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This note may be of help to some of those having trouble getting the Canon
A620 camera (or others?) to work with linux. The "fix" may be considered
common sense, but could be overlooked by someone just getting started with
this camera.
This note applies to SUSE 10.0 in my case, but is seemingly applicable to
other *nix distros.
* Symptom: cannot get Suse 10.0 (or other distros) to recognize the camera
in order to download images via USB. Apps such as GTKam (etc.) do not see
the camera, and the camera seems to be invisible to the PC even though the
proper USB and camera software is installed.
* Possible Fix: be sure that the MODE (slide) SWITCH on the camera back is set to the PLAYBACK position and NOT the SHOOTING position. If this switch is set to the SHOOTING position then the OS will not recognize the camera even though it is plugged into a working USB port, and the correct software is installed.
You must also be sure that POWER is ON, naturally.
You might summarize this by saying that the camera cannot shoot images and interface with the PC at the same time, and the MODE switch is the determining factor here. Simple, but easily overlooked by newbies, since Canon in their "wisdom" doesn't appear to know that linux exists, or if they do, they hide it pretty well, IMHO. Are you listening Canon ?
This is not to say that this will cure all problems where the camera is not detected, but it may well apply to many.
* For the record: After I took the above steps, my new A620 immediately began to work properly with SUSE 10.0. (I have GTKam amd other related software installed to faciltate the camera interface. Your may need to install the appropriate interface software if it's not already in place. Other online posts cover that.).
Aug 5, 2006, 10:44 PM
