Simple helper script for AndroidUsbCamera startup

[lsartory]

Hello,

First, thank you for making this. I was looking for something like this for a while now.
This isn't really an issue, but I couldn't find any other way to contribute..
I wrote a startup script to make it easier for me to launch AndroidUsbCamera, and I thought it would be nice to share it so I cleaned it up a bit.

It launches the application on the Android device, sets up port forwarding, attempts to auto-detect which video device to use, and finally starts AndroidUsbCamera.

You should only need to adjust line 71 to use the right path to launch AndroidUsbCamera, but I didn't test it extensively.

#!/bin/sh

echo "AndroidUsbCamera starter script"
echo "-------------------------------"
echo
if [ `adb devices | grep device | wc -l` -gt 1 ]
then
  echo -n "Setting up Android device.. "
  adb shell am start -n usbwebcam.application/.GWebcam &> /dev/null || (echo -e "\nAn error occured while starting the application"; exit 1)
  adb forward tcp:8080 tcp:8080 &> /dev/null || (echo -e "\nAn error occured while attempting to forward the port"; exit 1)
  echo "OK."

  echo -n "Checking module.. "
  if ! lsmod | grep vloopback &> /dev/null
  then
    echo -e "\nThe vloopback module is not loaded, loading it now.."
    if ! modprobe vloopback &> /dev/null
    then
      if which sudo &> /dev/null
      then
        echo "Loading failed, attempting with sudo.."
        echo "Please enter your password."
        sudo modprobe vloopback
      else
        echo "Loading failed, attempting with su.."
        echo "Please enter root password."
        su -c "modprobe vloopback"
      fi
    fi
    if ! lsmod | grep vloopback &> /dev/null
    then
      echo "The vloopback module is still not available, aborting."
      exit 1
    fi
  fi
  echo "OK."

  if [ -z "$1" ]
  then
    echo -n "Auto-detecting video devices to be used.. "
    DEVICES="`dmesg | grep vloopback | grep registered | tail -1`"
    INPUT=`echo $DEVICES | sed "s@.*input: \(.*\),.*@\1@"`
    OUTPUT=`echo $DEVICES | sed "s@.*output: \(.*\)@\1@"`
    if [ ! -e "/dev/$INPUT" -o ! -e "/dev/$OUTPUT" ]
    then
      echo -e "\nCouldn't find input or output device, aborting."
      echo "You can skip auto-detection by starting this script with the video input device as the first parameter"
      echo "e.g. $0 /dev/video0"
      exit 1
    fi
    echo "OK."
  else
    echo -n "Checking video devices.. "
    INPUT="$1"
    DEVNUM=`echo $INPUT | sed "s@[a-Z/]*@@"`
    OUTPUT=`echo $INPUT | sed "s@$DEVNUM\\$@$(expr $DEVNUM + 1)@"`
    if [ ! -e "$INPUT" -o ! -e "$OUTPUT" ]
    then
      echo -e "\nCouldn't find input or output device, aborting."
      echo "Please try with another device."
      exit 1
    fi
    echo "OK."
  fi

  echo -e "\nUsing $INPUT as loopback input. You should use $OUTPUT as webcam device in your application.\n"

  echo "Waiting for device to settle.."
  sleep 5
  echo -e "Starting AndroidUsbCamera..\n"
  ./AndroidUsbCamera $INPUT    # Edit me to properly start the application

else
  echo "No Android device was found, aborting."
  exit 1
fi

[jalcine]

Very good job! I might integrate this into my fork. I'll credit you.

[lsartory]

Great!
I hope it still works fine though, I haven't used this in two years.

2012/1/22 Jacky Alciné <
[email protected]

Very good job! I might integrate this into my fork. I'll credit you.

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[jalcine]

It's iffy, Linux 3.0 doesn't use vloopback, it looks like it uses
v4l2loopback. A bit confusing too, since now I've had to build it (to no
avail..).

[lsartory]

Well, good luck with that!
Keeping this project alive is a good thing, it's pretty convenient at times
to be able to use the phone as a webcam.
In fact, it would be even better if it was an out of the box Android
feature..

2012/1/22 Jacky Alciné <
[email protected]

It's iffy, Linux 3.0 doesn't use vloopback, it looks like it uses
v4l2loopback. A bit confusing too, since now I've had to build it (to no
avail..).

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[jalcine]

It would be, wouldn't it? It'd just take device manufacturers to add the USB Webcam driver to their drivers and have Android expose it as such (only if possible, though).

[lsartory]

I suppose it's possible..
I've already seen Android devices that allowed to switch between USB modes
from the ongoing USB notification. I guess adding UVC capabilities wouldn't
be too hard for someone who knows the protocol.

2012/1/23 Jacky Alciné <
[email protected]

It would be, wouldn't it? It'd just take device manufacturers to add the
USB Webcam driver to their drivers and have Android expose it as such (only
if possible, though).

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[jalcine]

It's not only that at times, you can easily write a ROM for it. It's the computer support. If it doesn't have the right drivers, then there's no hope for the end-users..

[lsartory]

Computer support shouldn't be a problem.
The Linux UVC driver is pretty good as well, I've been using it on my
laptop for more than 4 years now..
Also, since Windows Vista, UVC devices are supposed to work out of the box
as far as I know.

2012/1/23 Jacky Alciné <
[email protected]

It's not only that at times, you can easily write a ROM for it. It's the
computer support. If it doesn't have the right drivers, then there's no
hope for the end-users..

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[jalcine]

That's a fun fact. Well, with that in mind, I'd add this to my list of to-dos. I'll keep in touch :)

[lsartory]

Alright then, good luck! :)

2012/1/23 Jacky Alciné <
[email protected]

That's a fun fact. Well, with that in mind, I'd add this to my list of
to-dos. I'll keep in touch :)

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