linux-drivers/
drivers/media/usb/stk1160

Syntek STK1160 USB analog video capture adapters

Inexpensive USB 2.0 video grabbers built around the Syntek STK1160 chip (USB ID 05e1:0408) that digitise composite and S-Video input from VCRs, camcorders, and analog cameras. They were widely sold as no-name capture dongles in the late 2000s and 2010s, mostly used for converting old VHS tapes to digital files.

keep-annotate conf=0.78 deploy=low replacement=none subsystem=media category=media-camera-tv
78%

recommendation

Worth keeping but documenting as legacy because the hardware (cheap USB dongles for digitising composite and S-Video sources, popular in the late 2000s and early 2010s for VHS conversion) is no longer sold new and shows only a trickle of probes on linux-hardware.org. It still receives occasional cleanup patches upstream as recently as mid-2025, so removal would be premature, but a note flagging it as niche legacy hardware would help future maintainers.

repository signals

9 files
2,555 source lines
15 commits, 5y
+163 / −171 lines added / removed, 5y
11 authors, 5y
monthly commits · 2021-04-21 → 2026-04-21 · 15 total · active in 9/61 months
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sources

  1. lore.kernel.org

    Upstream saw a non-treewide driver-specific cleanup patch in 2025, indicating the driver is still receiving attention rather than being abandoned or queued for removal.

  2. cateee.net

    LKDDb identifies this as support for Syntek STK1160 USB video capture devices, with USB ID 05e1:0408 and module name stk1160.

  3. linux-hardware.org

    Linux-Hardware shows only a small number of public probes for USB 05e1:0408, mostly on older desktop/laptop systems, consistent with niche legacy use rather than broad current deployment.

codex reasoning notes (technical)

Real driver directory: local source inspection via shell showed MODULE_DEVICE_TABLE for USB ID 05e1:0408 and V4L2 capture code in stk1160-core.c. Removal signal check: lore_file_timeline on the directory returned no direct hits, so I checked stk1160-core.c with lore_file_timeline; it showed activity through 2025-06-24 and no removal-oriented evidence. Deployment evidence came from web search results: LKDDb confirms the exact chipset/device ID, and linux-hardware shows limited modern probe volume. Conclusion: legacy analog USB capture hardware with low present-day deployment, but still maintained enough that deprecate/remove would be premature; annotate as legacy instead.