Puppy Linux Discussion Forum

I hadn't used alsawizard on my fossa64 machine since I have been using it for several years. alsawizard exits when using function keys like f4 to change to the capture devices. I have tried a couple times and have found that all the function keys make it exit or "Crash" for lack of a better word.

I was using it to try and see what my usb mic was set to and couldn't get to capture or all. Any ideas?

@peppyy

I guess you mean alsamixer?

open a terminal and type:

xterm -e alsamixer

@norgo Perhaps it was because I was using the default terminal from the taskbar? What is the difference between that and xterm? And yes, I did mean alsamixer It appears to work "mostly" with that command. I can't figure out where my webcam mic and usb mic are though. They show up in hardinfo and pup-sysinfo under USB Devices.

At least it doesn't "quit" when I press a command key Perhaps I have to find it in retrovol first? It is getting tougher now that I am getting older, I spend more time in my shop than on the computer now

@peppyy

I am using Fossapup64-95.

Using the following options to view Alsamixer, I can use the Function keys eg f4 to change options.

Click through gif below

Thanks @Jasper I think I may have figured out what is going on. I bought a new webcam, Amcrest awc201-b after reading the reviews and hearing that most linux users liked it. Apparently on my camera, the audio can be an issue. After more research I find most call it a "whitebox" camera.

PSI reports the camera as

Bus 003 Device 003:
ID = 0c45:6366 Microdia
USB Version = 2.01
Manufacturer = HD Webcam USB
Product = HD Webcam USB
Serial Number = HD Webcam USB
Max Current = 500mA
Class = Audio

I have noticed that hardinfo lists it in usb devices, It does jump to the top of the list every few seconds. This apparently is due to the sound chip in the camera.

When recording with guvcview, the image is decent but there are just a couple clicks from the sound. I can remedy this by using inputs on my sound card. I am currently using the line out on my Tascam recorder to the line in on my soundblaster card. the biggest problem is that cpu usage goes through the roof.

An online test with firefox reveals this about my webcam

Webcam Name: HD Webcam USB: HD Webcam USB
Quality Rating: 797
Built-in Microphone: None
Built-in Speaker: None
Frame rate: 30 FPS
Stream Type: video
Image Mode: rgb
Webcam MegaPixels: 2.07 MP
Webcam Resolution: 1920×1080
Video Standard: FHD
Aspect Ratio: 1.78
PNG File Size: 2.55 MB
JPEG File Size: 1.25 MB
Bitrate: 37.76 MB/s
Number of Colors: 146300
Average RGB Color:

Lightness: 44.71%
Luminosity: 45.31%
Brightness: 44.44%
Hue: 110°
Saturation: 2.63%

It appeared to function correctly with very little lag, however no sound. I am guessing that the cam has an incompatible sound chip?

@peppyy

Looks like a good investment to me.

I did take a brief look at the manufacturers website, mainly to see if they had Linux drivers/support.

Is this work OTB with FossaPup64-95 or are you using it via Wine?

I do have another question to ask, what are the capture parameters that you are using?

The reason why I am curious is that if you were asking the PC to convert/transcoding from raw audio to XX format, it might be a reason why the cpu is spiking.

I would in that case record a RAW file and then convert it afterwards.

There are a number of options to demux your captured file and convert into different formats.

@peppyy

Gucview appears to be an old application which has not been updated for several years.

Have you tried an alternative?

A quick search and I found this application available as an Appimage:

Webcamoid v9 - 2022/02/15
https://webcamoid.github.io/#downloads

Just do a search on the forum for WebCam software you might find something in the Multimedia section or at least someone could make some suggestions

**EDIT**

There is an active thread re: MultiCAM

viewtopic.php?t=7717

Maybe you could use it for a single device.

@Jasper I have been wanting a decent webcam for OBS studio. Downloaded Mike's portable. I was able to stream to facebook for a couple minutes with it and have recorded a few videos with multiple layers and scene changes. The camera keeps getting "flakey" on me and going to green hues or locking up. I tried it in a couple of other operating systems and computers including win7 and there was no sound from the camera on any of them. Sometimes it would launch and when it started doing it's auto bright/wb/focus it would just quit completely.

The settings in OBS that work best is YUYV-4:2:2. Have tried several others but they don't seem to work, it always turns green.

in guvcview the only one that works is BRG3-BRG3 otherwise it looks horrible.
I have an appimage of webcamoid I was using for my ipcam for my bee hives, that always seemed to take a lot of cpu to use. I can watch it in smplayer with almost no cpu usage. Might fire it up just to see if it works there.

I am thinking my next step would be to get a decent GPU that would take some of the pressure off my processors. It uses all 6 cores at about 10 to 12% when using the mycrodia web cam.

By the way, with the camera unplugged, alsamixer doesn't crash, so I think I got a bad camera.

Might have to go back to my old 640x480 cam for now.

@peppyy

Sorry to hear of your issues. It doesn't seem right as you have highlighted.

Many moons ago, I used Virtual Dub/Mod (Windows) to capture from analog/digital TV/Satellite cards. YUYV-4:2:2 was the suggested format as it encompasses a wide variety of chipstets. So am very surprised that still is still being used. So am familiar with the "green" screen issue that you refer to.

With the "no sound" availability on different OSes, if you can return it back to the seller and get a refund.

Good luck

But plays it better than the others.

@peppyy :-

When you say "turns green", are we talking about solid green, or just a green tint/hue? Out of my own motley assortment of cams, I have a couple that are heavily green-biased anyway; nothing in the way of adjustment or changing settings seems to do very much to actually cure it.

The only time you tend to get "greenscreen" with cams is if running multiple USB cams; "greenscreen" here is normally an indication that the USB bus is running out of bandwidth.

I find that, with the odd exception, where webcams are concerned you largely get what you pay for. You pay cheap, you get low-resolution, crap image quality & pretty cruddy microphones. I have TWO Logitech c920 HD 'Pros'; one on the HP desktop, and a second I bought just after Xmas for the still fairly new-to-me Dell Latitude lappy (these are a relatively top-end cam, though you CAN pick them up at decent discounts nowadays, since Logitech are trying to get shot of their old stock (the design dates back around 12 years, though it's the most popular cam in the world, apparently)). I've also got an HP cam kicking around (crap picture quality + microphone), a cheapo Trust one (surprisingly good video, microphone's a bit 'weak'), a Microsoft LifeCam HD3000 (don't laugh; more on this in a moment), and the very first webcam I ever bought from Maplins here in the UK some years ago before they went bust.....a no-name special, 640x480, crap microphone (though surprisingly good image quality), with manual zoom, and the weirdest stand you've ever seen.

------------------------------------

Scanning through the ID listings on the UVC kernel driver website:-

http://www.ideasonboard.org/uvc/

.......is showing that although that specific module isn't listed as supported, "0c45:" usually refers to chipsets manufactured by a company called Sonix Technology. No mention of "Microdia" anywhere there, though I've heard the name a few times before.....I believe it's a manufacturer name, or else there's some 'badge engineering' going on with largely generic cameras.

------------------------------------

Me, I don't give a monkeys about components 'looking good'; I'm not seduced by a flash of chrome and a dab of glitter.....all I'm concerned with is functionality, OOTB. The best way to ensure this is to do a wee bit of research before buying; if what you want to buy says it supports the UVC driver, you're home & dry, basically. The UVC driver module has been in the kernel for quite a number of years, and you can pretty much guarantee P'n'P operation.

That Microsoft LifeCam HD3000, despite the 'name', is actually a bloody good low/mid-range priced camera. It's UVC, good picture quality & resolution, decent audio.......it's mainly the odd stand that takes a bit of figuring-out, though it's solid, 'cos it's rubber-coated spring-hinged metal, essentially. It's a good investment, TBH.

------------------------------------

As for monitoring your beehives, if you're using webcams (or USB cams of some sort), and you want a lightweight application for either 'live' streaming OR recording with more than one cam, you might be interested in what I put together with greengeek's help some weeks back:-

MultiCam-portable

It uses mPlayer for viewing, and mencoder (the mPlayer encoder module) for recording.......all tied together via the v4L2 kernel module. May be of some use to you.

Mike.

@mikewalsh Thanks for all the info. I am figuring out that the problem with this one is the automatic adjustments the camera makes. If I attempt to adjust anything via OBS or guvcview, etc, it throws a fit, gets a horrible green hue or simply locks up. It is branded as an Amcrest, awc201-b and I saw a lot of good reviews for Linux so I thought I would give it a try.

in guvcview in terminal, when trying to adjust the camera I get multiple errors and timeouts, even when choosing a resolution.

GUVCVIEW: version 2.0.6
V4L2_CORE: (UVCIOC_CTRL_MAP) Error: No such file or directory
I found a bunch of "Greek 2 me" info about it here. https://www.kernel.org/doc/html/latest/ ... xu-support
I am wondering if there is a way to map the control for the camera?

I was able to "Leaving the controlls untouched", go live on FB using OBS for a bit over a minute using an external audio source.

@peppyy :-

Whoahh! Handsome geezer, ain'tcha?

Mm. Yeah, an "external" audio source is often the best way to go. I have two headsets; one is a Logitech H340 (wired), with a boom microphone that just swings up out of the way, or down to use it; the other is a SOMiC GS401 "gaming" headset (wireless) - though less garish than most! - with a plug-in/plug-out boom mike. Both of these are USB, and both have their own built-in sound cards in the somewhat chunky connectors. And both work a treat, delivering far superior audio reproduction to any webcam mike, even the c920.....which has stereo mikes of quite high quality.

Most guys who 'stream' tend to use separate mikes, even though they use some very high-quality cameras. It's a well-recognised issue with cams, unfortunately.

But I agree with Jasper on this one, I'm sorry to say. I think ya just got a 'dodgy' cam there..! It happens. It's happened to me - to a certain extent - with the second c920 I bought for last year's replacement lappie, the Dell Latitude.....the microphone buzzes and whines at me, and isn't a patch on the original one I got 3 years ago for the main rig. However; since I use a headset for the audio portion of any video chat, it's not an issue.....and I can forgive it a lot; I got it for a serious discount, and that picture quality is divine....best I've found anywhere. I was after one for over a decade, though patiently waited for the price to come down to a sensible level; the original 3 figure-plus price tag was too much for my budget. I couldn't justify it.

Let us know what you decide to do, anyway.

Mike.

@peppyy

I'm not really in a position to offer a solution to your current issue and I was intrigued to see this line in your capture output

[autoconvert] Converting yuyv422 -> yuv422p

My understanding of this is that it is due to the difference in the ability of the webcam's capture ability compared to a standardised viewing format eg difference in pixels causing the green hue. I might be wrong though.

There is some further information to read here:

https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windo ... -rendering

If you are using Fossapup64-95, you can get more detailed about Usb devices attached. I have attached an updated version.

The two commands available to you are

• lsusb -V (Detailed output)

• usb-devices (screenshot displaying power)

Good luck

I misread the autoconvert output.

I thought it said 420 to 422.

Lol, not to worry.

Have you tried to connect to computer using a different USB port?

Make sure it is a port that is data/power type.

Make sure it is a USB 2.0 or better port you plug into.

If a desktop type computer.

Try to plug into a USB port on the back of the computer.
All of these are directly on the motherboard and do not use a cable to connect to motherboard, like front ports do.

Check the pins in the USB plug and the USB port.
No dirt, corrosion, bent or damaged.

@mikewalsh

Whoahh! Handsome geezer, ain'tcha?

My Wife thinks so and that is the most important one.

Here is the info on the camera according to uab-devices.
T: Bus=03 Lev=02 Prnt=02 Port=00 Cnt=01 Dev#= 3 Spd=480 MxCh= 0
D: Ver= 2.01 Cls=ef(misc ) Sub=02 Prot=01 MxPS=64 #Cfgs= 1
P: Vendor=0c45 ProdID=6366 Rev=01.00
S: Manufacturer=HD Webcam USB
S: Product=HD Webcam USB
S: SerialNumber=HD Webcam USB
C: #Ifs= 4 Cfg#= 1 Atr=80 MxPwr=500mA
I: If#= 0 Alt= 0 #EPs= 1 Cls=0e(video) Sub=01 Prot=00 Driver=uvcvideo
E: Ad=83(I) Atr=03(Int.) MxPS= 16 Ivl=4ms
I: If#= 1 Alt= 0 #EPs= 1 Cls=0e(video) Sub=02 Prot=00 Driver=uvcvideo
E: Ad=82(I) Atr=02(Bulk) MxPS= 512 Ivl=0ms
I: If#= 2 Alt= 0 #EPs= 0 Cls=01(audio) Sub=01 Prot=00 Driver=snd-usb-audio
I: If#= 3 Alt= 0 #EPs= 0 Cls=01(audio) Sub=02 Prot=00 Driver=snd-usb-audio

@bigpup
In the cmos/bios/ whatever the new ones are called, I can set these ports as standard or fast charging. I left them at standard. It is a full slot front mount plugged into the motherboard. 4-usb3 ports 4 usb 2 ports, audio, mic and headphone jacks, a multi card reader and an external power port that I haven't used.
You have a very valid point. I remember when I got it, it had an annoying red led on the front. I no longer see that? Must have quit at some point so there could be an issue with the panel somewhere.

@Jasper Thanks for another dose of "Greek to me" I read it twice and might have gained a hint of what it is about.

@peppyy

Hahahhahaha ............... that made me laugh.

I did a quick search on the device and see that there were different models ie 720p and 1080p available.

Looking at the MPV output, I can see you are using 720p so that's not an issue.

Also, it is a low powered device ie 500mA.

Lastly are you able to manually adjust the colour settings in your application OBS?

Lightness: 44.71%
Luminosity: 45.31%
Brightness: 44.44%
Hue: 110°
Saturation: 2.63%

https://www.colorsexplained.com/hue-value-chroma/

@Jasper In OBS there is an issue whenever I go to the camera settings. Sometimes I can make an adjustment and other times just opening the settings turns the camera into a green monster. Often in any program when I go to adjust the camera it locks up.

it is capable of 1920x1080, 1280x720, and 640x480. Even in 640 it uses a ton of processor. 16% + of my 6 cores in guvcview. I am guessing that is mostly conversion?

If I try to put it in manual mode in OBS it crashes completly and I have use htop to kill it and replug the camera or restart the graphic server. So, yes, limited adjustment is available.

@peppyy

Do you want to test these applications? Built for Fossapup64-95
You will need both.

Just build screenshots of the above ........... didn't really need to use QT5 as GTK3 would have been fine for the menu

I see portaudio was listed and I didn't know there was a newer guvcview?

I have downloaded them and will try them.

One question. If I uninstall the pets after, will my older version still be there? i/e guvcveiw.
Thanks.

@peppyy

On Sourceforge the latest build is 2.0.8.

I did see elsewhere there are 2.0.8.1 & 2.08.2 which were available for different OSes.

As always, it is recommended to make a backup of your Savefile/folder periodically. So, I would advise a back "just in case!!", before proceeding.

I am using a "Savefile" not a folder as I using a USB flash drive. This gives me an option on shut down if I wish to save the current session. If I do not want to save any changes, then choosing "No" will allow me to remain at the previous state.

**EDIT** Just checked the PPM and could not find the application. I get an error message when attempt to update the database Also, looked on the old forum and found this message and can confirm that the file mention is still available albeit being old.

Personally, I have installed/uninstalled applications and this has left me with the original application being available to me.

The reason why I uploaded it for you was that I was surprised that the fps was so low. I would have expected 30/60fps being available to you.

Let me know if it works for you

@Jasper Tried both. The guvcview 2.0.8 loaded but locked up with either of my cameras plugged in. I tried rebooting and it still did the same. Uninstall pet with PPM brought me back to the original version.

The portaudio pet didn't allow me to change the audio settings in obs, (If I didn't mention it I am running mike's portable version 25.0.7). I have 2 copies, one local and one on a 32gb usb 3 drive. I also found an appimage, obs-studio-plus-25.0.8-x86_64.AppImage. I fired it up and it also does not like the newer camera. It appears that after that one was built, they switched to flatpacks, which I have not tried after reading the details on the forum.

I will tinker more later today. Thanks.

Playing with greenscreen, I haven't even flattened it out yet but it looks like I can make it work. This is with my old 640 no-brand camera.
https://gofile.io/d/ahYdK2

This was with just natural light from the window in my office with mikes portable.

@peppyy

Shame the applications did not resolve any issues for you. It was worth a try regardless, so thank you

Hey, the video clip doesn't look too bad to me and the intentional green screen works great. Is there a reason why your not choosing to use this on a day to day basis?

I have no experience or knowledge of Flatpaks, AppImages or Snaps and have never used one before. They seem like a good idea and if I would have to go down that route, I would seriously consider BarryK's EasyOS.

Hopefully you will strike it lucky soon

@Jasper To be honest, I have a "character" that has been a part of me for many years. I would like to be able to launch him on a couple sites. I could use about anything for a background and record my shorts, upload them and see what happens. Several folks have suggested I try a Microsoft LifeCam HD-3000. As soon as I have the funds I will pick one up.

I tried the OBS appimage, ran really well but it did not like the new camera either. Tried it with my old one and got this. https://gofile.io/d/6YIeOA

Now to build myself some studio lighting

Thanks for all the help.

@peppyy

Hahhahaa it made laugh , great start to my day

Goodluck