Hey everyone, I’m having trouble getting my Arducam OV9281 1MP Global Shutter Monochrome NoIR Camera Module (the one with the M12 mount lens) to work on my Raspberry Pi setup. I’ve tried it on both a Pi 4 and a Pi 3B+, but I’m getting no video feed at all. The camera just doesn’t seem to be detected or producing any output. I haven’t really done any troubleshooting yet — not sure where to start. Has anyone run into this? Any pointers would be appreciated.
Thanks for reaching out. Let’s start by gathering some system diagnostics so we can see what’s going on under the hood. There’s a tool that will collect all the relevant camera and system info for us.
Here’s what to do:
First, reboot your Pi to start from a clean state:
sudo reboot
Once you’re back in, download the diagnostic tool:
wget -O arducam-camera-bug-report https://github.com/Dion4cen/arducam-camera-bug-report/releases/download/Tool/arducam-camera-bug-report
Make it executable and run it:
chmod +x ./arducam-camera-bug-report && ./arducam-camera-bug-report
This will generate a file called arducam-bug-report.txt in your current directory. Please attach that file here in your reply, along with a couple of photos showing how the camera is connected to the Pi. That way we can spot any wiring or config issues right away.
Alright, I followed your steps. Did the sudo reboot, downloaded the tool with wget, and ran it with chmod +x ./arducam-camera-bug-report && ./arducam-camera-bug-report. It generated the arducam-bug-report.txt file fine.
I’ve attached the bug report and a couple photos of the camera connected to the Pi. Let me know what you find.
Thanks for the report and photos — that helps a lot.
Looking through the bug report, I can see the issue. In your /boot/config.txt, the device tree overlay line is currently set to:
dtoverlay=ov9281
This is missing an Arducam-specific parameter that the camera module needs to initialize properly. You’ll want to edit that line to include the arducam flag.
Open up /boot/config.txt:
sudo nano /boot/config.txt
Find the line that says:
dtoverlay=ov9281
And change it to:
dtoverlay=ov9281,arducam
Save the file, then reboot:
sudo reboot
Give that a try and let me know if the camera comes to life.
Just tried that — edited /boot/config.txt, changed dtoverlay=ov9281 to dtoverlay=ov9281,arducam, saved it, and rebooted. Unfortunately no luck. Still the exact same behavior: no video feed, camera doesn’t seem to be working at all. Really thought that was going to do it. What else can I check?
Thanks for trying that. Since the overlay change didn’t resolve it and we’ve gone through the standard remote diagnostics, I think we need to take a closer look at your setup in real time.
I’ve sent you a private message with the details for setting up a remote support session. Basically, you’ll need to install AnyDesk on your Raspberry Pi and share the 9-digit address ID with me. I’ve also included a link where you can book a time slot that works for you.
One thing to keep in mind — our support team operates on UTC+8 (Beijing/Hong Kong time), so just factor that in when picking a slot. Also, the 10:00 PM option on the calendar is for sales only, not for remote support, so avoid that one.
Once you’ve got AnyDesk installed and a time booked, just reply back with your AnyDesk ID and we’ll go from there.
Got it, thanks. So to recap where things stand: ran the diagnostic tool, tried the dtoverlay=ov9281,arducam change in config.txt, rebooted — still no dice on the camera. I’ll check my private messages for the AnyDesk details and get that set up. Will report back once I have the ID and a time slot booked. Appreciate the help so far.