[REQUEST] Support imx296

[seafurymike]

Environment

• Camera: RPi HQ
• OS: Bookworm 64bit
• Allsky version:v2024.05.01_04
• Pi model and amount of memory (Version 4B, 4GB)

Bug Description

Installation fails, the installer sees the camera and then fails later to load it

xxxx@AllSkyCam:~/allsky $ ./install.sh

• Continuing installation. Steps already performed will be skipped.
  The last status was: Error encountered - No camera detected

---

*** Welcome back to the Allsky Installer - v2023.05.01_04! ***

---

• RPi camera found.

*** NOTICE:

---

The following steps can take up to an hour depending on the speed of your Pi
and how many of the necessary dependencies are already installed.
You will see progress messages throughout the process.
At the end you will be prompted again for additional steps.

---

• Setting up WebUI options and default settings for RPi cameras.
• Making new settings file '/home/seafurymike/allsky/config/settings.json'.

*** ERROR:

---

No camera detected - installation aborted.

---

The camera is present and the OS sees it::

xxxx@AllSkyCam:~/allsky $ libcamera-hello --list-cameras
Available cameras

0 : imx296 [1456x1088 10-bit RGGB] (/base/soc/i2c0mux/i2c@1/imx296@1a)
Modes: 'SRGGB10_CSI2P' : 1456x1088 [60.38 fps - (0, 0)/1456x1088 crop]

[EricClaeys]

@seafurymike,
Allsky doesn't support the imx296 sensor. The next release will provide a message saying that versus saying "camera not found".
Please run the following:

libcamera-still --list-cameras -v
libcamera-still -v --nopreview --timeout 1 --metadata - --shutter 1 --output /dev/null

and post the output. Also, include a URL for camera information and I can look into supporting it in the next release.

[seafurymike]

Here is the output requested::

AllSkyCam:~ $ libcamera-still --list-cameras -v
Available cameras

0 : imx296 [1456x1088 10-bit RGGB] (/base/soc/i2c0mux/i2c@1/imx296@1a)
Modes: 'SRGGB10_CSI2P' : 1456x1088 [60.38 fps - (0, 0)/1456x1088 crop]

Available controls for 1456x1088 SRGGB10_CSI2P mode:
----------------------------------------------------
AeConstraintMode : [0..3]
AeEnable : [false..true]
AeExposureMode : [0..3]
AeFlickerMode : [0..1]
AeFlickerPeriod : [100..1000000]
AeMeteringMode : [0..3]
AnalogueGain : [1.000000..251.188644]
AwbEnable : [false..true]
AwbMode : [0..7]
Brightness : [-1.000000..1.000000]
ColourGains : [0.000000..32.000000]
Contrast : [0.000000..32.000000]
ExposureTime : [29..0]
ExposureValue : [-8.000000..8.000000]
FrameDurationLimits : [16562..15534444]
HdrMode : [0..4]
NoiseReductionMode : [0..4]
Saturation : [0.000000..32.000000]
ScalerCrop : [(0, 0)/64x64..(0, 0)/1456x1088]
Sharpness : [0.000000..16.000000]
StatsOutputEnable : [false..true]

AllSkyCam:~ $ libcamera-still -v --nopreview --timeout 1 --metadata - --shutter 1 --output /dev/null
[0:01:43.688918622] [2074] INFO Camera camera_manager.cpp:284 libcamera v0.2.0+120-eb00c13d
[0:01:43.729296168] [2077] WARN RPiSdn sdn.cpp:40 Using legacy SDN tuning - please consider moving SDN inside rpi.denoise
[0:01:43.731446592] [2077] INFO RPI vc4.cpp:446 Registered camera /base/soc/i2c0mux/i2c@1/imx296@1a to Unicam device /dev/media1 and ISP device /dev/media0
[0:01:43.731544352] [2077] INFO RPI pipeline_base.cpp:1102 Using configuration file '/usr/share/libcamera/pipeline/rpi/vc4/rpi_apps.yaml'
Options:
verbose: 2
info_text:
timeout: 1ms
width: 0
height: 0
output: /dev/null
post_process_file:
preview: none
qt-preview: 0
transform: identity
roi: all
shutter: 1us
metering: centre
exposure: normal
ev: 0
awb: auto
flush: false
wrap: 0
brightness: 0
contrast: 1
saturation: 1
sharpness: 1
framerate: 30
denoise: auto
viewfinder-width: 0
viewfinder-height: 0
tuning-file: (libcamera)
lores-width: 0
lores-height: 0
autofocus-range: normal
autofocus-speed: normal
autofocus-window: all
hdr: off
mode: unspecified
viewfinder-mode: unspecified
metadata: -
metadata-format: json
encoding: jpg
quality: 93
raw: 0
restart: 0
timelapse: 0ms
framestart: 0
datetime: 0
timestamp: 0
keypress: 0
signal: 0
thumbnail width: 320
thumbnail height: 240
thumbnail quality: 70
latest:
immediate 0
AF on capture: 0
Zero shutter lag: 0
Running without preview window
Opening camera...
Acquired camera /base/soc/i2c0mux/i2c@1/imx296@1a
Configuring viewfinder...
Viewfinder size chosen is 728x544
Mode selection for 728:544:12:P
SRGGB10_CSI2P,1456x1088/0 - Score: 1318
Stream configuration adjusted
[0:01:43.733129290] [2074] INFO Camera camera.cpp:1183 configuring streams: (0) 728x544-YUV420 (1) 1456x1088-SBGGR10_CSI2P
[0:01:43.733486756] [2077] INFO RPI vc4.cpp:621 Sensor: /base/soc/i2c0mux/i2c@1/imx296@1a - Selected sensor format: 1456x1088-SBGGR10_1X10 - Selected unicam format: 1456x1088-pBAA
Camera streams configured
Available controls:
Sharpness : [0.000000..16.000000]
AwbEnable : [false..true]
Contrast : [0.000000..32.000000]
Saturation : [0.000000..32.000000]
Brightness : [-1.000000..1.000000]
AeFlickerPeriod : [100..1000000]
HdrMode : [0..4]
ExposureValue : [-8.000000..8.000000]
ColourGains : [0.000000..32.000000]
StatsOutputEnable : [false..true]
ScalerCrop : [(0, 0)/64x64..(0, 0)/1456x1088]
ExposureTime : [29..0]
AeEnable : [false..true]
NoiseReductionMode : [0..4]
AeConstraintMode : [0..3]
FrameDurationLimits : [16562..15534444]
AnalogueGain : [1.000000..251.188644]
AeFlickerMode : [0..1]
AwbMode : [0..7]
AeMeteringMode : [0..3]
AeExposureMode : [0..3]
Buffers allocated and mapped
Viewfinder setup complete
Requests created
Camera started!
Viewfinder frame 0
Camera stopped!
Tearing down requests, buffers and configuration
Configuring still capture...
Mode selection for 1456:1088:12:P
SRGGB10_CSI2P,1456x1088/0 - Score: 1000
[0:01:44.626254868] [2074] INFO Camera camera.cpp:1183 configuring streams: (0) 1456x1088-YUV420 (1) 1456x1088-SBGGR10_CSI2P
[0:01:44.628375513] [2077] INFO RPI vc4.cpp:621 Sensor: /base/soc/i2c0mux/i2c@1/imx296@1a - Selected sensor format: 1456x1088-SBGGR10_1X10 - Selected unicam format: 1456x1088-pBAA
Camera streams configured
Available controls:
Sharpness : [0.000000..16.000000]
AwbEnable : [false..true]
Contrast : [0.000000..32.000000]
Saturation : [0.000000..32.000000]
Brightness : [-1.000000..1.000000]
AeFlickerPeriod : [100..1000000]
HdrMode : [0..4]
ExposureValue : [-8.000000..8.000000]
ColourGains : [0.000000..32.000000]
StatsOutputEnable : [false..true]
ScalerCrop : [(0, 0)/64x64..(0, 0)/1456x1088]
ExposureTime : [29..15534385]
AeEnable : [false..true]
NoiseReductionMode : [0..4]
AeConstraintMode : [0..3]
FrameDurationLimits : [16562..15534444]
AnalogueGain : [1.000000..251.188644]
AeFlickerMode : [0..1]
AwbMode : [0..7]
AeMeteringMode : [0..3]
AeExposureMode : [0..3]
Buffers allocated and mapped
Still capture setup complete
Requests created
Camera started!
Camera stopped!
Still capture image received
Exposure time: 29
Ag 11.885 Dg 1.00967 Total 12
Thumbnail dimensions are 320 x 240
Thumbnail size 2108
JPEG size is 183257
EXIF data len 298
Saved image 1456 x 1088 to file /dev/null
{
"ExposureTime": 29,
"AnalogueGain": 11.885022,
"SensorBlackLevels": [ 3840, 3840, 3840, 3840 ],
"FrameDuration": 16577,
"Lux": 321.316742,
"AeLocked": true,
"DigitalGain": 1.009674,
"ColourGains": [ 2.563697, 2.082299 ],
"ColourTemperature": 4000,
"FocusFoM": 213,
"ColourCorrectionMatrix": [ 2.045146, -0.739536, -0.305616, -0.471715, 2.133571, -0.661861, -0.108284, -0.576562, 1.684846 ],
"ScalerCrop": "(0, 0)/1456x1088",
"SensorTimestamp": 104709006000
}Closing RPiCam application(frames displayed 0, dropped 0)
Camera stopped!
Tearing down requests, buffers and configuration
Camera closed

The following is a link to the datasheet for the camera I have connected::

https://www.farnell.com/datasheets/3929135.pdf

[EricClaeys]

Thanks. I think you are going to find it doesn't make a very good allsky camera since it is limited to 15 second exposures.

[seafurymike]

Damn, didnt realise. Thought using the HQ camera would be a good option. Will have to rethink what i should do for a camera then. Is there any details on good options and potentially outputs from those options?

[EricClaeys]

I always recommend the HQ camera. It's a good one and a lot less expensive than ZWO. And you can get lenses that give 180 FOV. T Module 3 and other cameras with an attached lens are 80 - 120 FOV which might be fine if you can't see a lot of the sky.

[EricClaeys]

Closing Issue.
Will not support - this sensor has a short maximum exposure so will not work as an allsky camera.