Question

USB PC Camera Driver - Is there a generic driver?

Asked by: rwired

I have obtaiined some sample USB Webcams from their manufacturer in China. However the manufacturer does not at this time have a driver for the cameras. In fact they are in the process of hiring a driver programmer to create one.

They are unbranded, and show up just as "PC Camera" in XP, which then looks for a driver, and can't find one.

On the Mac, they show up as:

PC Camera:
 Vendor Name:  Z-Star Corp.
 Speed:    Up to 12 Mb/sec
 Product ID:   12315 ($301b)
 Bus Power (mA):   100

I've tried various USB webcam drivers from various vendors, but cant get them to recognize.

Questions:

Is there a generic USB webcam driver I can try?

What are the steps involved in writing my own driver? i.e. what technical information would i need other that that which i can gather from polling the usb or breaking one of the devices appart and seeing what chipset it uses???



This Question has been solved and asker verified All Experts Exchange premium technology solutions are available to subscription members.

Subscribe now for full access to Experts Exchange and get

Instant Access to this Solution

  • Plus...
  • 30 Day FREE access, no risk, no obligation
  • Collaborate with the world's top tech experts
  • Unlimited access to our exclusive solution database
  • Never be left without tech help again

Subscribe Now

Asked On
2004-04-01 at 00:58:58ID20939732
Tags

driver

,

camera

,

generic

,

pc

,

usb

Topic

Miscellaneous Hardware

Participating Experts
7
Points
500
Comments
10

Trusted by hundreds of thousands everyday for fast, accurate and reliable tech support.

  • "The time we save is the biggest benefit of Experts Exchange to Warner Bros. What could take multiple guys 2 hours or more each to find is accessed in around 15 minutes on Experts Exchange." Mike Kapnisakis, Warner Bros.
  • "Our team likes having a resource that is more secure than just using Google and most experts using this service really know their stuff. It's nice to look here first versus using Google." Dayna Sellner, Lockheed Martin
  • "Anytime that I've been stumped with a problem, 9 out of 10 times Experts Exchange has either the accepted solution or an open discussion of the potential solution to the problem." Kenny Red, eBay Inc.

See what Experts Exchange can do for you.

Got a question?

We've got the answer.

Experts Exchange has been collecting answers to technology questions since 1996…3 million and counting! If you have a question, chances are we already have your answer.

Screenshot of Experts Exchange Knowledgebase

Need individual assistance?

Our experts are ready to help.

If you can't find the exact answer you're looking for, ask our exclusive community of 50,000 experts. You’ll get a personalized answer from a trusted professional.

Screenshot of Experts Exchange Knowledgebase

Want to learn from the best?

Read articles from industry experts.

Thousands of free tech tips, tricks, how-to’s and tutorials are available in our peer reviewed articles section. See for yourself how smart our experts are, no login required.

Screenshot of an Article

Working on a long term project?

Store your work and research.

Save solutions to your questions, answers you’ve discovered through searching plus helpful articles in your personal knowledgebase for easy future access.

Screenshot of Experts Exchange Knowledgebase

Access the answers to your technology questions today.

Subscribe Now

30-day free trial. Register in 60 seconds.

What Makes Experts Exchange Unique?

Members of the expert community talk about why the experience at Experts Exchange is different than what you will find anywhere else.

Trusted by the world's most respected brands.

image of each brand's logo

Faithfully serving IT professionals since 1996.

Experts Exchange Logo

Try it out and discover for yourself.

Subscribe Now

30-day free trial. Register in 60 seconds.

Related Solutions

  1. Video camera as a webcam ?
    I have a panasonic digital video camera and would like to know if I can use this as a webcam - preferably with my USB port. My Graphics card does not support video capture it is a matrix millenium G200 I believe
  2. Java Program to use digital camera as a webcam?
    I noticed there are digital cameras on the market that can act as a Web Camera when attached to the USB port. I'm looking for an approach ,or website with information using Java to program any digital camera as a webcam?
  3. USB Camera
    Hi I have a USB camera from Logitech (QuickCam 8 for Notebooks Pro) and need to write a C/C++ program to capture frames from it. I have no clue how to start. Anyone heard of ARToolkit? That is what my boss wants me to use but I cannot find any kind of documentation for it. ...
  4. Connecting a normal camera as a webcam
    Hi Is it possable to use a normal video camera as a webcam? It can not connect through usb or firewire. Wil it work if you connect through a TV card? (Quite a old card) Thanks
  5. Digital cameras as web cameras
    Hello Experts! I have a doubt. I am trying to buy a digital camera to connect to a PC via USB port and BE ABLE to take pictures AND display the photo at the screen of the PC. Is that a "web camera"? Do I have to ask for a digital camera that also works as a "w...

Free Tech Articles

  1. WARNING: 5 Reasons why you should NEVER fix a computer for free.
    It is in our nature to love the puzzle. We are obsessed. The lot of us. We love puzzles. We love the challenge. We thrive on finding the answer. We hate disarray. It bothers us deep in our soul. W...
  2. SCCM OSD Basic troubleshooting
    SCCM 2007 OSD is a fantastic way to deploy operating systems, however, like most things SCCM issues can sometimes be difficult to resolve due to the sheer volume of logs to sift through and the dispe...
  3. Migrate Small Business Server 2003 to Exchange 2010 and Windows 2008 R2
    This guide is intended to provide step by step instructions on how to migrate from Small Business Server 2003 to Windows 2008 R2 with Exchange 2010. For this migration to work you will need the fo...
  4. Create a Win7 Gadget
    This article shows you how to create a simple "Gadget" -- a sort of mini-application supported by Windows 7 and Vista. Gadgets can be dropped anywhere on the desktop to provide instant information, ...
  5. Outlook continually prompting for username and password
    There have been a lot of questions recently regarding Outlook prompting for a username and password whilst using Exchange 2007. There are a few reasons why this would happen and I will try to cover t...
  6. Backup Exchange 2010 Information Store using Windows Backup
    There seems to be quite a lot of confusion around the ability to backup Exchange 2010 using the built in Windows Backup feature. This stems from the omission of this feature prior to Exchange 2007 s...

Cloud Class Webinars

  1. Avoiding Bugs in Microsoft Access
    Alison Balter takes and in-depth look at avoiding bugs in Access. In this webinar you will learn about using the immediate window to debug your applications, invoking the debugger, using breakpoints to troubleshoot, stepping through code, setting the next statement to execute, ...
  2. Top 10 Best New Features in Visio 2010
    Scott Helmers gives live demonstrations of the top 10 new features in Visio 2010. This webinar will teach you how to create compelling diagrams by adding shapes to the page with a single click, linking the shapes in a diagram to data in Excel (or SQL Server, or SharePoint), ...
  3. IT Consultant Business Secrets Revealed
    Michael Munger, Experts Exchange tech pro and IT consultant, pulls back the curtain on his very successful businesses and answers question on every IT consultant and business owner should know about. He shares secrets on what he did to solve the 5 most common problems in IT, ...
  4. Disaster Recovery and Business Continuity
    Quest CTO, Mike Billon, gives an overview of the steps involved in building a dunamic disaster recovery plan. Through case studies and an examination of software/hardware tooles for monitoring and testing, you'll gain a better understandin of where you are, where you want ...
  5. Organize Your Visio Diagrams with Containers and Lists
    Scott Helmers uses cross functional flowcharts, wireframe diagrams, data graphic legends and seating charts to teach you: how to ustilize all three new structured diagram components in Visio 2010, the best practices for organizeing shapes in previous version of Visio, how to organize ...
  6. How to Us Objects, Properties, Events and Methods in Microsoft Access
    Alison Dalter gives an in-depbth look at objects, properties, events and methods in Microsoft Access. In this webinar you will learn about using the object browser, referring to objects, working with properties and methods, working with object variables, understanding the ...

Join the Community

Give a Little. Get a Lot.

Join the community of experts here and help other tech pros by answering question in your area of expertise. You can earn FREE access to all Experts Exchange's premium features and resources.

Join the Community

Answers

 

Expert Comment

by: slink9Posted on 2004-04-01 at 03:07:51ID: 10731083

Rank: Genius

Comments are available to members only. Sign up or Log in to view these comments.

 

Expert Comment

by: CallandorPosted on 2004-04-01 at 05:22:15ID: 10731733

Rank: Genius

Comments are available to members only. Sign up or Log in to view these comments.

 

Expert Comment

by: multihullPosted on 2004-04-01 at 06:04:55ID: 10732092

Comments are available to members only. Sign up or Log in to view these comments.

 

Accepted Solution

by: HippyWarlockPosted on 2004-04-02 at 07:54:32ID: 10741663

Rank: Master

Comments are available to members only. Sign up or Log in to view these comments.

 

Expert Comment

by: rwiredPosted on 2004-04-04 at 19:34:34ID: 10754504

Comments are available to members only. Sign up or Log in to view these comments.

 

Expert Comment

by: rwiredPosted on 2004-04-05 at 00:52:50ID: 10755495

Comments are available to members only. Sign up or Log in to view these comments.

 

Expert Comment

by: friedrice4uPosted on 2004-08-17 at 22:52:26ID: 11827754

Comments are available to members only. Sign up or Log in to view these comments.

 

Expert Comment

by: rwiredPosted on 2004-08-17 at 23:09:10ID: 11827801

Comments are available to members only. Sign up or Log in to view these comments.

 

Expert Comment

by: Lanadmin_camPosted on 2005-09-01 at 09:09:24ID: 14803451

Comments are available to members only. Sign up or Log in to view these comments.

 

Expert Comment

by: kumar_jacPosted on 2009-05-15 at 18:05:47ID: 24400732

Rank: Master

Comments are available to members only. Sign up or Log in to view these comments.

20120131-EE-VQP-001

3 Ways to Join

30-Day Free Trial

The Experts

98% positive feedback on 31,087 answers since March 2000. angeliii is a Microsoft Most Valuable Professional for his work with MS SQL Server & Develoment.

He has also proven his knowledge of Visual Basic Programming, PHP Scripting and Oracle Databases.

The Experts

97% positive feedback on 10,752 answers since July 2000. lrmoore has more than 18 years experience in the networking industry.

The six-time Mircosoft MVPs specialties include firewalls, virtual private networking, and network management.

Testimonials

"...and excellent source for support... Kind of like having your very own IT dept." Electriciansnet

Testimonials

"I was apprehensive at signing up at first. However... it has already made my life as an IT administrator much easier." JaCrews

Testimonials

"WOW! You guys have great, active, and knowledgeable people on here." moore50

Business Clients

Business Clients

In the Press

"If you’ve got a question... Experts Exchange can supply an answer.”

In the Press

"...an invaluable aid for both IT professionals and those who require tech support."

In the Press

"where IT professionals provide quick answers on just about any topic"

Business Account Plans

Loading Advertisement...