webcam/usb help

[Barlow]

this makes it tough to get good driver
lsusb: cannot open "/var/lib/usbutils/usb.ids", No such file or directory
Bus 002 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0002
Bus 008 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0001
Bus 007 Device 002: ID 045e:07b2
Bus 007 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0001
Bus 006 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0001
Bus 001 Device 002: ID 05ca:18b3
Bus 001 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0002
Bus 005 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0001
Bus 004 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0001
Bus 003 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0001
can someone help me figure this out, please

 

[atanere]

You might try "sudo lsusb -v" to run as root with verbose (detailed) output. Here is a good reference for webcams in Linux... maybe it will help you more:

http://tldp.org/HOWTO/Webcam-HOWTO/hardware.html

 

[Barlow]

well, that told me a bunch of things i didnt understand, but nothing seemed to be about a webcam ... lol

 

[arochester]

What is the MAKE and MODEL of (a) the webcam and (b) your computer?

 

[Barlow]

i have no way to tell what my cam is, the pc is a sony vaio vgn ns235j

 

[arochester]

I wonder if this? http://vaio-utils.org/camera/

What distro are you using?

 

[Barlow]

ubuntu14.04 lts

 

[arochester]

Looking at the manual for that laptop the webcam is a Motion Eye and it should just work because the driver was integrated into the Linux Kernel. ( http://popies.net/meye/)

Have you tried an application? Something like Cheese?

sudo apt-get install cheese

 

[GrumpyOldMan]

You are missing a critical file - usb.ids. This is the secret decoder ring or Rosetta Stone for lsusb. You can get it here: http://www.linux-usb.org/usb-ids.html

Once that is installed, things will be much clearer for you.

 

[Barlow]

Looking at the manual for that laptop the webcam is a Motion Eye and it should just work because the driver was integrated into the Linux Kernel.

Have you tried an application? Something like Cheese?

i do have cheese ... the problem is that it is dark, so dark you can hardly see anything on it even with all the lights on and curtains open ... it was not like that with windows, it worked well

 

[Barlow]

You are missing a critical file - usb.ids. This is the secret decoder ring or Rosetta Stone for lsusb. You can get it here:

Once that is installed, things will be much clearer for you.

ok, got the file, where do i put it, or how do i install it ... sorry i am so dumb with this, but windows made me that way ... i do not have the folder for usbutils to put it into

 

[arochester]

Have you tried adjusting the brightness in Cheese?

The Preferences dialog allows users to change the webcam’s video and photo resolutions, choose a different webcam device (if multiple ones are connected at the same time), modify brightness, contrast, saturation and hue settings for images, and choose the number of photos taken by the burst mode.

http://linux.softpedia.com/get/Multimedia/Graphics/Cheese-28762.shtml

 

[GrumpyOldMan]

ok, got the file, where do i put it, or how do i install it

It belongs in /var/lib/usbutils/

It will probably be the only thing in there, and you may have to make the directory.

 

[Barlow]

yes i did adjust the brightness, it only made it "whiter" did not help the cam pick up more ... and it looks super bad like the first webcam i ever had ... this cam had a nice picture in windows, and all other video looks better with linux, but this cam looks bad ... and grumpy, i tried to male the folder for it, but i either dont know how, or it wouldnt let me ... ill keep trying though

 

[Barlow]

got the folder placed ... ran lsusb ... gave me the same info as first post, but it didnt say "cannot open "/var/lib/usbutils/usb.ids", No such file or directory"
all i get when i use lsusb -v is ... Couldn't open device, some information will be missing ... maybe i just need to re-install Linux ... i get errors every day anyway

 

[GrumpyOldMan]

Well, look. remove the device, run lsusb, without any parameters, but capture the ouptut:

lsusb > ~/without

Then plug the device back in, and run lsusb again:

lsusb > ~/with

Then compare the two files. The "with" file should have one more line than the "without" file. That should be your device, and should give you the device's manufacturer and product ID.

Sounds like something's messed up with your usb-utils stuff, also.

 

[Barlow]

i would have to take the laptop apart for that ... may try that on my day off

 

[GrumpyOldMan]

i would have to take the laptop apart for that ... may try that on my day off

Well, never mind then. I just looked in the usb.ids file - it's just a text file.

Device 05ca:18b3 is a Ricoh Co. "Sony Vaio Integrated Webcam"

 

[GrumpyOldMan]

What you are [probably] going to want is the r5u870 driver for Ricoh Webcams.

Googling 05ca:18b3 will give you some starting points.

 

[blackneos940]

i would have to take the laptop apart for that ... may try that on my day off

How is it.....? Did it work.......? :3