Search Support

Avoid support scams. We will never ask you to call or text a phone number or share personal information. Please report suspicious activity using the “Report Abuse” option.

Learn More

Firefox Hello with camera upside down (with linux Mint 17)

  • 10 replies
  • 3 have this problem
  • 27 views
  • Last reply by Alberto

more options

Hello, I'm running Firefox 36.0.1 and I tried the new Hello addon. Unfortunately my camera appears upside down. This was the same problem I had using Skype and I had to update libv4l and than worked. Now for Skype it's still working but for Hello the problem is back. (I'm using linux Mint 17) Any suggestion?

Hello, I'm running Firefox 36.0.1 and I tried the new Hello addon. Unfortunately my camera appears upside down. This was the same problem I had using Skype and I had to update libv4l and than worked. Now for Skype it's still working but for Hello the problem is back. (I'm using linux Mint 17) Any suggestion?

Chosen solution

Skype and Gtalk for linux are 64bit by default, but Firefox is a 32bit program (for now). LD_PRELOAD=/usr/lib/libv4l/v4l1compat.so won't fix this issue in Hello because its a 64bit library.

Using /usr/lib32/libv4l/v4l1compat.so is the right idea, but that error "cannot open shared object file" is coming from the kernel and not from Firefox. "Cannot open shared object file" means the file isn't there or that your user doesn't have permission to read it. Double check the path and permissions for /usr/lib32/libv4l/v4l1compat.so and then (after verifying that the library is there and has the correct permissions) try running: LD_PRELOAD=/usr/lib32/libv4l/v4l1compat.so /usr/bin/firefox

Read this answer in context 👍 1

All Replies (10)

more options

Since the camera is appearing upside down there might be something wrong with the operating settings.

I did find some references on how to change this setting:

more options

guigs2 said

Since the camera is appearing upside down there might be something wrong with the operating settings. I did find some references on how to change this setting:

Thanks for your suggestion. I think I have to procede in the same way I did with skype (the same suggested in the links): LD_PRELOAD=/usr/lib/libv4l/v4l1compat.so app_name

but in the case of Firefox Hello I don't know what to write in the "app_name"

more options

Chamaeleon said

guigs2 said
Since the camera is appearing upside down there might be something wrong with the operating settings. I did find some references on how to change this setting:

Thanks for your suggestion. I think I have to procede in the same way I did with skype (the same suggested in the links): LD_PRELOAD=/usr/lib/libv4l/v4l1compat.so app_name

but in the case of Firefox Hello I don't know what to write in the "app_name"


(as suggested in the last post here for example: http://community.skype.com/t5/Linux-archive/Camera-Upside-Down/td-p/934244 )

more options

Hi, I asked in the mozilla irc channel #media and had some help:

the app_name should just be "firefox"

/usr/bin/firefox

However it was noted also that this looks "like a driver/lib issue. So it probably works for any program which accesses the camera (as long as the program hasn’t the libv4l build in)."

more options

I tried to create a new pre-load file (as it's described here) substituting the app_name part with "/usr/bin/firefox"

but in this case there is no change (still upside down camera)

more options

In the terminal after starting firefox I get:

ERROR: ld.so: object '/usr/lib32/libv4l/v4l1compat.so' from LD_PRELOAD cannot be preloaded (cannot open shared object file): ignored.

more options

Hi Chamaeleon, Thank you for posting back. It sounds like a driver issue, is there another driver available for the camera being used?

more options

Mmmm.... I don't know....since now I never had any problem (except for the skype issue which, in any case, I solved). For example Google talk is always very smooth. Once the plug-in is installed never presented upside down problems

more options

Chosen Solution

Skype and Gtalk for linux are 64bit by default, but Firefox is a 32bit program (for now). LD_PRELOAD=/usr/lib/libv4l/v4l1compat.so won't fix this issue in Hello because its a 64bit library.

Using /usr/lib32/libv4l/v4l1compat.so is the right idea, but that error "cannot open shared object file" is coming from the kernel and not from Firefox. "Cannot open shared object file" means the file isn't there or that your user doesn't have permission to read it. Double check the path and permissions for /usr/lib32/libv4l/v4l1compat.so and then (after verifying that the library is there and has the correct permissions) try running: LD_PRELOAD=/usr/lib32/libv4l/v4l1compat.so /usr/bin/firefox

Modified by Mark Schmidt

more options

Error found! Effectively I was using the wrong v4l1 file (I didn't remember firefox is only 32 bit!). The permissions and all the rest were ok...

Thanks a lot for all the inputs!!