Does the Razer Kiyo work under Linux?

Question

Does the Razer Kiyo webcam work under Linux? The odds look good, as it apparently requires no drivers under Windows (meaning it probably implements the standard webcam USB device class).

Christian Hujer · Accepted Answer · 2022-09-12T09:15:48.927

I have a Razer Kiyo and I'm using it on Linux since a couple of weeks.

So far I've used the Razer Kiyo with Google Hangouts/Meet, Discord, Gather.Town, MS Teams, and Zoom in Chromium and Google Chrome, and with the desktop applications of Discord, Zoom, and with OBS, including the OBS virtual camera used in the aforementioned.

The camera and its microphone work just fine in Linux.
The Razer Kiyo responds to settings changes with v4l2-ctl. Be careful to read the min, max and step precisely, or your setting changes will be ignored.

Linux distributions: Kubuntu 17.10, Ubuntu 20.04.2 LTS, and Kubuntu 22.04.1 LTS.

Output of lsusb:

christian.hujer@Nelkinda-Blade-Pro-1:~$ lsusb
Bus 002 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0003 Linux Foundation 3.0 root hub
Bus 001 Device 008: ID 1bcf:2c98 Sunplus Innovation Technology Inc. 
Bus 001 Device 007: ID 1532:0225 Razer USA, Ltd 
Bus 001 Device 006: ID 0cf3:e300 Atheros Communications, Inc. 
Bus 001 Device 005: ID 1532:0a02 Razer USA, Ltd 
Bus 001 Device 004: ID 04f3:2355 Elan Microelectronics Corp. 
Bus 001 Device 009: ID 1532:0e03 Razer USA, Ltd 
Bus 001 Device 002: ID 1532:005a Razer USA, Ltd 
Bus 001 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0002 Linux Foundation 2.0 root hub

(This one is the Razer Kiyo: 1532:0e03)

Output of v4l2-ctl:

christian.hujer@Nelkinda-Blade-Pro-1:~$ v4l2-ctl --list-devices
Razer Kiyo (usb-0000:00:14.0-3):
        /dev/video0
USB Camera: USB Camera (usb-0000:00:14.0-9):
        /dev/video1
christian.hujer@Nelkinda-Blade-Pro-1:~$ v4l2-ctl --device=/dev/video0 --list-formats-ext
ioctl: VIDIOC_ENUM_FMT
    Index       : 0
    Type        : Video Capture
    Pixel Format: 'YUYV'
    Name        : YUYV 4:2:2
        Size: Discrete 864x480
            Interval: Discrete 0.033s (30.000 fps)
        Size: Discrete 640x360
            Interval: Discrete 0.033s (30.000 fps)
Index       : 1
Type        : Video Capture
Pixel Format: 'MJPG' (compressed)
Name        : Motion-JPEG
    Size: Discrete 1280x720
        Interval: Discrete 0.017s (60.000 fps)
        Interval: Discrete 0.033s (30.000 fps)
    Size: Discrete 640x360
        Interval: Discrete 0.033s (30.000 fps)
    Size: Discrete 864x480
        Interval: Discrete 0.033s (30.000 fps)
    Size: Discrete 1920x1080
        Interval: Discrete 0.033s (30.000 fps)

Index       : 2
Type        : Video Capture
Pixel Format: 'H264' (compressed)
Name        : H.264
    Size: Discrete 1280x720
        Interval: Discrete 0.033s (30.000 fps)
        Interval: Discrete 0.042s (24.000 fps)
        Interval: Discrete 0.050s (20.000 fps)
    Size: Discrete 640x360
        Interval: Discrete 0.033s (30.000 fps)
        Interval: Discrete 0.042s (24.000 fps)
        Interval: Discrete 0.050s (20.000 fps)
    Size: Discrete 864x480
        Interval: Discrete 0.033s (30.000 fps)
        Interval: Discrete 0.042s (24.000 fps)
        Interval: Discrete 0.050s (20.000 fps)
    Size: Discrete 1920x1080
        Interval: Discrete 0.033s (30.000 fps)
        Interval: Discrete 0.042s (24.000 fps)
        Interval: Discrete 0.050s (20.000 fps)

It should be noted that I had performed a firmware update of the Razer Kiyo camera, and the H.264 modes only appeared after the firmware update. For performing the firmware update, I used Windows 10 in VirtualBox. Without the H.264 modes, the camera will perform poorly on USB 2 connections.

I can confirm the razer kiyo needs a firmware update to work on linux. On kiyo firmware 1.0.1, uvcvideo produced the "Failed to set UVC probe control" error message on linux boot. After updating the kiyo firmware to 2.0.x from windows it now works perfectly fine on linux. — ahelwer, Nov 13 '22 at 17:48
On windows it has support for NV12 format, but not on linux? — Bram, Jan 18 '23 at 18:30
@Bram it seems so. The native formats on Linux are YUYV 4:2:2, Motion-JPEG, and H.264. Via emulation, BGR3, YU12, and YV12 are available as well. I might check if a newer firmware update fixes this. — Christian Hujer, Jan 25 '23 at 09:24
Has anyone used the Kiyo X? I imaging the X is newer so will have the same support as the Kiyo. — simgineer, Mar 15 '23 at 17:27

user5373123 · Answer 2 · 2019-02-23T17:46:26.867

6

RAZER supports Ubuntu with a general set of modules at https://openrazer.github.io/#devices

Their repository is at

     sudo add-apt-repository ppa:openrazer/stable

... or the (unstable) dailies

     sudo add-apt-repository ppa:openrazer/daily

After adding the PPA, install the packages:

     sudo apt update

     sudo apt install openrazer-meta

NOTE: If you get dependency errors when trying to install the driver packages please make sure that you have enabled the "universe" repository in Software & Updates

After the drivers are installed, please restart the computer.

This PPA supports these versions:

Ubuntu 16.04 (Xenial) and newer

Linux Mint 18 and newer

edited Feb 23 '19 at 17:46

answered Feb 23 '19 at 17:38

user5373123

77

... and I've tested this with Skype on Ubuntu 16, and it works perfectly after selecting the RAZER KIYO for both the camera and microphone (light automatically works) – user5373123 Feb 23 '19 at 17:40
5

You do not need openrazer-meta to run the Razer Kiyo on Linux. The Razer Kiyo runs out of the box. – Christian Hujer Mar 07 '19 at 08:10
1

As Christian mentions, the camera is working out of the box for me. I'm running Ubuntu 19.10 – Mauro Morales Jan 03 '20 at 18:57
Are you guys using the Kiyo, the Kiyo Pro or the Kiyo X? – simgineer Mar 15 '23 at 17:26

score 3 · Answer 3 · answered Feb 08 '21 at 15:34

3

Works perfect in Ubuntu 20.10 without doing anything.

answered Feb 08 '21 at 15:34

Felipe Lerena

39

Markus Junginger · Answer 4 · 2021-03-18T16:22:13.363

3

For me, it worked only when directly connected to the laptop. The Kiyo camera view was all black if it was connected via an USB hub. I also tested with a Logitec HD Pro C920, which worked just fine on the hub...

PS.: Kiyo camera just works on the same USB hub when to connected on a Mac...

edited Mar 18 '21 at 16:22

answered Mar 17 '21 at 13:47

Markus Junginger

131

This may be because of bandwidth exhaustion of the USB. USB 2 provides barely sufficient bandwidth to run a single camera. If there's a second camera in use, or too many other devices at the same time, there is not enough bandwidth for the camera to operate. And, sadly, the Razer Kiyo is only USB 2. Even when the port and the hub are USB 3, it will be restricted by the limitations of USB 2. Same for the C920. However, the C920 supports H.264 out of the box, the Kiyo only after a firmware update. – Christian Hujer Mar 22 '21 at 07:19
1

@ChristianHujer Not sure if that explains why its working on a Mac on the same hub? Regarding the firmware update; I only found a Windows exe? That's the simplest solution, I guess? – Markus Junginger Mar 22 '21 at 15:40
I have exactly the same behaviour as you with a Kiyo Pro and C920 and a powered usb 3 hub. Both work on Mac/Windows and only C920 works on Linux – Stuart Oct 26 '21 at 14:49

Does the Razer Kiyo work under Linux?

4 Answers4