SJCam SJ4000 Not Recognised by PC

Question

I have a new Action Cam. A copy of a GoPro, I think.

When connected via USB it asks whether it should be used as a PC camera or a mass storage device.

Whichever is chosen, the PC cannot 'see' it at all.

Is there a work-around?

Am I missing a 'driver'?

Solution 1

Firstly, SCJAM is not a copy of GoPro. It is a Chinese manufacturer of miniature cameras, and one of their product lines are cuboid cameras.

I've spent 50+ hours going through reviews and eventually decided to go for their top model - SJCAM SJ5000+ Ambarella (with Panasonic's "Ambarella" processor), because it is almost as good as GoPro Hero 4 Black and 4 times cheaper. When I say "almost" I mean "white balance is slightly different - in my view better, and slightly worse video stabilisation". And yes, housings of the SJ**** line are compatible with GoPro mounts for a reason - GoPro has the largest number of available mounts. Worth noting that "SJ****" is a fake of "SJCAM SJ****".

With that out of the way... I've got Ubuntu 14.04.02 LTS, clean install with no extra drivers, software, etc., and my SJCAM SJ5000+ Ambarella with software ver. 2.4 mounts with no problem as "storage" (set up on camera end). Ubuntu recognises it with no problems.

I'd suggest: firstly check if you have a microSD card in the camera. Is not the camera itself that the OS mounts but the microSD card.

Secondly, I'd perhaps upgrade packages - just in case. In terminal type

sudo apt-get update && upgrade

Finally, it is time to see what devices plugged into all USB ports your computer can see. In terminal type:

lsusb

And check if you can see a line with no micro-controller description. This will be the SJCAM. For example mine looks like this:

me@mylaptop:~$ lsusb
Bus 002 Device 003: ID 8087:07da Intel Corp. 
Bus 002 Device 002: ID 8087:0024 Intel Corp. Integrated Rate Matching Hub
Bus 002 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0002 Linux Foundation 2.0 root hub
Bus 001 Device 004: ID 0c45:644a Microdia 
Bus 001 Device 003: ID 0bda:0129 Realtek Semiconductor Corp. RTS5129 Card Reader Controller
Bus 001 Device 002: ID 8087:0024 Intel Corp. Integrated Rate Matching Hub
Bus 001 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0002 Linux Foundation 2.0 root hub
Bus 004 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0003 Linux Foundation 3.0 root hub
Bus 003 Device 003: ID 4255:1000  
Bus 003 Device 002: ID 046d:c077 Logitech, Inc. 
Bus 003 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0002 Linux Foundation 2.0 root hub

As I experimented by pluging in and out the camera, the one you should be looking for is the one without description (4255:1000).

Please post the result.

Solution 2

I had the same problem but I solved it.

My system could find the hardware (SJCAM4000+), but no software could use it.

I downloaded a software called "OBS Studio" and it worked.

Comments

[Nikana Reklawyks]

Mass Storage Device if you want to download the images from the camera. PC camera if you want to use it, say, as a webcam. I don't think drivers are involved, it's only mounting a file system, that of the storage media. I, on other distros, mount the microSD card by hand, with something akin to sudo mount /dev/mmcblk0 /mnt/, sometimes with mmcblk0p1 instead. Hope that helps.

[najmi]

I second this. It works on my SJCAM4000 on OBS, but not being detected by "Kamoso" and "Cheese"