Hi all, hoping someone can point me in the right direction because I’ve been fighting with this for about a month now. I have a MIPI Arducam stereo camera (OV9281) on a Raspberry Pi. Originally arducamstill would run okay, but everything else is broken - even the basic capture command doesn’t work, and the python file doesn’t work either. I gave up on that route and switched to streaming through v4l2. v4l2 can detect the camera and open it, but the FPS is really off. I’ve attached a screenshot of what I’m seeing.
Welcome to the forum. That’s a frustrating one. Let me get a bit more detail so we can narrow this down. When arducamstill runs, does it actually output a valid image? What exactly happens when you try the capture command - does it error out, hang, or save a blank file? Same question for the python script, if there’s a traceback please paste it. Also, what OS are you running on the Pi, and how did you install the camera software originally?
So arducamstill does produce an image, that part is fine. The capture command just fails - it doesn’t save anything useful, and sometimes it hangs. The python file throws an error when I run it, but I don’t have the exact traceback saved right now. With v4l2, the camera shows up and the stream opens, but the FPS is much lower than it should be and keeps jumping around - the screenshot shows it. As for the OS, it’s an older Raspbian image, I set this SD card up quite a while ago, so I’m not sure it’s current.
Thanks, that’s helpful. To be honest, the combination of symptoms points at the software/OS setup rather than the camera hardware. If arducamstill works but capture and the python script fail, that usually means the installation is a mess - different tools are pulling in different versions of the camera stack. The v4l2 FPS problem is almost certainly the same underlying issue. My recommendation would be to start clean and reflash the Raspberry Pi with the latest Bullseye OS, then set the camera up from scratch using the official procedure.
Okay, that makes sense - I did install things piecemeal over time, so a mixed-up install is very possible. Is there a specific guide you’d recommend so I don’t repeat the same mistakes?
Yes - after burning the latest Bullseye OS to your SD card, follow the official Arducam Pivariety multi-camera quick-start guide: Quick Start Guide for Arducam CamArray HAT Kit - Arducam Wiki
That guide is the correct setup procedure for the OV9281 stereo camera. It should give you a consistent install, which should clear up the capture/python failures and the v4l2 FPS issue you’re seeing. Give it a try and let us know how it goes.