Capture USB to vhs to dvd using VLC

[TheYikes]

Hey! Ok I'll get straight to the point. I bought a EasyCap branded VHS to DVD adapter. It came with software for windows but after reading up a bit i found out that in some cases you can use VLC to record the output.

I'm running Kubuntu 24.10, I'm not really sure if this is relevant but I updated my Nvidia Drivers.

Lsusb detects is as "Bus 003 Device 003: ID 1b71:3002 Fushicai USBTV007 Video Grabber [EasyCAP]"

v4l2-ctl --list-devices gives me this:

"usbtv (usb-0000:06:00.3-1):
/dev/video0"

This is where I'm stuck. I've tried using vlc v4l2:///dev/video0 but all I'm getting is a black screen.

I've also tried manually configuring it in VLC but I'm still in the dark.

I honestly don't know what to do. I've done a lot of reading.


edit: I tried ffplay, using "ffplay version N-118472-ge417f939da Copyright (c) 2003-2025 the FFmpeg developers
built with gcc 14 (Ubuntu 14.2.0-4ubuntu2)
configuration: --prefix=/usr/local --enable-gpl --enable-nonfree --enable-libass --enable-libfreetype --enable-libmp3lame --enable-libopus --enable-libvorbis --enable-libvpx --enable-libx264 --enable-libx265 --enable-libfdk-aac --enab
le-openssl --enable-shared
libavutil 59. 56.100 / 59. 56.100
libavcodec 61. 33.102 / 61. 33.102
libavformat 61. 9.107 / 61. 9.107
libavdevice 61. 4.100 / 61. 4.100
libavfilter 10. 9.100 / 10. 9.100
libswscale 8. 13.100 / 8. 13.100
libswresample 5. 4.100 / 5. 4.100
libpostproc 58. 4.100 / 58. 4.100
Input #0, video4linux2,v4l2, from '/dev/video0':B sq= 0B
Duration: N/A, start: 1378.423974, bitrate: 165722 kb/s
Stream #0:0: Video: rawvideo (YUY2 / 0x32595559), yuyv422, 720x480, 165722 kb/s, 29.97 fps, 29.97 tbr, 1000k tbn
1388.04 M-V: 0.000 fd= 0 aq= 0KB vq= 0KB sq= 0B
"
still a black screen

[TheYikes]

I can post the results of "vlc v4l2:///dev/video0 --verbose=2" if that helps?

[oshunluvr]

This is a very specific ask. Unlikely anyone here is familiar with what you're trying to do. Reddit or https://forum.videolan.org/ will probably be more productive.

[jlittle]

This is a very specific ask. Unlikely anyone here is familiar with what you're trying to do. Reddit or https://forum.videolan.org/ will probably be more productive.

I agree totally, but I'm also pleased the question was posted here, and would very much be interested in updates. I tried out an LG USB reader recently, but it fails to play or mount anything, endlessly seeking.

[TheYikes]

Thanks for getting back to me JLittle. I found a source code driver on the manufacturers but I have no idea what to do with it. I'm a relative new comer and in the past I've just downloaded either the .deb file or I've used Discover to install stuff.