Webcam isn't working in Ubuntu 14.04

Question

I'm using Ubuntu 14.04 x64(Lenovo G510, intel i5) but cheese is not working, nor skype.

The first thing I did was

sudo apt-get install build-essential linux-headers-`uname -r`

I then tried to install cheese sudo apt-get install cheese but I think it was already there as this was the output.

Reading package lists... Done
Building dependency tree       
Reading state information... Done
cheese is already the newest version.
0 upgraded, 0 newly installed, 0 to remove and 322 not upgraded.


eric@eric:~$ sudo lsusb
Bus 002 Device 002: ID 8087:8000 Intel Corp. 
Bus 002 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0002 Linux Foundation 2.0 root hub
Bus 001 Device 002: ID 8087:8008 Intel Corp. 
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 002: ID 0bda:0129 Realtek Semiconductor Corp. RTS5129 Card Reader Controller
Bus 003 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0002 Linux Foundation 2.0 root hub

eric@eric:~$ sudo modprobe uvcvideo gives nothing ~ no output

same for sudo rmmod uvcvideo

eric@eric:~$ dmesg | grep uvcvideo
[91469.832413] usbcore: registered new interface driver uvcvideo
[91839.384427] usbcore: deregistering interface driver uvcvideo
[92126.932716] usbcore: registered new interface driver uvcvideo
[92166.125643] usbcore: deregistering interface driver uvcvideo

And I get this when I run cheese:

eric@eric:~$ cheese 
** Message: cheese-application.vala:291: Error during camera setup: No device found


(cheese:31540): cheese-CRITICAL **: cheese_camera_device_get_device_node: assertion 'CHEESE_IS_CAMERA_DEVICE (device)' failed

(cheese:31540): GLib-CRITICAL **: g_variant_new_string: assertion 'string != NULL' failed

(cheese:31540): GLib-GIO-CRITICAL **: g_settings_schema_key_type_check: assertion 'value != NULL' failed

(cheese:31540): GLib-CRITICAL **: g_variant_get_type_string: assertion 'value != NULL' failed

(cheese:31540): GLib-GIO-CRITICAL **: g_settings_set_value: key 'camera' in 'org.gnome.Cheese' expects type 's', but a GVariant of type '(null)' was given

** (cheese:31540): CRITICAL **: cheese_preferences_dialog_setup_resolutions_for_device: assertion 'device != NULL' failed

EDIT:

eric@eric:~$ lsusb -t
/:  Bus 04.Port 1: Dev 1, Class=root_hub, Driver=xhci_hcd/4p, 5000M
/:  Bus 03.Port 1: Dev 1, Class=root_hub, Driver=xhci_hcd/14p, 480M
    |__ Port 8: Dev 2, If 0, Class=Vendor Specific Class, Driver=rts5139, 480M
/:  Bus 02.Port 1: Dev 1, Class=root_hub, Driver=ehci-pci/2p, 480M
    |__ Port 1: Dev 2, If 0, Class=Hub, Driver=hub/8p, 480M
/:  Bus 01.Port 1: Dev 1, Class=root_hub, Driver=ehci-pci/2p, 480M
    |__ Port 1: Dev 2, If 0, Class=Hub, Driver=hub/6p, 480M

Solution 1

I also had this issue ... closely look at your keyboard to see if you have a multifunction key with a webcam icon ... for my keyboard the F6 key multi function icon looks like a webcam ... so I hold down the Fn key (often its purple) and F6 key to toggle on/off ability to use the webcam

ubuntu 14.04 and above comes by default with necessary drivers

Solution 2

I think you should install UVC driver. You can get information on troubleshoot webcam issues from this link.Click here

Comments

[user3810188]

@Wilf : edited! Please look at the edited question

[j0h]

@user3810188 show us $ls /dev/vid*

[Jetson Earth]

Is your user part of the video group? Try useradd -G video username and check again if it works...

[αғsнιη]

Try out of a Live-System and check your cam if it work reply result?

[Parto]

Sounds silly but do a system upgrade sudo apt-get update && sudo apt-get upgrade

[Avishek Saha]

Which version have you installed?? You can check out this link See if it solves the problem