It's the 'How to get the Ricoh webcam working in opensuse 10.3 on hp pavilion dv6000' post

After much faffing and hassle I finally managed to get this cam working.

Here is how I did it:

uninstall any previous versions of uvcvideo and/or r5u870 drivers open your favourite console and type:

kwrite /etc/modprobe.d/blacklist

add 'blacklist r5u870' at the end of file (without quotations)

cd to any temp directory

svn checkout svn://svn.berlios.de/linux-uvc/linux-uvc/trunk

cd trunk

make

make install

modprobe uvcvideo

Test if it works using gqcam or something similar

open YaST

open system

open /etc/sysconfig editor

expand system

expand kernel

select MODULES_LOADED_ON_BOOT

type uvcvideo

click finish

Reboot and enjoy.

Any questions, feel free to post.

It's all getting a bit too much...

I've applied for a load of new jobs, I've worked my arse off and so far to no avail.

Hopefully something will pan out soon.

I ran into some weird problems recently in Linux. My webcam works when I use luvcview but does not work using gqcam or skype for linux. I spent a long time trying to solve this, and haven't quite managed it yet. It appears to be some problem with v4l and v4l2 which I can't quite work out. There also seems to be some problem getting the cam to work using mplayer. I've tried a few workarounds, but no results yet.

Admittedly, having only used linux for a few months, I may not see the problem straight away, but my computer sense is tingling and tells me I should be able to solve it.

I've also had to make a tough decision of late as to whether I'll keep playing city of heroes or keep roleplaying. A tough choice, but COH eventually won. It's not good being in a situation where you actually have to make that coice as I enjoy both equally.

Beowulf is out on Monday. Been looking forward to that for ages now. Mr Gaiman, I doff my cap to you sir.

It's starting to look up

Had a call from a recruiter yesterday, based on the updated cv I sent out on Saturday. Now all I need to do is convince them that I'm still good enough at development despite many years away from it professionally.

Successes over the last few days include: Re-Configuring Visual C++ 2005 Express Edition to use the Windows Platform SDK and DirectX; Finally getting 3d support working on my laptop (cursed savage s3 drivers).

So hopefully good news will follow in terms of jobs.

If anyone out there wants to know how any of these linux/windows workarounds have been achieved then by all means drop me a line.

It's simply marvellous

After several months of fighting with various installations of SuSe Linux Enterprise Desktop I finally made the switch to OpenSuSe 10.3. It is quite simply amazing. All the problems I've had trying to get WPA working in Linux were solved in one fell swoop. All I had to do was install the firmware for the bcm43xx chip and restart the interface and lo and behold it worked. No need for poxy ndiswrapper solutions any more, it works with KNetworkManager and the WPA encryption is on! :)


So if there is anyone out there having difficulties with wireless and Linux I would highly recommend that you switch to OpenSuSe immediately. Not only has it resolved my wireless issue, but the Build Service is amazing and contains all the packages I've been installing from source, so I can now install them using YaST.

*big grin*

It's getting to be an obsession.

Not only did I watch all six of Kevin Smith's Jersey movies in one night, but over the last couple of days I've also done both Evenings With Kevin Smith. I think I might be close to overdosing. You'll know it's happened if I get arrested for peddling weed outside a video store, or calling a small child a fucking cunt rag.

Still having problems with getting WPA working on my damn wireless card. There must be somebody, somewhere that's had the same problem so I can google it. Needless to say, my search continues.

Harsh news about Heath Ledger. He was a damn good actor, and will be missed.

It's not just grim up north

It has been absolutely awful the last couple of days. The river outside of our house nearly spilled over again. We came within a couple of inches of being flooded during the last lot of bad weather. This is what it looked like from just inside our front door:

Thankfully it wasn't quite as bad this time and the river didn't actually spill over onto the path.

I must say how much I love roleplaying. It's been a hobby of mine for over 20 years now, and it still hasn't lost it's appeal. Now I'm not talking about Dungeons and Dragons here where me and a bunch of my friends sit around battering orcs and collecting gold pieces and xp. At the moment we're playing a game set in the future but in a parallel universe. It's basically futuristic magical steampunk, which is awesome, lots of airships and the like. We've just discovered Atlantis and it turns out that it might be Hell.

I'm still having problems with my wireless network and Linux. I've managed to get it all set up and working, but when I try to use the WPA encryption my laptop won't connect. So I'm left using MAC address filtering which ain't very good if anyone nearby knows how to spoof a MAC address. Despite much googling I still can't seem to get it to work using iwconfig. Hmmm.... Ah well... I'm sure I'll crack it eventually.

I ran into another odd problem the other day while transferring old VHS tapes onto DVD. There appears to be some sort of archaic copy protection system that will not allow me to back up my videos onto dvd. As soon as I start the tape playing and record on the dvd it says 'Copy Protected' and stops the recording. I guess I've become so used to ripping cd's and dvd's that I'd completely forgotten that copy protection is such an issue.

Only for weeks now until we go to Paris or our 5th anniversary. Can't wait, I'm going to have to see how much it's going to cost to do the Eiffel Tower and the Louvres.

It's a start.

I suppose the first thing to get out of the way is the fact that I hate my job. I make this clear from the outset so that, from here on in, I don't have to mention it again and can concentrate on more important things. Suffice to say it is the one thing in my life I would change in a heartbeat. I know people will say that it's within my power to change my own position, and I am trying, but the world is not very forgiving of silly mistakes made in employment choices over the years.

That said I am looking forward, not due to any half-baked new year's resolution that I'll forget in a few weeks time, but as a result of my re-invigorated focus on things that really matter to me.

I've spent the last few months finally getting my head around Linux, something which I have been meaning to do for nearly 7 years now. Now I'm up to speed with it and plunging neck deep into C++ and KDevelop (another thing on my to do list for several year's now).

As well as geeking out, I'm currently working on several creative projects, including a tabletop RPG, a LARP and a couple of screenplays and short stories. As per usual I'm spreading myself a little thin and finding it a little difficult to concentrate on one thing at a time.

I'm hoping that actually sitting myself down to write this blog will focus me and give me a bit of direction on whichever task I'm currently working on.

Anyhoo... not getting too in-depth this evening, it's already ludicrously late and the chores commence anew in the morning.