(Plasma-related?) Webcam LED permanently turned on without usage

Support
1

tl;dr:

  • Webcam LED won’t turn off on its own despite not being used
  • Unplugging & plugging back in the webcam will turn the LED off
  • Killing plasmashell also turns the LED off (but obviously also kills Plasma)

Since the latest stable update, I have a bit of an unsettling issue:

My webcam’s LED is permanently on after reboot.

v4l2-ctl --list-devices
Microsoft® LifeCam Studio(TM): (usb-0000:02:00.0-5):
	/dev/video0
	/dev/video1
	/dev/media0

Checking lsof and fuser shows none of these are actually being used, so there is nothing nefarious going on.
But still, very unsettling.

One way I found to turn off the cam’s LED is to un- and re-plug it.
That will make the LED flash shortly while it’s being “recognized” but then turn off. Which is what used to happen upon startup, but since the recent update the LED will no longer turn off on its own after it turns on during startup.

Another way to turn off the LED - and this is the reason I put this into the KDE Plasma section - is to kill plasmashell. A killall plasmashell will turn the LED off (but also plasma is gone obviously) and a plasmashell --replace will turn it back on.

I did not install anything recently that would be audio/video/webcam related, so I can only guess one of the packages updated with the recent (18th March) update is responsible, likely somehow related to Plasma or one of its widgets.

2

Hi @TheSHEEEP,

Please provide the output for:

inxi --full --admin --filter --width --repos

Those with privacy concerns, note that when -z, or --filter is used, all personally identifiable information is filtered out from the resulting inxi output. :eyes:

Note that the above text is partially pre-prepared as a general introduction for new forum users. Please take the time to follow links given and learn how to create effective support requests and encourage quality responses.

3

Strange - I don’t have an USB connected webcam - perhaps a defective one in a box somewhere - but my laptop’s webcam does not exhibit the described behaviour.

Just tested on Plasma 6.3.3

It is quite possible that plasma may have introduced something that makes this happen.

I am not a Plasma developer just a user.

I suggest you open an issue at the relevant bugtracker at bugs.kde.org.

1 Like
4

More likely would be systemd. Plasma does not do any hardware detection of itself; it relies on systemd — most specifically, systemd-udev — for that.

5 
inxi --full --admin --filter --width --repos
perl: warning: Setting locale failed.
perl: warning: Please check that your locale settings:
	LANGUAGE = (unset),
	LC_ALL = (unset),
	LC_CTYPE = "en_US.UTF-8",
	LC_NUMERIC = "en_DE.UTF-8",
	LC_COLLATE = (unset),
	LC_TIME = "en_DE.UTF-8",
	LC_MESSAGES = (unset),
	LC_MONETARY = "en_DE.UTF-8",
	LC_ADDRESS = "fi_FI.UTF-8",
	LC_IDENTIFICATION = "fi_FI.UTF-8",
	LC_MEASUREMENT = "en_DE.UTF-8",
	LC_PAPER = "fi_FI.UTF-8",
	LC_TELEPHONE = "fi_FI.UTF-8",
	LC_NAME = "fi_FI.UTF-8",
	LANG = "en_DE.UTF-8"
    are supported and installed on your system.
perl: warning: Falling back to the standard locale ("C").
System:
  Kernel: 6.12.19-1-MANJARO arch: x86_64 bits: 64 compiler: gcc v: 14.2.1
    clocksource: tsc avail: hpet,acpi_pm
    parameters: BOOT_IMAGE=/boot/vmlinuz-6.12-x86_64
    root=UUID=db45313e-b2a1-40d2-83e0-d23cc323b07f rw quiet apparmor=1
    security=apparmor resume=UUID=cc497015-307a-42aa-ae93-1c2adcef6c85
    udev.log_priority=3 amdgpu.ppfeaturemask=0xffffffff
  Desktop: KDE Plasma v: 6.3.3 tk: Qt v: N/A info: frameworks v: 6.11.0
    wm: kwin_x11 vt: 2 dm: SDDM Distro: Manjaro base: Arch Linux
Machine:
  Type: Desktop Mobo: Micro-Star model: MAG B550 TOMAHAWK (MS-7C91) v: 2.0
    serial: <superuser required> uuid: <superuser required> UEFI: American
    Megatrends LLC. v: A.B0 date: 08/25/2022
CPU:
  Info: model: AMD Ryzen 9 5900X bits: 64 type: MT MCP arch: Zen 3+ gen: 3
    level: v3 note: check built: 2022 process: TSMC n6 (7nm) family: 0x19 (25)
    model-id: 0x21 (33) stepping: 0 microcode: 0xA20102D
  Topology: cpus: 1x dies: 1 clusters: 1 cores: 12 threads: 24 tpc: 2
    smt: enabled cache: L1: 768 KiB desc: d-12x32 KiB; i-12x32 KiB L2: 6 MiB
    desc: 12x512 KiB L3: 64 MiB desc: 2x32 MiB
  Speed (MHz): avg: 3597 min/max: 550/4951 boost: enabled scaling:
    driver: amd-pstate-epp governor: powersave cores: 1: 3597 2: 3597 3: 3597
    4: 3597 5: 3597 6: 3597 7: 3597 8: 3597 9: 3597 10: 3597 11: 3597 12: 3597
    13: 3597 14: 3597 15: 3597 16: 3597 17: 3597 18: 3597 19: 3597 20: 3597
    21: 3597 22: 3597 23: 3597 24: 3597 bogomips: 177669
  Flags: avx avx2 ht lm nx pae sse sse2 sse3 sse4_1 sse4_2 sse4a ssse3 svm
  Vulnerabilities:
  Type: gather_data_sampling status: Not affected
  Type: itlb_multihit status: Not affected
  Type: l1tf status: Not affected
  Type: mds status: Not affected
  Type: meltdown status: Not affected
  Type: mmio_stale_data status: Not affected
  Type: reg_file_data_sampling status: Not affected
  Type: retbleed status: Not affected
  Type: spec_rstack_overflow mitigation: Safe RET
  Type: spec_store_bypass mitigation: Speculative Store Bypass disabled via
    prctl
  Type: spectre_v1 mitigation: usercopy/swapgs barriers and __user pointer
    sanitization
  Type: spectre_v2 mitigation: Retpolines; IBPB: conditional; IBRS_FW;
    STIBP: always-on; RSB filling; PBRSB-eIBRS: Not affected; BHI: Not
    affected
  Type: srbds status: Not affected
  Type: tsx_async_abort status: Not affected
Graphics:
  Device-1: Advanced Micro Devices [AMD/ATI] Navi 21 [Radeon RX 6800/6800 XT /
    6900 XT] vendor: Micro-Star MSI driver: amdgpu v: kernel arch: RDNA-2
    code: Navi-2x process: TSMC n7 (7nm) built: 2020-22 pcie: gen: 4
    speed: 16 GT/s lanes: 16 ports: active: DP-2,HDMI-A-1
    empty: DP-1,DP-3,Writeback-1 bus-ID: 2d:00.0 chip-ID: 1002:73bf
    class-ID: 0300
  Device-2: Microsoft Microsoft LifeCam Studio
    driver: hid-generic,snd-usb-audio,usbhid type: USB rev: 2.0 speed: 480 Mb/s
    lanes: 1 mode: 2.0 bus-ID: 1-5:3 chip-ID: 045e:0811 class-ID: 0300
  Display: x11 server: X.Org v: 21.1.16 with: Xwayland v: 24.1.6
    compositor: kwin_x11 driver: X: loaded: amdgpu
    unloaded: fbdev,modesetting,radeon,vesa dri: radeonsi gpu: amdgpu
    display-ID: :0 screens: 1
  Screen-1: 0 s-res: 3840x1221 s-dpi: 96 s-size: 1013x322mm (39.88x12.68")
    s-diag: 1063mm (41.85")
  Monitor-1: DP-2 mapped: DisplayPort-1 pos: primary,bottom-r
    model: Acer S240HL serial: <filter> built: 2016 res: mode: 1920x1080 hz: 60
    scale: 100% (1) dpi: 92 gamma: 1.2 size: 531x299mm (20.91x11.77")
    diag: 609mm (24") ratio: 16:9 modes: max: 1920x1080 min: 720x400
  Monitor-2: HDMI-A-1 mapped: HDMI-A-0 pos: top-left model: VA249
    serial: <filter> built: 2018 res: mode: 1920x1080 hz: 60 scale: 100% (1)
    dpi: 93 gamma: 1.2 size: 527x296mm (20.75x11.65") diag: 604mm (23.8")
    ratio: 16:9 modes: max: 1920x1080 min: 720x400
  API: EGL v: 1.5 hw: drv: amd radeonsi platforms: device: 0 drv: radeonsi
    device: 1 drv: swrast gbm: drv: kms_swrast surfaceless: drv: radeonsi x11:
    drv: radeonsi inactive: wayland
  API: OpenGL v: 4.6 compat-v: 4.5 vendor: amd mesa v: 24.3.4-arch1.1
    glx-v: 1.4 direct-render: yes renderer: AMD Radeon RX 6800 XT (radeonsi
    navi21 LLVM 19.1.7 DRM 3.61 6.12.19-1-MANJARO) device-ID: 1002:73bf
    memory: 15.62 GiB unified: no
  API: Vulkan v: 1.4.304 layers: 6 device: 0 type: discrete-gpu name: AMD
    Radeon RX 6800 XT (RADV NAVI21) driver: N/A device-ID: 1002:73bf
    surfaces: xcb,xlib
  Info: Tools: api: clinfo, eglinfo, glxinfo, vulkaninfo
    de: kscreen-console,kscreen-doctor wl: wayland-info
    x11: xdpyinfo, xprop, xrandr
Audio:
  Device-1: Advanced Micro Devices [AMD/ATI] Navi 21/23 HDMI/DP Audio
    driver: snd_hda_intel v: kernel pcie: gen: 4 speed: 16 GT/s lanes: 16
    bus-ID: 2d:00.1 chip-ID: 1002:ab28 class-ID: 0403
  Device-2: Advanced Micro Devices [AMD] Starship/Matisse HD Audio
    vendor: Micro-Star MSI driver: snd_hda_intel v: kernel pcie: gen: 4
    speed: 16 GT/s lanes: 16 bus-ID: 2f:00.4 chip-ID: 1022:1487 class-ID: 0403
  Device-3: Microsoft Microsoft LifeCam Studio
    driver: hid-generic,snd-usb-audio,usbhid type: USB rev: 2.0 speed: 480 Mb/s
    lanes: 1 mode: 2.0 bus-ID: 1-5:3 chip-ID: 045e:0811 class-ID: 0300
  API: ALSA v: k6.12.19-1-MANJARO status: kernel-api with: aoss
    type: oss-emulator tools: alsactl,alsamixer,amixer
  Server-1: sndiod v: N/A status: off tools: aucat,midicat,sndioctl
  Server-2: PipeWire v: 1.4.1 status: active with: 1: pipewire-pulse
    status: active 2: pipewire-media-session status: active 3: pipewire-alsa
    type: plugin 4: pw-jack type: plugin tools: pactl,pw-cat,pw-cli
Network:
  Device-1: Realtek RTL8111/8168/8211/8411 PCI Express Gigabit Ethernet
    vendor: Micro-Star MSI driver: r8169 v: kernel pcie: gen: 1 speed: 2.5 GT/s
    lanes: 1 port: e000 bus-ID: 06:00.0 chip-ID: 10ec:8168 class-ID: 0200
  IF: enp6s0 state: down mac: <filter>
  Device-2: Realtek RTL8125 2.5GbE vendor: Micro-Star MSI driver: r8169
    v: kernel pcie: gen: 2 speed: 5 GT/s lanes: 1 port: d000 bus-ID: 2a:00.0
    chip-ID: 10ec:8125 class-ID: 0200
  IF: enp42s0 state: up speed: 1000 Mbps duplex: full mac: <filter>
  Info: services: NetworkManager, nfsd, sshd, systemd-timesyncd
Bluetooth:
  Device-1: Cambridge Silicon Radio Bluetooth Dongle (HCI mode) driver: btusb
    v: 0.8 type: USB rev: 2.0 speed: 12 Mb/s lanes: 1 mode: 1.1 bus-ID: 5-3:2
    chip-ID: 0a12:0001 class-ID: e001
  Report: rfkill ID: hci0 rfk-id: 1 state: down bt-service: enabled,running
    rfk-block: hardware: no software: yes address: see --recommends
Drives:
  Local Storage: total: 3.64 TiB used: 1.46 TiB (40.0%)
  SMART Message: Unable to run smartctl. Root privileges required.
  ID-1: /dev/nvme0n1 maj-min: 259:0 vendor: Seagate
    model: WDC WDS200T2B0C-00PXH0 size: 1.82 TiB block-size: physical: 512 B
    logical: 512 B speed: 31.6 Gb/s lanes: 4 tech: SSD serial: <filter>
    fw-rev: 21705000 temp: 36.9 C scheme: GPT
  ID-2: /dev/sda maj-min: 8:0 vendor: Samsung model: SSD 860 EVO 2TB
    size: 1.82 TiB block-size: physical: 512 B logical: 512 B speed: 6.0 Gb/s
    tech: SSD serial: <filter> fw-rev: 2B6Q scheme: GPT
Partition:
  ID-1: / raw-size: 1.79 TiB size: 1.76 TiB (98.37%) used: 740.49 GiB (41.2%)
    fs: ext4 dev: /dev/nvme0n1p2 maj-min: 259:2
  ID-2: /boot/efi raw-size: 512 MiB size: 511 MiB (99.80%)
    used: 288 KiB (0.1%) fs: vfat dev: /dev/nvme0n1p3 maj-min: 259:3
Swap:
  Kernel: swappiness: 60 (default) cache-pressure: 100 (default) zswap: no
  ID-1: swap-1 type: partition size: 34 GiB used: 19.1 MiB (0.1%)
    priority: -2 dev: /dev/nvme0n1p1 maj-min: 259:1
Sensors:
  System Temperatures: cpu: 51.1 C mobo: 35.0 C gpu: amdgpu temp: 37.0 C
    mem: 34.0 C
  Fan Speeds (rpm): N/A gpu: amdgpu fan: 0
Repos:
  Packages: 2568 pm: pacman pkgs: 2513 libs: 521 tools: pamac,yay pm: flatpak
    pkgs: 53 pm: snap pkgs: 2
  Active pacman repo servers in: /etc/pacman.d/mirrorlist
    1: https://mirrors.dotsrc.org/manjaro/stable/$repo/$arch
Info:
  Memory: total: 32 GiB available: 31.26 GiB used: 10.66 GiB (34.1%)
  Processes: 560 Power: uptime: 4h 31m states: freeze,mem,disk suspend: deep
    avail: s2idle wakeups: 0 hibernate: platform avail: shutdown, reboot,
    suspend, test_resume image: 12.49 GiB services: org_kde_powerdevil,upowerd
    Init: systemd v: 257 default: graphical tool: systemctl
  Compilers: clang: 19.1.7 gcc: 14.2.1 Shell: fish v: 4.0.0 default: Bash
    v: 5.2.37 running-in: terminator inxi: 3.3.37

I’ll try that.

6

I suggest you get your locale configured properly:

7

Heh.
There is no en_DE in the file to enable. Never has been. This has been an issue in language support since a very long time.

I don’t think it was ever fixed, at least I’ve had the exact same thing for years on different machines with different distros, too.
Honestly, at this point I’ve just learned to live with the warning, especially since it is has almost never been an actual issue and where it was, it could be solved within the affected app.

8

Be sure to include the data about the web cam and the necessary info about your plasma versions.

1 Like
9

Check:

https://wiki.archlinux.org/title/Locale

Correct. It’s de_DE from what I can tell:

$ grep DE /etc/locale.gen
#de_DE.UTF-8 UTF-8
#de_DE ISO-8859-1
#de_DE@euro ISO-8859-15
#dsb_DE UTF-8
#fy_DE UTF-8
#hsb_DE ISO-8859-2
#hsb_DE.UTF-8 UTF-8
#nds_DE UTF-8
10

I’m not sure what other data about the webcam would be needed.

But Plasma is 6.3.3.
As I said, this is the state since the latest (18th of March) Manjaro stable update - so whatever versions that puts packages at, that’s what I got.

11

Have you tried a different kernel?

12

Check your Audio Volume in system tray. On my system the microphone for webcam is listed as Headset Microphone, and if it’s not muted, the LED on my webcam will stay lit up.

1 Like
14

I haven’t, no.
But this started happening directly after the latest stable update, not after I updated my kernel to 6.12 LTS (previously I was on 6.6 LTS) weeks ago. I’m not willing to downgrade just for that, to be honest, even if it were the culprit.

Nice idea, but unfortunately that didn’t help, either.

Once I have a few more spare hours, I might go around enabling/disabling a bunch of widgets to see if any of them are the offenders. But for right now I’ll just keep the cam unplugged.

16

That is a quality comment :+1:

The behavior is valid as it ensures the user is aware that a webcam component is active - and an appropriate action should be taken to avoid invasion of privacy.

3 Likes