USB Webcam Not Working on Jetson Nano for OpenCV/TensorFlow Object Detection

Hello guys, I am trying to set up a USB webcam on my NVIDIA Jetson Nano to perform real-time video analytics using OpenCV and TensorFlow, I have installed OpenCV and TensorFlow on Ubuntu, connected a USB webcam to the Jetson Nano, wrote a Python script to capture video frames and perform object detection. But I keep getting the error
[ WARN:0] global /tmp/pip-req-build-1234abcd/opencv/modules/videoio/src/cap_v4l.cpp (890) open VIDEOIO(V4L2:/dev/video0): can't open camera by index
[ WARN:0] global /tmp/pip-req-build-1234abcd/opencv/modules/videoio/src/cap_v4l.cpp (890) open VIDEOIO(V4L2:/dev/video0): can't open camera by index
This is my code snippet 👇
import cv2
import tensorflow as tf

# Load the pre-trained object detection model
model = tf.saved_model.load('ssd_mobilenet_v2/saved_model')

# Open the USB webcam
cap = cv2.VideoCapture(0)

while cap.isOpened():
ret, frame = cap.read()
if not ret:
print("Failed to capture image")
break

# Preprocess the frame for the model
input_tensor = tf.convert_to_tensor(frame)
input_tensor = input_tensor[tf.newaxis, ...]

# Perform object detection
detections = model(input_tensor)

# Display the frame
cv2.imshow('Frame', frame)

if cv2.waitKey(1) & 0xFF == ord('q'):
break

cap.release()
cv2.destroyAllWindows()
import cv2
import tensorflow as tf

# Load the pre-trained object detection model
model = tf.saved_model.load('ssd_mobilenet_v2/saved_model')

# Open the USB webcam
cap = cv2.VideoCapture(0)

while cap.isOpened():
ret, frame = cap.read()
if not ret:
print("Failed to capture image")
break

# Preprocess the frame for the model
input_tensor = tf.convert_to_tensor(frame)
input_tensor = input_tensor[tf.newaxis, ...]

# Perform object detection
detections = model(input_tensor)

# Display the frame
cv2.imshow('Frame', frame)

if cv2.waitKey(1) & 0xFF == ord('q'):
break

cap.release()
cv2.destroyAllWindows()
@Middleware & OS @Helper
Solution:
v4l2-ctl --list-devices
v4l2-ctl --device=/dev/video0 --stream-mmap=3 --stream-count=10
v4l2-ctl --list-devices
v4l2-ctl --device=/dev/video0 --stream-mmap=3 --stream-count=10
If the above steps don't help, try running a simple OpenCV script to verify if OpenCV can access the camera: ...
Jump to solution
8 Replies
RED HAT
RED HAT•5mo ago
whatsup @Enthernet Code , It seems like there’s an issue with the camera index or how the camera is being accessed. Make sure that /dev/video0 is the correct device for your USB webcam. You can list all video devices connected to your Jetson Nano using
ls /dev/video*
ls /dev/video*
This will show you all available video devices. If your webcam is not listed as /dev/video0, you might need to change the index in your cv2.VideoCapture(0) line to match the correct device.
Enthernet Code
Enthernet Code•5mo ago
I have checked it using the code it's listed there
RED HAT
RED HAT•5mo ago
Also, check the permissions for your video device. Sometimes, access issues can cause this kind of error. You can change the permissions by running
sudo chmod 777 /dev/video0
sudo chmod 777 /dev/video0
although i wont recommend this for production enviroment
Enthernet Code
Enthernet Code•5mo ago
Like this?? sudo user mod -aG video enthernet
RED HAT
RED HAT•5mo ago
Then, log out and log back in for the changes to take effect.
Enthernet Code
Enthernet Code•5mo ago
Okay
Dark AI
Dark AI•5mo ago
hello, @Enthernet Code Make sure you have all the necessary dependencies installed for video capture. You can try installing v4l-utils which provides tools for video device querying and configuration:
sudo apt-get install v4l-utils
sudo apt-get install v4l-utils
You can also try to capture video using v4l2-ctl to ensure the camera is working correctly:
Solution
Dark AI
Dark AI•5mo ago
v4l2-ctl --list-devices
v4l2-ctl --device=/dev/video0 --stream-mmap=3 --stream-count=10
v4l2-ctl --list-devices
v4l2-ctl --device=/dev/video0 --stream-mmap=3 --stream-count=10
If the above steps don't help, try running a simple OpenCV script to verify if OpenCV can access the camera:
import cv2

cap = cv2.VideoCapture(0)

if not cap.isOpened():
print("Cannot open camera")
exit()

while True:
ret, frame = cap.read()
if not ret:
print("Can't receive frame (stream end?). Exiting ...")
break
cv2.imshow('frame', frame)
if cv2.waitKey(1) == ord('q'):
break

cap.release()
cv2.destroyAllWindows()
import cv2

cap = cv2.VideoCapture(0)

if not cap.isOpened():
print("Cannot open camera")
exit()

while True:
ret, frame = cap.read()
if not ret:
print("Can't receive frame (stream end?). Exiting ...")
break
cv2.imshow('frame', frame)
if cv2.waitKey(1) == ord('q'):
break

cap.release()
cv2.destroyAllWindows()
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