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Finally EEEPC camera adobe flash support
04/05/08
(updated Dec. 27th) Finally thanks to My EeePC Blog there is a simple way to put Flash 10 on your old EEEPC. Some caveats, this method replaces some core libraries and may break other software you have installed. Packages it is known to break are build essentials, vlc, xchm, amule and some others. I used this method and it worked fine for me. The steps are fully explained at http://eeepc-albkwan.blogspot.com/2009/03/install-firefox-3-with-flashplayer-10.html so I won't repeat them here. If you decide that you don't want to take this radical a step you can still use the instructions shown below to get your camera working with the EEEPC default Flash installed. You should be aware that many websites only work with Flash 10 so upgrading as described above is probably your best option.
Though Flash 10 works most of the time you may have trouble getting it to recognize your camera. Getting things going on ustream.tv can be quite a chore. The good news is that the flashcam still works with Linux Flash 10 if you have trouble. You can also check out Flash camera support on the EEEPC 701 for my survey of flash based video websites and how to get them to work on the EEEPC 701.
The release of Flash 10 for Linux has rendered this method less necessary see EEEPC flash camera support without flashcam for details. Flash 10 has support for V4L2 which is what the EEEPC camera uses. Installing Flash 10 on your EEEPC brings with it a whole host of new issues.
I thought there must be a way to get the camera on the Asus EEEPC to work with Flash 9 which is the default the EEEPC shipped with. The sticking point was that the camera driver on the eeepc was v4l2 and linux flash plugin only supports v4l. Someone who was more energetic than I finally decided to do something about it. It's a bit of a convoluted installation but it seems to work You need this file flash-cam-eeepc-1.tgz The download file has been changed to add sudo chmod 666 /dev/video to the beginning of the vlback.sh file after some people reported problems with device permissions. This download file combines the original two downloads from http://forum.eeeuser.com/viewtopic.php?pid=203137, the original topic thread. This saves the irritating wait to download from the file sharing site where the files were hosted. I have also included the modified script that worked for me.
To use:
- download the file to your user directory
- extract the files by right clicking the file and choosing extract in the file manager, you should see a new vloopback folder created
- open a terminal window using CTRL-ALT-T and cd to the vloopback directory
- enter ./vlback.sh and press enter
You should see
ln: creating hard link `/dev/video' to `/dev/video0':
Input device: /dev/video
Size = 320 x 240
and the green camera light should come on. Don't close the terminal window unti you are done using the camera in flash. In your flash application be sure that you choose the vloopback device and not the uvc camera.
If I get some time over the weekend I will create a .deb package.
I neglected to give credit to The Flashcam project the guys who made all this possible.
30 comments
I’ve been trying to figure out how to do this for a few days and your instructions did the trick w/o problem. Thanks!
Not only you neglected to give credit, but you totally infringed GPL license that this project relies on.
Actually the last line of my post gives credit to the Flashcam project along with a link to the project. I repackaged some files that were compiled by others and posted on http://forum.eeeuser.com/viewtopic.php?pid=203137and modified one script. I’m not sure if they are in breach of the GPL because I don’t know if they changed the source but the original poster does link back to the source. I have a strong commitment to linux and open source and resent your suggestion that I am trying to appropriate someone elses work or not giving proper credit. If you are unhappy with the credit I have given please let me know what you think is appropriate and I’ll change it right away.
Thanks ! You saved me from a big headache trying to compile Flashcam project on my EeePC…
It works great…
Very good work.
The long cold winter has made me surly, I had a nice email exchange with Swift and I have changed the package to include the GPL license statement and a link to his website. I have also approached the original poster about providing his modified source which I will make available as soon as I get it.
Thanks for making this available. Unfortunately I get the following errors and it fails to work - any ideas?
/home/user/vloopback> ./vloopback.sh
insmod: error inserting ‘vloopback.ko’: -1 File exists
Failed to open loop device: /dev/video2 No such file or directory
My bad. It’s been a loooong day! Works perfectly now - thank you :)
I hope you don’t mind, I’ve uploaded a copy to my server and posted this on my site with full credits to you, Flashcam Project and GNU.
So many of my friends were fighting with this issue and I was incredibly happy to see it resolved in any way at all .
:) thank you! Loads!
Hey,
There is a problem, the system answer me the lines belows :
…..
/home/user/vloopback> ./vlback.sh
In:cr?ation d’un lien direct /dev/video’ vers /dev/video0′: le fichier existe
Input device: /dev/video
VIDIOC_QUERYCAP error 25, Inappropriate ioctl for device
…..
After that my camera is not awaible in any program on xandros, I have to start again the system!
Where is the problem please? thank you
Thanks for such a simple to apply fix. Helped me out enormously with a project that uses the Eee pc and a flash based web conference.
I used flashcam and it does work on my Eee 900, however it only seems to come up with the size 160x120, and not 320x240 as your article suggests.. Any ideas?
No idea about what to do on the 900.
The VIDIOC_QUERYCAP error 25, Inappropriate ioctl for device seems to occur when Adobe flash tries to open the device without the flashcam software running. The only I’ve found to clear it is to reboot the EEEPC.
This is really good work and thanks for putting the compiled stuff up to download - make and make install and all these weird things turn my brain to jelly.
I am grateful that you remember what Eee stands for - EASY !!
My green light is on and www.mebeam.com works just great.
system lock up after running script
using the terminal window:
got the error for ./vlback.sh
File exists
Failed to open loop device: /dev/video2 No such file or directory
but double clicking the vlback.sh in file manager did work, turning the webcam light green and allowing me to use mebeam.com, BUT
my eeepc now seems to hang all the time, and I can’t open firefox windows, skype, or use the shutdown button to shutdown. The ONLY way I can get click function back is to reboot by holding down the power key once to bring up the non-functional shutdown menu (non functional after running the scrip) then holding down the power button again.
Any help on what’s happening? any way to keep the webcam changes and lose the pc lockup?
I wouldn’t recommend running by doubleclicking, the reason for starting in a terminal window is so you can kill off the script before shutting down. I haven’t experienced the problems you mention but I only run the script when I want to use flash and I kill off the terminal window when I am done using the webcam in flash. If the script doesn’t run the first time in the terminal window try running it again, I have experienced that problem on occasion.
thanks so much for ur programm. my eee Pc is not missing anything now, i keep in easy mode and have everything to communicate when i travel.
thanks i will give this a try, Web cam use with social networking sites is the only bug in my love affair with my 701 Eee pc. Hopefully this will solve it
A deb. package would be great, as I am currently struggling to install it !
And as Flash 10 doesn’t seems to bring easy correction of that problem….
Thanks by advance if you can package it.
And thanks for the solution as it is, too !
I tried so hard to find this info site like this now i saw it.It’s great for its tips.
I’m still not able to get it to work.
I believe that I followed all the steps.
1. downloaded flash-cam to my user directory.
2. extracted in the file manager.
3. Did see the folder vloopback.
4. Open terminal and typed in ./vlback.sh
5. Then, got permission denied.
I don’t know where to go from here. Don’t know what I did wrong. Insight please.
Can somebody use really simple terms and like explain step by step how to set up the webcam on the asus Eee Pc Linux
Thank you
I’m desperate to get it working :L
can someone break this down for me?
so far i’ve:
* downloaded the file to your user directory
* extracted the files by right clicking the file and choosing extract in the file manager, you should see a new vloopback folder created
* open a terminal window using CTRL-ALT-T and cd to the vloopback directory
its the third step that gets me. what exactly does ‘’cd to the vloopback directory'’ mean? and how can i do this?
if i can figure that out i’m sure i can get this working.
cd to the vloopback directory means
open a terminal and type
cd vloopback and type enter
Still in need of further assistance.
so far i’ve:
* downloaded the file to my user directory
* extracted the files by right clicking the file and choosing extract in the file manager, I saw a new vloopback folder created
* opened a terminal window using CTRL-ALT-T and tried cd to the vloopback directory
when i open the terminal window and typed in ‘’cd vloopback'’ and then pushed enter. nothing happened. the terminal window displayed this:
bash: cd: vloopback: No such file or directory
i checked my file manager and extracted the files and saw that there is in fact a vloopback folder.
so what exactly am i doing wrong or is happening?
how to use the built in cam in asus eee pc 1005HA blue 0275 netbook? the cam did not work properly… i did not know why because when i format the pc with the packages cd(the operating system is windows 7) and still it did not work again..wat will i do?
pls help me solve this problem…thank you!!!
