Has anyone got opensuse 11.2 to work on a Dell Studio 15?

English Hardware
1

About to try.
How about a built in true life webcam?
What is the best install method?
Last time on opensuse 11.1 my self built desktop, the full dvd
install refused to work. But the online Network install worked beautifully.:\

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I kept openSUSE-11.1 on my Dell Studio 1537 because of dissatisfication with the openSUSE-11.2 ATI driver. I booted it many times with the openSUSE-11.2 milestone liveCDs. With 4GB of RAM, I was able to install the kernel-source and kernel-syms and linux-header and try to custom build the ATI driver (the hardway) and it did not work. Note I have successfully done this dozens of times with 11.1, so I know how to do it.

I concede I have not tried this for some months, and its possible the latest ATI driver updates have rectified this.

On openSUSE-11.1 the web cam works nicely. On openSUSE-11.1 the ATI graphics work nicely. openSUSE-11.2 may have slightly better performance of the Intel Pro 5300 AGN wireless (vs the openSUSE-11.1 behaviour). But only slightly.

If you are a gnome user, I recommend you install openSUSE-11.1 from the openSUSE liveCD for gnome (or from the openSUSE DVD for gnome, although you note you had problems with the DVD - I did not). If you are a KDE user, then I recommend you install openSUSE-11.1 from the KDE-4.3.2 openSUSE community liveCD here: “KDE Four Live” CD](http://home.kde.org/~binner/kde-four-live/)

My apologies, as I did not really answer your question. While I like openSUSE-11.2 (I have it run on 4 PCs, of which 3 it runs superbly), I am not prepared to put 11.2 on my Dell Studio 15 at this time.

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Another question. How do I enable the webcam in opensuse 11.1/11.2?

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There are various variants of the Dell Studio 1537 shipped, so you need to make certain the webcam in yours is the same as the web cam in mine.

Now for openSUSE-11.1, type “lsusb”. Do you get:

Bus 001 Device 003: ID 05ca:18a1 Ricoh Co., Ltd

if so, then go here HCL/Web Cameras - openSUSE and check the list for uvc webcams here: Linux UVC driver & tools which indicates the 05ca:18a1 is supported by the UVC driver.

So that means you need to setup your Dell Studio 1537 for the UVC driver if and only if your web cam is on that UVC list like mine.

In which case, for a UVC web cam you go here: UVC Webcams - openSUSE , add the noted repository, and install Install ‘uvcdynctrl’ and ‘luvcview’ . In truth, I am not 100% convinced all that is needed, as I only installed luvcview-20081013-0.pm.4 from Packman’s web site. PackMan :: Informationen zum Paket luvcview I suspect one can adopt one approach, or the other, but NOT both at the same time.

Apparently the command line utility “uvcdynctrl” can be used to access all controls of your camera, such as e.b. Brightness, Contrast, Saturation, White Balance, Gain, Sharpness, Exposure, Focus, Pan/Tilt. Use uvcdynctrl -c to get a list of supported controls. I have not installed that (as noted).

I also installed libv4l-0.5.9-10.pm.12.1.

I have my laptop setup such that I click on one icon on my desktop, and my entire screen wallpaper turns into a webcam video (like a reverse mirror). If I click on another icon, my webcam and laptop’s digital mic immediately starts covertly recording EVERYTHING the webcam see’s and the laptop’s mic can hear. I also have that function mapped to a key press. Sort of a security measure for the paranoid part of my psychic in case I ended up being coerced to show a stranger something on my laptop, and I want to record things as they happen.

Take a look at this thread: webcam & microphone command line fun … - openSUSE Forums

I do NOT know if the above works for openSUSE-11.2.

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Once I get it set up,does kopete let you use it to talk to friends in yahoo messenger and live messenger?
Also Will it work through vmware to a yahoo or live messenger in a virtual machine?

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kopete ?? I have not used it for years.

I do not use vmware.

While I have Virtual Box with winXP installed, I have not setup my Virtual Box for USB usage yet, so I do not know how it will work. In theory it should work and should be recognized as a USB device under Virtual Box.

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I’m pondering this.

Setup is not difficult. Install “luvcview” and “libv4l”. Reboot to load the driver. Test using one of the command lines from the URL I provided. Maybe 10 or 15 minutes max.

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no need .kopete does the trick. i can chat with webcam as if it is yahoo messenger.