G12 | fresh install chdk+chdkptp-r964-Linux-x86_64.zip | live video not working - General Help and Assistance on using CHDK stable releases - CHDK Forum

G12 | fresh install chdk+chdkptp-r964-Linux-x86_64.zip | live video not working

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Offline mgw

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Folks,

I've a working Canon PowerShot G12 with working CHDK at hand. Upon connecting the camera to a Linux-based system chdkptp-gui doesn't really work. I am unable to grab live video or shot pictures.

Observations: Camera is USB-mounted; files are accesible from PC. As soon as camera is mounted, the lens moves back in and the shutter is closed. "Connect" from chdkptp-gui works. Files tab is working. Live tab shows black screen no matter what command is issued.

Any help highly appreciated -mgw

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Offline mgw

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I should have added that the sole purpose is to use the G12 as a webcam. Looks like this doesn't work at all...

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Offline srsa_4c

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As soon as camera is mounted, the lens moves back in and the shutter is closed. "Connect" from chdkptp-gui works. Files tab is working. Live tab shows black screen no matter what command is issued.
You might be experiencing a known issue, see "Interactions with default software" on this page.

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Offline reyalp

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I should have added that the sole purpose is to use the G12 as a webcam. Looks like this doesn't work at all...
srsa_4c's diagnosis is correct. If the camera is mounted / can be browsed through normal distro software (filemanager / photos app), then you won't be able to switch to shooting mode.

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As soon as camera is mounted, the lens moves back in and the shutter is closed.
Note also that you should make sure the camera is in playback mode before you connect it, and then switch to shooting mode with the rec button in chdkptp. If the camera is in rec when you connect, you likely won't be able to switch.

That said, chdkptp does not provide "webcam" functionality directly, in the sense that you can use it as a video source for zoom or whatever. You'd need to use something like OBS to grab the window, or pipe the live view
Don't forget what the H stands for.

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Offline mgw

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You might be experiencing a known issue, see "Interactions with default software" on this page.
Txs. I already dealt with this...
Code: [Select]
~ # cp /lib/udev/rules.d/60-libgphoto2-6.rules /etc/udev/rules.d
~ # cp /lib/udev/hwdb.d/20-libgphoto2-6.hwdb /etc/udev/hwdb.d
Interesting observation: hwdb.d doesn't have a G12 listed!

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Offline mgw

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Note also that you should make sure the camera is in playback mode before you connect it, and then switch to shooting mode with the rec button in chdkptp. If the camera is in rec when you connect, you likely won't be able to switch.

That said, chdkptp does not provide "webcam" functionality directly, in the sense that you can use it as a video source for zoom or whatever. You'd need to use something like OBS to grab the window, or pipe the live view
There is no difference between playback and rec modes in behaviour. However, the camera is not detected by the system as i. e. there is no additional camera available (only the built-in device).

The operations in my previous reply solved the access issue.

Txs -mgw

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Offline momo

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I’ve always been thoroughly perplexed by some folk’s desire to use their PowerShots (or indeed even DSLRs!) as web cams, in this day and age. Might be an entertaining hobby project in lockdown, but what else, really? Good luck.

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Offline mgw

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I’ve always been thoroughly perplexed by some folk’s desire to use their PowerShots (or indeed even DSLRs!) as web cams, in this day and age. Might be an entertaining hobby project in lockdown, but what else, really? Good luck.
Why though? Even today's latest highend laptops come with less than mediocre cameras on board. I'm talking about devices that cost easily 3k or more. So why not use a spare device (like me good old G12) to overcome this issue! In today's Corona-world there seems to be high demand for good looking pictures in web conferences. It's worth the effort (you may disagree).
« Last Edit: 30 / December / 2020, 11:35:46 by mgw »

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Offline mgw

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That said, chdkptp does not provide "webcam" functionality directly, in the sense that you can use it as a video source for zoom or whatever. You'd need to use something like OBS to grab the window, or pipe the live view
Hmmm... @reyalp I don't think OBS is the right tool to do this. I simply  want the camera to act as an additional device on the system... USB might not be the brightest approach but nor is HDMI as best as I can tell...

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Offline reyalp

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There is no difference between playback and rec modes in behaviour.
I'm not clear what you mean, it's not going to switch to playback on connecting if it's already in playback.  But anyway, the point is that the automatic switch playback can interfere with switching the camera to rec from chdkptp later. To avoid that, power on the camera playback before connecting USB or power on using the playback button with the camera already connected, and only use chdkptp to switch modes while connected. Behavior varies a bit between models, but the preceding should safe on all of them.

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However, the camera is not detected by the system as i. e. there is no additional camera available (only the built-in device).
If you mean in the regular UI outside of chdkptp, this is the expected and intended behavior. The inability to switch to rec mode is caused by the normal software accessing the camera. The udev stuff prevents the system from automatically accessing the it. You should see it available in the chdkptp list.
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The operations in my previous reply solved the access issue.
Meaning you can use the chdkptp 'rec' button to switch to rec mode and see the live view now?

Hmmm... @reyalp I don't think OBS is the right tool to do this. I simply  want the camera to act as an additional device on the system... USB might not be the brightest approach but nor is HDMI as best as I can tell...
Right, what I'm telling you is that chdkptp doesn't do that. It talks to the camera using a custom protocol and does not provide a driver that other software would recognize as a standard device.

On Linux, you can probably achieve that using some combination of chdkptp lvdump, piping to something like ffmpeg and V4L loopback, but it will be very hacky, and the resulting quality will be low. The resolution of the live view is effectively around 640x480, the frame rate is not fixed, and you are likely to see tearing.

There are some examples of piping to ffmpeg toward the end of USAGE.TXT, though you'd some additional stuff to send to V4L. There's an example in of the general approach in http://www.gphoto.org/doc/remote/ (only for the ffmpeg + v4l related commands, I don't believe gphoto currently supports the CHDK live view protocol)
You will likely want to do this in CLI mode rather than the GUI.
Don't forget what the H stands for.

 

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