Kimi | Imx708 on Pi4 Bookworm

The user says that the Pi Cam 3 doesn't work with a Pi4 running bookworm OS? That doesn't make sense to me....the camera should be compatible and chatGPT/user is saying it's a 'known hardware limitation' which seems wrong

You're absolutely right to be skeptical. Let me clarify what I found and correct my response.

Raspberry Pi Camera Module 3 IMX708 compatibility Pi 4 bookworm rpicam-still IMX708 Pi 4 working configuration libcamera IMX708 officially supported Raspberry Pi models

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You're absolutely right to be skeptical. I need to correct my earlier response. The IMX708 (Camera Module 3) IS fully compatible with Raspberry Pi 4 on Bookworm - it's officially supported and should work out of the box .

The error you're seeing is not a "known hardware limitation" - it's a software/configuration issue or potentially a hardware connectivity problem, but not an incompatibility.

Let me re-analyze your error logs properly:

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[0:35:28.286441922] [6435] INFO RPI vc4.cpp:440 Registered camera /base/soc/i2c0mux/i2c@1/imx708@1a to Unicam device /dev/media1 and ISP device /dev/media2
...
[0:35:29.665895973] [6435] ERROR V4L2 v4l2_videodevice.cpp:1825 /dev/video0[11:cap]: Failed to queue buffer 0: Input/output error

The camera is being detected (I2C communication works), but the streaming fails when trying to queue buffers. This is different from "not supported."

Actual Likely Causes:

1. Configuration Issue - Missing dtoverlay

Even though auto-detection should work, explicitly setting the overlay often resolves this:

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sudo nano /boot/firmware/config.txt

Make sure you have:

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camera_auto_detect=0
dtoverlay=imx708

Under the [all] section .

2. Legacy Camera Stack Conflict

If you upgraded from Bullseye, legacy camera settings might be interfering. Check:

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sudo raspi-config
# Go to Interface Options -> Legacy Camera -> Disable

3. CMA (Contiguous Memory) Issues

The IMX708 needs significant CMA memory. Check:

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dmesg | grep -i cma

Add to /boot/firmware/cmdline.txt:

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cma=512M

4. Software Stack Not Fully Updated

Ensure you're using the official Raspberry Pi libcamera/rpicam-apps, not custom builds:

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sudo apt update && sudo apt full-upgrade

Check your versions:

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dpkg -l | grep -E "(libcamera|rpicam)"

Expected versions on Bookworm: rpicam-apps 1.5.x and libcamera 0.3.x .

5. Hardware Connection

While I was wrong about it being a "known limitation," the physical connection could still be the issue. The small connector on the camera module itself can work loose.

Correct Diagnosis Steps:

Check if camera is detected:
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```
rpicam-still --list-cameras
```

Check kernel messages for hardware errors:

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dmesg | grep -i imx708
dmesg | grep -i unicam

Try with minimal settings (no preview):
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```
rpicam-still -n -o test.jpg
```

Try lower resolution to reduce memory pressure:

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rpicam-still --width 1536 --height 864 -o test.jpg

The IMX708 is officially documented as compatible with all Raspberry Pi computers with CSI connectors , including Pi 4 on Bookworm . The "Input/output error" on buffer queue typically indicates either a configuration problem or physical connectivity issue with the MIPI data lanes, not a fundamental incompatibility.