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which distros have WEBCAM support?

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which distros have WEBCAM support?

Author:: Timmi S
Date added:: Wednesday, 28 October 2009
Last revised:: never

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Can anyone help me find a disto that has:

good webcam support (and I mean automatic detection and configuration of a few popular webcam models) I use a microdia ne878, which isn't supported but very popular. I have skype on Mint, but it doesn't see my webcam (or even soundcard for that matter)
without sacrificing wi-fi support and detection (for example, peanut linux 4.3.1 won't let you connect using wpa, that's unacceptable)
that works well on popular laptop (for example, which like Linux Mint, auto-detect and configures everything for you)

My hardware is quite "standard"... it's a Toshiba core2duo Centrino (which means it has the most popular intel wireless card), however, I have an external webcam which it isn't detecting any more than it is detecting thebuilt-in sound card. :-(

Not beeing able to get my webcam to be detected and to work, I find myself booting into windows most of the time, because there, it all "just works" there, and I'd really like to be independent of windows as much as possible.

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Answers

#4 GoinEasy9 2009-11-04 03:23 This may be a shot in the dark, but, when the gspca modules were first incorporated into the Linux kernel in 2.6.27, the only way I found to make the webcam work was to start the app from terminal with this line:
LD_PRELOAD=/usr/lib/libv4l/v4l1compat.so application
in your case it would be:
LD_PRELOAD=/usr/lib/libv4l/v4l1compat.so skype
Give that a try and see if it makes a difference.

Now that I'm using Gnome in Fedora, I've discovered an app called cheese. If your webcam works with cheese, it is being correctly identified. It seems the upstream cheese devs were ahead of the pack when it came to making the webcam drivers that are in the kernel actually work. Sorry, forgot to add that it's available when using KDE also, it's in most repos.
If your webcam works in cheese and doesn't in skype try the LD_PRELOAD line and see if that makes a difference.

#3 Ed Morgan 2009-11-03 08:18 I second what Adam and Estelle have said, Ubuntu is generally very good for that kind of stuff, and it's normally a Skype issue.

Other than Mint and the NBR, if you wish to try a Ubuntu derivative try Crunchbang out - crunchbanglinux.org

I had no issues with Skype or sound on my Dell Inspiron 1520 with Crunchbang…

HTH

Ed

#2 Estelle Angelinas 2009-10-30 00:33 I had that problem, but actually it wasn't Ubuntu's fault. You have to get into Skype's files and make a few changes. For the webcam, it's just a matter of changing a number from one to zero. For the sound card Ubuntu should have a sound mixer, that you must experiment with to find the right combination in order for it to work.
The best thing to do is to go to Skype's website and check their forums. That is where I found my answers.

#1 Adam 2009-10-29 22:07 Though I don't use thingsa like web cams often, my Acer Aspire ONE netbook had one built in. I installed Ubuntu netbook remix from a live USB and it supported the integrated camera right out of the gate.

To be frank, there is little hardware I've come across that wasn't supported by Ubuntu right away. The only exception I've come across is the evdo mini pci card in my dell laptop.

Also, a lot of manufacturers are starting to release linux versions of their drivers, so even if the hardware doesn't work with the distribution you chose right out of the box, often you can find a "non-free" package with the vendor's drivers for your hardware.

NOTE: non-free is not a comment on price, but rather, indicates that source code for the package is not available.