Hello All,

I bought a used N900, flashed it to the latest root and mmc images and discovered this issue while attempting to do video calls over skype. It is running the standard kernel.

When someone calls me I can see their video stream but as soon as I push the camera button (on screen) to enable my video stream skype immediately disconnects.

"Mirror" was installed to test the front camera but it only sees the main back camera - there is no option to switch to the front one.

After searching around I installed mplayer and tried to view the stream directly via /dev/video1 but this device node does not even exist (I guess that's why skype balks). Mplayer can stream the rear camera OK via /dev/video0.

Any ideas for further diagnostics? All suggestions are appreciated as I am not sure how to proceed on this one. As I reflashed I am assuming all the correct drivers are in place so perhaps it is looking more like a possible hardware issue. What to you think?

Thanks in advance,
Phil

If the device file doesn't exist you could try creating it:

# mknod --mode=660 /dev/video1 c 81 1
# chgrp video /dev/video1

in the end you should have this: "crw-rw---- root video 81,1 video1"

Does video0 exist? (same but major 81, minor 2).

Hi reinob,

Thanks for a great suggestion.

/dev/video0 did already exist, with major 81 minor 1, and video from the *rear* (main) camera can be streamed from it using mplayer.

If I create /dev/video1 with major 81 and minor 1, this understandably also connects to the same camera.

If I create a /dev/video1 node with major 81 minor 2 and then try and stream video from it with mplayer I get:

v4l2: unable to open '/dev/video1': no such device or address
v4l2: ioctl set mute failed: Bad file descriptor
...

The node definitely exists with correct permissions etc.

To confirm, are you saying your device has video0 attached to minor 2 and that is your rear (main) camera?

My understanding was that these nodes are built into the flash image, but if that is the case then I do wonder how I could wind up with one missing and the other on the wrong device minor number. Or are they created at runtime? I feel like I am missing a trick here.

I *did* restore a backup (from my first N900, which worked fine with the front camera) and that installed a lot of software etc.

Perhaps I will try another reflash but test the cameras before restoring the backup. If that doesn't work then it is looking more likely to be a hardware fault, in which case I will dismantle it and get the 'scope out :-)

All the best,
Phil

I am experiencing the exact same problem with the front cam.

'philnz' did you manage to make any progress on the issue??

My case is that the ribbon connecting the sliding parts broke, and after replacing this one part, which includes the front cam and light sensor, I can no longer use the front cam. Skype automatically closes when activating that cam, and also the /dev/video1 file is missing. I do have the /dev/video0 in place and can use normally the rear cam. When using the 'mirror' application it directly shows the rear cam.

After creating video1 as previously indicated, 'mirror' throws the message "Error: Could not open resource for reading and writing" and black screen. After restarting the N900, video1 is gone and 'mirror' shows the rear camera again...

Have absolutely no clue what is going on... how to know if it is a hardware issue??

Try ln -s /dev/video0 /dev/video1.
udev will probably clear that on the next startup (and it wouldn't be a valid device file) but it's worth a shot, to simply try to use the main camera for Skype.

BTW, if you really cant get video1 to appear under /dev normally - I'd say either the cam or the ribbon is busted.

Hi there,

I replaced the whole front screen assembly with the one from my previous N900 and that got the front camera working so it looks like it was a hardware issue, in this case anyway.

So now can stream from the front cam although the picture is extremely dark, so much to be unuseable, and skype just locks up on me now if I try to enable the camera.

I haven't done much with this lately. This N900 I picked up second hand had issues besides the camera, including curious USB charging problems - it would charge from a computer but not the wall charger! After fixing the USB and changing the screen it would appear it still has some issues.

The front cam worked well under Skype on my original phone, so I was a bit confused with the poor picture after swapping the screen assembly over. Any thoughts on that one?

Best Regards,
Phil

i gave up on skype long ago. even when on wifi the connection was always really terrible. if i was lucky and the stars where aligned i could make an audio call with someone that sounded like max headroom.

Thanks for your replies 'Hurrian' and 'philnz', although unfortunately no luck.

Tried the command you mentioned but still when activating the frontcam on skype, it finishes the call.

I'll just assume it's a hardware issue and that's it, I can live with it, with such a poor image quality it is not a major loss...

hi there,
did u by any chance installed this?
I am asking because I had the same issue this sunday and managed to run this command provided by freemangordon, and it worked.

Might try it, though...

No, I haven't installed any extra things to see 720p videos... or any of the packages they refer to in that post.

I am not a programmer, so I will leave things like they are, as I am afraid I could break more things than I can fix...

But many thanks 'gorgezilla' for commenting your solution, it may help others who are in that case...