Update: Ubuntu 9.04 Users klick here…

I am surprised how many people visit my site because their looking for a solution to get a Logitech QuickCam Messenger (046d:08f0) running on Linux using Skype

Since my last post seems to be a bit buggy for newer kernels, I updated my system to Debian (Lenny, 2.6.26-1-686) and gave it try.

All you need before we start:

Plug in your webcam.
Remove the old quickcam_messenger module:

To make sure it is not going to be loaded again we add

at the end of /etc/modprobe.d/blacklist

Download the new qcmessener module:

Now if you are running kernel 2.6.26 or newer , it is necessary to patch some files.

Continue installing:

Remember to be root when running make install

Give it a test:

If every thing works go on and install Gstfakevideo:

Create a new file called skype.sh and add these lines:

And run:

Now reload the module

Create a new file /etc/modprobe.d/qcmessenger and add:

This makes sure, that your webcam will always be /dev/video1 and uses “dblbuf”.

Finally fire up Skype by running skype.sh. That’s it!

Please leave a comment if you got some problems or want to give me feedback.

Update:
Here is a test image.

Update: Click here to go to a newer version of this article…

This weekend I successfully installed my Logitech QuickCam Messenger (046d:08f0) on my Debian box. In fact it worked out of the box with all kind of programs except for Skype. That was bad because Skype is my main video conference software and I don’t get the point of buying new hardware for Linux.
Anyway, this is the picture you get if you would have skyped me before:
That is why I dragged some information together, which you can find all over the web but never on one single page, to fix that problem.

Lets start. On https://wiki.ubuntu.com/SkypeWebCams the Logitech QuickCam Messengerm (046d:08f0) is listed as a ‘Fiddle to Get Working’ webcam:

Logitech QuickCam Messenger (046d:08f0) – On 32-bit systems, works with “quickcam” driver and gstfakevideo.

Debian comes along with quickcam_messenger which has to be removed:

You need:

And you are ready to go:

If every thing worked well you should be able to get some pictures with camoramic or xawtv.
After that we load the module, move /dev/video0 to /dev/video1 because video0 is reserved for Gstfakevideo.

Better would be a new udev rule. Create a new line in /etc/udev/rules.d/99-perso.rules (if the file doesn’t exists, create it):

Run

and reconnect your Webcam.

Now we install Gstfakevideo:

Create a new file called skype.sh and add these lines:

And run:

Now fire up Skype by running skype.sh.

You shoud get somthing like this:

If not something went wrong. Leave a comment so I might be able to help you out.

Update:
After a few Kernel updates (>2.6.23) I had problems compiling the quickcam module:

I found a patch on Ubuntuforums.org witch you can download here:
Quickcam Patch

Save it (/usr/src/) und run

Follow the instructions and enter the full path to qc-driver.c.
Now edit qc-driver.c and uncomment line 3484:

Run:

Install it

Have fun

PS: The patch also works with 2.6.25