Need to get pictures off of Musteck MDC-800 camera
 

First, I am running Ubuntu 6.06 with 2.6.15 kernel. I want to connect my digital camera to my computer and download the pictures from it. The camera (a Mustek MDC-800) connects via usb. My usb is working fine with my flash drives and that is all I have used usb for so far. I really don't know what I need to do so I don't know what else you need to know. Please help me.

http://www.linux-usb.org/devices.html

According to this link, the camera is natively supported by the current kernel. You likely need to compile a module or two for proper data communication, but shouldn't be too big a deal.
I will venture a guess that if you run xconfig (the kernel compile interface) and go to the Video 4 Linux section or device driver section, the necessary stuff for the camera will be clearly indicated.
If you aren't familiar with compiling kernel modules, there are loads of tutorials, threads, and related info both in LQ here and on the web :)
If you need further specific help, ask away!
:) Hope this points you in teh right direction.

Thanks for the help you have already given. I need a little more help.

First off, what is the command? xconfig returns "command not found". Secondly, what am I looking for? will there be a section marked camera? I am a complete newbie to images in linux.

I also need to know where to find the source for the module. I have found a couple of source files posted on the net, but it doesn't tell which kernel it is for. Also it was just the source listing will very little documentation.

Something to try first: Using google or whatever, locate the name of the kernel module(s) needed for your camera. If you find the name, then in a terminal type 'modprobe <the-name-here>'.. If there is no error or reply, then try using your camera. If this doesn't work, see below:
Ok :) , on Ubuntu, the source code for the kernel modules and kernel itself *may* not be on your system to start with. If it IS there, it is in /usr/src/linux/RIGHT HERE CALLED SOMETHING LIKE 'Linux-2.6.22'/
I assume it is not there...SO:
1 - open a terminal window and type 'uname -a' to identify your kernel.
2 - make note of the part like '2.6.13.17' or whatever it is. this is the release number of your kernel.
3 - go to www. <your country here> .kernel.org and locate the same kernel release as you have.
4 - Download the sourcecode package. It will be a 40 or 50 MB file ending with .tgz or .bz2 or similar. Also download the Checksum MD5 file that goes with it, so you can verify the archive's integrity. Read 'man md5sum' for instructions.
5 - extract this package to /usr/src/<some name you like>/RIGHT HERE
6 - open a terminal. (I su to root here, but you may not need to yet)
7 - type 'make xconfig' or 'make defconfig', and you will be presented with a menu-driven thingy.
8 - Locate a section called either v4l, video-for-linux, or something else where you think camera devices might be located. I can't say for sure, because we very likely have different kernels, and I can't recall right off. But you may be looking for a while, it's a big menu. :)
9 - When you click on an option in the menu (DON'T select it, just click the text) it will show you a blurb of HELP info in xconfig. If you end up in the other config, there will be an option on teh bottom of the screen for HELP. It will tell you about the option you are looking at, what it does, and what other things might be needed to make it work.
10 - When you find the stuff you need for your camera, select it as MODULE or compile it right into the kernel. (So either a DOT/M for module, or a CHECKMARK for compiled in)
11 - when all done, exit all the way out of the menu-driven thingy. On the console screen you should see a message like "Saved kernel configuration to .config"
12 - now type 'make'
12.5 - If you get a tonne of errors, then su to root now if you haven't, and try 'make' again.
13 - When this is all done scrolling down the screen, type 'make modules_install'
14 - now from the folder where you are, move into /arch/i386/boot and copy the file named bzImage to the folder /boot (your systems actual boot folder). Rename it something like newkernel.
15 - now, by following the instructions in the LILO man page (type 'man lilo') and learning by example by what's in the file /etc/lilo.conf , edit this file to add your new kernel to the lilo.conf file.. Save the file.
16 - in a terminal as root, type 'lilo'.
17 - if all is well, lilo will list two kernels, the original and the new one, one will have a * beside it.
18 - DO NOT REBOOT YET IF YOU GET ERRORS FROM LILO. GET LILO FIXED BEFORE REBOOTING.
19 - when lilo returns two kernels and no errors, you're done :)

ok. I modprobed without any errors. So I probably have the driver loaded. But, I can't access the camera. How do I do that? None of the image programs I have recognize the camera model. Is there a way to access the camera directly through the usb port?

EDIT
The driver is loaded and I have mounted the camera. I ran mknod and set that up. But whenever I try to access it, it says that it couldn't read it. Also the devices file in the /mnt/camera folder is blank. Same with /proc/bus/usb/devices. Can't import using gtkam, gphoto2, picasa, or any other program. Why can't this thing read my camera from the mount point. I mounted using usbfs. vfat and msdos won't mount. Help.