gqcam 0.9
---------
Required
--------
A Video4Linux compatible camera (see http://www.exploits.org/v4l if in
doubt)
A Video4Linux compatible kernel (probably 2.2.x and above will work fine)
GTK+ (probably 1.2.x or above, see http://www.gtk.org if you don't have
it)
libjpeg (not sure what version is required - I'm using libjpeg-6b-9)
libpng (probably needs version 1.0.3 or later - if you are getting compile
errors about missing symbols in libpng.so, check to see if you
need to upgrade)
Getting Gqcam to work - the quick version
-------------
After you have gathered all of those items together, you are about set.
Make sure your kernel has Video4Linux support for your camera either
compiled in or built as a module (for more information on recompiling
kernels, take a look at http://www.linuxdoc.org/). Unpack gqcam's tar.gz
(if you are reading this, you probably already did that...) and type
"make" in the directory it creates. After a few moments you should have a
brand new gqcam binary. Insert the Video4Linux modules if you need to
("modprobe c-qcam" for a Color QuickCam, "modprobe cpia" or something
similar for a CPiA based camera, etc), and run "./gqcam" to get things
going. Once it is working you can copy the gqcam binary to wherever you
want to make things as easy or hard as you like. Enjoy!
Getting Gqcam to work - the longer version
-------------
Collect all of the required items listed above, unpack the gqcam .tar.gz
file, and in the newly created directory type:
make
A few moments and you should have a nice binary called gqcam in
that directory. You are now ready to run gqcam, but might need to do some
extra setting up of your system. Following is a very nice walkthrough on
setting up the kernel to use Video4Linux. It was sent to me by James
Sizemore (James@deny.org), and covers things quite nicely. He originally
wrote it with the greyscale camera in mind, and I updated it a little to
apply to any camera, but the procedure is the same. Thank, James!
======================================================================
Gqcam needs the Video4Linux API and the proper video drivers loaded
in the kernel; either as a module or compiled in. Provided you have a
modern kernel 2.2.x, you may already have the two modules you need to
load.
Type either " modprobe -l -t misc " or " modprobe -l -t video" This will
list all the modules you have in these categories on your screen. You
should find "videodev" in the list as well as the driver you plan to use
for your camera. For example, with my greyscale Quickcam I need the
module "bw-qcam" along with "videodev" as seen below:
/lib/modules/2.2.12-20/misc/videodev.o
/lib/modules/2.2.12-20/misc/bw-qcam.o
(Of course, there will more than likely be many more files listed along
with these.)
If they are there, using modprobe and lsmod you can load these on your
system.
Type su and your root password; you will need to be root.
Type "modprobe -a videodev"
Type "modprobe -a <your camera's driver>"
(in my example case, that would be "modprobe -a bw-qcam"
This should have loaded the drivers you needed.
To check use lsmod:
After typing "lsmod" you should see something like this:
bw-qcam 6964 0 (unused)
videodev 2368 1 [bw-qcam]
If not you may have to compile the kernel modules by hand. You can
find them at : http://www.exploits.org/v4l/
See "man modprobe" and "man lsmod" for more options.
After you load the modules You may need to create the /dev files
for Gqcam to access the drivers. Check to see if you have
"/dev/video0" or "/dev/video" if not you will need to use "mknod"
to create these files. The Video4Linus API recommends you have these
/dev's on you system:
Device Name Minor Range Function
/dev/video 0-63 Video Capture Interface
/dev/radio 64-127 AM/FM Radio Devices
/dev/vtx 192-223 Teletext Interface Chips
/dev/vbi 224-239 Raw VBI Data
(Intercast/telete$
And /dev/bttv should be a symlink to /dev/video0 for most people.
You can find the Major numbers here:
ftp://ftp.kernel.org/pub/linux/docs/device-list/
If they don't exist (There is a good chance that they will already be
there with the latest distributions) use these commands to create them:
Type "mknod /dev/video0 c 81 0".
Type "mknod /dev/video1 c 81 1".
Type "mknod /dev/radio0 c 81 64".
Type "mknod /dev/radio1 c 81 65".
Type "mknod /dev/vtx0 c 81 192".
Type "mknod /dev/vtx1 c 81 193".
Type "mknod /dev/vbi0 c 81 224".
Type "mknod /dev/vbi1 c 81 225 ".
Type "ln -s video0 bttv".
Type "ln -s video0 video"
You will also need to "chmod 666 " all these files.
So Gqcam can read and write to the QuickCam.
Creating the devices only needs to be done once and they may already
exist. Check to make sure they really aren't there before creating them
as shown above.
You can find more information on this subject here:
http://roadrunner.swansea.uk.linux.org/v4lapi.shtml
and by typing "man mknod" and "man ln" and "chmod"
That is all you should need to do to get things working. After everything
is set up, run gqcam and watch those pretty pictures flip across your
screen. Enjoy!
