Generic/ambiguous video device names exposed by pipewiresrc GStreamer plugin
- PipeWire version (
pipewire --version): 0.3.43-2 - Distribution and distribution version (
PRETTY_NAMEfrom/etc/os-release): Debian GNU/Linux 11 (bullseye) - Desktop Environment: GNOME
- Kernel version (
uname -r):5.15.0-2-amd64#1 SMP Debian 5.15.5-2 (2021-12-18)
Description of Problem:
I've got two webcams attached to my laptop. The device names exposed by pipewire are generic (infro from the kernel about the camera vendor/model name is not exposed) and ambiguous (there are two "Video Capture 3" devices), so I don't know which device I'm actually choosing on this screen:
How Reproducible:
Always
Additional Info (as attachments):
-
pw-dump > pw-dump.log: pw-dump.log -
gst-device-monitor Video: gst-device-monitor-video.txt - v4l2-ctl --list-devices: v4l2-devices.txt
Of course, you can't do much when the kernel tells you the device is called Video Capture 3. But on the other hand:
- Before pipewire, the dialog box I screenshotted above used to show me "Microsoft LifeCam VX-5000" and "Toshia Web Camera - HD", and this information does appear in the output of
pw-dump, so it's being captured, but not used to construct the device name as exposed bypipewiresrc. - Where two devices with the same name are constructed (e.g.,
Video Capture 3) it would be helpful to provide extra information such as the vendor and device name as well, and make that part of the device name. Or maybe just do this in any case if the kernel's name for the device tends to be so generic/useless...