RPi 3B+ + Pi Cam v2.1

Camera model
Element 14 Pi Cam V2.1

What is the problem?
Webcam stream not loading. No LED appears on the camera but I have heard some others report their camera does not have one.

What did you already try to solve it?
Tested both the original cable and a new longer cable with the same results (and made sure the cable was plugged into the correct port with the correct orientation). Made sure the sensor connector on the camera was plugged in. Used guides to check config files even though these are not supposed to require any changes in current versions. Tested MJPG-streamer and the page loads but without a stream (and the loading circle continues indefinitely).

Logs (/var/log/webcamd.log, syslog, dmesg, ... no logs, no support)
No webcamd.log was found in the /var/log folder when searching via WinSCP.

Additional information about your setup (OctoPrint version, OctoPi version, ...)
OctoPrint v1.4.0, OctoPi v0.17.0, Raspberry Pi 3B+

I have heard it mentioned here that some of the camera modules just don't work out of the box, so I can try returning it to Micro Center but I'd just like to confirm there's no other software or even hardware troubleshooting that could be done before attempting this. The original packaging isn't in great shape and getting into Micro Center itself is a little tricky due to current events.

Any help or suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

My little troubleshooting checklist

  • Is the CSI cable inserted the right way? The silvery contacts need to face away from the Ethernet connector!
  • Is the CSI cable fully seated?
  • Did you insert the CSI cable into the Display connector? It needs to be inserted into the CSI connector, which is the one closer to the Ethernet connector.
  • Is the other end of the CSI cable correctly attached to the camera board?
  • Is the camera activated in raspi-config?

Based on the checklist:

  1. Yes, the cable is oriented properly on both ends (away from the ethernet/toward the HDMI port).
  2. Yes, I pushed it in until it wouldn't move any further.
  3. Yes, it is connected to the camera and not the display connector.
  4. Yes, it is plugged into the camera correctly, matching the original connection.
  5. Yes, the camera was already enabled in raspi-config and using the test image command returned the following lines:

mmal: mmal_vc_component_enable: failed to enable component: ENOSPC
mmal: camera component couldn't be enabled
mmal: main: Failed to create camera component
mmal: Failed to run camera app. Please check for firmware updates

Is your SD card full? Check with df -h.

It says there's still 24 GB available, out of a 32 GB SD card.