Having trouble getting more than one OV9281 UVC camera working at the same time on a single Windows 11 machine. Each camera works fine by itself - if I open one camera in an app, the preview comes up normally. But as soon as I open a second camera (same app or a different app), the second one won’t show an image and the first camera freezes. I already tried changing the serial number and device name using the Serial-Number-Tool. The names did change in Device Manager, but it didn’t help - still can’t get both devices to show an image at the same time. Anyone run into this?
Thanks for the details. To narrow this down, could you share the SKU number of the camera, or upload a couple of photos of the front and back? That will help us confirm the exact hardware variant before we go deeper.
Here’s the info - model is OV9281, UVC camera (webcam) series. We have about 10 of these. Platform is Windows 11. For troubleshooting so far I’ve only used the Serial-Number-Tool to change the serial number and device name. The device names changed, but both cameras still won’t show an image at the same time.
Attaching pictures of one of the cameras:
Thanks for the photos. Based on what you’re describing, this looks like a USB bandwidth limitation. When multiple UVC cameras are competing for bandwidth on the same USB controller or hub, opening a second camera can starve the first one - which matches the freeze you’re seeing. Other USB devices connected to the PC can make this worse too.
Two things to try:
- Check what other USB devices are connected to the PC, especially anything on the same controller/hub, and unplug the non-essential ones.
- Lower the camera resolution and framerate, then see if the second camera will preview.
This isn’t a definitive fix yet, but it should tell us whether USB bandwidth is the actual culprit.