Created attachment 11338 [details]
rpm -qa, result of on openSUSE Leap 15.1

Thank you for the report, and the useful pointer:
> It works well with guvcview though
Please can you say:
- If you used Mageia 6, was the problem also there? Or did it work then?
- Do you have the 'Tainted' repos enabled? If not, enable them and update your system.
- Do you have the opportunity to try a different make of WebCam? (It looks as if you have 2 different models of the same maker). This would show whether the problem is device related. (I do not have one to try).

CC: (none) => lewyssmith

  The integrated webcam worked normally on Debian 9 and I would suppose the same for Mageia. Next week when I have the Celsius notebook again I will be able to test with the Tainted repos and with Mageia 6.

I'll be looking at this over the next few days. Some thoughts and tips.

The kernel support for webcams is built exclusively around the Logitech cameras.
This due to the fact that there was a time when there were over 200 different
hardware USB webcams. Now there is really only one standard. I do have a Logitech
webcam and so far it seems to be working properly.

Please define precicisely how you are using you cameara. Like with Firefox what
websites, if any. How do you use it with VLC and cheese. Do you use Skype video?

Remember when webcams would come with a Windows driver install CD?
That was because each webcam had a different hardware structure.
Not anymore. Or shouldn't be.

You may be best served by going down to your local "Walmart" and picking
up one of the cheap Logitech webcams.

CC: (none) => wilcal.int

camera usage:
* vlc /dev/video2
* cheese -d /dev/video2
* guvcview -d /dev/video2
* Facebook video chat

  Some versions of cheese also have a GUI dialogue to select the camera (you can select VGA ....). I have always asserted that I am using the right device. On Mageia I have used the -d parameter and cheese was displaying a black area while vlc was displaying a green bar at the top and a black screen area otherwhere. As far as I remember the camera was offered for selection in the Facebook chat but could then not be opened/used.
  I am quite sure that it is not a kernel issue. How could it work with guvcview otherwise? In former times the webcam has always worked - and it is still working with Debian 8 and one of the newest kernels i.e. 5.x as well as many elder kernels. On the other hand it does not work with Debian 9, also not with quite old kernels. It will be a library issue for sure.

My Logitech C615 webcam using USB viewer:

https://www.amazon.com/Logitech-Laptop-Webcam-Design-360-Degree/dp/B004YW7WCY

As seen on usbview:

HD Webcam C615
Serial Number: E940C230
Speed: 480Mb/s (high)
USB Version:  2.00
Device Class: ef(misc )
Device Subclass: 02
Device Protocol: 01
Maximum Default Endpoint Size: 64
Number of Configurations: 1
Vendor Id: 046d
Product Id: 082c
Revision Number:  0.11

[wilcal@localhost ~]$ uname -a
Linux localhost.localdomain 5.3.7-desktop-4.mga7 #1 SMP Thu Oct 24 20:11:12 UTC 2019 x86_64 x86_64 x86_64 GNU/Linux

[root@localhost wilcal]# urpmi vlc
Package vlc-3.0.8-1.mga7.tainted.x86_64 is already installed

VLC -> View -> Turn on Advanced Controls
Media -> Open Capture Device -> Capture mode -> Video camera -> play
Logitech webcam appears on VLC
Left button click on Advanced Controls red dot start recording
records video to /home/wilcal/Videos
creates: vlc-record-2019-11-01-08h03m09s-v4l2____dev_video0-.avi
avi file playable using VLC, ffplay and SMPLayer

Logitech C615 as seen by usbview:

HD Webcam C615
Serial Number: E940C230
Speed: 480Mb/s (high)
USB Version:  2.00
Device Class: ef(misc )
Device Subclass: 02
Device Protocol: 01
Maximum Default Endpoint Size: 64
Number of Configurations: 1
Vendor Id: 046d
Product Id: 082c
Revision Number:  0.11

[root@localhost wilcal]# uname -a
Linux localhost.localdomain 5.3.7-desktop-4.mga7 #1 SMP Thu Oct 24 20:11:12 UTC 2019 x86_64 x86_64 x86_64 GNU/Linux
[root@localhost wilcal]# urpmi cheese
Package cheese-3.32.1-1.mga7.x86_64 is already installed
[root@localhost wilcal]# lspci -k
01:00.0 VGA compatible controller: NVIDIA Corporation GF108 [GeForce GT 440] (rev a1)
        Subsystem: Gigabyte Technology Co., Ltd Device 3518
        Kernel driver in use: nvidia
        Kernel modules: nvidiafb, nouveau, nvidia_drm, nvidia390
        
Webcam is displayed by Cheese
Video is captured by Cheese:  /Videos/2019-11-01-130337.webm
VLC can play video
ffplay plays video
SMPlayer plays video

I have enabled the tainted repos now but urpmi.update -a does not replace any libarary or package automatically.

Yes, it works with the tainted repos (used urpmi --auto-update) and vlc (/dev/video2). However cheese seems to ignore the -d /dev/video2 parameter so that I will need to re-test without tainted.

  Now I have uninstalled all tainted packages by hand (sort, comm, rpm -e --nodeps, urpmi) and see it still works with vlc the way you described it.
$ rpm -qa | grep -i tainted
>> no single line with a tainted package returned
$

  I think the bug that irritated me is that there is no more camera selection dialogue with cheese and that cheese -d /dev/video2 does not take any effect for /dev/video2. I will reboot now in order to verify that it is really still working.

Yes, and vlc /dev/video2 really gives a green screen; i.e. you have to select that device via the dialogue.

I have rebooted now and it still works (urpmi --replacepkgs would have been the better option.). The last thing to test will be the webcam with Firefox/Facebook.

The camera still does not work with Firefox/Facebook: 'hardware access failed' - you have to enable your camera; - and believe me I have selected 'enable' for it. The integrated camera seems to work.

Maybe it tries to open /dev/video2 when it should open /dev/video0. You can not open /dev/video2 with vlc.

Thank you for trying all that you have, with more things working now than previously.
The current state of affairs is unclear. Can you please re-summarise the problem as it currently stands: what now works, and what is left that does not. It is difficult to assign a bug that is too widespread; you have done much to narrow the field.

** works **: viewing the webcam with vlc and guvcview, tainted repos not required
** does not work **: selecting another camera in cheese, neither with -d on the command line nor is there a menu for this any more (as far as I remember elder versions had one)
** does not work **: using the camera with Firefox/Facebook video chat: You can select the camera ('VGA') but then it writes 'hardware access failed' - you have to enable your camera; - and believe me I have selected 'enable' for it.

  Cheese seems to have access problems similar to Firefox. If I rename the device nodes of the integrate webcam cheese writes: 'no devices found'.
$mv /dev/video0 /dev/vid0
$mv /dev/video1 /dev/vid1
$mv /dev/video3 /dev/video0
$ls -l /dev/vid*
crw-rw----+ 1 root video 81, 0 Sep 27 16:43 /dev/vid0
crw-rw----+ 1 root video 81, 1 Sep 27 16:43 /dev/vid1
crw-rw----+ 1 root video 81, 3 Nov  7 21:27 /dev/video0
#renaming it to /dev/video1 does not help either

  There seems to be some kind of access problem with Firefox and cheese, but only in newer versions of the distribution´s environment.

Once again, Elmar, thank you for all your trials.
Not seeing where the problem might lie, assigning this globally. In any case, cheese has no maintainer.

Assignee: bugsquad => pkg-bugs
Summary: webcam does not work with cheese, vlc and firefox => Typhoon Easycam webcam does not work with cheese and firefox
CC: lewyssmith, wilcal.int => (none)

  My idea would have been that a common library between cheese and firefox-esr would cause the problem:

./fetchupd.py commdep cheese firefox-esr
common dependencies:
 libncursesw6 amd64
 libatk1.0-0 amd64
 libasound2-data all
 libasound2 amd64
 libice6 amd64
 lsb-base all
 x11-common all
 libncurses6 amd64
 libatk1.0-data all
 libc6 amd64
 libgcc1 amd64

  However there is no promising candidate in that list.

  I have now retested with Mageia Cauldron:
* works with guvcview & vlc
* does not work with cheese (no device found) & firefox
  
  Webcam appears as /dev/video0. Cheese says it can not find the device. With Firefox I can grant www.facebook.com access to my webcam but then it says 'something has failed', restart your browser or reboot.

kernel: 5.10.16-desktop-1.mga8 (works)

firefox-78.7.0-1.mga8
cheese-3.38.0-1.mga8

I have now found out where this issue comes from: GStreamer is compiled without libv4l2 code by default. Something that could be changed easily: https://gitlab.freedesktop.org/gstreamer/gst-plugins-good/-/issues/644

You can use 
> export GST_V4L2_USE_LIBV4L2=1

 and then Cheese works perfectly. However Firefox still does not work. Also the chromium browser seems not to support my webcam as a visit at https://de.webcamtests.com/ showed. Unfortunately Firefox does not use Gstreamer like Cheese.

The Firefox bug is here: https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/show_bug.cgi?id=1693887

Unfortunately they are shifting the issue back and forth at Chromium/WebRTC. No one wants to solve it. Perhaps you can talk to some of the developers to make the problem being solved: https://bugs.chromium.org/p/webrtc/issues/detail?id=12599

Mageia 7 is EOL since July 1st 2021.
There will not have any further bugfix for this release.

You are encouraged to upgrade to Mageia 8 as soon as possible.

@reporter, if this bug still apply with Mageia 8, please let us know it.

@packager, if you work on the Mageia 7 version of your package, please check the Mageia 8 package if issue is also present. In this case, please fix the Mageia 8 version instead.

This bug report will be closed OLD if there is no further notice within 1st September 2021.

Hi bug reporter and hi assignee and others involved,

Please reopen this bug report if it is still valid for Mageia 8 or 9(cauldron), and change "Version:" in the upper left of this report accordingly.

This report is being closed as OLD because it was filed against Mageia 7, for which  support ended on June 30th 2021.

Thanks,
Marja

Resolution: (none) => OLD
Status: NEW => RESOLVED