I just got an Arducam 2.3MP AR0234 Color Global Shutter USB 3.0 Camera Module and I can’t get it to work on my Windows PC at all. I’ve tried the built-in Camera app, PotPlayer, and even a Python script using OpenCV — nothing shows any video. The camera just doesn’t seem to be detected. I followed the Quick Start Guide on the Arducam docs site step by step, and even went and installed the drivers from the GitHub repo under ArduCAM_USB_Camera_Shield/Windows. Still no luck. Has anyone else run into this? Am I missing something obvious?
The AR0234 USB 3.0 camera is designed as a UVC plug-and-play device, so you shouldn’t need any extra drivers — in fact, installing those GitHub drivers might cause more confusion since they’re meant for a different product line. Let’s start with some basic diagnostics first. Can you open Device Manager on your Windows PC (right-click Start → Device Manager), then plug in the camera and tell me what you see? Does a new entry appear, and if so, under which category and with what name? If the camera is recognized correctly, it should show up under ‘Cameras’ or ‘Imaging devices’ as a UVC device.
Okay, I checked Device Manager. When I plug the camera in, something does show up, but it’s not under Cameras or Imaging devices — it appears under ‘Other devices’ and it’s listed as ‘westbridge’. That doesn’t look right to me. Is that normal?
That confirms the issue — ‘westbridge’ is definitely not normal for this camera. ‘West Bridge’ is a term associated with Cypress EZ-USB FX3/FX2 bootloader devices. What this means is your camera is enumerating in a firmware download mode, not in its normal UVC operating mode. Essentially the main firmware on the camera isn’t loading properly — it’s stuck in the bootloader. This is sometimes referred to as a bricked state and it won’t resolve on its own just by reinstalling drivers or restarting. The camera needs a firmware reset, which involves re-flashing the firmware to get it out of the bootloader mode and back to normal UVC operation. I can help you with this through a remote support session — I’ve sent you the details via private message including how we can connect and schedule a time. Please check your messages when you get a chance.