Gopro-webcam

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Currently there is no official support for using your GoPro 8 and 9 (the only versions that offer this feature natively) as a webcam on Linux. The web is full of incomplete tutorials for this topic. This page tries to simplify this effort.

Installation

Install the gopro-webcamAUR package.

Usage

The following command starts the tool in the interactive mode and tries to identify the GoPro's device, find the interface and ultimately start the webcam mode: 

# gopro webcam

There are a couple of options you can also set. See the --help option.

Examples

Start the webcam at a resolution of 1080p and with the linear FOV and start FFmpeg to expose the device to the OS: 

# gopro webcam -a -r 1080 -f linear

Find a device that matches the pattern enx and starts the webcam mode without asking for user input (it also starts ffmpeg to expose the device to the OS): 

# gopro webcam -p enx -n -a

Use the provided device enxenx9245589250e7 and do not ask for user input (just start VLC to preview the output you will get from the Camera): 

# gopro webcam -d enxenx9245589250e7 -n -v

Use the provided IP 172.27.187.52 and automatically start ffmpeg to expose the device to the OS (and do not ask for user input): 

# gopro webcam -i 172.27.187.52 -a -n

Start on boot

Note: The GoPro needs to be plugged in and be in 'standby' mode (Charger symbol) when the computer boots.

In order to start the webcam on boot, enable gopro_webcam.service.

If you would like to change the start parameters, edit gopro_webcam.service.

Start on plug in

gopro-webcam comes with a udev rule that will automatically start the gopro_webcam service when a GoPro Hero9 is plugged in, which may be undesirable to some users. The udev rule can be disabled as follows: 

# ln -s /dev/null /etc/udev/rules.d/60-gopro.rules

To have the udev rule work with a GoPro Hero8 Black instead, change GoPro HERO9 in 60-gopro.rules to HERO8 Black.

Troubleshooting

Cannot find network device for GoPro

Double check that the USB connection mode is GoPro Connect and not MTP under Preferences > Connections > USB Connection. If that option does not exist, you likely need a firmware upgrade. Instructions can be found at https://gopro.com/en/us/update.