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bogzab 08-24-2009 04:37 PM

USB ports not working properly- Slack 12.2 & old-ish motherboard
 
I have just installed Slackware 12.2 on a PC that was Win98 before. AMD K6 processor, had to use the huge.s kernel rather than the hugesmp.s version, but all working fine if a little slow apart form usb ports. When I kick off with a wireless usb keyboard plugged in that is recognised OK and works if a little jerkily. Plugging in usb memory sticks does not bring up the usual KDE hot-plug dialog, but lsusb does list the devices as found. After some further pluggin, unplugging and replugging, lsusb shows only one entry - the usb hub. If this problem rings a bell with anybody I would be grateful for guidance - Is there some kernel config that I am missing or some package that needs loading to get these usb ports running properly. Thanks.

allend 08-24-2009 08:29 PM

If you look in /etc/rc.d/rc.modules-`uname -r` under ### USB Host Controllers you will see that you can choose different host controller kernel modules.
Look at the output of 'lsmod | grep hcd'.
I suspect that you are loading the ehci-hcd and uhci-hcd modules. You may find that your hardware will work better with the ohci-hcd module in place of the uhci-hcd module.

bogzab 08-26-2009 03:23 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by allend (Post 3656199)
Look at the output of 'lsmod | grep hcd'.
I suspect that you are loading the ehci-hcd and uhci-hcd modules. You may find that your hardware will work better with the ohci-hcd module in place of the uhci-hcd module.

Thanks for the advice - tried lsmod, but (because I am using huge kernel?) there are no *hcd modules reported. When I try lodading (with modprobe) uhci-hcd or ohci-hcd, I get errors - presumably because the code is already there in non-module format. Does this mean re-build the huge kernel with these drivers as modules, which I can then experiment with adding and removing until the hardware and software match ?

btw I also added a usb printer and again there was recognition that it has been plugged in from lsusb but the driver did not seem to send actual data to the printer.

I have now delivered the PC with non-fucntional usb to the client (my mum) and in a couple of days (like all the best support people) am going on holiday for two weeks, so thread unlikely to be very active.

onebuck 08-26-2009 07:25 AM

Hi,

Do you have the user in the proper groups? Most users groups should have;

Quote:

users floppy audio video cdrom plugdev
What do you see in the 'dmesg' when you plug the device into the port?

allend 08-26-2009 08:53 AM

Quote:

Does this mean re-build the huge kernel with these drivers as modules, which I can then experiment with adding and removing until the hardware and software match ?
No need to rebuild the huge kernel, just install the generic kernel using an initrd that includes modules for your file system and also usb modules. (You can get the mkinitrd_command_generator.sh script from -current to help with this.) Keep the huge kernel as a backup that you can boot from in case there is a problem, especially if you are using a wireless usb keyboard.

gnashley 08-26-2009 12:56 PM

Are you plugging the keyboard into the same hub as the USB drives are on? If so, try plugging the keyboard into a separate (main) USB port.

bogzab 08-27-2009 04:08 AM

Guys - Thanks for various adivce offered. I will re-visit this in a couple of weeks time when I get back from holidays. If I continue to have problems I will probably start a new thread then.

@onebuck - I think the groups are OK, I have been there before , especially with plugdev. The dmesg messages after plugging in a device is something I will check next time I have physical access to the machine.

@allend - I will do as you say with the generic kernel and the initrd.


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