Can't get USB to work under Slackware 10.2
 

I have been unable to get my usb to work under Slackware. When I lspci, I get:

0:00.0 Host bridge: VIA Technologies, Inc. VT82C693A/694x [Apollo PRO133x] (rev 02)
00:01.0 PCI bridge: VIA Technologies, Inc. VT82C598/694x [Apollo MVP3/Pro133x AGP]
00:04.0 ISA bridge: VIA Technologies, Inc. VT82C686 [Apollo Super South] (rev 22)
00:04.1 IDE interface: VIA Technologies, Inc. VT82C586A/B/VT82C686/A/B/VT823x/A/C PIPC Bus Master IDE (rev 10)
00:04.2 USB Controller: VIA Technologies, Inc. VT82xxxxx UHCI USB 1.1 Controller (rev 10)
00:04.3 USB Controller: VIA Technologies, Inc. VT82xxxxx UHCI USB 1.1 Controller (rev 10)
00:04.4 Host bridge: VIA Technologies, Inc. VT82C686 [Apollo Super ACPI] (rev 30)
00:0a.0 Multimedia audio controller: Creative Labs SB Live! EMU10k1 (rev 08)
00:0a.1 Input device controller: Creative Labs SB Live! MIDI/Game Port (rev 08)
00:0b.0 Ethernet controller: 3Com Corporation 3c905B 100BaseTX [Cyclone] (rev 30)
00:0d.0 USB Controller: NEC Corporation USB (rev 41)
00:0d.1 USB Controller: NEC Corporation USB (rev 41)
00:0d.2 USB Controller: NEC Corporation USB 2.0 (rev 02)
01:00.0 VGA compatible controller: 3Dfx Interactive, Inc. Voodoo 3 (rev 01)

OK, there is a pci, so I attempted to load usb modules

modprobe usbcore

and then usb-storage ehci-hcd usb-ohci usb-uhci.

When I do lsmod, I get:

Module Size Used by Not tainted
usb-storage 62432 0 (unused)
ehci-hcd 17516 0 (unused)
usb-ohci 19368 0 (unused)
tdfx 33304 1
usb-uhci 21936 0 (unused)
usbcore 59148 0 [usb-storage ehci-hcd usb-ohci usb-uhci]
snd-pcm-oss 36736 0
snd-mixer-oss 12376 0 [snd-pcm-oss]
snd-emu10k1 78788 1
snd-hwdep 4352 0 [snd-emu10k1]
snd-util-mem 1136 0 [snd-emu10k1]
snd-ac97-codec 58556 0 [snd-emu10k1]
snd-pcm 54344 0 [snd-pcm-oss snd-emu10k1 snd-ac97-codec]
snd-timer 13764 0 [snd-emu10k1 snd-pcm]
snd-rawmidi 12480 0 [snd-emu10k1]
snd-seq-device 3812 0 [snd-emu10k1 snd-rawmidi]
snd 32772 1 [snd-pcm-oss snd-mixer-oss snd-emu10k1 snd-hwdep snd-util-mem snd-ac97-codec snd-pcm snd-timer snd-rawmidi snd-seq-device]
soundcore 3396 6 [snd]
snd-page-alloc 4712 0 [snd-mixer-oss snd-emu10k1 snd-hwdep snd-pcm snd-timer snd-rawmidi snd-seq-device snd]
pcmcia_core 39172 0
ide-scsi 9392 0
3c59x 26576 1
agpgart 45508 0 (unused)

I then do lsusb, I do not get anything. I did a dmesg and got the message:

WARNING: USB Mass Storage data integrity not assured
USB Mass Storage device found at 2
USB Mass Storage support registered.
usb.c: USB disconnect on device 00:0d.2-4 address 2
hub.c: new USB device 00:0d.2-4, assigned address 3
WARNING: USB Mass Storage data integrity not assured
USB Mass Storage device found at 3
usb.c: USB disconnect on device 00:0d.2-4 address 3
hub.c: new USB device 00:0d.2-4, assigned address 4
WARNING: USB Mass Storage data integrity not assured
USB Mass Storage device found at 4

Any ideas?

Paul

Hmm, not really sure, but could you check if sdx (sda, sdb...) - devices exist under /dev?

If not try "modprobe sg" and maybe a reboot.
It did the job once for me.

Good luck!

Try plugging the device into another USB port. That has worked for me in the past.

Dennisk

I occasionally have trouble with a usb card reader. What usually works is to unload the modules, then plug the reader in and let hotplug load the modules. If I plug the card in with the modules loaded I get the same 'disconnect ...' error. This is with 2.4. You might want to install 2.6 if you haven't already, usb works a little smoother, I haven't had any trouble so far.

This may not help, but I recently configured a new kernel and neglected to load the correct usb modules. When I reconfigured and loaded the correct modules. However, I left two usb devices pluged in and rebooted. The modules were automatically loaded and I haven't had any trouble since.

I suppose I just needed to udev to activate them.

Hope this helps,

Bob

Well, I loaded the usb storage module and my camera shows up. I did a fdisk -l /dev/sda and it show a fat16 table. I wasn't able to do any directory on it though. In addition, I can't get gphoto2 --auto-detect to work. Any ideas?

If fdisk shows the partition table, then it should be working OK. What happens when you mount it, what error(s) are you getting?

If it's working, why don't I get anything when I do a lsusb or even lsusb -v? I am puzzled.

I'll try mounting it again and see the error. I need to read the docs for gphoto2 again to see if I am missing anything.

Should I upgrade to Kernel 2.6? and Need USB
 

I am now running Slackware 10.2 with Kernel 2.4. I am debating whether to upgrade to Kernel 2.6. Kernel 2.6 has been around for a while, so I am not too trouble by possible instability. I am not running mission-critical applications after all.

From what I can tell from googling.
2.6 appears to be faster than 2.5.
2.6 offers support for larger hardware (bigger hard drive, etc)
2.6 has a new driver architecture.

My machine is ancient, so I am not concern about support for larger hardware. I am concern that 2.6 will require more computer resource. Each version of windows for example seems to take up more and more memory and cpu. I worry that 2.6 will have a larger footprint than 2.4.

In addition, I am worry that drivers will no longer be supported. I have old video cards like 3dfx voodoo3. Will the driver stop working? Just wondering what I am in for if I attempt to migrate to 2.6.

Thanks.

Paul

You can always install both kernels, and switch between them at boot time. Should give you enough of a chance to decide if you like it, without taking too much risk.

If you install a custom 2.6.x.y kernel, it will be smaller and faster than the Slackware-10.2 default 2.4.31 kernel. Here's a great Kernel Rebuild Guide to get you off on the right foot.

But it is not required or necessary to upgrade to 2.6 at this point. Pat will release Slackware-11.0 pretty soon, and it will have 2.6.16.x as the default kernel. You could wait until it is released, then reinstall. You'd want to backup any configuration files you changed under /etc, and when the installer asks you about Linux partitions, do NOT format /home and you can still keep your data. Setup the mount point, but don't format it. Then after you install and "adduser <username>" again, read the dialog carefully. You can keep your same /home/username directory you had before.

This is an easy method to upgrade without losing your data or hosing your system.

I installed the 2.6 kernel last night and took literally 15 minutes (I already have disc 2). Well, almost. I forgot to install the ALSA driver so sound doesnt' work, but I'll fix that later. I still can't get usb working though :-(

Apaprently, I had to load usb-core, uhci-hdi, and usb-storage. I did try mounting the hardware. I tried both a camera and a hard disk with a fat32 partition (windows stuff on it).

Both the camera and Hard drive appeared as /dev/sda when I plug it in. The camera appeared as a fat16 drive when I use fdisk -l /dev/sda. The external drive showed as a fat32 (which is correct).

For each drive, I mounted it with

mount /dev/sda /mnt/hd

Mount complain that I need to specify a format. I looked on the manpage for mount and then added

mount -t vfat /dev/sda /mnt/hd

It now complain that the wrong fs format was specified. Arrgh! Any idea why this is not working?

In addition, lsusb always return nothing. How could it detect the drive but have no entry in lsusb?

You're trying to mount the whole drive!! Mount the partiton: /dev/sda1, /dev/sda2 or whatever.

Hi,

Post the output of ;
I assume the devices as /dev/sda1 and /dev/sda2. To mount these you would use;

Make sure you have the mount point created!

Post the output of the lsusb command.