04f2:b3be [Sony VAIO SVP13215PXB] Webcam is distorted

[Brad Erickson]

Start cheese on the current Ubuntu 16.04 LTS Beta. 640x480 works correctly. 1280x720 video fails with "There was an error playing video from the webcam"

I suspect the problem is in libjpeg or video4linux, but cannot be sure. I am happy to compile anything and I will reply to this issue generally same day.

ubuntu@ubuntu:~$ lsb_release -rd
Description: Ubuntu Xenial Xerus (development branch)
Release: 16.04
ubuntu@ubuntu:~$ apt-cache policy cheese
cheese:
  Installed: 3.18.1-2ubuntu2
  Candidate: 3.18.1-2ubuntu2
  Version table:
 *** 3.18.1-2ubuntu2 500
        500 http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu xenial/main amd64 Packages
        100 /var/lib/dpkg/status

Workaround for Google Hangouts: Click the "Quality"/"Phone Reception" icon and disable HD Video.

ProblemType: Bug
DistroRelease: Ubuntu 16.04
Package: cheese 3.18.1-2ubuntu2
ProcVersionSignature: Ubuntu 4.4.0-15.31-generic 4.4.6
Uname: Linux 4.4.0-15-generic x86_64
ApportVersion: 2.20-0ubuntu3
Architecture: amd64
CasperVersion: 1.368
CurrentDesktop: Unity
Date: Sat Mar 26 22:52:30 2016
ExecutablePath: /usr/bin/cheese
LiveMediaBuild: Ubuntu 16.04 LTS "Xenial Xerus" - Beta amd64 (20160323)
MachineType: innotek GmbH VirtualBox
ProcEnviron:
 TERM=xterm-256color
 SHELL=/bin/bash
 PATH=(custom, no user)
 LANG=en_US.UTF-8
 XDG_RUNTIME_DIR=<set>
RelatedPackageVersions:
 cheese 3.18.1-2ubuntu2
 cheese-common 3.18.1-2ubuntu2
SourcePackage: linux
UpgradeStatus: No upgrade log present (probably fresh install)
dmi.bios.date: 12/01/2006
dmi.bios.vendor: innotek GmbH
dmi.bios.version: VirtualBox
dmi.board.name: VirtualBox
dmi.board.vendor: Oracle Corporation
dmi.board.version: 1.2
dmi.chassis.type: 1
dmi.chassis.vendor: Oracle Corporation
dmi.modalias: dmi:bvninnotekGmbH:bvrVirtualBox:bd12/01/2006:svninnotekGmbH:pnVirtualBox:pvr1.2:rvnOracleCorporation:rnVirtualBox:rvr1.2:cvnOracleCorporation:ct1:cvr:
dmi.product.name: VirtualBox
dmi.product.version: 1.2
dmi.sys.vendor: innotek GmbH
lsusb:
 Bus 001 Device 002: ID 04f2:b3be Chicony Electronics Co., Ltd
 Bus 001 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0002 Linux Foundation 2.0 root hub
 Bus 002 Device 002: ID 80ee:0021 VirtualBox USB Tablet
 Bus 002 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0001 Linux Foundation 1.1 root hub
---
ApportVersion: 2.20-0ubuntu3
Architecture: amd64
CasperVersion: 1.368
CurrentDesktop: Unity
DistroRelease: Ubuntu 16.04
LiveMediaBuild: Ubuntu 16.04 LTS "Xenial Xerus" - Beta amd64 (20160323)
MachineType: Sony Corporation SVP13215PXB
Package: cheese 3.18.1-2ubuntu2
PackageArchitecture: amd64
ProcEnviron:
 TERM=xterm-256color
 PATH=(custom, no user)
 XDG_RUNTIME_DIR=<set>
 LANG=en_US.UTF-8
 SHELL=/bin/bash
ProcVersionSignature: Ubuntu 4.4.0-15.31-generic 4.4.6
RelatedPackageVersions:
 cheese 3.18.1-2ubuntu2
 cheese-common 3.18.1-2ubuntu2
Tags: xenial gstreamer-ok
Uname: Linux 4.4.0-15-generic x86_64
UpgradeStatus: No upgrade log present (probably fresh install)
UserGroups: adm cdrom dip lpadmin plugdev sambashare sudo
_MarkForUpload: True
dmi.bios.date: 03/24/2014
dmi.bios.vendor: American Megatrends Inc.
dmi.bios.version: R1044V7
dmi.board.asset.tag: N/A
dmi.board.name: VAIO
dmi.board.vendor: Sony Corporation
dmi.board.version: N/A
dmi.chassis.type: 10
dmi.chassis.vendor: Sony Corporation
dmi.chassis.version: N/A
dmi.modalias: dmi:bvnAmericanMegatrendsInc.:bvrR1044V7:bd03/24/2014:svnSonyCorporation:pnSVP13215PXB:pvrC60C55AF:rvnSonyCorporation:rnVAIO:rvrN/A:cvnSonyCorporation:ct10:cvrN/A:
dmi.product.name: SVP13215PXB
dmi.product.version: C60C55AF
dmi.sys.vendor: Sony Corporation

[Brad Erickson (eosrei)]

Related:
https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/cheese/+bug/1295247
https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/linux/+bug/1305306

Note: I am using USB pass-through with VirtualBox for testing 16.04 beta. This is exact same issue I have in 14.04. So, IMO, VirtualBox is unrelated. The webcam works correctly in all resolutions in Win7 in VirtualBox with USB pass-through.

[penalvch (penalvch)]

Brad, thank you for reporting this and helping make Ubuntu better.

Please execute the following command only once on the host OS (not a VM guest), as it will automatically gather debugging information, in a terminal:
apport-collect 1562417

[Brad Erickson (eosrei)]

Cheese does not run in debugging mode in 14.04 due to: https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/cheese/+bug/1486011

ERROR: hook /usr/share/apport/package-hooks/source_cheese.py crashed:
Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "/usr/lib/python2.7/dist-packages/apport/report.py", line 197, in _run_hook
    symb['add_info'](report, ui)
  File "/usr/share/apport/package-hooks/source_cheese.py", line 16, in add_info
    report['lspci'] = command_output(['lspci', '-vvnn'])
NameError: global name 'command_output' is not defined
...

The only way I can run this is in 16.04-beta.

[Brad Erickson (eosrei)]

Running apport-collect on 16.04-beta gives you all of the information I just gave you above. Doesn't it? Do you want me to submit this a second time?

[Brad Erickson (eosrei)]

apport information

[Brad Erickson (eosrei)]

apport information

[Brad Erickson (eosrei)]

apport information

[Brad Erickson (eosrei)]

apport information

[Brad Erickson (eosrei)]

apport information

[Brad Erickson (eosrei)]

apport information

[Brad Erickson (eosrei)]

$ cheese
libv4l2: error got 4 consecutive frame decode errors, last error: v4l-convert: libjpeg error: End Of Image

(cheese:3610): cheese-WARNING **: Internal data flow error.: gstbasesrc.c(2865): gst_base_src_loop (): /GstCameraBin:camerabin/GstWrapperCameraBinSrc:camera_source/GstBin:bin17/GstV4l2Src:video_source:
streaming task paused, reason error (-5)

[penalvch (penalvch)]

Brad, to clarify, did this problem not occur for you personally with the host (not VM) in a release prior to Xenial?

[Brad Erickson (eosrei)]

Every Linux OS I've run on directly on the hardware has had this issue. I'm currently running 14.04. The above/recent details are from running a Xenial off a USB flash. I've previously tried 15.10 with the same results.

USB pass-through gives high-speed direct access of the USB hardware to the guest operating system. Fedora 22 and Kubuntu have the same problem.

I use win7 in a VM for HD video chat.

[Brad Erickson (eosrei)]

I note you added the "bios-outdated-r1045v7" tag. Do you want me to upgrade the bios?

[Brad Erickson (eosrei)]

I just downloaded Precise 12.04.5 and confirmed the same issue in it also. What else do you need from me so this isn't Incomplete? Is there any additional debugging information I can create or find? Should I post this on the video4linux mailing list?

[Brad Erickson (eosrei)]

No change after bios update.

$ sudo dmidecode -s bios-version && sudo dmidecode -s bios-release-date
R1045V7
05/19/2015

[penalvch (penalvch)]

Brad, as per #12, the libv4l2 error seems collateral damage from the libjpeg errors.

However, I'm still fishing around for which liibjpeg is being used here (or both?!), as each has a different upstream group to contact:
https://launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/libjpeg8-empty
https://launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/libjpeg-turbo

Hence, I'll mark this Triaged for now against Cheese (even though the evidence doesn't suggest cheese is the root cause) so the cheese specialist(s) may review faster then my digging reveals.