Wrong Webcam Driver

Wrong Webcam Driver

I have two Logitech C920 PRO HD webcams connected to my system via USB. However, one of these cameras displays the wrong name in the lsusb command output:

Bus 003 Device 003: ID 046d:0892 Logitech, Inc. OrbiCam
Bus 003 Device 002: ID 046d:082d Logitech, Inc. HD Pro Webcam C920

I think the system is assigning a wrong driver to one of the cameras, hence the wrong name (OrbiCam). Apart from the name, another problem caused by it is that I can't access the H264 stream from this webcam. The output of the ffmpeg command shown below lists that the camera with the wrong name in lsusb doesn't have a h264 stream:

Webcam with the correct driver:

ffmpeg version n4.2.2 Copyright (c) 2000-2019 the FFmpeg developers
  built with gcc 9.3.0 (Arch Linux 9.3.0-1)
  configuration: --prefix=/usr --disable-debug --disable-static --disable-stripping --enable-fontconfig --enable-gmp --enable-gnutls --enable-gpl --enable-ladspa --enable-libaom --enable-libass --enable-libbluray --enable-libdav1d --enable-libdrm --enable-libfreetype --enable-libfribidi --enable-libgsm --enable-libiec61883 --enable-libjack --enable-libmfx --enable-libmodplug --enable-libmp3lame --enable-libopencore_amrnb --enable-libopencore_amrwb --enable-libopenjpeg --enable-libopus --enable-libpulse --enable-libsoxr --enable-libspeex --enable-libssh --enable-libtheora --enable-libv4l2 --enable-libvidstab --enable-libvorbis --enable-libvpx --enable-libwebp --enable-libx264 --enable-libx265 --enable-libxcb --enable-libxml2 --enable-libxvid --enable-nvdec --enable-nvenc --enable-omx --enable-shared --enable-version3
  libavutil      56. 31.100 / 56. 31.100
  libavcodec     58. 54.100 / 58. 54.100
  libavformat    58. 29.100 / 58. 29.100
  libavdevice    58.  8.100 / 58.  8.100
  libavfilter     7. 57.100 /  7. 57.100
  libswscale      5.  5.100 /  5.  5.100
  libswresample   3.  5.100 /  3.  5.100
  libpostproc    55.  5.100 / 55.  5.100
[video4linux2,v4l2 @ 0x555ff5479100] Raw       :     yuyv422 :           YUYV 4:2:2 : 640x480 160x90 160x120 176x144 320x180 320x240 352x288 432x240 640x360 800x448 800x600 864x480 960x720 1024x576 1280x720 1600x896 1920x1080 2304x1296 2304x1536
[video4linux2,v4l2 @ 0x555ff5479100] Compressed:        h264 :                H.264 : 640x480 160x90 160x120 176x144 320x180 320x240 352x288 432x240 640x360 800x448 800x600 864x480 960x720 1024x576 1280x720 1600x896 1920x1080
[video4linux2,v4l2 @ 0x555ff5479100] Compressed:       mjpeg :          Motion-JPEG : 640x480 160x90 160x120 176x144 320x180 320x240 352x288 432x240 640x360 800x448 800x600 864x480 960x720 1024x576 1280x720 1600x896 1920x1080
/dev/video0: Immediate exit requested

Webcam with incorrect driver (missing h264 stream):

ffmpeg version n4.2.2 Copyright (c) 2000-2019 the FFmpeg developers
  built with gcc 9.3.0 (Arch Linux 9.3.0-1)
  configuration: --prefix=/usr --disable-debug --disable-static --disable-stripping --enable-fontconfig --enable-gmp --enable-gnutls --enable-gpl --enable-ladspa --enable-libaom --enable-libass --enable-libbluray --enable-libdav1d --enable-libdrm --enable-libfreetype --enable-libfribidi --enable-libgsm --enable-libiec61883 --enable-libjack --enable-libmfx --enable-libmodplug --enable-libmp3lame --enable-libopencore_amrnb --enable-libopencore_amrwb --enable-libopenjpeg --enable-libopus --enable-libpulse --enable-libsoxr --enable-libspeex --enable-libssh --enable-libtheora --enable-libv4l2 --enable-libvidstab --enable-libvorbis --enable-libvpx --enable-libwebp --enable-libx264 --enable-libx265 --enable-libxcb --enable-libxml2 --enable-libxvid --enable-nvdec --enable-nvenc --enable-omx --enable-shared --enable-version3
  libavutil      56. 31.100 / 56. 31.100
  libavcodec     58. 54.100 / 58. 54.100
  libavformat    58. 29.100 / 58. 29.100
  libavdevice    58.  8.100 / 58.  8.100
  libavfilter     7. 57.100 /  7. 57.100
  libswscale      5.  5.100 /  5.  5.100
  libswresample   3.  5.100 /  3.  5.100
  libpostproc    55.  5.100 / 55.  5.100
[video4linux2,v4l2 @ 0x559807fbb100] Raw       :     yuyv422 :           YUYV 4:2:2 : 640x480 160x90 160x120 176x144 320x180 320x240 352x288 432x240 640x360 800x448 800x600 864x480 960x720 1024x576 1280x720 1600x896 1920x1080 2304x1296 2304x1536
[video4linux2,v4l2 @ 0x559807fbb100] Compressed:       mjpeg :          Motion-JPEG : 640x480 160x90 160x120 176x144 320x180 320x240 352x288 432x240 640x360 800x448 800x600 864x480 960x720 1024x576 1280x720 1600x896 1920x1080
/dev/video2: Immediate exit requested

I tried it with other USB ports, different systems (Manjaro) and even on a Raspberry Pi 3B and on all of them this driver error happened. Therefore, I think it may be a kernel-related issue or a problem with the Linux UVC driver.

So, I wanted to know how I can change the device driver being used by a webcam so that I can match the drivers of both webcam and fix this problem. As you can see, both cameras are the same model, but they show different Product IDs (PID) in lsusb (046d:0892 vs 046d:082d).

Any help would be much appreciated.

2

1 Answer

Not sure if this is still relevant but the two cameras seem to have slightly different hardware. The newer one identified as OrbiCam (USB ID 046d:0892) is not capable of doing H.264 streaming. Logitech changed the hardware at some point in 2018.

This blog post sheds some light on the situation. Someone contacted Logitech customer support and they confirm the above.

I can confirm that mine shows up as OrbiCam as well in lsusb:

046d:0892 Logitech, Inc. OrbiCam

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James H. Sterling
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James H. Sterling

James Sterling reports on renewable energy developments, climate policy, ecological conservation, and green tech innovations around the globe.