Libcamera-still fails to start camera on Raspberry Pi IMX477 Mini HQ Camera

Raspberry Pi Cameras
1

Hi, I’ve got a 12MP IMX477 Mini HQ Camera Module for Raspberry Pi and I’ve honestly never got it to work since I bought it. Running on Pi OS 11 (Bullseye). Any time I try to take a still with the simplest possible command it just dies.

Command:

libcamera-still

The weird part is the module seems to initialise and the preview window even opens up during the init routine, but then it fails to start streaming. I get “failed to start camera”. I feel like I’ve tried everything. Is this a camera board failure, a cable fault, or something wrong with the Pi itself? Should I send it back? Any help appreciated.

2

Hey, thanks for the details. Before we point fingers at the hardware, can you paste the full terminal output you get when you run libcamera-still? The lines just before the failure usually tell us which device/sensor step it’s choking on.

3

Sure, here’s the simplified version of what it spits out:

INFO Camera camera_manager.cpp:293...
INFO RPI rasberrypi.cpp:1368...
INFO Camera camera.cpp:1029...
INFO RPI rasberrypi.cpp:756...
ERROR V4L2 v4l2_videodevice.cpp:1867 /dev/video14[19:cap]: Failed to start streaming: No such file or directory
Error *** failed to start camera ***

That “No such file or directory” on /dev/video14 is what’s bugging me.

4

Got it, that error is a good clue. Just so we’re on the same page, what have you already tried so far? I don’t want to make you repeat steps.

5

A lot, honestly. I’ve followed a bunch of instructions several times over, from the shop I got it from, YouTube videos, and some blogs where people had the same error.

  • Took the cable out, cleaned the contacts and reinstalled it (several times)
  • Installed a fresh copy of Raspberry Pi OS (Bullseye)
  • Installed video devices
  • Updated
  • Upgraded
  • Also tried a light version of Pi OS
  • Again updated, upgraded, installed new device drivers

Still the same result every time.

6

OK, that’s thorough. One thing worth clarifying first: the IMX477 is actually the official Raspberry Pi camera. Arducam only modifies the lens on it, so functionally there’s no difference between normal use of this module and the official IMX477. That means all the standard official IMX477 procedures and drivers apply here.

Before we dig deeper into this specific case, try following this existing forum thread first, it covers a very similar “No image” symptom on an Arducam 12MP camera:

It may help you sort it out. Give that a try and let me know how you get on.

7

Thanks, I’ll work through that thread and report back.

8

Sounds good. We’ll also keep checking this case on our side and get back to you as we learn more. In the meantime, do try the steps in that thread first, since the symptom lines up closely with what you’re seeing.

9

Hi, yes I did that a few days ago and it solved it. I jumped the gun with the support request before exhausting all avenues. Thanks for the pointer, working fine now.

10

No worries at all, glad it’s sorted. For anyone finding this thread later with the same symptom on Pi OS 11 (Bullseye) and the IMX477 Mini HQ:

  • The module is the official Raspberry Pi IMX477, Arducam only changed the lens, so standard official IMX477 setup applies.
  • The failure shows up as:
ERROR V4L2 v4l2_videodevice.cpp:1867 /dev/video14[19:cap]: Failed to start streaming: No such file or directory
Error *** failed to start camera ***

If the same steps don’t clear it for you, post your libcamera-still output here and we’ll take a look.