MIPI camera not working on thinkpad x1 2-in-1 Gen 9

[jmferrerclicars]

Ubuntu Version:
24.04

Desktop Environment (if applicable):
Ubuntu

Problem Description:
Intel MIPI camera does not work.

Relevant System Information:
Thinkpad x1 2-in-1 certified: Lenovo ThinkPad X1 2-in-1 Gen 9 certified with Ubuntu. | Ubuntu

$ sudo dmesg | grep model
[    0.133532] smpboot: CPU0: Intel(R) Core(TM) Ultra 7 155U (family: 0x6, model: 0xaa, stepping: 0x4)
[   15.701602] thinkpad_acpi: Lenovo ThinkPad X1 2-in-1 Gen 9, model 21KECTO1WW

With this screen configuration: 14" 2,8K (2880 x 1800), OLED, antirreflector, táctil, HDR 400, 100 % DCI-P3, 400 nits, 120 Hz
And this camera: 2160p UHD RGB+IR con visión artificial (MIPI)

Screenshots or Error Messages:

Cheese output:

(cheese:8860): cheese-CRITICAL **: 19:37:18.581: cheese_camera_device_get_name: assertion 'CHEESE_IS_CAMERA_DEVICE (device)' failed

OBS output before crashing:

free(): invalid pointer
Abortado (`core' generado)

What I’ve Tried:
My starting point: https://wiki.ubuntu.com/Lenovo

$ ubuntu-drivers list
udevadm hwdb is deprecated. Use systemd-hwdb instead.
udevadm hwdb is deprecated. Use systemd-hwdb instead.
udevadm hwdb is deprecated. Use systemd-hwdb instead.
libcamhal0
intel-usbio-dkms
intel-ipu6-dkms

And enabled with ubuntu drivers, but does not work.

Then I tried this guide: https://wiki.ubuntu.com/IntelMIPICamera

And this guide: https://dshedd.com/2023/07/18/fixing-lenovos-mipi-camera-problems-on-ubuntu-22-04/

I don’t know what more to try but the computer is certified so I think that must work: Lenovo ThinkPad X1 2-in-1 Gen 9 certified with Ubuntu | Ubuntu

Do you have some suggestions?

[jmferrerclicars]

Hi!

First of all, I’m an Ubuntu user from the first release and I think this is the better operating system in the world. I’m close to be an Ubuntu fanboy.

BUT, I buyed this computer because it was certified by Ubuntu. And this computer is not the cheapest of Lenovo. Imagine that I’m a standard user, I install Ubuntu and the hardware does not work as expected → a standard user will go back to Windows. :-/

What means Ubuntu hardware certification?

IMHO the page where this computer appears could be modified to add a disclaimer with a warning about saying something like “The camera could not work in Ubuntu” or maybe remove the page from the list of certified computers.
If you remove a computer that does not work 100% there is no problem for the final user. Just choose another computer.

Users must be able to trust in the Ubuntu Certified Laptops page.

[rubi1200]

Sorry to hear you are having difficulties with this. A quick search shows that a number of users have problems with this camera.

I don’t know if it will help, but take a look here at some possible workarounds:

Dell Precision 5690 camera not found

Hi @mberkan, Forget about this pipeline It is apparent the libv4l2 is not the correct library. To test the camera, please use https://mozilla.github.io/webrtc-landing/gum_test.html instead. Another user followed the procedure again and it worked. Maybe you can give it a try:

All the ipu6/7 stuff should be purged

sudo add-apt-repository --remove ppa:oem-solutions-group/intel-ipu6 sudo add-apt-repository --remove ppa:oem-solutions-group/intel-ipu7 sudo apt autopurge oem-*-meta libia-* libg…

Bear in mind, the user has a Dell but I think the steps should also work for a Lenovo.

Perhaps read the whole topic to begin with to see if any of the issues sound familiar in your case.

[g-schick]

@jmferrerclicars I do not know if this will make any difference but the certificate you linked in your first post reads Certified Ubuntu Release 22.04 LTS (details). Mayby you might get better hardware support using Ubuntu 22.04 LTS?

[jmferrerclicars]

Good point. I will give a try and give feedback.
Thanks!

[jmferrerclicars]

Good news!!

With some software or firmware update the camera started working using the test mentioned in " Test the Intel MIPI camera" in this page: https://wiki.ubuntu.com/IntelMIPICamera

BUT I also installed windows to play anticheated videogames and applyed all firmware updates suggested by windows so … maybe a firmware update from windows could help to fix the problem?

Bad news!!

The camera works well using the browser for. I tested it with the gum test (gUM Test Page) and Google Meet without issues.

BUT cheese and obs crashes when trying to use the camera.

To test: if somebody in the community buys this laptop, please:

• install ubuntu 24.04
• install all updates and firmware updates
• follow the steps in https://wiki.ubuntu.com/IntelMIPICamera

  sudo apt-get install --no-install-recommends --yes \
    linux-generic-hwe-24.04 \
    linux-modules-ipu6-generic-hwe-24.04 \
    linux-modules-usbio-generic-hwe-24.04
  sudo apt-get install --no-install-recommends --yes \
    linux-oem-24.04b \
    linux-modules-ipu6-oem-24.04b \
    linux-modules-ipu7-oem-24.04b \
    linux-modules-vision-oem-24.04b \
    linux-modules-usbio-oem-24.04b
  

• test the camera with gum test or google meet: gUM Test Page

If camera does not work maybe some firmware update from windows did the trick.

I’m going to try fixing the problem with obs or cheese and give feedback.