Webcam on HP DV9000 series

[Gilles Gravier]

Try launching Ekiga, the GNOME Video Conference application. Make sure 
that, in the video detection screen, your camera is visible, either as a 
V4L or V4L2 device. If it isn't visible in Ekiga, then chances are you 
don't have a driver for it.

Linux usually has a hard time with webcams... as standardisation in that 
area is far from complete.

There are 4 types of webcams.

1) Pure proprietary chipsets of old generation. The driver had to read 
bits off of the CCD sensor and do the whole work of reconstructing the 
image... without the relevant proprietary info, this is impossible. So 
not many exist.

2) More modern proprietary chipsets. The driver has to get the high 
level info off of the device which does a lot of processing by itself. 
Again, without proprietary specs, impossible to write a driver. So not 
many exist.

3) "classic industry chipset" like the Philipps chips that equip many 
webcams. There is a driver for Linux that handles this family reasonably 
well.

4) New standard USB-VC (USB Video Class) devices. This is, as the name 
implies, for USB cams. The good news is that it's a standard. Ubuntu 
7.10, Solaris, and a few other popular operating systems include the 
driver by default. Older versions (Ubuntu 7.04 and before) don't, so you 
would have to manually install in these older OSes).

If your built-in webcam is USB-VC, it should be visible directly. If 
not... depends on your luck and if it's a (1), (2) or (3) category cam. :)

Gilles.

David B. Toth wrote:
> Just downloaded the Skype 2.x beta and want to activate my video ...
> The computer has a built-in webcam that works automagically in Windows ....
> Any idea how to get the system to see it in 7.10 ???
>
> Dave
>
>
>   

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