MSI: Don't buy our webcam

[Dotan Cohen]

> On the box of this webcam is clearly written what OS's are supported!
>

That is an excellent point. I would have not made the purchase myself,
but the cam was a gift. It was a gift from a family member, actually,
and now I have to explain to her why despite her gift she will not be
seeing Meirav and Maayan (my daughters) over the internet.


>> Do you mention to the vendors that you intend to use their hardware
>> with Linux when you but it? Because if you don't, then there is
>> nothing for them to notice.
>
> Did you mention to MSI that you use the webcam with Linux?
>

Yes, that was my initial question. When the tech informed me that he
does not have that information, I asked if it supported UVC and when
he didn't have _that_ information, I asked to get higher-level
support. He would not give that to me.


> Which OS would you recommend for me if I want to
>> use a webcam?
>
> Linux! A lot of webcams are supported by the gspca driver. See
> http://moinejf.free.fr/webcam.html
>

It is too bad that the gift purchaser just assumed that "webcam" meant
"will enable Dotan to show me his daughters over the internet" and not
"needs to be carefully checked against tables of compatibility with
Dotan's wacko choice of OS".


> Usually, it is not the hardware vendor who provides the Linux support,
> it's the community!
>

Well, then, I suppose that you are right. We shouldn't expect nor even
request that vendors support our choice of OS, we should all learn to
program drivers in C and get our code either submitted to the linux
kernel, or forever patch our own kernels.


> Instead of yelling around about the bad support of MSI you could use
> your time to provide information to the community about your cam.
>

What would the community tell me that three days of googling and
experimenting with differing, often outdated solutions with often
abandoned won't? I'm one of those idiots who tries to STFW first. But
in any case, just to cover all my ground, I did ask on the
Linux-UVC-Devel mailing list:
https://lists.berlios.de/pipermail/linux-uvc-devel/2009-August/005067.html


> Did you check http://moinejf.free.fr/webcam.html to see if your cam is
> supported?
>

Yes, the camera that I received as a gift is not listed there.


> - Provide exact Vendor and Model information (when possible with a link
> to the products site)
>

http://www.msi.com/index.php?func=proddesc&maincat_no=132&prod_no=618


> - lsusb shows the vendor:product ID, good to know
>

Bus 004 Device 002: ID 0c45:60fc Microdia PC Camera with Mic (SN9C105)


> - linux-media at vger.kernel.org mail list would be a good place to ask for
> support
>

Thanks, Thomas, I will ask there. I must stress that the purpose of
this message was to warn potential MSI / Linux victims but of course
if someone could help with a solution then I am more than grateful.
However, I do not believe that community support frees the
manufacturer from responsibility to support his products. By "support"
I am not even referring to providing Linux drivers, I am referring to
MSI's refusal to refer my questions to a higher level of technical
support with answers, even if the answer is "no".


-- 
Dotan Cohen

http://what-is-what.com
http://gibberish.co.il