i am very new to linux; i bought this laptop for my parents to use with a webcam to communicate because i recently moved to another state. I have read that the logitech c200 webcam is compatible with my laptop, and should just install as soon as i plug it in. However, nothing happens when i plugged it in so i tried to install it from the cd. there is an icon that pops up on the screen when the cd is in, but goes away when it's removed. not sure what type of info you need. my system is linux mint 9 isadora. please help this is a christmas gift.
thanks

Two things to do.

1. Open a konsole, and if the web cam is plugged in ( usb port ??? ) run the command '/usr/sbin/lsusb' and look at the output. If hot plugging is working ( it should be ) have a look to see if the web cam shows up. Here is an example.

You can see my web cam is 046d:0870. This is the vendor and product numbers.

If it shows up, go to your package manager and install Cheese. It is a quick and dirty program to run your web cam. You should be able to get a picture on the screen.

If it doesn't work, post the output from /usr/sbin/lsusb and we'll have to see if the correct module is loaded.

Hello Cliff
Thanks for your post. this is what happened when i ran your suggestion
Bus 004 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0001 Linux Foundation 1.1 root hub
Bus 003 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0001 Linux Foundation 1.1 root hub
Bus 002 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0001 Linux Foundation 1.1 root hub
Bus 001 Device 002: ID 046d:0802 Logitech, Inc.
Bus 001 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0002 Linux Foundation 2.0 root hub
I did load cheese and still nothing happened. should i reboot?

No need to re-boot. Your web cam is seen by the hardware. Cheese is an application to run the web cam. It is simple and will show you if the web cam is working. It works with my Logitech web cam, and on my netbooks integrated web cam. I use Ubuntu, not Mint. Have a look in the package manager, mark cheese, and after it is installed, start the application. It should add into the menus to start. If not, open a konsole and type 'cheese' in lower case, no quotes, and press enter.

Let me know what happens.

? does mint use gstreamer if yes he needs

gstreamer good,bad,ugly, and 10 installed

cheese uses gstreamer

Hey Cliff,
I can see myself, but how do i see and talk to others? sorry it's probably very simple but like i said i'm just learning this system.

The reason to install cheese was to see if your web cam works, and if you can see yourself, mission accomplished.

Look into Skype. I don't use it, that application has lots of activity on this forum. I think Kopete ( its an instant messenger program ) supports video. I'm sure there are more programs that do similar things.

Skype...

If you are using a Mint 9 64-bit linux installation, Skype, a 32-bit package, may need some configuration to get working. Check the Mint and the Skype forums if this is the case. Here is a beginning.

http://community.linuxmint.com/tutorial/view/219

Thanks everyone. Webcam is working.