** That dbus command (above) should initialise the camera application. **
If it does, but not when lens is opened - keep asking. It might be the lens cover itself. It might be a missing symlink. It should be fixable without reseting everything.
If not, my thoughts are: dbus is part of maemo, so if it's not working properly, there are likely to be greater problems with the OS or h/w. Installing a fresh image will sort out the OS but if the h/w is damaged - it's curtains!

These "patches" are known to alter the way the core system functions, so there's probably just one solution!
- pity audio can't be embedded into the forum.

Off Topic:
Everything I hear about these patches is pretty catestrophic. The idea sounds good but the existing scheduler has been tried and tested for a long time, with the compromise favouring stability over speed. Is replacing it wise on a device that needs to be stable in order to schedule?

Wow! I've just checked - speedpatch made it to -testing, i.e. nearly stable(!). It would be very helpful if someone, who understands the kernel etc., should put a note on the package page to say what effect these have on the designed operation of the device (e.g. camera etc.)?

Maybe this is the problem. My lens cover has no black and white stripe on it. All that is there is blue plastic. I can't think how it could have come off without me noticing as the phone is in a case and surely the bit would remain in the case or be in my pocket. Is there a way to rig one up and if so do you know of a photo of one so I can copy it onto sticky paper or something? Cheers

I've got the same problem and nor speedpatch nor batterypatch are installed.
CSSU features is 2.5

camera doesn't work (waits for lens cover to be opened)
flash light doesn't work (waits for lens cover to be opened)

fcamera works (isn't interested in lens cover).

My lens cover works (tested with other n900).

Is there perhaps a possibility to make n900 believe that lens cover is opened?

I think I have the problem you're describing. I find that if I open up the camera app via the app menu, then close it. Camera app will happily launch on either camera cover opening or shutter button being pressed. But for how it keeps working for ... no body knows...

If I were to point the finger, it would be at FCamera. This is the only camera based application I have installed since my reflash that has affect the camera launch.

For those who get the 'operation failed', it could mean that the camera driver is broken. I had this problem after installing an old version of FCamera with old "fcam-drivers". Remedied it by installing the latest "fcam-drivers".

Cheers,
Fred

Thank you fffffred!

But it didn't solve my problem. Even "purge fcam-drivers" didn't help.
FCamera is working perfectly.

But all applications don't recognize when I open the lens cover.

The best to me would be a widget that simulates by software the opening and the closing of the web cover.