Webcam Woes

[Gza]

My friend just got a Logitech Quickcam Messenger, sent by a buddy over the border. The problem is that she's only getting a black screen for video output. We've tried many things already, including downloading the latest drivers off the site, updating to DX9.0c, and swapping USB ports, but to no avail. However, she did mention about not seeing anything related to service packs within her system properties (I'm helping her over MSN mind you, and have run some remote sessions as well). I've also tried disabling the power saving feature for that particular USB hub.

Would service pack 1 help? Any other suggestions are welcome.

Thanks.

 

[Ken90630]

Not to insult your intelligence, but if memory serves, one (or more?) of those Logitech cameras has a "privacy shield" or whatever it's called. It's a black piece of plastic that flips down over the lens in case you want to block the video output temporarily. That isn't by any chance flipped down over the lens is it?

The result would be kinda like using a regular camera and forgetting to take the lens cap off. :Q

This probably isn't the problem, but just thought I'd mention it.

 

[Gza]

Originally posted by: Ken90630
Not to insult your intelligence, but if memory serves, one (or more?) of those Logitech cameras has a "privacy shield" or whatever it's called. It's a black piece of plastic that flips down over the lens in case you want to block the video output temporarily. That isn't by any chance flipped down over the lens is it?

The result would be kinda like using a regular camera and forgetting to take the lens cap off. :Q

This probably isn't the problem, but just thought I'd mention it.

There isn't any lens protector on it. Thanks though.

 

[Ken90630]

No prob. Thought we might get lucky and have it be something simple like that!

Good luck. Hope you find the answer (and sorry I can't be more help).

BTW, this is the camera I was referring to (if anyone's wondering).

Ken

 

[Gza]

Originally posted by: Ken90630
No prob. Thought we might get lucky and have it be something simple like that!

Good luck. Hope you find the answer (and sorry I can't be more help).

BTW, this is the camera I was referring to (if anyone's wondering).

Ken

NP. As of right now, we're still stumped, but we WILL find a solution... somehow... someday....

 

[VirtualLarry]

When you say, "black screen", do you mean locally at the machine, or over the internet somehow, like on the other end of a video-chat client?
What kind of a video card are you using, and what program are you using to test? I would recommend getting a hold of the MS "AMCAP.EXE" program for testing purposes. It is included in at least the OmniVision 511 drivers, as well as most of the Hauppauge WinTV PCI driver packages.

The AMCAP.EXE program is independent of those drivers, it will run with whatever drivers/devices that you currently have on the machine, and doesn't require installation. Just extract it out of the archive onto your desktop somewhere for testing.

You should be able to select your installed USB camera device as one of the devices, and there should be some options to choose the settings, play with the brightness/contrast/exposure/etc. settings, and see if you can get *something* to show up on the screen at all.

The second thing to check, is your video card settings. Many dual-head cards have settings for which display output, the "overlay surface" should be displayed on. I know that on my ATI Radeon 9200, all I get is a black square in my media player when this is set wrongly. Another option to check, is your video card's desktop brightness/contrast/gamma settings, as well as any settings it might have for "overlay" or "video".

Hopefully one of those suggestions will help.

 

[Gza]

Originally posted by: VirtualLarry
When you say, "black screen", do you mean locally at the machine, or over the internet somehow, like on the other end of a video-chat client?
What kind of a video card are you using, and what program are you using to test? I would recommend getting a hold of the MS "AMCAP.EXE" program for testing purposes. It is included in at least the OmniVision 511 drivers, as well as most of the Hauppauge WinTV PCI driver packages.

The AMCAP.EXE program is independent of those drivers, it will run with whatever drivers/devices that you currently have on the machine, and doesn't require installation. Just extract it out of the archive onto your desktop somewhere for testing.

You should be able to select your installed USB camera device as one of the devices, and there should be some options to choose the settings, play with the brightness/contrast/exposure/etc. settings, and see if you can get *something* to show up on the screen at all.

The second thing to check, is your video card settings. Many dual-head cards have settings for which display output, the "overlay surface" should be displayed on. I know that on my ATI Radeon 9200, all I get is a black square in my media player when this is set wrongly. Another option to check, is your video card's desktop brightness/contrast/gamma settings, as well as any settings it might have for "overlay" or "video".

Hopefully one of those suggestions will help.

When I say "black screen", I mean right at her machine itself, say, when running simple camera apps to take snapshots, etc.

She has the GF2 MX200 video card.

Yup, I'll give that app a go, once she gets back home. Thing is, for settings and whatnot, I've tried playing with them already, with no changes at all - almost as if the cam essentially works (through hardware detection, etc.), but just isn't displaying anything. Fiddled with auto gain, anti-flicker, etc. settings.

As for overlay, hmm. Could possibly give that one a go. Thing is, on my PII box (which has a GF2 MX400), the cam is just plug and go (Win98SE); I had no need to activate overlay surfaces.

I just thought of this, but would it be possible to run the cam using the XP drivers? Maybe get her to uninstall the apps / Logi drivers (as for the registry, bleh), and try the cam alone.

Worst case scenario: I think the cam may be fried. It really shouldn't give this much headache in order for it to work. :thumbsdown:

 

[Gza]

*bump*

 

[montag451]

I installed a logitech webcam yesterday onto an XP machine, and it installed loads of stuff without my realising, including,
DX9,
SP1,
and other bits.
The installation went well, but i thought it would be a bit of a bummer if it went wrong - these are things, especially the SP's that I worry about (spend hours backing up files and settings).
SO, I think it does need SP1 for XP

 

[Gza]

Originally posted by: montag451
I installed a logitech webcam yesterday onto an XP machine, and it installed loads of stuff without my realising, including,
DX9,
SP1,
and other bits.
The installation went well, but i thought it would be a bit of a bummer if it went wrong - these are things, especially the SP's that I worry about (spend hours backing up files and settings).
SO, I think it does need SP1 for XP

Hmmm, ok, gonna find a link for SP1 so that my friend can d/l it and try it if she wishes to. Hope it works.