I have a WiSPY 2.4 GHz spectrum analyzer dongle. When I plug it into the system, udev claims it as a HID device (which it isn't!) and stops the spectools software accessing it.

The software comes with a set of udev rules that I've installed in /etc/udev/rules.d (yes, I've tried it in /lib/udev/rules.d too!) which contains the following relevant line:

ATTRS{idVendor}=="1781", ATTRS{idProduct}=="083e", MODE="0660", OWNER="users"

Following advice gleaned via Google, I've amended this to:

ATTRS{idVendor}=="1781", ATTRS{idProduct}=="083e", MODE="0660", OWNER="plugdev", RUN="/bin/sh -c 'echo -n $id:1.0 > /sys/bus/usb/drivers/usbhid/unbind'"

(I am a member of the plugdev group).

This worked under Mageia 4, but doesn't work now I've returned to Slack!

Its as if Slack can't read the rules file, although the permissions are the same as the other files in the directory.

As an aside - which may or may not be related - my system also seems unable to read the HOSTNAME file, as the hostname stays resolutely stuck on darkstar. Is it possible that I've omitted an essential file whilst installing which is preventing the system from reading some system files properly? And if so, what on earth can it be?

All suggestions gratefully received!

System is Slackware64-14.0, running a home-brew kernel-3.4.80. Everything else seems to be working fine.

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Pete

Change /etc/hosts to match the machine name that you really want.

Already done - no effect! I think also you mean etc/HOSTNAME - that's what rc.M looks at, and if it doesn't find it, it drops back to the default (darkstar). I do have my computer's name in /etc/hosts - along with the others on the local net - and in /etc/HOSTNAME, but rc.M doesn't seem to be recognising it for some reason, which makes me wonder if its related to an inability to read the udev rules as well.

I've also checked the permissions of both files, and they seem ok.

Of course, I could be barking up completely the wrong tree, and the two issues may be unrelated!

But thanks for the suggestion!

Cheers,

--
Pete

What's the output of... ...?

-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 21 Feb 20 19:31 /etc/HOSTNAME

--
Pete

OK. Have you tried updating /etc/HOSTNAME to contain the correct name and then running......as root to see what happens?

As for the problem that you really care about, unplug your dongle, open a terminal as root, run the command and plug the dongle back in. You should get a dump of the kernel and udevd events that are triggered by the device. Please provide that output.

You might find http://www.reactivated.net/writing_udev_rules.html useful too.

1) ~$ cat /etc/HOSTNAME
minivac.christy.home

(Just to be sure )

2)root@darkstar:/home/pchristy# echo $(cat /etc/HOSTNAME | cut -f1 -d .)
minivac
root@darkstar:/home/pchristy# /bin/hostname $(cat /etc/HOSTNAME | cut -f1 -d .)
root@darkstar:/home/pchristy#

First command seems to correctly read Hostname, but second one doesn't change hostname until I close terminal and re-open it. Then hostname is correct. So it looks as if all the elements are correctly in place, so why doesn't it work from within rc.M?

3) root@minivac:/home/pchristy# udevadm monitor
monitor will print the received events for:
UDEV - the event which udev sends out after rule processing
KERNEL - the kernel uevent

KERNEL[741.579120] add /devices/pci0000:00/0000:00:13.0/usb4/4-2 (usb)
KERNEL[741.584933] add /devices/pci0000:00/0000:00:13.0/usb4/4-2/4-2:1.0 (usb)
KERNEL[741.585108] add /devices/pci0000:00/0000:00:13.0/usb4/4-2/4-2:1.0/0003:1781:083E.0002 (hid)
KERNEL[741.590238] add /class/usb (class)
KERNEL[741.590429] add /devices/pci0000:00/0000:00:13.0/usb4/4-2/4-2:1.0/usb/hiddev0 (usb)
KERNEL[741.590527] add /devices/pci0000:00/0000:00:13.0/usb4/4-2/4-2:1.0/0003:1781:083E.0002/hidraw/hidraw0 (hidraw)
UDEV [741.591135] add /class/usb (class)
UDEV [741.601603] add /devices/pci0000:00/0000:00:13.0/usb4/4-2 (usb)
UDEV [741.604370] add /devices/pci0000:00/0000:00:13.0/usb4/4-2/4-2:1.0 (usb)
UDEV [741.606468] add /devices/pci0000:00/0000:00:13.0/usb4/4-2/4-2:1.0/0003:1781:083E.0002 (hid)
UDEV [741.609229] add /devices/pci0000:00/0000:00:13.0/usb4/4-2/4-2:1.0/usb/hiddev0 (usb)
UDEV [741.612494] add /devices/pci0000:00/0000:00:13.0/usb4/4-2/4-2:1.0/0003:1781:083E.0002/hidraw/hidraw0 (hidraw)


Again, if I'm reading that correctly, it looks as if udev is not reading the rule at all!

BTW, thanks very much for the assistance! I've been using slack for some years, so I'm reasonably familiar with it, but something has gone wrong with this installation - probably my fault - and I'm struggling to figure it out!

Its Sunday morning here in the UK so we're a few hours ahead of Texas time! I have to go out and attend to some family business for a few hours, so I'll be silent for a bit!

Cheers,

--
Pete

You don't happen to have /etc mounted on a different partition than / do you?

Well, udev is a special pile of magic of its own.

What does running the command as root give you?

No, its all on/dev/sda1.


root@darkstar:/home/pchristy# udevadm test /devices/pci0000:00/0000:00:13.0/usb4/4-2/4-2:1.0/0003:81:083E.0002
run_command: calling: test
adm_test: version 182
This program is for debugging only, it does not run any program,
specified by a RUN key. It may show incorrect results, because
some values may be different, or not available at a simulation run.

builtin_kmod_init: load module index
add_matching_files: unable to open '/run/udev/rules.d': No such file or directory
parse_file: reading '/lib/udev/rules.d/10-dm.rules' as rules file
parse_file: reading '/lib/udev/rules.d/11-dm-lvm.rules' as rules file
parse_file: reading '/lib/udev/rules.d/13-dm-disk.rules' as rules file
parse_file: reading '/lib/udev/rules.d/40-libgphoto2.rules' as rules file
parse_file: reading '/lib/udev/rules.d/40-slackware.rules' as rules file
parse_file: reading '/lib/udev/rules.d/40-usb-media-players.rules' as rules file
parse_file: reading '/lib/udev/rules.d/40-usb_modeswitch.rules' as rules file
parse_file: reading '/lib/udev/rules.d/42-usb-hid-pm.rules' as rules file
parse_file: reading '/lib/udev/rules.d/50-udev-default.rules' as rules file
parse_file: reading '/lib/udev/rules.d/55-hpmud.rules' as rules file
parse_file: reading '/lib/udev/rules.d/56-hpmud_add_printer.rules' as rules file
parse_file: reading '/lib/udev/rules.d/56-hpmud_support.rules' as rules file
parse_file: reading '/lib/udev/rules.d/59-non-libata-devices.rules' as rules file
parse_file: reading '/lib/udev/rules.d/60-cdrom_id.rules' as rules file
parse_file: reading '/lib/udev/rules.d/60-floppy.rules' as rules file
parse_file: reading '/lib/udev/rules.d/60-persistent-alsa.rules' as rules file
parse_file: reading '/lib/udev/rules.d/60-persistent-input.rules' as rules file
parse_file: reading '/lib/udev/rules.d/60-persistent-serial.rules' as rules file
parse_file: reading '/lib/udev/rules.d/60-persistent-storage-tape.rules' as rules file
parse_file: reading '/lib/udev/rules.d/60-persistent-storage.rules' as rules file
parse_file: reading '/lib/udev/rules.d/60-persistent-v4l.rules' as rules file
parse_file: reading '/lib/udev/rules.d/60-wacom.rules' as rules file
parse_file: reading '/lib/udev/rules.d/61-accelerometer.rules' as rules file
parse_file: reading '/lib/udev/rules.d/65-permissions.rules' as rules file
parse_file: reading '/lib/udev/rules.d/69-libmtp.rules' as rules file
parse_file: reading '/lib/udev/rules.d/70-infrared.rules' as rules file
parse_file: reading '/etc/udev/rules.d/70-persistent-cd.rules' as rules file
parse_file: reading '/etc/udev/rules.d/70-persistent-net.rules' as rules file
parse_file: reading '/lib/udev/rules.d/70-printers.rules' as rules file
parse_file: reading '/lib/udev/rules.d/75-cd-aliases-generator.rules' as rules file
parse_file: reading '/lib/udev/rules.d/75-net-description.rules' as rules file
parse_file: reading '/lib/udev/rules.d/75-persistent-net-generator.rules' as rules file
parse_file: reading '/lib/udev/rules.d/75-probe_mtd.rules' as rules file
parse_file: reading '/lib/udev/rules.d/75-tty-description.rules' as rules file
parse_file: reading '/lib/udev/rules.d/77-nm-olpc-mesh.rules' as rules file
parse_file: reading '/lib/udev/rules.d/78-sound-card.rules' as rules file
parse_file: reading '/lib/udev/rules.d/80-drivers.rules' as rules file
parse_file: reading '/lib/udev/rules.d/80-libnjb.rules' as rules file
parse_file: reading '/lib/udev/rules.d/80-udisks.rules' as rules file
add_rule: IMPORT found builtin 'pci-db %p', replacing /lib/udev/rules.d/80-udisks.rules:6
parse_file: reading '/lib/udev/rules.d/80-udisks2.rules' as rules file
parse_file: reading '/lib/udev/rules.d/85-regulatory.rules' as rules file
parse_file: reading '/lib/udev/rules.d/86-hpmud_plugin.rules' as rules file
parse_file: reading '/lib/udev/rules.d/90-alsa-restore.rules' as rules file
parse_file: reading '/lib/udev/rules.d/90-libgpod.rules' as rules file
parse_file: reading '/lib/udev/rules.d/95-dm-notify.rules' as rules file
parse_file: reading '/lib/udev/rules.d/95-keyboard-force-release.rules' as rules file
parse_file: reading '/lib/udev/rules.d/95-keymap.rules' as rules file
parse_file: reading '/lib/udev/rules.d/95-udev-late.rules' as rules file
parse_file: reading '/lib/udev/rules.d/95-upower-battery-recall-dell.rules' as rules file
parse_file: reading '/lib/udev/rules.d/95-upower-battery-recall-fujitsu.rules' as rules file
parse_file: reading '/lib/udev/rules.d/95-upower-battery-recall-gateway.rules' as rules file
parse_file: reading '/lib/udev/rules.d/95-upower-battery-recall-ibm.rules' as rules file
parse_file: reading '/lib/udev/rules.d/95-upower-battery-recall-lenovo.rules' as rules file
parse_file: reading '/lib/udev/rules.d/95-upower-battery-recall-toshiba.rules' as rules file
parse_file: reading '/lib/udev/rules.d/95-upower-csr.rules' as rules file
parse_file: reading '/lib/udev/rules.d/95-upower-hid.rules' as rules file
parse_file: reading '/lib/udev/rules.d/95-upower-wup.rules' as rules file
parse_file: reading '/lib/udev/rules.d/97-bluetooth-hid2hci.rules' as rules file
parse_file: reading '/lib/udev/rules.d/97-bluetooth-serial.rules' as rules file
parse_file: reading '/lib/udev/rules.d/97-bluetooth.rules' as rules file
parse_file: reading '/lib/udev/rules.d/99-fuse.rules' as rules file
parse_file: reading '/etc/udev/rules.d/99-wispy.rules' as rules file
util_lookup_user: specified user 'plugdev' unknown
udev_rules_new: rules use 229692 bytes tokens (19141 * 12 bytes), 35589 bytes buffer
udev_rules_new: temporary index used 59780 bytes (2989 * 20 bytes)
unable to open device '/sys/devices/pci0000:00/0000:00:13.0/usb4/4-2/4-2:1.0/0003:1781:083E.0002'
builtin_kmod_exit: unload module index


Interesting! Right at the end it doesn't seem to recognise the "plugdev", even though this is listed in kuser! I have now tried changing the group in the rule to "users", and it doesn't recognise that either!

I feel we are getting somewhere, but right now I really do have to go out!

Many thanks for your assistance

--
Pete

OWNER in the rule would mean user. You probably want to use GROUP instead.

I'm at a loss on the hostname thing. You could add some echo commands in /etc/rc.d/rc.M in that block of code to see what's going on during startup.

D'oh! I can't believe I missed that! I've been staring at it so long, I can't see the wood for the trees!

Many thanks, that fixed it!

Now what on earth is causing the hostname issue.....

Just a thought: This is a laptop, and I'm using network manager instead if rc.inet(whatever). I wonder if there's something in there......

--
Pete