I don't see the camera image

decibel83 · Post by **decibel83** » Mon Jun 04, 2007 7:13 pm

Hi.
I installed Zoneminder 1.22.3 on a Debian Etch system with a Grandtec X-Guard PCI 9P capture card.
I connected two cameras to the first and second input port of the Grandtec and I added a test monitor in ZoneMinder with /dev/video0 as device and "0" as channel (the 0 channel should be the first input in the card).
I started ZoneMinder but I don't see any output image if I click on the monitor's name. If I open the zone window I only see a blue window instead of the output image.
Anyone could help me to solve this problem?
Thank you very much!
Bye.

jamescollings · Post by **jamescollings** » Tue Jun 05, 2007 9:09 am

Blue Screen??? sounds like the camera isn't sending an image to the Capture Card. Check the image coming back from the camera using a portable TV (or similar)

decibel83 · Post by **decibel83** » Tue Jun 05, 2007 10:09 am

I checked the cameras, and they work well on a TV.
I added the www-data user to the video group, but I still don't see anything.
In the zone configuration windows in Zoneminder I only see a blue rectangle, and in the capture window I don't see anything (I see the white rectangle as the image doesn't exist).

Any idea?

decibel83 · Post by **decibel83** » Tue Jun 05, 2007 10:23 am

I tested the capture card and the cameras on Windows with the original Grandtec Windows drivers and it works without any problem, so it isn't a card or camera related problem...

jamescollings · Post by **jamescollings** » Tue Jun 05, 2007 10:23 am

Ah, if you are not getting an image in the capture window, then have a look at either of the following two threads:

http://www.zoneminder.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=5530

http://www.zoneminder.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=9203

decibel83 · Post by **decibel83** » Tue Jun 05, 2007 10:34 am

How I can test the card on Linux to be use that it isn't a Linux related problem?
I tried with mplayer but if I execute mplayer -tv device=/dev/video0:input=0 it doesn't start and show me the help page, like the command is not correct.
With vlc I can't select the input but only the device.

decibel83 · Post by **decibel83** » Tue Jun 05, 2007 10:37 am

The first topic you linked me (http://www.zoneminder.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=5530) tells about problems with the authentication, but for now I haven't the authentication enabled...

jamescollings · Post by **jamescollings** » Tue Jun 05, 2007 10:51 am

decibel83 wrote:but for now I haven't the authentication enabled...

ok... (I only mention it, because it was a problem that I was having on a new system of mine).

Back to basics.. although I have never had to do this, I know that many people use XAWTV to test their camera-card-linux set up (ie: remove Zoneminder from the equation). As I say, I've never used this, but if you search for XAWTV on the forums then you might find instructions.

sorry, I've run out of other ideas.