When running Linux distribution Ubuntu the webcam led light does not turn off when webcam is not active. The webcam LED light is always on. This has been experience on Intel ABook and HP laptop in Ubuntu 12.04, 11.10, 11.04, 10.10 and occur in older versions as well. It’s most likely due to the old laptop and old hardware which is not fully compatible with the webcam Linux driver.
If you’re not using your webcam you can disable the webcam which disable the led light. Open up a terminal.
sudo sh -c "echo 0 > /sys/devices/pci0000:00/0000:00:1d.7/usb1/bConfigurationValue"
Run lsmod. Wiki: “lsmod is a command on Linux systems which prints the contents of the /proc/modules file. It shows which loadable kernel modules are currently loaded.
lsmod
Find the gspca driver module. The gspca_m5602 is the ALi Video Camera Controller. Locate your gspca devices here. When you have located the devices open up blacklist.conf
sudo gedit /etc/modprobe.d/blacklist.conf
Now add the gspca to the blacklist for your webcam.
blacklist gspca_*
If this did not work try adding both the gspca_m5602 and gspca_main to the blacklist.conf file.