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 .

ALT Linux | Fame & Publicity Not their target

I wrote few lines on AltLinux.com international community forum - in English 

back in 2007 showing a desire for little needed publicity for ALT Linux because whenever I talk about this distribution anywhere I am told they have never heard about it . Michael Shigorin replied in these words 

" Some feel that's no problem with us: focusing on "the globe" would be very fuzzy and anyway demanding for English language resources which we're not very interested in -- that means that focusing on "ex-USSR" or Russian-speaking audience is much more sharp right now as a matter of fact. BTW that might help folks to get motivated to learn Russian in their preparation of flight to Syberia from globalism hounds. "

I have heard same kind of statements from the other ALT Linux development team members many times at #altlinux . I am told most of the times that ALT Linux is targeted towards Russians / Russian speaking people and though ALT Linux is supported in English and few other languages but their target audience are Russian speaking people mainly .

Since ALT Linux supports English along with Russian language they do offer an English mailing list at Community-en Info Page but it is not as active as compared to the Russian counterpart . There is an ALT Linux Bugzilla page with English language support at Bugzilla Main Page .

Though Russian is the main language at #altlinux but if an English speaking person drops there asking for help they do provide help depending upon the nature of the help requested and upon the mood of the people present in the channel .

In summary in all these years living with ALT Linux I have learned a clear lesson that ALT Linux is Russians only distro and they are not bothered if non Russian speaking people use it but they don`t worry if non-Russian speaking are not getting attracted towards this distro, they are all content with their native users completely .

Agilia Linux Commands You Must know .

If you are a fan of this Slackware based Russian Linux distribution the following mpkg commands which I collected from their forum requesting for them frequently will save your time and keep you safe from accidents with their package manager GUI which is quite tricky to use . Following commands are quite straightforward .

Summary of mpkg Commands:

mpkg-install PKGNAME - Installs a package

mpkg-remove PKGNAME - Removes a package

mpkg-show PKGNAME - Shows info about a package. By default, it shows currently the installed version .

mpkg-getrepositorylist - Receives repository list from central Server

mpkg-update - Updates packages from repository info

mpkg-upgradeall - To upgrade the whole system , use mpkg-upgradeall

mpkg-install PKGNAME - To upgrade only a specific package


I hope this is going to be helpful for Non-Russian AgiliaLinux Users to have these commands handy.

Here are some additional command posted by Valdos the Fat Troll in comments section, I will paste them here for quick access .

mpkg --help now in English
mpkg-add_rep [URI of repository] — adding repository. URI may be http://, ftp:// and file//.
mpkg-altlist — [don't know, where it's useful] shows all provides pairs.
mpkg-altshow [PKGNAME] — shows avaliable replacements for PKGNAME in argument.
mpkg-build — deprecated package build command
mpkg-check — (full?) dependency and consistency check?
mpkg-checkdeps [URI of repository] — checking consistency of repo.
mpkg-checklibdeps — checks broken library dependencies (also includes revdep-rebuild analog (mpkg-checklibdeps -Rd)).
mpkg-clean — wipe package cache.
mpkg-commit — ?
mpkg-conflicts [PKGNAME] — checks, does PKGNAME have some conflicts, that cannot be installed in system.
mpkg-convert_dir — (maybe) some part of deprecated build system.
mpkg-delete_rep [NUMBER OF REPO] — deletes repo from system. For list repo numbers use mpkg-list_rep.
mpkg-deleteprofile — ?
mpkg-depgraph [PKGNAME] — prints dependency tree of PKGNAME.
mpkg-deporder — ?
mpkg-disable_rep [NUMBER OF REPO] — disables repo without deleting.
mpkg-enable_rep [NUMBER OF REPO] — enables repo without deleting.
mpkg-export — ?
mpkg-exportinstalled — export installed packages to installable text file (setup list).
mpkg-filesearch [FILENAME] — search file in all avaliable packages.
mpkg-fixdeps — ?
mpkg-gendeps — deprecated dependency generator.
mpkg-gendeps2 — new dependency generator.
mpkg-getrepositorylist — gets repo list from main server.
mpkg-index — generates index for directory with packages, which needed for using directory as repo.
mpkg-install [PKGNAME] — installing PKGNAME.
mpkg-installfromlist [SETUP LIST NAME] — installing all packages from setup list.
mpkg-list — lists all avaliable packages.
mpkg-list_rep — lists repositories which present in system.
mpkg-listgroup [GROUPNAME] — shows packages with selected GROUPNAME.
mpkg-listgroups — shows avaliable grous (GROUPNAME from previous command).
mpkg-listprofiles — ?
mpkg-listupdates — shows avaliable updates.
mpkg-maintainer — tool for setting maintainer name and email in mkpkg.
mpkg-menu — buggy TUI for mpkg.
mpkg-purge [PKGNAME] — removes PKGNAME with all config files.
mpkg-quicklist — ?
mpkg-reinstall [PKGNAME] — suddenly, reinstalls PKGNAME.
mpkg-remove [PKGNAME] — removes package without configuration files.
mpkg-removegroup [GROUPNAME] — removes all packages from selected GROUPNAME.
mpkg-reset — initialize mpkg's sqlite database. DON'T USE IT!
mpkg-rollback [DATE/TRANSACTION] — rollback last update (without parameter), or all updates after DATE or TRANSACTION.
mpkg-saveprofile — ?
mpkg-search [KEYWORD] — search packages.
mpkg-searchdescription [KEYWORD] — search package by description.
mpkg-setmeta — change package metainformation.
mpkg-setprofile — ?
mpkg-show [PKGNAME] — shows full information about package.
mpkg-show_queue — shows planned things.
mpkg-spkg2abuild — converts old package build binary script to new text script.
mpkg-transactions [NUMBER OF TRANSACTION] — shows history of updates, installs, purges and other related things. Without parameter shows full log from zero-install to last.
mpkg-update — updates repo metadata.
mpkg-upgrade [PKGNAME] — updates PKGNAME.
mpkg-upgradeall — upgradeall all packages to latest avaliable versions.
mpkg-validate — ?
mpkg-version — shows version, lol.
mpkg-which [FILENAME] — shows, what package contains selected FILENAME.
mpkg-whodepend — shows reversdeps.

And he says there are some more which he doesn`t know himself and the list is growing :)