Hi All,

I've been able in the past to get pictures from my digital camera using gtkam or digikam, but today they both started to crash when trying to connect to the camera (through USB).
I get the following error messages when gtkam crashes (digikam crashes with no error messages):

ALSA lib confmisc.c:560:(snd_determine_driver) could not open control for card 0
ALSA lib conf.c:3479:(_snd_config_evaluate) function snd_func_card_driver return
ed error: Permission denied
ALSA lib confmisc.c:392:(snd_func_concat) error evaluating strings
ALSA lib conf.c:3479:(_snd_config_evaluate) function snd_func_concat returned er
ror: Permission denied
ALSA lib confmisc.c:955:(snd_func_refer) error evaluating name
ALSA lib conf.c:3479:(_snd_config_evaluate) function snd_func_refer returned err
or: Permission denied
ALSA lib conf.c:3948:(snd_config_expand) Evaluate error: Permission denied
ALSA lib pcm.c:2090:(snd_pcm_open_noupdate) Unknown PCM default
ALSA lib confmisc.c:560:(snd_determine_driver) could not open control for card 0
ALSA lib conf.c:3479:(_snd_config_evaluate) function snd_func_card_driver return
ed error: Permission denied
ALSA lib confmisc.c:392:(snd_func_concat) error evaluating strings
ALSA lib conf.c:3479:(_snd_config_evaluate) function snd_func_concat returned er
ror: Permission denied
ALSA lib confmisc.c:955:(snd_func_refer) error evaluating name
ALSA lib conf.c:3479:(_snd_config_evaluate) function snd_func_refer returned err
or: Permission denied
ALSA lib conf.c:3948:(snd_config_expand) Evaluate error: Permission denied
ALSA lib pcm.c:2090:(snd_pcm_open_noupdate) Unknown PCM default

May I add that I haven't been able to get my onboard sound card to work (Intel HDA, Realtek ALC880).
I'm using SuSE 9.3 on a P4.

I'm a newbie and this is my first post, please be kind...
Cheers

Would the photo import progs normally make a noise when you import photos (you know - before they started crashing?)

If so, you should probably turn the sound off from the programs configuration menue. (Or under system settings somewhere.)

Sounds like you need to turn sound off globally until you can find the right driver for your sound card ... it is hda-intel and comes with most distros.

Thanks Simon,
I disabled the sound system from the control centre and this seemed to solve the problem with the digital camera (although the pictures were erased for some reason, but that's ok).
I suppose I should try to get help with setting up the sound card driver but that would have to be in another thread!
Cheers

Personally I would recommend ditching gtkam and mounting your camera as a mass storage device instead, then use your favourite file browser to transfer your images. A big advantage to this scheme is that you can actually use your camera as a mass storage device.

Digikam works perfectly here with kodak and kodak printer/dock.

ciotog: You should be aware that not all cameras will mount as mass storage devices. I have had particular trouble with cameras using sony memory-stick pro for storage. However, PTP and gphoto works all the time - though the camera id is not correct for the troublesome cameras.

Also note: the trouble was not with gtkam itself, but with the soundcard drivers. Presumably gtkam likes to play little beeps and stuff while it is working... well that won't go if sound ain't configured properly.

Turning sound off has fixed the problem - suggesting this is correct.

Your suggestion would have worked too - since it didn't involve sound. However, how useful this is would depend a lot on the system in question. i.e. My old RH9 system with 2.4.22 kernel would autodetect a sony DSC43 in ptp mode using gphoto. Same camera in normal mode was not detected... though I could remove the memory stick and use it in a card reader just fine. The DSC42 would be detected as mass storage, and I could mount it fine. However - every time I changed the USB devices around, the camera got assigned a different device... so I had to go hunting around for it again. (Later I found I could have used special mount options in fstab.)

While I could use the stick for storage of any old file, provided I didn't put the file in a photo directory, some cameras are not as tolerant. I've heard of cameras that scan the entire fs for photos and refuse to work if they find a file that isn't in a format it recognises (on the assumption it is a corrupt photo right), or which over-write non-photo files when space for photos runs out.

And this is an important point - photos, even as j-pegs, take up a lot ofspace. Cameras are typically sold with around 16Mb cards ... good for about 20 photos. Add other data in there are your ability to take photos gets really restricted.

To me, the main advantage in mounting as storage is "flexability". If a client has the space and wants/needs the flexability, then fine. However, for a use who just wants to get photos to and from the camera ... I'd say the cons outweigh the pros here.

OTOH: there is a useful bit of learning in this. A camera is just a fancy disk drive. If you were used to the windows way - you'd think it was something special.