Sharp Camera

[mathemajikian]

So I'm guessing that this little $19.99 camera could never be made to work under openbsd?  

Sharp Zaurus Camera

[Hrw]

no documentation, no open driver for it == no OpenBSD support, no Linux-2.6 support

[dhns]

no documentation, no open driver for it == no OpenBSD support, no Linux-2.6 support
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Documentation is (or at least was) open by Sharp (I do not have the link at the moment).

It just needs a serial PCMCIA driver for some /dev/tty

There are some command bytes that must be sent to the camera and it will return a JPEG image and/or the status of the button or if the camera has been rotated.

-- hns

[dhns]

Documentation is (or at least was) open by Sharp (I do not have the link at the moment).

Here it is: http://www.vanille.de/tools/camera-API.pdf

-- hns

[koen]

Documentation is (or at least was) open by Sharp (I do not have the link at the moment).

Here it is: http://www.vanille.de/tools/camera-API.pdf

-- hns
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I didn't know the linux kernel was written in C++ and returned QImages for image data.

[dhns]

I didn't know the linux kernel was written in C++ and returned QImages for image data.

This is not at all kernel documentation - it is user space. And it is the documentation of a Sharp library which defines the class QImages to encapsulate a very simple serial line interface protocol.

If you read into it, it says e.g.:

This process is implemented by writing following String to the device:
“S=w,h,z,l” (r=false: capture camera image as-is)
“R=w,h,z,l” (r=true: capture camera image with 90-degree rotation)

So, you can write

echo "S=128,128,256,0" >/dev/tty???

.

As long as any device has a CF slot and a serial CF driver, it can use the camera. It does not need a special kernel driver!

What else is needed to make it work?

-- hns

[iamasmith]

You can see the list of currently supported hardware on the Zaurus project page at www.openbsd.org. It does still omit a few known to work cards like the Socket 10/100 CF card that I added but it covers the Zaurus stuff generally quite well.

I don't actually have one of these cards to test.

It is feasible that it may look like a CF serial card to a driver and be immediately recognised and you would then be into writing a camera application to manage it.

It is also feasible (I haven't looked at any of the Sharp kernel source for a while) that the camera may need a firmware download from the driver and/or the card may need special handling because it doesn't actually look like a CF serial card and the driver abstracts it - this could be a lot of work, but as I said I don't really know because I haven't looked at the original source for the driver.

-Andy

[dhns]

It is also feasible (I haven't looked at any of the Sharp kernel source for a while) that the camera may need a firmware download from the driver and/or the card may need special handling because it doesn't actually look like a CF serial card and the driver abstracts it - this could be a lot of work, but as I said I don't really know because I haven't looked at the original source for the driver.

What I don't know is if there is a firmware download - but I heavily doubt it.

I have made the card working for QuantumSTEP by a simple open() to the serial device - but admittedly on the standard Sharp Linux kernel.

-- hns

[Sequethin]

List price 199 - Buy new 19.99?! What am I missing here?

[dhns]

List price 199 - Buy new 19.99?! What am I missing here?
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Probably a good opportunity. The cam design is approx. 4 years old - was developed with the SL5500. And since then in over-stock. Quality is ok - but a little outdated. Might not be lead free.

-- hns

[moi]

The price difference are four years.

even for that price, 20$ for a third of a megapixel is really expensive. It's even worse than the first camera-phones. A good painting/sketching soft would make you get better shots

What about the cheapest camera and USB? That would do better results, or at least, better results/effort ratio.

[mathemajikian]

Great picture!

The price difference are four years.

even for that price, 20$ for a third of a megapixel is really expensive. It's even worse than the first camera-phones. A good painting/sketching soft would make you get better shots

What about the cheapest camera and USB? That would do better results, or at least, better results/effort ratio.
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[mathemajikian]

ok so I went off and bought one of the little cameras. Heres the output from dmesg

"SHARP, CEAG06  " (manufacturer 0xb0, product 0x1) at pcmcia1 function 0 not configured

I don't actually have one of these cards to test.

It is feasible that it may look like a CF serial card to a driver and be immediately recognised and you would then be into writing a camera application to manage it.

It is also feasible (I haven't looked at any of the Sharp kernel source for a while) that the camera may need a firmware download from the driver and/or the card may need special handling because it doesn't actually look like a CF serial card and the driver abstracts it - this could be a lot of work, but as I said I don't really know because I haven't looked at the original source for the driver.

-Andy
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[Mickeyl]

It just _isn't_ appearing as a serial device, that's what Hrw and Koen already told you. It implements a serial protocol over a proprietary driver.

[kahm]

AFAIK, the camera requires a kernel module from sharp that is binary only, and only works with the 2.4.18 kernel. I think that limits the card to the SL6000 or the 860 as the newest Zs that will work with it.