drivers/media/usb/gspca/m5602 · deprecate

ALi M5602 USB webcam bridge

Support for budget USB webcams built around the ALi M5602 bridge chip paired with mid-2000s image sensors like the OmniVision OV9650/OV7660, Micron MT9M111, Pixart PO1030, and Samsung S5K83A/S5K4AA. These cameras were typically embedded in laptops and standalone webcams sold in the mid-to-late 2000s, before USB Video Class (UVC) became universal.

deprecate conf=0.77 last_sold=2010 deploy=low replacement=none subsystem=media category=media-camera-tv

77%

recommendation

A candidate for future removal because the hardware is firmly in the legacy-laptop era, was last widely available around 2010, and the code has seen only a handful of substantive commits in the last five years with nothing meaningful after late 2021. It still works for the small number of users with these old non-UVC webcams, so outright removal would be premature, but the lack of upstream attention and absence of new deployments make it a reasonable deprecation target.

repository signals

17 files

5,181 source lines

8 commits, 5y

+25 / −31 lines added / removed, 5y

6 authors, 5y

monthly commits · 2021-04-21 → 2026-04-21 · 8 total · active in 4/61 months

sources

git.kernel.org
Kconfig identifies this as the "ALi USB m5602 Camera Driver" and module `gspca_m5602` for cameras based on the ALi m5602 bridge.
git.kernel.org
Core driver code targets a single USB bridge ID `0402:5602` and probes older discrete sensors such as OV9650, OV7660, MT9M111, PO1030, S5K83A, and S5K4AA, consistent with legacy mid-2000s webcam hardware.
cateee.net
LKDDb maps `CONFIG_USB_M5602` to module `gspca_m5602`, confirming narrow support scope for the ALi M5602 webcam bridge.

codex reasoning notes (technical)

Local source inspection via `exec_command` showed this is a real USB webcam driver for the ALi M5602 bridge with one USB ID and several legacy image sensors. `lore_file_timeline` on `drivers/media/usb/gspca/m5602` returned zero matches on 2026-04-24, so there is no visible recent path-level mailing-list churn or active removal thread from that fast check. Static metadata provided with the task shows only 7 substantive commits in 5 years and no substantive touch after 2021-12-14, which fits maintenance drift rather than active deployment demand. Kernel.org URLs are canonical-recall source URLs for the files inspected locally; the LKDDb URL is canonical recall. With no natural in-tree replacement for this exact bridge but strong signs of obsolete, laptop-era non-UVC webcam hardware and likely only residual legacy users, `deprecate` fits better than `remove`.