eMPIA Silvercrest 2710

eMPIA Silvercrest 2710

[Joel Jordan]

Dear list :o)
 
  Has there been any work done on the eMPIA Silvercrest EM2710 (device for webcams)?  After reading the announcements of free Linux driver development I decided to contact eMPIA about my newly acquired webcam
(see below).  They appear happy to support Linux development work for a driver.
 
many thanks,
  Joel (Jordan)
 
 
 
 
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Empia Tech Support" <support@empiatech.com>
To: zcacjxj@hotmail.com
Sent: Wednesday, November 05, 2008 9:34 PM
Subject: Re: eMPIA silvercrest 2710

> Hi,> > > Unfortunatly, we do not have Linux driver for EM2710.> > If people know how to develop Linux driver and is interesting to spend the > time on it. we certainly can consider to release spec under further > discussion.> > > Best regards> jeff> ----- Original Message ----- > From: "Joel" <zcacjxj@hotmail.com>> To: <support@empiatech.com>> Sent: Wednesday, November 05, 2008 9:21 PM> Subject: eMPIA silvercrest 2710> > >> Dear Sir or Madam,>>>>          I have recently bought a camera built on the 2710 which works>>        fine under Windows.  However, I migrated to Linux a year ago or>>        so, and it is a much better work environment.  Unfortunately,>>        the 2710 does not appear to have support under Linux.  Please>>        could you tell me whether you have a proprietary driver, or>>        whether a driver is under development, or whether the>>        specifications will be made available for the Linux driver>>        development (Linux Driver Project) group?>>>>        The Linux Driver Project have recently announced free>>        development to companies such as yourself in order to get your>>        hardware working under Linux.>>        http://www.linuxdriverproject.org/twiki/bin/view>>        Naturally, this means greater sales due to wider compatibility,>>        happy customers, and free marketing to those finding your>>        equipment in the lists of Linux supported equipment.>>>>        With thanks & best wishes,>>        Yours faithfully,>>        Joel (Jordan)>>>>>>>> >
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Re: eMPIA Silvercrest 2710

[Mauro Carvalho Chehab]

Hi Joel,

Em Fri, 7 Nov 2008 10:10:45 +0000
Joel Jordan <zcacjxj@hotmail.com> escreveu:

 
>   Has there been any work done on the eMPIA Silvercrest EM2710 (device for webcams)?

I borrowed a Silvercrest 1.3 Mpix camera, based on em2710 and mt9v011 with a
friend, at the end of a conference that happened last week. After spending some
spare time on it at the airplane while returning back home, I discovered how to
enable stream on it.

Basically, there were just a very few registers that was needing a different
initialization, plus a driver to the sensor inside.

Could you please test the latest development code and see if this works for you also?

It is at:
	http://linuxtv.org/hg/v4l-dvb

The driver is the em28xx. As the camera uses the generic vendor usb id
(eb1a:2820), you'll need to force the driver to load the proper card
parameters, by using card=71 at module probing. This can be done by calling:

	modprobe em28xx card=71

Or by adding an options line on your /etc/modprobe.conf (or the equivalent file on your machine):
	options em28xx card=71

You need to do one of the above procedures _before_ plug the camera, or
otherwise it will take the generic entry that won't work.

Currently, the driver offers a very basic support. Only 640x480 with auto gain, auto
bright, etc. The normal controls (contrast, bright, etc) are not available.

When I have more spare time, I'll try to play with the sensors and see what
else we can enable. The sensor seems to support some fancy things like digital
zoom, and CIF/QVGA resolutions at higher rate. However, don't expect too much
time from me on it, due to my other duties.

If you also want to play with it, the specs of the sensor is available at:
	http://download.micron.com/pdf/datasheets/imaging/MT9V011.pdf

Feel free to submit us patches to improve the webcam support



Cheers,
Mauro

Re: eMPIA Silvercrest 2710

[Hans de Goede]

Hi,


On 07/03/2009 08:21 AM, Mauro Carvalho Chehab wrote:
> Hi Joel,
>
> Em Fri, 7 Nov 2008 10:10:45 +0000
> Joel Jordan<zcacjxj@hotmail.com>  escreveu:
>
>
>>    Has there been any work done on the eMPIA Silvercrest EM2710 (device for webcams)?
>
> I borrowed a Silvercrest 1.3 Mpix camera, based on em2710 and mt9v011 with a
> friend, at the end of a conference that happened last week. After spending some
> spare time on it at the airplane while returning back home, I discovered how to
> enable stream on it.
>

My that webcam has done some interesting travelling (me -> Dough -> you), I'm glad
it finally ended at someone who has managed to get it to produce a picture under Linux.

> Basically, there were just a very few registers that was needing a different
> initialization, plus a driver to the sensor inside.
>
> Could you please test the latest development code and see if this works for you also?
>
> It is at:
> 	http://linuxtv.org/hg/v4l-dvb
>
> The driver is the em28xx. As the camera uses the generic vendor usb id
> (eb1a:2820), you'll need to force the driver to load the proper card
> parameters, by using card=71 at module probing. This can be done by calling:
>
> 	modprobe em28xx card=71
>
> Or by adding an options line on your /etc/modprobe.conf (or the equivalent file on your machine):
> 	options em28xx card=71
>
> You need to do one of the above procedures _before_ plug the camera, or
> otherwise it will take the generic entry that won't work.
>


Hmm, having to specify the card=71 parameter, sucks, that makes this a very non plug
and play / not just working experience for end users. Question would it be possible to
modify the em28xx driver to, when it sees the generic usb-id, setup the i2c controller
approriately and then check:
1) If there is anything at the i2c address of the mt9v011 sensor
2) Read a couple of identification registers (often sensors have special non changing
    registers for this)
3) If both the 1 and 2 test succeed set card to 71 itself ?

This is how we handle the problem of having one generic usb-id for a certain bridge, with
various different sensors used in different cams, I know the em28xx is a lot more complicated
as it does a lot more, but this may still work ?

Regards,

Hans

Re: eMPIA Silvercrest 2710

[Mauro Carvalho Chehab]

Em Fri, 03 Jul 2009 11:05:29 +0200
Hans de Goede <hdegoede@redhat.com> escreveu:

> My that webcam has done some interesting travelling (me -> Dough -> you), I'm glad
> it finally ended at someone who has managed to get it to produce a picture under Linux.

Yes. Thank you for borrow it!

> Hmm, having to specify the card=71 parameter, sucks, that makes this a very non plug
> and play / not just working experience for end users. Question would it be possible to
> modify the em28xx driver to, when it sees the generic usb-id, setup the i2c controller
> approriately and then check:
> 1) If there is anything at the i2c address of the mt9v011 sensor
> 2) Read a couple of identification registers (often sensors have special non changing
>     registers for this)
> 3) If both the 1 and 2 test succeed set card to 71 itself ?

The mt9v011 sensor has an unique ID, that can be read via register 0. One of the
issues is that it is using the same address as tvp5150 (that can also be
probed, since it also provides an unique ID via some register).

> This is how we handle the problem of having one generic usb-id for a certain bridge, with
> various different sensors used in different cams, I know the em28xx is a lot more complicated
> as it does a lot more, but this may still work ?

Yes, it may work. with the new i2c binding method, it would not be that hard to
do such method, but it would require some rework at em28xx-cards, since some
boards require a pre-i2c binding initialization, so board detection happens too
early inside the driver.



Cheers,
Mauro