Is my webcam toast already?

Framework Laptop 13 Linux
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Since this morning, I’m all grey and there’s no way to get color back.

Tested on my current distro (tumbleweed running 6.6.3) but also on fedora Live media (KDE and gnome), kernel 6.5.6.

And also on an installed Fedora (on another partition) running a more recent kernel (6.6.2 IIRC).

I doubt it’s software/kernel related, as it’s been working fine until a few days ago and I didn’t take any updates (also, it should still look ok on the live media).

Fedora live KDE

PXL_20231211_121400651.MP
PXL_20231211_121400651.MP1920×1446 154 KB

Fedora live gnome

PXL_20231211_122614505
PXL_20231211_1226145051920×1446 105 KB

I’ve tried disconnecting the whole webcam + mic module by unplugging and replugging the flat wire, but nothing changed.

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This feels like hardware already, can you try and file ticket? See if support can get into the bottom of it and have possible replacement?

cheers! :slight_smile:

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Hi Loell,
thanks for chiming in, I’ve sent a support request a while after posting this, linking to this thread.
Hope it gets addressed soon :slight_smile:

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Update: FW support requested additional photos of the module + ribbon cable and connector, and upon inspection agreed to send a replacement module.

I’ll hopefully receive it by year’s end, and will report back. I really hope that’s the root cause of the problem, otherwise I wouldn’t know what else it could be…

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Final (I hope :smiley: ) update:

got the replacement part in my mail today, installed it in 5 minutes and it works great.

Happy to report the case is closed, thanks FW support!

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Thanks for the update @fw13amd , Happy to know webcam replacement is up and running. :slight_smile:

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*** DISCLAIMER: DO NOT TRY any of the steps mentioned below or you may break your laptop’s camera ***

Hi @Loell_Framework

a few months later, I have the same problem again, I will file another support request.

And I think I also found the culprit. Like the first time, I had just finished using my Pixel 8 Pro’s camera as webcam (I’m on Linux)

As soon as I was done with it and tried to jump into a meeting with my FW camera, the image was all wrong. Webcam was working fine just until that point.

I have rebooted, I have tested with another distro (Fedora dual boot) and I have disconnected and reconnected the webcam module - no way, it’s toast.

I hope that this is still covered by warranty, or that FW understands that this is still not my fault (and hopefully appreciate the QA and useful info I’m providing :smiley: ), and still send a replacement module like the first time.

With a 2 out of 2 bad outcome, I think it’s also in FW’s interest to investigate this problem urgently (shouldn’t be hard to reproduce), possibly with Google’s participation or the kernel folks, because it’s not acceptable that connecting and using an external device can actually brick a PIECE OF HARDWARE so easily.

And also send out some advisory to users discouraging them from trying the “Android/Pixel phone camera as webcam” capability.

Thanks

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This is me from the FW webcam (now toast):

Screenshot_20240627_125948
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Same pose, from phone camera

PXL_20240627_105949493.MP
PXL_20240627_105949493.MP1920×1440 209 KB

Exposure is giga high and colors are just muted now

Here’s what it looks like in OBS with the default settings (which used to work fine), where Video Format is set to Motion-JPEG):

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image722×617 87.9 KB

And this is OBS again by overriding Video Format to YUYV (which isn’t the default):

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image722×617 58.2 KB

I suspect that Kamoso (first screenshot) falls back to YUYV because it detects Motion-JPEG as not functional.

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Logs from the session where this happened, starting from 27 Jun at 12:33

journalctl:

journalctl -k:

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I think I have the same issue

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image661×570 38.5 KB

And it happened after I connected Google Pixel 6 pro as a webcam, how can this be?

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@Loell_Framework I had kindly requested for this situation to be escalated, also in my email exchanges to support.

There is clearly a problem here that fries webcam modules upon connecting Android smartphones (or maybe just Pixels?) and using them as webcams. The incidence might be small since most people don’t even know about this possibility, but it’s still a shame that after this has happened to me TWICE, yet another user had to experience this.

Please, please, please: let someone in your lab try and reproduce this, and you’ll see how easy it easy to fry your hardware. This should not happen in 2024. I dunno if it’s a framework issue, a Google issue, or a Linux issue, but TBH it shouldn’t be up to FW users to care. This issue should be dealt with.

Please, could you check on your end?

Thanks

EDIT: this is from my email thread with FW support from 27 June 2024 to 18 July 2024. This particular exchange was with “Mics”. Hope this helps!

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image1544×702 119 KB

@Ruben_K : sorry to hear you’re another victim of this. Let’s hope Framework gets the ball rolling now. If I were you I’d get in touch with support ASAP, link this forum thread, answer the usual questions they will inevitably ask, and, if I may, remind them that this has been a known issue for months and it’s a bit of a shame that another user had to fall victim of this. Hopefully they’ll send a replacement module.

PLEASE: keep the broken one, they may need it.

When I broke my first one I had kept it but no one asked for it and I eventually threw it away.
When it happened the second time, since nobody had asked for it the first time, I threw it away immediately. And upon resolving my ticket they asked if I could send it to them for inspection, for which the timing was unfortunately late.
So yeah, if you don’t mind keep the broken one around in case they ask you to ship it back - TBH though it should be quite easy for them to reproduce.

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@Loell_Framework , sorry for tagging you again, but it’s somewhat unrelated, as this is on the “communication” side of things.

I wonder if as a temporary action, it’d be a good idea to give a better name to this thread and remove the [SOLVED] tag. Something like “[IMPORTANT] DO NOT use Pixel phone as webcam on Linux until further notice”. Or send out an advisory or newsletter, I dunno.

Thanks for your understanding.

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Please avoid pinging staff unless you’ve been instructed to. This is because this is primarily a user forum and while some Framework staff are present (and may reach out to individuals at times), they may not frequently be present and can miss things. Official support is only provided through their ticketing system. If you have an existing issue that is not addressed or additional concerns, please reach out to them there.

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The webcam is not “toast”.
The webcam has controls for:
Brightness
Contrast
Saturation
Hue
White Balance

You just need to find those controls and set them back to defaults.
E.g. If Saturation is set to 0, you get only grey scales.

These are all adjustable with “guvcview” in Linux.
I don’t know what the equivalent is for Windows.

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Annoying and unhelpful

Been there, done that (twice), and now @Ruben_K will probably report the same.

The webcam is broken beyond repair, or at least not with the tools/settings you mention.

I tried them all as I’m on Linux too.

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Hi, my comment was really to escalate a situation that I had already made Support aware of, months ago, to no avail, and that I see is now affecting other users (which is exactly what I had warned about).

The reason I tagged Love directly is because I feel that this issue goes beyond individual cases, and should be handled differently.

I expect Framework to conduct a thorough investigation on this, as I had already encouraged Support staff to do back then. Feel free to refer to my email threads, screenshots and dates in my previous comment.

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Looking at the logs, it appears the USB is disconnecting (Pixel) at 12:34 and the Laptop webcam (on the screen) at 12:36.
This can be caused by a variety of things.

  1. The Framework on/off switches on the webcam module having an intermittent connection, thus switching off without you wishing them to.
  2. Some sort of RF interference causing the USB chip to disconnect. Lots of different things might be causing this.
  3. Some sort of USB power problem. Maybe plugging in a device that needs too much power. or something like that.
    You don’t actually state which FW 13 laptop you have, but by your username “fw13amd” I assume the AMD version.

Does the laptop webcam work any better if you remove any other USB devices that you might have connected to the laptop? I.e. Remove the Pixel etc.

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this sounds like a pixel phone:) it should draw a lot of power both to charge, but as @fw13amd mentioned I’ve tweaked the settings for the webcam, it can be made a bit better, but it’s no where near the condition it was couple of days ago

Also my laptop is fw13 intel 11gen i5

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Morning everyone, just some clarification on my behalf:

  • I have had this problem, twice, but it was months ago (December 2023 once, when my FW was just 1 month old, and then again in summer 2024). Both occurrences of this issue happened right after trying to use my Pixel phone as a webcam, under Linux. And both times the webcam was messed up beyond repair
  • I don’t have this problem currently. I’m just the OP of the thread and jumped in when I saw another fellow FW user experience the same, that’s it. Why? Because I find it unacceptable that FW has still not taken action after my reports that hardware might break by simply plugging a somewhat common consumer device and trying to use it in a normal way
  • the webcam is indeed broken. I have tried several webcam apps for Linux, and you can tweak exposure and saturation as much as you like, nothing is bringing back the normal behavior. OBS has these sliders too, BTW. Also, it’s not just exposure/saturation. Frame rate is also extremely slow, the captured stream is constantly stuttering, as if it recorded 1 out of 2 or 3 frames. I have also tried with a live medium boot, same result. And guess what, once you install the replacement module it instantly works again, on your installed OS or live medium, doesn’t matter

The only advice I can give at this point, since FW is still NOT doing it, is for everyone to refrain from using their Pixel devices as webcams on their FW laptops, at least under Linux.

If you do and your webcam breaks, just get in touch with support, link to this thread, perform the usual troubleshooting steps they will ask you to perform, and ask for a replacement.

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Sorry to hear that you’re facing this issue. Loell is our Linux Support specialist, and he’s here to assist with Linux-related discussions. However, the proper way to escalate issues is not by tagging him or others on the community forums but by creating support tickets and sharing your findings through that channel. Please try to provide as much detailed information as possible.

Alternatively, you can ask others here to attempt reproducing the issue and share their findings. Additional information will help us better reproduce the problem, identify the root cause, and develop a solution. However, tagging our Linux Support specialist won’t resolve or escalate the issue.

I’ve also renamed the thread and removed the “[SOLVED]” tag as per your request.

Please reach out to the support team if this issue occurs again and encourage others to do the same if they experience it as well.

Thanks!

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