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Maniphest T9018

Linux driver for the Facetime HD (Broadcom 1570) Camera
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Description

  • Name: Broadcom 1570 FaceTimeHD Camera
  • Why should this be included in the repository? If we already offer similar software in our repository or third party, please provide information on what your proposed software does that our existing offerings don’t (differentiators).
    • Solus/Linux technically does not have any other driver for the FaceTime camera. I normally would try to Airgap my Macbook, however due to the pandemic a lot of people are required to use their webcams. The impact is differential, but I know that beyond my case in which I need to use my camera for school and do not want to use video sharing software via the original operating system/host system, will want to use the video camera on Solus. A few people in the forums have successfully used the camera out of the box, but having consistency would help especially for a hardware piece that benefits a lot of devices and in our current situation would breathe new life into old devices. Also @DataDrake said the following in the discussion topic I brought up "I'm going to hate myself later for agreeing to this, but go ahead and Request a Package for the driver and mention that I told you to......As long as compilation and maintenance looks sane, I'll take responsibility for it."
  • Is it Open Source (yes/no) (I think it is? The actual broadcom driver is not.)
  • If no: Are we allowed to distribute it?
    • Yes?
  • Who and how many users do you anticipate will use this software?
    • Anyone who uses an apple product with the Broadcom chip:
    • Mac (21,5", since mid 2011)
    • iMac (27", since mid 2011)
    • MacBook Air (since mid 2011)
    • MacBook Pro (15", since early 2011)
    • MacBook Pro (17", since early 2011)
    • MacBook Pro (13", since early 2011)
  • Link to source file: GitHub

Related Objects

Event Timeline

emailTea created this task.May 24 2020, 4:25 AM
DataDrake claimed this task.May 24 2020, 1:31 PM
DataDrake triaged this task as Normal priority.
DataDrake moved this task from Backlog to Accepted For Inclusion on the Package Requests board.
Herald added a project: Needs Maintainer. · View Herald TranscriptMay 24 2020, 1:31 PM
DataDrake removed a project: Needs Maintainer.May 24 2020, 1:31 PM
DataDrake merged a task: T9062: facetimehd - open source apple driver for mac webcams.Jun 10 2020, 3:37 AM
DataDrake added a subscriber: monway.
monway added a comment.Jun 10 2020, 3:59 AM

can this source be forked for solus?

DataDrake added a comment.Jun 10 2020, 4:01 AM

@monway not sure what you're asking. I've already volunteered to add this to our available drivers. I just haven't had a chance to package it yet.

monway added a comment.Jun 10 2020, 4:30 AM
In T9018#172349, @DataDrake wrote:

@monway not sure what you're asking. I've already volunteered to add this to our available drivers. I just haven't had a chance to package it yet.

Thanks for volunteering on this. I was, I guess asking if it was going to be worked on, you answered. Thanks very much for this. I do have a macbook air mid-2003. if you need testing at least I could test to see if it works. Thanks again and good luck.

DataDrake added a comment.Jun 10 2020, 5:09 AM

Just a word of note to anyone checking in on this task: We will be shipping the drivers in a package, but the firmware needed for the cameras is not something shipped with a license that we can redistribute. Further, the lack of any license at all means that we cannot consider adding the firmware to Third-Party. Because of this, I will add links to the package description and be writing a Help Center document directing users to the official wiki for instructions on how to get the firmware. I'm also making a note here for myself to have the author make it clear on that wiki that Solus does not support DKMS, but does provide a package for the drivers.

We very much will need testers after the package is made available, especially considering no one on the Team actually owns one of these laptops. Thanks!

monway added a comment.EditedJun 10 2020, 7:24 AM

Just letting you guys know that with some tweaking of commands and dev setup, I was able to compile & install as well load facetimehd, it works. I can confirm that this driver works on solus with a macbook air mid-2003.

Screenshot at 2020-06-10 03-23-36.png (825×1 px, 527 KB)

monway added a comment.Jun 10 2020, 6:26 PM

ok I found that for some reason kernel modules such as facetimehd doesn't load at boot time. so every time I want to use facetimehd i have to use modprobe to load it. It should load at boottime. I don't know what set up solus has or know why this is happening but, the camera works after using modprobe facetimehd.

DataDrake added a comment.Jun 10 2020, 6:29 PM

This is all addressed on their wiki and will be sorted when I land the driver.

monway added a comment.Jun 10 2020, 6:47 PM

ok cool I am just noting what I have found in case any of you found it useful since none of you have actual mac laptops with this issue.
just a note you can disregard my notes if it's not necessary.
I added apple.conf to /etc/modules-load.d/apple.conf
and the modules I want loaded now load at boot time.
facetimehd
coretemp
applesmc
thanks.

tenroc added a subscriber: tenroc.Oct 21 2021, 11:44 AM

Hi, just a quick ping to know if this is still scheduled for inclusion. I can help with testing if needed (macbook pro 11,1).

steen added a subscriber: steen.Dec 1 2021, 1:44 PM

@DataDrake
Another ping on this, just wondering how it goes.

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