Hi everyone, I’m stuck trying to get my Arducam camera working on a Raspberry Pi 3 B+. I keep getting errors every single time I try to use it. My setup is an Arducam camarray HAT with the Arducam 16MP autofocus camera. The errors show ‘ERROR V4L2’ type messages when I try to capture. I’ve searched through forums and found a couple of posts describing the exact same issue, but the only advice there was to contact support directly. I’ve attached a screenshot of the command output and errors I’m seeing. Any help would be really appreciated.
Thanks for the details. Looking at your setup, I can see the problem. The Arducam camarray HAT only works with the camera modules that are bundled with it. The 16MP autofocus camera you’re using is not compatible with the camarray HAT. Also, if you have the quad-cam version of the camarray HAT, all four cameras need to be connected to the board. If any of them are missing, you’ll hit a timeout error when running the libcamera command. Could you confirm which camarray HAT version you have, and whether all camera slots are populated?
Okay so I tried bypassing the camarray HAT entirely and plugged the camera directly into the Pi’s camera port. But now the Pi can’t detect the camera at all. I’m getting new errors now, different from before. I’ve attached a screenshot of the new error output.
Since the camera is no longer being detected when connected directly, let’s go through the Pivariety camera troubleshooting guide for Raspberry Pi. You can find it here: Troubleshooting - Arducam Wiki
It covers the common detection issues with these cameras on the Pi, including checking the cable orientation and running the detection commands. Give that a read and let me know if any of the steps change the behavior.
I went through the whole troubleshooting guide at that link, tried all the suggestions, but I’m still getting the exact same errors. Nothing changed. The camera still isn’t detected when connected directly to the Pi.
Thanks for trying. To dig into the V4L2 error further, I’ll need a bit more from you.
First, could you send pictures of the hardware connection - both the Raspberry Pi end and the camera end of the cable? That helps me rule out connection issues.
Second, please generate a camera bug report so I can see what’s happening on the system side. Reboot your device, then run these commands:
wget -O arducam-camera-bug-report https://github.com/Dion4cen/arducam-camera-bug-report/releases/download/Tool/arducam-camera-bug-report
chmod +x ./arducam-camera-bug-report
./arducam-camera-bug-report
This will create a file called arducam-bug-report.txt in the current directory. Please attach that file to your reply and I’ll take a look.
I’ve taken photos of the hardware connection on both ends (Pi side and camera side) and attached them here. I also ran the bug report tool and attached the arducam-bug-report.txt file it generated. Hopefully that gives you something to work with - the issue is still unresolved on my end.
Thanks for sending those over. I’ve reviewed the photos and the bug report, and I have a few things I’d like to check with you in real time. I’ve sent you the remote troubleshooting session details through private message - please check your inbox and let me know when you’re able to join.
To summarize where we are: the camarray HAT is not compatible with the 16MP autofocus camera, so bypassing it and connecting directly to the Pi is the right approach. We’re now looking at why the camera isn’t being detected in that direct connection setup. I’ll continue analyzing the bug report and we’ll pick this up in the live session.