I have a compaq presario SR1475CL running mandriva 2005 LE, but it doesn't recognize the usb ports. how can I fix this? where should I start to trouble shoot?

Open a terminal, and run (as root)before plugging in the device. You should see a bunch of messages indicating what the kernel is attempting to do, and where it's failing. If it's a storage device that you're trying to use, it may need formatting, if it's a scanner or printer, it could be lack of support for the device, rather than the usb connection.

Cheers,

mj

tail is a pretty cool command. but when I inserted my usbdisk in, nothing happened. So i tried going on the internet to see if it will log the eth0 usage. so tail is working and its lack of recording USB activity tells me that USB isn't working.

what next to try?

Also of note, the usb didn't work during the install of mandrake, I needed to use the ps/2 ports for mouse and keyboard...

Sounds like it is probably a hardware problem -- particularly if the same problem was seen on both distributions (maybe your usb ports are buggered ?). The only other possibility is that usb support hasn't been compiled into the kernel you're currently running, though this would seem unlikely with Mandriva.

You could check which modules you have installed, and then attempt to insert the ones for usb, eg. (as root)The first command should show you four or five modules (usbserial, usb_core and so on), the second will attempt to load usbcore.

Good luck,

mj

Try lsusb
if it is not installed on ur system install "usbutils"
It gives good info about connected USB devices...

also try
cat /proc/scsi/scsi

Is it showing your connected device?

One question regard the usbcore. I am running the FC4 6.12 (? not very good with numbers) )kernel and there is no usbcore module. I compiled the kernel with all USB support as well as modules as compiled into the kernel and cannot find usbcore.

Is usbcore depreciated or do I do something wrong?

lsusb shows nothing,
I installed usbview, and tried looking for the usb components, but it gives me this error:
Can not open the file /proc/bus/usb/devices

I went to /proc/bus/usb/devices

and found the folder /proc/bus/usb/ was empty

what else to try?

and how to be sure mandriva installs usb support?

I solved my usbview error message by mounting the directory to the usbfs file system.
I have the same problem however that that directory is empty and usbview does not show anything

I digged a bit deeper and found the following errors on loading the driver:

ACPI: PCI Interrupt 0000:00:03.2[D] -> Link [LNKH] -> GSI 11 (level, low) -> IRQ 11
ehci_hcd 0000:00:03.2: EHCI Host Controller
ehci_hcd 0000:00:03.2: can't reset
ehci_hcd 0000:00:03.2: init 0000:00:03.2 fail, -110
ehci_hcd: probe of 0000:00:03.2 failed with error -110
ohci_hcd: 2004 Nov 08 USB 1.1 'Open' Host Controller (OHCI) Driver (PCI)
ACPI: PCI Interrupt 0000:00:03.0[A] -> Link [LNKE] -> GSI 11 (level, low) -> IRQ 11
ohci_hcd 0000:00:03.0: OHCI Host Controller
ohci_hcd 0000:00:03.0: USB HC takeover failed! (BIOS/SMM bug)
ohci_hcd 0000:00:03.0: can't reset
ohci_hcd 0000:00:03.0: init 0000:00:03.0 fail, -16
ohci_hcd: probe of 0000:00:03.0 failed with error -16
ACPI: PCI Interrupt 0000:00:03.1[B] -> Link [LNKF] -> GSI 11 (level, low) -> IRQ 11
ohci_hcd 0000:00:03.1: OHCI Host Controller
ohci_hcd 0000:00:03.1: USB HC takeover failed! (BIOS/SMM bug)
ohci_hcd 0000:00:03.1: can't reset
ohci_hcd 0000:00:03.1: init 0000:00:03.1 fail, -16
ohci_hcd: probe of 0000:00:03.1 failed with error -16

You get this information by looking to the output of dmesg (as root).
Anybody who knows what to do next?

mifan,

Mandriva should enable USB by default if it can (using the default kernel), thus I suspect that you might have a hardware problem. Dmesg should have shown at least some response when you plugged the device in, otherwise.

Have you had the USB ports working with any other OS (Knoppix, for example, or even Windows ?).

Cheers,

mj

PS. You may also want to check the Bios settings - sometimes USB is disabled there.

All right, I found my problem. I am using a laptop (Averatec C3500) and the problem is with the ACPI power management. I recompiled the kernel wihout ACPI support and the USB drivers seem to start.
There are a few serious warning during the bootup about a problem with the PnP BIOS settings and the laptop freezes after plugging a usb device in.

Is there anybody who has any experience or a workaround APCI causing problems (with USB)?

Well, USB works just fine in windows (this is a dual boot machine)
but I had to resize some ntfs partitions (did it with powerquest in windows) but now linux doesn't work... so I'll have to reinstall it sometime soon.

When reinstalling this, what should I look for, to be sure it installs USB support correctly?

Before reinstalling, I would go into the Bios and disable (yes, disable) Legacy USB support, if it is currently enabled. Sometimes this can cause problems with newer kernels. Also, plug in your USB keyboard and mouse before beginning the installation, if these are what you want to use.

Other than that, it should 'just work'... (touch wood!).

Good luck !

Cheers,

mj

I tried disabling legacy support for USB, but usb keyboard still couldn't work during the setup....

btw, its a microsoft keyboard and also a wacom tablet if that makes a difference.

Bugger ...

Sorry, am fresh out of ideas for the moment. Perhaps someone else here has some more ideas (it's been a while since I used Mandriva) ?

Cheers,

mj