Thursday, August 25, 2011

ALT Linux Latest Kernel ( 3.0 ) and Webcam Modules

I was running kernel-image-pure-emerald#2.6.39-alt6 on my ALT Linux (Sisyphus) and all my three webcams mentioned below were working fine without any problem

[root@home-pc ~]# lsusb
Bus 001 Device 003: ID 0ac8:305b Z-Star Microelectronics Corp. ZC0305
Webcam
Bus 001 Device 004: ID 0ac8:303b Z-Star Microelectronics Corp. ZC0303 Webcam
Bus 002 Device 003: ID 0c45:6310 Microdia Sonix USB 2.0 Camera

Somehow ALT Linux Team did not update the kernel-image-pure-emerald while on the other hand the default kernel for ALT Linux was recently updated to kernel-image-std-def#1:3.0.3-alt1 ( Linux 3.0 ) . So I decided to install the default kernel . The installation went smooth and system was up and running flawlessly . When I ran Kopete and clicked on webcam it was blank for all the cams and I did not know what was missing in the kernel making webcams totally blank .

Upon enquiry at #altlinux@freenode.net I was told by one of the  ALT Linux developer Alex Karpov (karpov) to get installed

          kernel-modules-v4l for kernel-image-std-def#1:3.0.3-alt1 

although  marked as obsolete, but probably it will do the job for me . It actually solved my issue and now my webcams are working on this latest kernel , Much relief .