Arducam 16MP autofocus camera install fails on Raspberry Pi Buster imx519_kernel_driver_low_speed

Raspberry Pi Cameras
1

Hi, I’m trying to get an Arducam 16MP autofocus camera (the IMX519 one) working on my Raspberry Pi and I can’t get it to come up at all. I followed the setup guide step by step but the install script errors out instead of installing the driver. The camera just never shows up. Has anyone run into this? Not sure what I’m missing.

2

Hi, happy to help. Can you share a bit more so we can narrow it down? Specifically the output of uname -a and cat /proc/cpuinfo | grep Revision, which OS you’re on (cat /etc/os-release), and the exact text the install script prints when it fails. That’ll tell us which driver package it’s trying to match against your kernel.

3

Sure, here’s what I’ve got:

  • Hardware Revision: a22082
  • Kernel Version: 5.4.79-v7+
  • Package it’s looking for: imx519_kernel_driver_low_speed – buster

When I run the installer it prints:

Cannot find the corresponding package, please send the following information to [email protected]

then repeats the hardware revision, kernel version and package, and finally:

You are using an unsupported kernel version, please install the official SD Card image (do not execute rpi-update): https://www.raspberrypi.com/software/operating-systems/

I’ve already tried all the steps in the guide (I2C enabled, dtoverlay added, rebooted, etc.) and it’s still the same.

4

Thanks, that helps. Quick question: what OS are you actually running? The -- buster in the package name matters, because the installer only ships prebuilt driver packages for specific kernel versions on the official Raspberry Pi OS images. Your kernel (5.4.79-v7+) isn’t one it has a prebuilt package for, which is why it bails out with ‘unsupported kernel version’. Are you on stock Raspberry Pi OS, or something custom?

5

Ah, I should have mentioned - I’m running OctoPrint (OctoPi), not Bullseye. Not the official desktop image. Same hardware though: revision a22082, kernel 5.4.79-v7+, and it’s still looking for the imx519_kernel_driver_low_speed – buster package. Same error, still stuck.

6

OK, that explains the ‘cannot find the corresponding package’ part. The prebuilt driver is matched against your kernel version at install time. OctoPi runs its own kernel build, so its version/ABI doesn’t line up with the prebuilt package the installer expects, even though the name says buster. A few things to check so we know where we stand:

  1. uname -r (confirm the running kernel)
  2. dmesg | grep -i imx519 and dmesg | grep -i i2c after a fresh boot - does the sensor show up at all?
  3. vcgencmd get_camera
  4. ls /dev/video*

Also, definitely avoid rpi-update here - it’ll move you to a kernel with no matching driver at all.

7

Alright, just ran those:

  • uname -r → 5.4.79-v7+
  • dmesg | grep -i imx519 → nothing comes back at all
  • dmesg | grep -i i2c → just the standard bcm2835 i2c adapter lines, no sensor
  • vcgencmd get_camera → supported=1 detected=0
  • ls /dev/video* → only /dev/video10 … /dev/video14, none of the normal camera nodes

So it looks like the sensor isn’t even being probed. I did enable I2C and add the dtoverlay like the guide says.

8

Right, detected=0 plus no imx519 lines in dmesg means the driver isn’t loaded, so the sensor can’t be probed - which lines up with the install failing. Two realistic paths from here:

  • Build the driver from source against your exact kernel (5.4.79-v7+). The prebuilt package will never match OctoPi’s kernel, but compiling the module locally against your running headers can work. You’d need the matching kernel headers.
  • Or run the camera install on a supported Raspberry Pi OS image (Bullseye) where the prebuilt package exists, and run OctoPrint on top of that. That’s the setup the prebuilt driver is actually tested against.

I’ve sent you the driver source package and build notes through private message - check your inbox. Before you go that route, can you confirm you have matching kernel headers? What do dpkg -l | grep -i headers and ls /lib/modules/$(uname -r)/build show?

9

Hmm, ls /lib/modules/$(uname -r)/build gives ‘No such file or directory’, and the headers aren’t installed. I tried to grab them but the version in the repo doesn’t match 5.4.79-v7+ exactly, so I can’t build against it right now. I went through the guide steps one more time anyway (re-enabled everything, rebooted) and it’s the exact same unsupported kernel / cannot find package error.

10

Thanks for confirming all that. Here’s where we’ve landed: the sensor isn’t being probed because the imx519 driver never installs, and it never installs because there’s no prebuilt imx519_kernel_driver_low_speed -- buster package that matches your running kernel (5.4.79-v7+ on OctoPi). Building from source is blocked too, since the matching kernel headers for 5.4.79-v7+ aren’t available for your OctoPi build. So this isn’t something the standard installer can fix on your current setup.

The workable route is to run a supported Raspberry Pi OS Bullseye image (the one the prebuilt driver targets) and install OctoPrint on top of that, so the kernel matches a driver package that actually exists. If you’d rather stay on OctoPi, you’d need a kernel build with matching headers so the module can be compiled - that’s more involved and depends on your specific OctoPi/kernel combo. Avoid rpi-update either way. Keep us posted and we’ll help you through whichever path you pick.