Trying to install a cam on my Mandriva 2006 system, but am having a problem with the quickcam.sh script. It says that the usb file system is not mounted. If I run lsusb it returns nothing. Why would this be? I have the cam plugged in to the usb port, but even if I didn't, shouldn't I still get some output from lsusb?

I've tried rebooting with the cam plugged in, but that changes nothing.

Any ideas?

do you have either the driver loaded for the camera? do you have usb modules loaded? what is the output of lsmod?

lsmod | grep usb returns nothing. I don't have the driver for the camera loaded, because I'm trying to compile the driver for the camera.

In the process of running the shell script I get the following error:

[!] lsusb (/usr/sbin/lsusb) doesn't work. Maybe USB filesystem is not mounted.
To mount it, do mount none /proc/bus/usb -t usbdevfs
as root, or insert line none /proc/bus/usb usbdevfs defaults 0 0
into /etc/fstab, and do command mount -a as root.

However when I type:

[root@localhost rvd]# mount none /proc/bus/usb -t usbdevfs
mount: unknown filesystem type 'usbdevfs'

It doesn't seem to know what usbdevfs is.

I can't even plug in my digital cam any more. I used to get a popup asking me if I wanted to copy pictures to the computer, but now it does nothing. Don't think I've changed anything on the machine, except for doing the updates weekly. Wonder if those updates hosed me.

Is there any way to reinstall usb capability?

if you dont have any usb modules loaded, then no it wouldnt know what usbfs or any usb device is.. youll have to load them. what is the output of lsmod

Are you logged in as root when u issue lsusb? Mandriva makes it so only the super user can do that

change to root and try that command again

krkda: yes, I executed lsusb as root.

nadroj: following is output from lsmod.

[root@localhost rvd]# lsmod
Module Size Used by
videodev 7104 0
ohci_hcd 19172 0
uhci_hcd 29168 0
usbcore 108476 3 ohci_hcd,uhci_hcd
vfat 10592 0
fat 45948 1 vfat
nls_iso8859_1 3680 1
isofs 32312 1
it87 25248 0
eeprom 5616 0
i2c_sensor 2592 2 it87,eeprom
i2c_isa 1600 0
i2c_nforce2 5568 0
i2c_core 17360 5 it87,eeprom,i2c_sensor,i2c_isa,i2c_nforce2
raw 6592 1
nvidia 4068944 12
md5 3584 1
ipv6 233984 10
snd_seq_dummy 2532 0
snd_seq_oss 31136 0
snd_seq_midi_event 5696 1 snd_seq_oss
snd_seq 46960 5 snd_seq_dummy,snd_seq_oss,snd_seq_midi_event
snd_pcm_oss 48960 0
snd_mixer_oss 16896 1 snd_pcm_oss
snd_emu10k1 116516 5
snd_rawmidi 19616 1 snd_emu10k1
snd_seq_device 6828 5 snd_seq_dummy,snd_seq_oss,snd_seq,snd_emu10k1,snd_rawmidi
snd_ac97_codec 83900 1 snd_emu10k1
snd_pcm 79784 6 snd_pcm_oss,snd_emu10k1,snd_ac97_codec
snd_timer 20548 3 snd_seq,snd_emu10k1,snd_pcm
snd_page_alloc 8392 2 snd_emu10k1,snd_pcm
snd_util_mem 3232 1 snd_emu10k1
snd_hwdep 6848 1 snd_emu10k1
snd 46116 18 snd_seq_oss,snd_seq,snd_pcm_oss,snd_mixer_oss,snd_emu10k1,snd_rawmidi,snd_seq_device,snd_ac97_codec, snd_pcm,snd_timer,snd_hwdep
soundcore 7008 1 snd
lp 10024 0
parport_pc 32612 1
parport 31976 2 lp,parport_pc
forcedeth 16544 0
af_packet 16392 2
floppy 55444 0
video 14052 0
thermal 10792 0
tc1100_wmi 5092 0
processor 17876 1 thermal
fan 3172 0
container 3008 0
button 4848 0
battery 7460 0
ac 3268 0
ide_cd 37988 1
loop 14504 0
supermount 31956 1
amd64_agp 9928 1
agpgart 29032 2 nvidia,amd64_agp
reiserfs 266420 2
sd_mod 16112 0
sata_nv 5892 0
libata 41828 1 sata_nv
scsi_mod 120808 2 sd_mod,libata
[root@localhost rvd]#

Hope this gives you a clue.

try loading the required module

Ok, I did modprobe usbdevfs

now a lsmod | grep usb give the following:
usbcore 108476 0

However, this goes away after a reboot.

lsusb still returns nothing.

I now have a directory /proc/bus/usb which is empty. This directory did not exist before.

Still nothing occurs if I plug in my digital cam, including leaving it plugged in over a reboot.

Also, the device does not show when doubleclicking the devices icon.

the module you loaded wouldnt be loaded on reboot because it was never told to.. 'modprobe' loads the module until you remove it, or until the computer is restarted--whicever is first.

so, modprobe the module that i mentioned before (if you rebooted and hence the module is gone now), then plug in your usb device. give us the output of 'dmesg | tail'

Digital cam had been plugged in, so I unplugged it and plugged it back in a couple of times.

Output you requested is:

[root@localhost rvd]# dmesg | tail
bootsplash: status on console 2 changed to on
bootsplash 3.1.6-2004/03/31: looking for picture...<6>...found (800x600, 9887 bytes, v3).
bootsplash: status on console 3 changed to on
bootsplash 3.1.6-2004/03/31: looking for picture...<6>...found (800x600, 9887 bytes, v3).
bootsplash: status on console 4 changed to on
bootsplash 3.1.6-2004/03/31: looking for picture...<6>...found (800x600, 9887 bytes, v3).
bootsplash: status on console 5 changed to on
eth0: no IPv6 routers present
usbcore: registered new driver usbfs
usbcore: registered new driver hub
[root@localhost rvd]#

How does one get the effect of "modprobe usbdevfs" to remain accross boots. Does this command need to be added to some specific file that is executed upon boot?

(BTW, thanks for your help on this.)

hmm.. try it again. just unplug it, thne plug it in once.. but use this command so we can see more output (if there is any other more relevant and helpful info):what is the model and make of the usb device? have you looked on the manufacturer site or on lq.org or other search engines for linux help/linux modules for it?

root@localhost rvd]# dmesg | tail -n 25
NVRM: loading NVIDIA Linux x86 NVIDIA Kernel Module 1.0-8178 Wed Dec 14 16:22:51 PST 2005
agpgart: Found an AGP 3.0 compliant device at 0000:00:00.0.
agpgart: Putting AGP V3 device at 0000:00:00.0 into 8x mode
agpgart: Putting AGP V3 device at 0000:01:00.0 into 8x mode
agpgart: Found an AGP 3.0 compliant device at 0000:00:00.0.
agpgart: Putting AGP V3 device at 0000:00:00.0 into 8x mode
agpgart: Putting AGP V3 device at 0000:01:00.0 into 8x mode
i2c_adapter i2c-0: nForce2 SMBus adapter at 0x1c00
i2c_adapter i2c-1: nForce2 SMBus adapter at 0x2000
it87: Found IT8712F chip at 0x290, revision 6
bootsplash 3.1.6-2004/03/31: looking for picture...<6>...found (800x600, 9887 bytes, v3).
bootsplash: status on console 0 changed to on
bootsplash 3.1.6-2004/03/31: looking for picture...<6>...found (800x600, 9887 bytes, v3).
bootsplash: status on console 1 changed to on
bootsplash 3.1.6-2004/03/31: looking for picture...<6>...found (800x600, 9887 bytes, v3).
bootsplash: status on console 2 changed to on
bootsplash 3.1.6-2004/03/31: looking for picture...<6>...found (800x600, 9887 bytes, v3).
bootsplash: status on console 3 changed to on
bootsplash 3.1.6-2004/03/31: looking for picture...<6>...found (800x600, 9887 bytes, v3).
bootsplash: status on console 4 changed to on
bootsplash 3.1.6-2004/03/31: looking for picture...<6>...found (800x600, 9887 bytes, v3).
bootsplash: status on console 5 changed to on
eth0: no IPv6 routers present
usbcore: registered new driver usbfs
usbcore: registered new driver hub
[root@localhost rvd]#

Don't know that anything changed, but I did unplug it and just plugged it in again after a few seconds.

Problems started today when I was trying to add a webcam. System wouldn't recognize it. So, just as a test, I plugged in my digital cam (Sony Cyber-shot DSC-W1/W12) with which I had never had a problem, only to discover that it was no longer recognized.

I've done nothing to my system except for the weekly updates. Maybe I should have left well enough alone and not applied the regular updates.

hmm.. you didnt need any drivers for it or anything before, do you remmeber?

is there a special mode you have to set the camera to in order for it to be used to transfer files to the computer?

edit:
try this. unplug the device.. execute the 2 following commands, then plug in the device, and paste output of 'dmesg | tail' again.
if usb-storage doesnt work after testing, maybe i have the wrong module name.. so try usb_storage

No I didn't do anything with regard to drivers. Mandriva just recognized it the first time I plugged it in, and a popup came up saying there were pictures in the cam and asked me if I wanted to copy them to the computer. No special mode for the camera. It just says "USB Mode Normal" and is awaiting an instruction from the computer.

So, not only am I not getting anywhere with installing a webcam, I don't even have the functionality I had.

How does one get the effect of "modprobe usbdevfs" to remain accross boots. Does this command need to be added to some specific file that is executed upon boot?

i dont think you should worry about running that command everytime you boot right now.. as you dont know exactly which modules you do need for it to work fully.. i think we should determine that then work on the other part (although its not hard)

did you read and try my edit from last post?