 1-0:1 info: Full speed (or root) Hub ports: 16 rev: 2.0 chip ID: 1d6b:0002 
           Device-1: 1-5:2 info: Quanta HD User Facing type: Video driver: uvcvideo rev: 2.0 
           chip ID: 0408:a061 
           Device-2: 1-14:3 info: Intel type: Bluetooth driver: btusb rev: 2.0 chip ID: 8087:0026 
           Hub: 2-0:1 info: Full speed (or root) Hub ports: 8 rev: 3.1 chip ID: 1d6b:0003 
Sensors:   System Temperatures: cpu: 47.0 C mobo: N/A gpu: nouveau temp: 32 C 
           Fan Speeds (RPM): N/A 
Repos:     No active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list 
           Active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list.d/additional-repositories.list 
           1: deb [arch=amd64] https: //packages.microsoft.com/repos/vscode stable main
           Active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list.d/nodesource.list 
           1: deb [signed-by=/usr/share/keyrings/nodesource.gpg] https: //deb.nodesource.com/node_14.x focal main
           2: deb-src [signed-by=/usr/share/keyrings/nodesource.gpg] https: //deb.nodesource.com/node_14.x 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 uma 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
           Active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list.d/ondrej-php-focal.list 
           1: deb http: //ppa.launchpad.net/ondrej/php/ubuntu focal main
           Active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list.d/openshot_developers-ppa-focal.list 
           1: deb http: //ppa.launchpad.net/openshot.developers/ppa/ubuntu focal main
           Active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list.d/vscode.list 
           1: deb [arch=amd64,arm64,armhf] http: //packages.microsoft.com/repos/code stable main
           Active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list.d/yannubuntu-boot-repair-focal.list 
           1: deb http: //ppa.launchpad.net/yannubuntu/boot-repair/ubuntu focal main
Info:      Processes: 284 Uptime: 12m Memory: 7.61 GiB used: 2.02 GiB (26.5%) Init: systemd v: 245 
           runlevel: 5 Compilers: gcc: 9.3.0 alt: 8/9 Client: Unknown python3.8 client 
           inxi: 3.0.38 

[mikeflan]

I'm thinking the ls -ltr /dev/video* output is not significant. All looks good there.

It wouldn't hurt to try the 5.11 kernel, or another kernel anyway.

I have an HP with 20.1 installed on it, and both the onboard camera and an external camera I attached to it worked great in cheese.

You could try the program guvcview, just for the heck of it. It probably won't work either. If you do, go into Settings - Video Controls and see what is available across from 'Device'.

[ricardogroetaers]

I installed Cheese but it can't capture anything. The LED turns on, indicating camera access but it's just black screen.

System Information:

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USB:   
           Device-2: 1-5:3 info: Quanta HD User Facing type: Video driver: uvcvideo rev: 2.0 
           chip ID: 0408:a061 
          

This looks like a camera.
Confirm with:
inxi --usb -xxx
Verify that the camera appears on the Cheese program interface.
Do not strange the figure, my camera is defective.

[eef4de]

Confirm with:
inxi --usb -xxx
Verify that the camera appears on the Cheese program interface.
Do not strange the figure, my camera is defective.

It showed:

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Device-2: 1-5:2 info: Quanta HD User Facing type: Video driver: uvcvideo

And after opening Cheese>Preferences, it shows:

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Device: HD User Facing: HD User Facing 

But the screen just shows black screen. I tested my webcam before and there isn't a problem. Webcamoid used to work but now it doesn't.

How can I at least make it work with OBS? It detects the camera but it also shows black screen

I tried looking for

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gdm3

from /etc but I can't find it using

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find gdm*

anywhere in my laptop to fix the wayland as stated in other tutorials

[eef4de]

A little update, I managed to enable my webcam but only for a while.

I did this by changing the video size in Cheese Preferences. After that, my webcam also worked in OBS. But, after shutting down my computer, and upon turning it on again, the webcam is back to blackscreen. I tried to replicate what I did but it didn't work again.

Edit:
I opened OBS and while waiting for a good 20 minutes, the webcam just loaded. I think the webcam just loads a bit later. But this needs to be tested again. How can I make it load faster?

[ricardogroetaers]

Sorry, I do not know what it is "obs" or "gdm3".
As for Wayland, I have a vague idea, but it seems that my Mint system uses the "X".
Which system "Mint" are you using?

As for the original webcam of my old notebook, I knew it worked (despite the defective image).
Suddenly, stopped working and no longer could be enabled by the <fn> <camera> keys.
Following instructions on YouTube, it was enough to enter the "setup" of the machine and enable "LOAD OPTIMAL DEFAULTS".
Then I did my particular settings in the "setup".
It worked.
It does not mean that this will work on your machine.

[gittiest personITW]

Could you try guvcview from Software Manager.
That fixed problems with no effort for me.

[eef4de]

Could you try guvcview from Software Manager.
That fixed problems with no effort for me.

I tried to install it with

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sudo apt install guvcview

but after restarting my laptop, it still doesn't work. I tried recording a video using the guvcview but it just shows black screen. How did you install yours? Did you fix other conf or have additional settings?

I think I tried changing the camera and it showed my camera option. But while showing it, there's a line that says "No camera detected".
I know that my webcam is still functional because as I said, I managed to make it work a few days ago. But I cannot replicate it again.

I think one of the problems is because of

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v4l2loopback

. I explored droidcam and obs virtual camera as alternative but it doesn't work because, apparently, I don't have v4l2loopback.

I tried to install it with:

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sudo apt-get install v4l2loopback-dkms

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sudo apt-get install v4l2loopback-utils

But it didn't install. I also tried following the github instructions to install code]v4l2loopback[/code] but I can't because the command

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make

or even

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make clean

for the build.

[gittiest personITW]

Could you try guvcview from Software Manager.
That fixed problems with no effort for me.

It is in Menu/Software Manager.

[eef4de]

Could you try guvcview from Software Manager.
That fixed problems with no effort for me.

It is in Menu/Software Manager.

It's still not working.


https://ibb.co/f93CMjc

The guvcview video tab just shows a screenshot of my screen the moment I opened guvcview...

[mikeflan]

It's a defective webcam. It shows on inxi --usb -xxx. It might load up if you wait 20 minutes. Clearly it is garbage.

I'd like to inform you that webcams are very cheap, though I don't recommend you get a cheap one. I spent $120 for mine and I am very happy with it. My wife bought the exact same thing. Go 4K if you can.

[Aztaroth]

Just re-posting what I wrote in a similar thread here : viewtopic.php?f=49&t=359900

Hello,
Check the Linux Mint Community to find out if your cam is supported :
https://community.linuxmint.com/hardware/search

or at least if it's UVC compliant :
http://www.ideasonboard.org/uvc/

On my Asus laptop, the integrated cam wasn't. Bought one that was, has been immediately detected by the uvcvideo module and is working fine. Of course, just a single experience for what's worth.

[SMG]

I opened OBS and while waiting for a good 20 minutes, the webcam just loaded. I think the webcam just loads a bit later. But this needs to be tested again. How can I make it load faster?

Two suggestions. First one is to upgrade to the 5.11 kernel. Your computer has a 10th-gen Intel cpu which is quite new.

Instructions for upgrading to the 5.11 kernel:

• Open Update Manager.
• Select View > Linux Kernels and click Continue.
• Make sure 5.11 is selected on the left panel and then click the top-most option on the right panel. An "Install" button will appear.
• Install the kernel and then reboot for it to become active.

Second suggestion is to clean your root partition.

Partition: ID-1: / size: 231.54 GiB used: 183.80 GiB (79.4%) fs: ext4 dev: /dev/dm-1
ID-2: /boot size: 704.5 MiB used: 308.5 MiB (43.8%) fs: ext4 dev: /dev/nvme0n1p2
ID-3: swap-1 size: 976.0 MiB used: 2.8 MiB (0.3%) fs: swap dev: /dev/dm-2

OBS is both cpu and memory intensive. With your root partition getting quite full there is not much room for temporary files and the more read/writes which have to be done because your computer only has 8GB of RAM, the slower programs will respond.

[justoncenottwice]

Hello,
I think I faced the very same issue and solve it by accident: the camera on my laptop (HP x360 G8) has a physical shutter that slides in front of the lens when using the "kill the webcam" function key.
When the shutter is closed, the image I get is really close to the one posted by ricardo.