VAD Laplace

Webcam VAD (Vicious and Divine) Laplace

I recently bought a nice new webcam. The webcam is called VAD (Vicious and Divine) Laplace from the manufacturer Speed Link.

I thought I can do some helping to get a driver developed for this cam. What I can offer is USB sniffing on a certain OS (no MAC drivers available too so there is not much choice). I already know that the cam is not UVC compliant.

Currently I'm using Mandriva 2009.1 distribution with distribution kernel 2.6.29.1-desktop-4mnb. Self-made realtime kernel based on Vanilla 2.6.29.2 is available too (but untested).

Basic Hardware Specs of the Webcam

• 2 MP Photo, 1.3 MP Video resolution
• USB 2.0 Interface (USB 1.1 supported)
• 3x digital zoom (button)
• Flash (switch on/off via button)
• Night illumination (switch on/off via button)
• Noise-suppressing microphone (so there is already a filter ...)
• Mute button
• Z-fold positioning
• 0.6m cable at the Webcam itself
• 1.4m extra USB extension cable
• max. video resolution 1280x960/15fps, 640x480/30fps
• max. photo resolution 1600x1200

Advanced Hardware Specs of the Webcam

• Not UVC Compliant
• Output from lsusb (and /proc/bus/usb/devices)

Bus 006 Device 008: ID 1ae7:9003  
Device Descriptor:
 bLength                18
 bDescriptorType         1
 bcdUSB               2.00
 bDeviceClass            0 (Defined at Interface level)
 bDeviceSubClass         0 
 bDeviceProtocol         0 
 bMaxPacketSize0        64
 idVendor           0x1ae7 
 idProduct          0x9003 
 bcdDevice            2.03
 iManufacturer           0 
 iProduct                0 
 iSerial                 0 
 bNumConfigurations      1
 Configuration Descriptor:
   bLength                 9
   bDescriptorType         2
   wTotalLength          126
   bNumInterfaces          3
   bConfigurationValue     1
   iConfiguration          0 
   bmAttributes         0x80
     (Bus Powered)
   MaxPower              500mA
   Interface Descriptor:
     bLength                 9
     bDescriptorType         4
     bInterfaceNumber        0
     bAlternateSetting       0
     bNumEndpoints           0
     bInterfaceClass         1 Audio
     bInterfaceSubClass      1 Control Device
     bInterfaceProtocol      0 
     iInterface              0 
     AudioControl Interface Descriptor:
       bLength                 9
       bDescriptorType        36
       bDescriptorSubtype      1 (HEADER)
       bcdADC               1.00
       wTotalLength           40
       bInCollection           1
       baInterfaceNr( 0)       1
     AudioControl Interface Descriptor:
       bLength                12
       bDescriptorType        36
       bDescriptorSubtype      2 (INPUT_TERMINAL)
       bTerminalID             1
       wTerminalType      0x0201 Microphone
       bAssocTerminal          0
       bNrChannels             2
       wChannelConfig     0x0000
       iChannelNames           0 
       iTerminal               0 
     AudioControl Interface Descriptor:
       bLength                10
       bDescriptorType        36
       bDescriptorSubtype      6 (FEATURE_UNIT)
       bUnitID                 2
       bSourceID               1
       bControlSize            1
       bmaControls( 0)      0x03
         Mute
         Volume
       bmaControls( 1)      0x00
       bmaControls( 2)      0x00
       iFeature                0 
     AudioControl Interface Descriptor:
       bLength                 9
       bDescriptorType        36
       bDescriptorSubtype      3 (OUTPUT_TERMINAL)
       bTerminalID             3
       wTerminalType      0x0101 USB Streaming
       bAssocTerminal          0
       bSourceID               2
       iTerminal               0 
   Interface Descriptor:
     bLength                 9
     bDescriptorType         4
     bInterfaceNumber        1
     bAlternateSetting       0
     bNumEndpoints           0
     bInterfaceClass         1 Audio
     bInterfaceSubClass      2 Streaming
     bInterfaceProtocol      0 
     iInterface              0 
   Interface Descriptor:
     bLength                 9
     bDescriptorType         4
     bAlternateSetting       1
     bNumEndpoints           1
     bInterfaceClass         1 Audio
     bInterfaceSubClass      2 Streaming
     bInterfaceProtocol      0 
     iInterface              0 
     AudioStreaming Interface Descriptor:
       bLength                 7
       bDescriptorType        36
       bDescriptorSubtype      1 (AS_GENERAL)
       bTerminalLink           3
       bDelay                  1 frames
       wFormatTag              1 PCM
     AudioStreaming Interface Descriptor:
       bLength                11
       bDescriptorType        36
       bDescriptorSubtype      2 (FORMAT_TYPE)
       bFormatType             1 (FORMAT_TYPE_I)
       bNrChannels             2
       bSubframeSize           2
       bBitResolution         16
       bSamFreqType            1 Discrete
       tSamFreq[ 0]         8000
     Endpoint Descriptor:
       bLength                 9
       bDescriptorType         5
       bEndpointAddress     0x83  EP 3 IN
       bmAttributes            1
         Transfer Type            Isochronous
         Synch Type               None
         Usage Type               Data
       wMaxPacketSize     0x00c8  1x 200 bytes
       bInterval               4
       bRefresh                0
       bSynchAddress           0
       AudioControl Endpoint Descriptor:
         bLength                 7
         bDescriptorType        37
         bDescriptorSubtype      1 (EP_GENERAL)
         bmAttributes         0x00
         bLockDelayUnits         0 Undefined
         wLockDelay              0 Undefined
   Interface Descriptor:
     bLength                 9
     bDescriptorType         4
     bInterfaceNumber        3
     bAlternateSetting       0
     bNumEndpoints           1
     bInterfaceClass       255 Vendor Specific Class
     bInterfaceSubClass    234 
     bInterfaceProtocol      0 
     iInterface              0 
     Endpoint Descriptor:
       bLength                 7
       bDescriptorType         5
       bEndpointAddress     0x82  EP 2 IN
       bmAttributes            2
         Transfer Type            Bulk
         Synch Type               None
         Usage Type               Data
       wMaxPacketSize     0x0200  1x 512 bytes
       bInterval               1
Device Qualifier (for other device speed):
 bLength                10
 bDescriptorType         6
 bcdUSB               2.00
 bDeviceClass            0 (Defined at Interface level)
 bDeviceSubClass         0 
 bDeviceProtocol         0 
 bMaxPacketSize0        64
 bNumConfigurations      1
Device Status:     0x0000
 (Bus Powered)

/proc/usb/devices:

T:  Bus=01 Lev=01 Prnt=01 Port=04 Cnt=02 Dev#= 16 Spd=480 MxCh= 0
D:  Ver= 2.00 Cls=00(>ifc ) Sub=00 Prot=00 MxPS=64 #Cfgs=  1
P:  Vendor=1ae7 ProdID=9003 Rev= 2.03
C:* #Ifs= 3 Cfg#= 1 Atr=80 MxPwr=500mA
I:* If#= 0 Alt= 0 #EPs= 0 Cls=01(audio) Sub=01 Prot=00 Driver=snd-usb-audio
I:* If#= 1 Alt= 0 #EPs= 0 Cls=01(audio) Sub=02 Prot=00 Driver=snd-usb-audio
I:  If#= 1 Alt= 1 #EPs= 1 Cls=01(audio) Sub=02 Prot=00 Driver=snd-usb-audio
E:  Ad=83(I) Atr=01(Isoc) MxPS= 200 Ivl=1ms
I:* If#= 3 Alt= 0 #EPs= 1 Cls=ff(vend.) Sub=ea Prot=00 Driver=(none)
E:  Ad=82(I) Atr=02(Bulk) MxPS= 512 Ivl=0ms

/proc/asound/cards:

1 [U0x1ae70x9003  ]: USB-Audio - USB Device 0x1ae7:0x9003
                     USB Device 0x1ae7:0x9003 at usb-0000:00:13.5-5, high speed

/proc/asound/devices:

32: [ 1]   : control
33:        : timer
56: [ 1- 0]: digital audio capture

Tools for testing

• mplayer/mencoder
• USB sniffing tools from http://www.linux-usb.org/ like usb snoopy (I don't have access to HW USB sniffers)