[HOW-TO] webcam

[wpte]

UPDATE: in the beta firmware on http://wl500g.googlecode.com you can use the refresh-time in the web admin with the same end result as in this how-to. Might be even easier :-)

Well, I decided to make a little how to for simple webcamming via the admin-interface.
Everybody knows that rcamd isn't really the best way to stream your webcam since it uses all your cpu... but I have a solution for that
Also, not every motion detection program seems to work with webcams supported by the router, but rcamd usually does.

allright, here we go:

Step 1
First of all we need a compatible webcam, you can look in the forums for a good one that works. http://wl500g.info/showthread.php?t=...Busb%5D+webcam

I myself have the Logitech Quickcam 4000 pro connected.
So next thing we do is connect it to the router, and then configure the settings in the webadmin interface.

you can make it look similair like this if you want.
note that the webcam driver should be loaded automatically, so it doesn't matter what you select.
Just save the settings and reboot the device.

Step 2
Now log in via putty into your router.
make sure you have putty maximized so your screen is completely filled with putty
issue the command

ps

or

ps axf

to see the list of active processes

in that list of processes you will find something similair to this:

rcamd -p 7777 -s 0 -z MET-1METDST,M3.5.0/2,M10.5.0/3 -a 0 -t 0 -r 0 -f 640x480 -m 100 -c 100

note that it will appear 3 times in the list, if it does not, your webcam is probably not supported!

just select this piece with your mouse so it'll become white:

now just open up notepad and press control + c to paste it into notepad.

Now make sure, that everytime I call my copied rcamd process, you use your own copied version, as it might differ!

Step 3
Now we will do some magic
rcamd -p 7777 -s 0 -z MET-1METDST,M3.5.0/2,M10.5.0/3 -a 0 -t 0 -r 0 -f 640x480 -m 100 -c 100
the bold piece in this code is importand, you need to change it.
-s is an option that allows you to lower the framerate, so also the cpu usage
at this time it says 0, so it will capture an unlimited frames per second, till the cpu or the webcam can't handle any faster, we are about to change that.
now if we change the 0 into a 4, the webcam will send every 4 seconds 1 image. so that will give you a framerate of 0.25fps
no worries, it won't show up as only 1/4 of your screen
You can adjust this number to your own wish, but I like the 4, because you won't notice the webcam is runnig on the performance
Now also place a "&" behind the whole line, and end up having something similair to this:

rcamd -p 7777 -s 4 -z MET-1METDST,M3.5.0/2,M10.5.0/3 -a 0 -t 0 -r 0 -f 640x480 -m 100 -c 100 &

Step 4
now we are still in putty will make the final hand to the evil process:

vi /tmp/local/sbin/post-mount

Now paste somewhere in this file the following:

#Restart rcamd with proper settings
killall rcamd
sleep 3

after this lines, paste your own rcamd copy!
so it will look like this:

#Restart rcamd with proper settings
killall rcamd
sleep 3
rcamd -p 7777 -s 4 -z MET-1METDST,M3.5.0/2,M10.5.0/3 -a 0 -t 0 -r 0 -f 640x480 -m 100 -c 100 &

now save the file and:

flashfs save && flashfs commit && flashfs enable && reboot

now to be sure it works, just issue "ps" to look at the cpu usage, and check if rcamd is using hardly any cpu

Final step
YES! now you can finally watch your webcam!
huh? what not working?
probably you have problems with the activeX webcam program on the webcam site.
if you don't know what the site is...
http://yourasusip:7776


As far as I know the active X version only works with IE
first go to control panel of windows, then to internet options:

go to the security tab
select trusted websites
lower the the security level to lowest
click on websites to add a new website to be trusted


enter your asus ip adress or domain to add into the trusted websites
make sure you have https selection off, otherwise you won't be able to add something.

now apply everything and refresh your webcam page
just install the activeX, and when promted if you want to run the object on your pc, answer yes
and tata, here is your webcam feed
Be sure the time changes in the picture
you probably need to adjust the focus of the webcam too, for a sharp image, just turn around the lens wheel (with most webcams)


now if you use the activeX version, yo can left click and right click on the image.
left click will capture a screenshot and save it to somewhere on your disk
right click will capture a movie to your harddisk

I hope this works for ppl