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  • uname -r: 5.12.5-arch1-1
  • lsusb -s 001:007: Bus 001 Device 007: ID 041e:401e Creative Technology, Ltd Webcam NX Pro
  • Yesterday my Zoom app recognized my camera but not today.
  • Noticed /dev/video* not found.
  • Found it used driver: spca5xx/LE gspca v4l1/v4l2
  • Found this website.
  • Found somebody made us Arch user repository package (AUR) but not available anymore.
  • Downloaded gspcav1-20071224.tar.gz but not have built it yet, as I am afraid of it destroying the kernel, as it was originally intended for 2.6.11+; what about 3.x.x or later?
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    In the newest kernel, gspca is available, so I am surprised it's not in your 5.12.5. Check your available modules; if necessary, use your distro's ways to build a kernel and enabled it. The chances of your old source file working with a modern kernel are very very small. – dirkt May 24 '21 at 05:09
  • Thanks @dirkt, found both gspca and v4l2 in my /usr/lib/modules/*/kernel/! –  May 24 '21 at 05:18
  • I’m voting to close this question because I did not see the repository of the kernel at first. –  May 24 '21 at 05:19
  • You can answer your own question (and accept the answer), in particular if you include details how to make your webcam work with those modules - for example, you may still have to include the 041e:401e in the source and recompile it if it doesn't get picked up automatically. – dirkt May 24 '21 at 05:42
  • It's .ko.xz file, not .ko! Also seems it runs with gspca_zc3xx.ko; but I need more time to learn to load it. –  May 24 '21 at 05:45
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    Use modprobe to load a module, and modinfo to see for which USB ids it should load automatically, and dmesg to look for potential errors. – dirkt May 24 '21 at 05:55

1 Answers1

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  1. Not obsolete, as @dirkt pointed out; refer this to check what drivers are required for your webcam.
  2. Hypothesis of the reason why Zoom recognized my webcam yesterday but not today; because I connected my webcam before booting yesterday, but not today.
  3. Then the hypothesis seemed to be correct.
  4. lsusb, then check webcam ID such as 041e:401e. In this case 041e stands for vendor ID; 401e for product.
  5. Look for what driver is required; mine requires zc3xx, as in this.
  6. lsmod | grep 'your driver name here'. On my environment, for example:
gspca_zc3xx 61440 0
gspca_main 32768 1 gspca_zc3xx
:
:
videodev ... ... gspca_main,gspca_zc3xx,...

The 4th column stands for "Used by".

  1. Edit /etc/modules-load.d/virtio-net.conf:
# plz load webcam (creative)
videodev
videobuf2_common
# and so on
gspca_main
gspca_zc3xx

I thought if order matters; I wrote in reverse order of step 6.

  1. Try rebooting, then unplug your webcam, and login.
  2. Finally, try lsmod, connecting and unconnecting your webcam, and ls /dev/video*.