Couldn't find if anyone had posted this in the devel list but thought it was worth a mention if someone wants to fix it ( if it is indeed an oversight in the usbcam file ? ) I had been experiencing problems retrieving files off a digital camera ( kodak 3400 ) as a normal user, tried root which worked fine. Turns out a minor change in the usbcam file fixes it. ( thanks to someone on the gphoto2-devel list ) if [ -f /var/run/console.lock ] then CONSOLEOWNER=`cat /var/run/console.lock` elif [ -f /var/lock/console.lock ] then CONSOLEOWNER=`cat /var/lock/console.lock` else CONSOLEOWNER= fi Changes to if [ -f /var/run/console.lock ] then CONSOLEOWNER=`cat /var/run/console.lock` elif [ -f /var/run/console/console.lock ] then CONSOLEOWNER=`cat /var/run/console/console.lock` elif [ -f /var/lock/console.lock ] then CONSOLEOWNER=`cat /var/lock/console.lock` else CONSOLEOWNER= fi