I just received an ArduCam TOF camera and I can’t get it working at all. I followed the installation instructions and went through them several times, but the camera is never recognized. No matter what I do, the system doesn’t seem to see the camera. Is there something obvious I might be missing?
Hi, sorry to hear that. Could you describe exactly what you’ve tried so far and what happens at each step? For example, what do you see when you run the compile script, and what does the arrow in your screenshot point to? One thing that trips people up: the compile step often needs elevated permissions. Try running it with sudo, like this: sudo ./compile.sh. If you can share more detail about the area the arrow is pointing at in the screenshot, that would help too.
Thanks for the quick reply. I’ve checked the hardware connections several times now - the ribbon cable is seated correctly and the orientation looks right. I also took the same camera and tried it on a different Raspberry Pi, but it’s still not recognized there either. I need this working to test whether this camera and Raspberry Pi combination can be used in our product, so it’s getting a bit frustrating. Any other ideas?
Since the camera fails on two different Pis, let’s verify the boot configuration. Can you run this command and paste the full output here? cat /boot/config.txt. I want to check the camera/overlay settings - specifically camera_auto_detect and the dtoverlay=arducam-pivariety line.
Here is the output of cat /boot/config.txt:
rpi@raspberrypi:~ $ cat /boot/config.txt
# For more options and information see
# http://rpf.io/configtxt
# Some settings may impact device functionality. See link above for details
# uncomment if you get no picture on HDMI for a default "safe" mode
#hdmi_safe=1
# uncomment the following to adjust overscan. Use positive numbers if console
# goes off screen, and negative if there is too much border
#overscan_left=16
#overscan_right=16
#overscan_top=16
#overscan_bottom=16
# uncomment to force a console size. By default it will be display's size minus
# overscan.
#framebuffer_width=1280
#framebuffer_height=720
# uncomment if hdmi display is not detected and composite is being output
#hdmi_force_hotplug=1
# uncomment to force a specific HDMI mode (this will force VGA)
#hdmi_group=1
#hdmi_mode=1
# uncomment to force a HDMI mode rather than DVI. This can make audio work in
# DMT (computer monitor) modes
#hdmi_drive=2
# uncomment to increase signal to HDMI, if you have interference, blanking, or
# no display
#config_hdmi_boost=4
# uncomment for composite PAL
#sdtv_mode=2
#uncomment to overclock the arm. 700 MHz is the default.
#arm_freq=800
# Uncomment some or all of these to enable the optional hardware interfaces
#dtparam=i2c_arm=on
#dtparam=i2s=on
#dtparam=spi=on
# Uncomment this to enable infrared communication.
#dtoverlay=gpio-ir,gpio_pin=17
#dtoverlay=gpio-ir-tx,gpio_pin=18
# Additional overlays and parameters are documented /boot/overlays/README
# Enable audio (loads snd_bcm2835)
dtparam=audio=on
# Automatically load overlays for detected cameras
camera_auto_detect=0
# Automatically load overlays for detected DSI displays
display_auto_detect=1
# Enable DRM VC4 V3D driver
dtoverlay=vc4-kms-v3d
max_framebuffers=2
# Disable compensation for displays with overscan
disable_overscan=1
[cm4]
# Enable host mode on the 2711 built-in XHCI USB controller.
# This line should be removed if the legacy DWC2 controller is required
# (e.g. for USB device mode) or if USB support is not required.
otg_mode=1
[all]
[pi4]
# Run as fast as firmware / board allows
arm_boost=1
[all]
dtoverlay=arducam-pivariety
Thanks, I’ve gone through the output. camera_auto_detect=0 and dtoverlay=arducam-pivariety are both present and correct, and the rest of the config looks normal. Given that the connections have been checked and the same camera also fails on a second Pi, everything on the software and setup side appears fine. My conclusion is that the TOF camera itself is likely defective.