thanks a lot guys,
now first for some more info on the device, when i got it, i just got the reader and 2 cables (the power supply one and the usb one), no box and no manual, there is no manufacturer written down anywhere on the device, only a few numbers which i tryed to google unsuccesfuly when i got it :/
so after that we called back to the people that sent us the device and we got a short manual for the:
CRT-284 SERIES
MANUAL INSERTION CARD READER
from CREATOR (
http://www.china-creator.com)
(the readers from this series apperently read IC and/or magnetic cards)
in the manual it is mentioned that the reader supports either rs232 interface or ttl interface (depending on how you set the DIP switch)
(there is no serial port on the device thou, there is however a FTDI chip "FT245RL" which is used in usb to serial port converters as far as i know)
so according to the manual i set the switch up for rs232 (since i'm assuming there is an inbuild usb-to-serial converter).
I tryed:
sudo tail -f /var/log/messages, and then plugged in the device but there was no additional output
also tryed lshw before pluging in it and after that, nothing changed as far as i could discern
also tryed udevadm monitor , pluged the device in and out, but it didn't give me any output
tryed all of the above with and whitout card inserted
i'm using a 3-pin 12V connector on a MINI-ITX DFI GSC-100-N3 motherboard, for the power supply, and used a voltmeter to check for voltage and it was there slightly above 10 V, also tryed another board with the same results. (so i'm ruling out a motherboard or power supply fault).
I also tryed connecting the device when in win xp, but it didn't recognize anything either not even an unknown device.