I recently purchased a webcam for skype. I’m using the UVC driver to power the webcam on my openSUSE11 machine.

Getting the webcam up was simple with openSUSE.

Verify if the uvc package is available.

pandora:~ # zypper se uvc
Reading installed packages...

S | Name                 | Summary                             | Type
--+----------------------+-------------------------------------+-----------
| luvcview             | WebCam viewer                       | package
| uvcvideo             | USB Video Class (UVC) webcam driver | srcpackage
| uvcvideo-kmp-debug   | USB Video Class (UVC) webcam driver | package
| uvcvideo-kmp-default | USB Video Class (UVC) webcam driver | package
| uvcvideo-kmp-pae     | USB Video Class (UVC) webcam driver | package
| uvcvideo-kmp-xen     | USB Video Class (UVC) webcam driver | package

Select the suitable driver for your kernel. ” uname -r “. In my case pae.

pandora:~ # zypper in uvcvideo-kmp-pae
Reading installed packages...

The following NEW package is going to be installed:
uvcvideo-kmp-pae

Overall download size: 36.0 K. After the operation, additional 81.0 K will be used.
Continue? [YES/no]: y
Downloading package uvcvideo-kmp-pae-r200_2.6.25.5_1.1-2.2.i586 (1/1), 36.0 K (81.0 K unpacked)
Downloading: uvcvideo-kmp-pae-r200_2.6.25.5_1.1-2.2.i586.rpm [done (6.1 K/s)]
Installing: uvcvideo-kmp-pae-r200_2.6.25.5_1.1-2.2 [done]

If you want a webcam viewer then install the luvcview package.

pandora:~ # zypper in luvcview
Reading installed packages...

The following NEW package is going to be installed:
luvcview

Overall download size: 45.0 K. After the operation, additional 83.0 K will be used.
Continue? [YES/no]: y
Downloading package luvcview-0.2.4-0.pm.1.i586 (1/1), 45.0 K (83.0 K unpacked)
Downloading: luvcview-0.2.4-0.pm.1.i586.rpm [done (3.2 K/s)]
Installing: luvcview-0.2.4-0.pm.1 [done]

Plug in your webcam and test.

pandora:~ # luvcview

If you are like me then you must hate the “BEEP!” that comes along with Linux. Turning it off in KDE or Gnome is easy but what if you are on the virtual console? Here’s how you get rid of the “BEEP!” temporarily or permanently.

Temporary solution,

** make sure to be root or use sudo **

1. Check if you have the pcspkr module loaded.

[root@nosebleed ~]# lsmod | grep pcspkr

pcspkr                  7105  0

2. Remove the module. lsmod will return nothing if the module was removed.

[root@nosebleed ~]# rmmod pcspkr

[root@nosebleed ~]# lsmod | grep pcspkr

3. Restore the module when done.

[root@nosebleed ~]# modprobe pcspkr

[root@nosebleed ~]# lsmod | grep pcspkr

pcspkr                  7105  0

Permanent solution,

** make sure to be root or use sudo **

1. add the pcspkr module to the modprobe blacklist file.

[root@nosebleed ~]# vi /etc/modprobe.d/blacklist

Add the lines below to the file.

# pcspkr - turn off pc speaker "BEEP!"

blacklist pcspkr

2. Reboot, and check if the pcspkr module was loaded. If the blacklist file kicked in then nothing will be returned.

[root@nosebleed ~]# lsmod | grep pcspkr

This fix works for my CentOS and Ubuntu but not openSUSE as the pcspkr driver is built right into the kernel.

ALPS touchpad generaly have slower response when compared to the synaptic based touchpads.

Here’s a simple X hack to boost the sensitivity of my ALPS touchpad which has dramatically improved my experience with my touchpad. This worked on my openSUSE 10.3

1. First, check if you really do have a ALPS touchpad.

cat /proc/bus/input/devices | grep ALPS

sample output;

N: Name="AlpsPS/2 ALPS GlidePoint"

2. Make a backup of your xorg.conf file.

cp /etc/X11/xorg.conf  /etc/X11/xorg.conf.bkp

3. Edit the xorg.conf file.

vi /etc/X11/xorg.conf

4. Navigate to the InputDevice Section and look for the “synaptics” driver portion.

5. Replace everything between the Identifier line and EndSection with the settings below.
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