[SOLVED] USB port non-responsive on Toshiba Satellite L450 (minicom)

ibwood · 07-21-2010, 01:16 PM

Hi everyone,

As the title says, my toshiba doesn't recognize a USB port when I use minicom. I had tried to rename the port and open it, but that was unsuccessful. Is there a command to re-install the drivers for the USB ports?

Thanks,
Ian

michaelk · 07-21-2010, 02:07 PM

minicom is designed to work with serial ports. Do you have a USB - serial port adapter?

ibwood · 07-21-2010, 04:39 PM

Yes i do and i'm using it. I have a feeling I need to install some drivers for the USB ports. I tried to assign a name to one of them, but the port is unresponsive.

michaelk · 07-21-2010, 04:50 PM

What distribution / version are you running?
Post the output of the console command lsusb. This will tell us the chipset in the adapter.
If the device is recognized and the proper module loaded the adapter device ID is probably /dev/ttyUSB0.

ibwood · 07-22-2010, 09:17 AM

I'm running Ubuntu 9.10 Karmic.
Here is the output for lsusb:

Bus 002 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0002 Linux Foundation 2.0 root hub
Bus 008 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0001 Linux Foundation 1.1 root hub
Bus 001 Device 002: ID 04f2:b070 Chicony Electronics Co., Ltd
Bus 001 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0002 Linux Foundation 2.0 root hub
Bus 005 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0001 Linux Foundation 1.1 root hub
Bus 004 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0001 Linux Foundation 1.1 root hub
Bus 006 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0001 Linux Foundation 1.1 root hub
Bus 007 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0001 Linux Foundation 1.1 root hub
Bus 003 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0001 Linux Foundation 1.1 root hub

-Ian

ibwood · 07-22-2010, 09:21 AM

I am able to get a response from ttyUSB0, but not from the port I assigned a name to.

tredegar · 07-22-2010, 09:42 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ibwood

I am able to get a response from ttyUSB0, but not from the port I assigned a name to.

/dev/ttyUSB0 should be the USB port with your USB to serial adapter. Treat it as you would a normal serial port.

What do you mean by "the port I assigned a name to" ?

ibwood · 07-22-2010, 10:17 AM

when navigating through the filesystem, it is possible to change the name of your USB port, by using udev rules. This needs to be done for the project I am executing. A co-worker gave the code to me, but the process may be different for me since I am using Ubuntu 9.10 Karmic and he is using Ubuntu 8.04 Hardy.

The path is as follows:

/etc/udev/rules.d

Then you can edit the text in the file to assign a port a name. When you call this port name, it connects to a device that you program yourself. Maybe this is a more difficult issue than I thought..

tredegar · 07-22-2010, 11:22 AM

Yes, you can do this with udev ( see here for many good examples ) but maybe you could just make a symlink (as root):

Code:

ln -sT /dev/ttyUSB0 /dev/whatever

Now, whatever refers to /dev/whatever will really be using /dev/ttyUSB0

If you prefer to use udev (and that is certainly more elegant) you need to be aware that the 'buntus keep changing where the configuration files are kept, and how they are numbered, and that udevinfo has been replaced by udevadm so what worked for 8.04 may not work for 9.10 or 10.04 without some modifications.

ibwood · 07-22-2010, 01:20 PM

thanks tredegar,

I will try this. Here is the code for Ubuntu 8.04 Hardy:

Code:

kernel=="ttyUSB*",SYSFS{idVendor}=="vendornum",SYSFS{idProduct}=="prodnum",SYMLINK="name_of_port"

Do you have any idea how it would have changed for v9.10?

ibwood · 07-22-2010, 01:42 PM

That's it I got it! Thanks a lot for your help. I used the same code that you provided me, with sudo in front, and the file for the port was created. Now I can access it

-Ian

tredegar · 07-22-2010, 03:55 PM

Well, the symlink "workaround" has worked for you.

Good, but it won't be as reliable as writing a udev rule.

Quote:

Here is the code for Ubuntu 8.04 Hardy:

kernel=="ttyUSB*",SYSFS{idVendor}=="vendornum",SYSFS{idProduct}=="prodnum",SYMLINK="name_of_port"

1] You are not telling me the name of the file that that line is in. This isn't helpful to me in trying to help you.
2] You can't just paste that stuff as it is.
vendornum and prodnum and name_of_port need to be replaced by your specific details.

lsusb (in a terminal) will tell you the vendor number and product number for your device
Eg. for me:

Code:

tred@vaio:~$ lsusb
Bus 005 Device 001: ID 0000:0000
Bus 004 Device 001: ID 0000:0000
Bus 003 Device 002: ID 046d:c03f Logitech, Inc. UltraX Optical Mouse
tred@vaio:~$

That shows my mouse. The vendor is 046d ( Logitech ) and the product is c03f ( a mouse ).

So if you want to write a udev rule, you need to discover the numbers relating you your device.
Plug it in and do a lsusb Make a note of the numbers for your deice.

You already know what "name_of_port" should be because you just symlinked it.
[Aside: "Name of port" is windows-speak, please call it "device" eg /dev/whatever]

Make the edits, and restart udev, or just reboot.
Now your device should show up in the proper place, and you should not need to make a symlink.

You'll soon discover that you need to create a new symlink to your device every time you reboot, unless you write a udev rule to do this for you, and that is the point of udev.

ibwood · 07-23-2010, 10:01 AM

Ah I see.. yes that would be pretty annoying to do every time I reboot the computer.

Here is the proper coding (for Ubuntu 8.04):

Code:

kernel=="ttyUSB0",SYSFS{idVendor}=="067b",SYSFS{idProduct}=="2303",SYMLINK="Driver1&2"
kernel=="ttyUSB0",SYSFS{idVendor}=="067b",SYSFS{idProduct}=="2303",SYMLINK="Driver3&4"
kernel=="ttyUSB0",SYSFS{idVendor}=="0403",SYSFS{idProduct}=="6001",SYMLINK="HCS12"

I want to assign three devices to operate under a serial port. One thing that got me though is the same vendor ID and product ID for the first two ports. How would the laptop know which port is which?

Thanks,
Ian

tredegar · 07-23-2010, 10:50 AM

Quote:

One thing that got me though is the same vendor ID and product ID for the first two ports. How would the laptop know which port is which?

It can't

That device 067b:2303 is so common, even I recognised it at once: it is a "Prolific Technology, Inc. PL2303 Serial Port" which features in many pieces of hardware (often USB GPS receivers).

You are going to have to think of something different, like only ever plugging Device A into USB port number 1.

Then you could have udev call a script that would determine which USB socket was being used (I don't think udev can do this itself, but it is possible, check it out), and then have that script create an appropriate symlink.

As your udev rules stand, I think that whenever you plug in a 067b:2303 device, you'll get both symlinks created ( Driver1&2 and Driver3&4 )

Remember: udev in 8.04 is different from udev in 10.04

ibwood · 07-23-2010, 11:00 AM

Unless I just assign different kernel names.. How do I know the names in Linux? Say you have this ouput from lsusb:

Code:

Bus 007 Device 002: ID 0403:6001 Future Technology Devices International, Ltd FT232 USB-Serial (UART) IC 
Bus 006 Device 003: ID 067b:2303 Prolific Technology, Inc. PL2303 Serial Port
Bus 006 Device 002: ID 067b:2303 Prolific Technology, Inc. PL2303 Serial Port

(Note: there is other output, but not relevant at the time)