Webcam installation problem

[regsim]

I have been trying to install my Logitech QuickCam Messenger webcam on an Ubuntu 8.10 system. My main intention is for it to work on Skype (I have v. 2.1.0.81).

I am very new at this, so please bear with me. Here are the steps I followed:
1) I installed module-assistant by typing in Terminal
sudo aptitude install module-assistant
2) I installed the webcam through Terminal:
sudo m-a update && sudo m-a prepare && sudo m-a a-i qc-usb-source

I tried the webcam but it did not work.

I then saw that someone was suggesting to install the package libv4l-0 and then start skype by through Terminal by typing the command:
LD_PRELOAD=/usr/lib/libv4l/v4l1compat.so skype

since I already had the above package installed (i verified through the synaptic package manager) I tried to start skype using the command above. skype started, but the webcam is not working - neither audio nor video.

my lsusb gives the following information:
Bus 002 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0001 Linux Foundation 1.1 root hub
Bus 001 Device 003: ID 046d:08f0 Logitech, Inc. QuickCam Messenger
Bus 001 Device 002: ID 1413:6310
Bus 001 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0001 Linux Foundation 1.1 root hub

I also tried to see if skype knows about the webcam. if i click Options -- video devices
i see that QCM USB Camera (/dev/video0) is selected, but the little video TEST on the right hand panel fails.

I would really appreciate any help or idea.

[Leppie]

could you post the output of lsmod:

lsmod | grep -i usb

[Leppie]

i just saw on the quickcam express website that the quickcam messenger is not supported by that driver, you need to get it here: Quickcam Messenger & Communicate driver for Linux

[regsim]

Here it is:

snd_usb_audio 89856 1
snd_usb_lib 24192 1 snd_usb_audio
usbvideo 33028 1 quickcam_messenger
snd_hwdep 15236 1 snd_usb_audio
videodev 41344 1 usbvideo
usbnet 24200 1 cdc_ether
mii 13440 1 usbnet
snd_pcm 83204 4 snd_usb_audio,snd_intel8x0,snd_ac97_codec,snd_pcm_ oss
snd_rawmidi 29824 2 snd_usb_lib,snd_seq_midi
snd 63396 20 snd_usb_audio,snd_hwdep,snd_intel8x0,snd_ac97_code c,snd_pcm_oss,snd_mixer_oss,snd_pcm,snd_seq_oss,sn d_rawmidi,snd_seq,snd_timer,snd_seq_device
usbcore 149616 8 snd_usb_audio,quickcam_messenger,snd_usb_lib,usbvi deo,cdc_ether,usbnet,uhci_hcd

[regsim]

Thanks Leppie,
I have been reading around that the driver for this camera gave no problems on the previous version of Ubuntu but is a little more tricky to install on Ubuntu 8.10.. If I am not mistaken, my version of ubuntu includes the kernel Linux 2.6.27, whereas the from the link you inserted, the driver does not seem to be right for this kernel. Am I right?

[regsim]

Dear friends, please help...

[Leppie]

sorry for the late reply.
the driver i linked is the one you need to use, try this guide for good instructions: Logitech QuickCam Messenger on Linux using Skype | Kuhrti Brothers

[regsim]

Thank you, Leppie,
I tried to follow these instructions but seem to have failed. I realized as I was working through the setbacks that some of my mistakes have to do with my almost complete lack of experience with this system. So never assume I know something just because it is normal for Ubuntu users... I hope i did not make too much of a mess...
In case it should be necessary, I copied the entire history of my attempts from the Terminal into a text document. Briefly, here is what happened:

1. The computer denied the first command asking whether i was root, so i started typing "sudo" before every command. this seems to have helped.
2. when i gave the blacklist command i got the reply that the blacklist command was not found. i decided to go on anyway.
3. when i gave the command to download the new qcmessenger module the computer went through the first part and then repeated part of the command. not understanding that this was its normal way of executing bit by bit, i backspaced the text and inserted the command corresponding to the next stage -- the patch command.
4. the computer could not find the files to patch, of course. This is the point at which i understood my mistake from point 3. I went back and repeated the download command. this seems to have helped.
5. when i typed the command under "continue installing", the response was a long, messy list of stuff including many errors. I think this is where i might have gone wrong so I copied it at the bottom of this message. It ended with the following command line, which i could not get rid of, and every time i pressed enter it just reiterated itself: simona@ubuntuone:~/qc-usb-messenger-1.8$
6. I decided to close the terminal and open a new one to continue.
7. i retyped the command for "continue installing" and got a bunch of messages to the effect that it does not recognize any of the commands - command not found, no target specified etc.
I apologize for this long message...
Thanks again!
Simona.


HERE IS THE OUTPUT RELATIVE TO POINT FIVE
________
simona@ubuntuone:~$ cd qc-usb-messenger-1.8
simona@ubuntuone:~/qc-usb-messenger-1.8$ make
-=- Logitech QuickCam USB camera driver -=-

Makefile target examples:
make all - Compile driver and utilities against current running kernel
make all USER_OPT=-DDEBUG - Compile with debugging code and messages
make all LINUX_DIR=/usr/src/linux - Compile against specified kernel source
make install - Copy driver and utilities into standard locations (needs root)
make install PREFIX=/usr - Copy utilities to /usr/bin instead of /usr/local/bin
make install MODULE_DIR=/lib/modules/2.4.0 - Copy module to /lib/modules/2.4.0/misc
make clean - Remove object files from the source directory

Current configuration:
Driver source directory (PWD): /home/simona/qc-usb-messenger-1.8
Kernel source directory (LINUX_DIR): /lib/modules/2.6.27-17-generic/build
Module install directory (MODULE_DIR): /lib/modules/2.6.27-17-generic
Utility install directory (PREFIX): /usr/local
User options (USER_OPT): -DHAVE_UTSRELEASE_H=1
Driver file name (use with insmod): qcmessenger.ko
Kernel version code: 132635
simona@ubuntuone:~/qc-usb-messenger-1.8$ make install
make -C "/lib/modules/2.6.27-17-generic/build" SUBDIRS="/home/simona/qc-usb-messenger-1.8" modules V=1 USER_OPT="-DHAVE_UTSRELEASE_H=1"
make[1]: Entering directory `/usr/src/linux-headers-2.6.27-17-generic'
test -e include/linux/autoconf.h -a -e include/config/auto.conf || ( \
echo; \
echo " ERROR: Kernel configuration is invalid."; \
echo " include/linux/autoconf.h or include/config/auto.conf are missing."; \
echo " Run 'make oldconfig && make prepare' on kernel src to fix it."; \
echo; \
/bin/false)
mkdir -p /home/simona/qc-usb-messenger-1.8/.tmp_versions ; rm -f /home/simona/qc-usb-messenger-1.8/.tmp_versions/*
make -f scripts/Makefile.build obj=/home/simona/qc-usb-messenger-1.8
gcc -Wp,-MD,/home/simona/qc-usb-messenger-1.8/.qc-driver.o.d -nostdinc -isystem /usr/lib/gcc/i486-linux-gnu/4.3.2/include -D__KERNEL__ -Iinclude -I/usr/src/linux-headers-2.6.27-17-generic/arch/x86/include -include include/linux/autoconf.h -Iubuntu/include -Wall -Wundef -Wstrict-prototypes -Wno-trigraphs -fno-strict-aliasing -fno-common -Werror-implicit-function-declaration -fno-delete-null-pointer-checks -O2 -m32 -msoft-float -mregparm=3 -freg-struct-return -mpreferred-stack-boundary=2 -march=i586 -mtune=generic -ffreestanding -pipe -Wno-sign-compare -fno-asynchronous-unwind-tables -mno-sse -mno-mmx -mno-sse2 -mno-3dnow -Iinclude/asm-x86/mach-default -fno-stack-protector -fno-omit-frame-pointer -fno-optimize-sibling-calls -pg -Wdeclaration-after-statement -Wno-pointer-sign -fwrapv -DNOKERNEL -DHAVE_UTSRELEASE_H=1 -DMODULE -D"KBUILD_STR(s)=#s" -D"KBUILD_BASENAME=KBUILD_STR(qc_driver)" -D"KBUILD_MODNAME=KBUILD_STR(qcmessenger)" -c -o /home/simona/qc-usb-messenger-1.8/.tmp_qc-driver.o /home/simona/qc-usb-messenger-1.8/qc-driver.c
/home/simona/qc-usb-messenger-1.8/qc-driver.c: In function ‘qc_v4l_ioctl’:
/home/simona/qc-usb-messenger-1.8/qc-driver.c:2898: error: ‘struct video_device’ has no member named ‘type’
/home/simona/qc-usb-messenger-1.8/qc-driver.c: At top level:
/home/simona/qc-usb-messenger-1.8/qc-driver.c:3487: error: unknown field ‘type’ specified in initializer
make[2]: *** [/home/simona/qc-usb-messenger-1.8/qc-driver.o] Error 1
make[1]: *** [_module_/home/simona/qc-usb-messenger-1.8] Error 2
make[1]: Leaving directory `/usr/src/linux-headers-2.6.27-17-generic'
make: *** [qcmessenger.ko] Error 2
simona@ubuntuone:~/qc-usb-messenger-1.8$ insmod ./qcmessenger.ko
insmod: can't read './qcmessenger.ko': No such file or directory
simona@ubuntuone:~/qc-usb-messenger-1.8$
simona@ubuntuone:~/qc-usb-messenger-1.8$
simona@ubuntuone:~/qc-usb-messenger-1.8$
simona@ubuntuone:~/qc-usb-messenger-1.8$
simona@ubuntuone:~/qc-usb-messenger-1.8$
simona@ubuntuone:~/qc-usb-messenger-1.8$

[Leppie]

i'll try to rewrite the instructions:
1. install the tools required to compile packages:

sudo apt-get install libgstreamer0.10-dev pkg-config subversion linux-headers-$(uname -r) build-essential

2. unload the quickam module:

sudo rmmod quickcam_messenger

3. blacklist the current module:

echo "blacklist quickcam_messenger" | sudo tee -a /etc/modprobe.d/blacklist

4. download the module to install:

wget http://home.mag.cx/messenger/source/qc-usb-messenger-1.8.tar.gz

5. download the patch:

wget http://bugs.gentoo.org/attachment.cgi?id=167504 -O patch.txt

6. apply the patch:

sudo patch -p0 < patch.txt

7. unpack the archive and change into the newly created directory:

tar xvf qc-usb-messenger-1.8.tar.gz
cd qc-usb-messenger-1.8

8. compile the module:

make

9. install the new module:

sudo make install

10. load the new module:

sudo modprobe qcmessenger

to test the newly loaded module:

qcset /dev/video0 compat=dblbuf
gst-launch-0.10 v4lsrc device=/dev/video0 ! ffmpegcolorspace ! ximagesink

let me know how it works out.

[regsim]

Thanks a lot for these detailed instructions!
I think we are making some progress. Unfortunately, though, we are not there yet. Again, I have copied my entire dialogue with the system from Terminal to a text file, so if you need more details to make a diagnosis, just ask.

STEP 1 went ok
STEP 2 gave the following error:
ERROR: Module quickcam_messenger does not exist in /proc/modules
could this be due to something i did on my previous attempt?

STEPS 3-5, blacklist, download module and download patch went fine.
STEP 6 - the application of the patch - the patch had been previously applied. i therefore refrained from reapplying it. here is the relevant "diaglogue":

Reversed (or previously applied) patch detected! Assume -R? [n] n
Apply anyway? [n] n
Skipping patch.

by the way, what does Assume -R mean?

STEP 7 - unpack - ok.
STEP 8 - compile - ok (I think).
STEP 9 - install the new module - gave many errors. here are some of them:

echo " ERROR: Kernel configuration is invalid."; \
echo " include/linux/autoconf.h or include/config/auto.conf are missing."; \

OR...
/home/simona/qc-usb-messenger-1.8/qc-driver.c:1666: error: request for member ‘counter’ in something not a structure or union
(this one was repeated many times...)

OR...
/home/simona/qc-usb-messenger-1.8/qc-driver.c:3487: error: unknown field ‘type’ specified in initializer

OR...
make[2]: *** [/home/simona/qc-usb-messenger-1.8/qc-driver.o] Error 1
make[1]: *** [_module_/home/simona/qc-usb-messenger-1.8] Error 2
make[1]: Leaving directory `/usr/src/linux-headers-2.6.27-17-generic'
make: *** [qcmessenger.ko] Error 2

STEP 10 - load the new module - obviously, did not work
simona@ubuntuone:~/qc-usb-messenger-1.8$ sudo modprobe qcmessenger
FATAL: Module qcmessenger not found.

That's all for now...
Simona