A possible correction to my previous post. …
I was looking at the content of the /usr/src/linux-3.1.10-1.9-obj/x86_64/desktop/include/config/usb/gspca and I noted these files:
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 0 Apr 10 15:55 sn9c2028.h
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 0 Apr 10 15:55 sn9c20x.h
where it is possible one of them indicate there could be a kernel module needed for your webcam driver.
If this is a gspca webcam, then you could try this advice:
Note: some applications still don’t work very well together with the new (gspca v2) drivers. A workaround with these troublesome applications is to preload a libv4l-compat library:
LD_PRELOAD=/usr/lib/libv4l/v4l1compat.so
before starting the respective application, i.e. for kopete you would type:
LD_PRELOAD=/usr/lib/libv4l/v4l1compat.so kopete
This compat-library can be found in the package “libv4l”, which is available from OSS-Repo or (recommended) from Packman. (see - Additional YaST Package Repositories](http://en.opensuse.org/Additional_YaST_Package_Repositories))
If you have a 64 bit system, you preload the library with:
LD_PRELOAD=/usr/lib64/libv4l/v4l1compat.so
If you want to run a 32 bit application (i.e. skype) on a 64 bit system, you first need to install “libv4l-32bit” (only available in the Packman repository) and run the preload-command used for 32 bit.
If this works for you, you can add the LD_PRELOAD-command to the startup command of your menu entry/desktop shortcut via menu editor or with right-clicking the desktop icon => properties => application => command respectively.