Bug 463555

kernel version:
rpm -qf /lib/modules/2.6.27.7-9-default/kernel/drivers/media/video/gspca/gspca_main.ko
kernel-default-2.6.27.7-9.1



The problem is with 046d:092f Logitech, Inc. QuickCam Express Plus.

When you plug-in the webcam, kernel messages find correctly the driver and setup the /dev/video interface:

Jan  5 14:58:35 pc kernel: usb 1-2: new full speed USB device using uhci_hcd and address 14
Jan  5 14:58:35 pc kernel: usb 1-2: configuration #1 chosen from 1 choice
Jan  5 14:58:35 pc kernel: usb 1-2: New USB device found, idVendor=046d, idProduct=092f
Jan  5 14:58:35 pc kernel: usb 1-2: New USB device strings: Mfr=1, Product=2, SerialNumber=0
Jan  5 14:58:35 pc kernel: usb 1-2: Product: Camera
Jan  5 14:58:35 pc kernel: usb 1-2: Manufacturer:
Jan  5 14:58:35 pc kernel: Linux video capture interface: v2.00
Jan  5 14:58:35 pc kernel: gspca: main v2.2.0 registered
Jan  5 14:58:35 pc kernel: gspca: probing 046d:092f
Jan  5 14:58:36 pc kernel: gspca: probe ok
Jan  5 14:58:36 pc kernel: usbcore: registered new interface driver spca561
Jan  5 14:58:36 pc kernel: spca561: registered

If you run mostly ever application that uses webcam in the same distribution, for example kopete, webcam isn't working.

I saw in various forum that it seem the version of spca drivers included in OpenSuSE 11.1 are better working with these chipset but on the counterpart, they break the image format that is downloaded from webcam.
The workaround is to install the v4l compat framework that I've found in packman repository (libv4l-0.5.7-0.pm.1) for the i586 architecture and of course forcing, for the x86_64 architecture.
The solution is to call a LD_PRELOAD=/usr/lib64/libv4l/v4l1compat.so before callind kopete, so from shell:
LD_PRELOAD=/usr/lib64/libv4l/v4l1compat.so kopete
for skype of course as it's only a 32bit binary:
LD_PRELOAD=/usr/lib/libv4l/v4l1compat.so skype

A more system wide workaround is to create:
/etc/ld.so.preload
with a line:
/usr/lib64/libv4l/v4l1compat.so

and so, for every command there is a preload of such compatibility library but:
1. I don't know how to do for 32bit version software
2. It is useless to load this library for applications that aren't using spca driver or applications that are using other kind of video4linux devices