I am having trouble with a SuSE Linux 9.0 system (2.4 Kernel) and a USB Mass storage dev. In /var/log/messages i am getting a "USB device not accepting new address=nn (error=-71)". I have read up on this error and seen everyone online saying either bad device or bad cable or back controller, some say driver but that is only when it doesnt work at all. The only issue I have is that this is a new 250GB drive usb 2.0 Maxtor (came with a new cable), also new Asus mobo with no other USB issues, the problem is very inconsistant and usually will work when you try it agian. I can't exactly just replace the unit easily becuase it is a backup for a samba server for an accounting firm, so they really would rather not be messing around with it. Also when the cron job runs and the device is not availible i get a "I/O error: dev 08:01, sector 0" and I was wondering if that is just becuase it isn't hooked up.

So... My question is, does anyone have any fact driven insight on this issue, and what other methods should I try to further diagnose this problem.

I hate this type of advice, but maybe you would do better to upgrade to 2.6 kernel (SuSE 9.1 or 9.2). USB support is much better there.

I would but i dont feel to comfortable doing it across a network... I havent ever really built a new kernel on SuSE before either. Can i even rely on YaST to do this task?

The computer is located about 100 Miles away and i wouldn't be able to bill for the time, plus if i have a kernel panic i wont be able to see it...

Any suggestions?

Hmm, this sound complicated. I wouldn't recommend to install a 2.6 kernel on your 9.0 system, since there are some packages that need to be updated first and I think they are not available as rpm packages anymore. Also a system-update via Yast will probably not work since it requires to boot from CD (to be on the safe side). But maybe it is done with a regular kernel update via YOU (Yast Online Update), in case the server isn't up to date yet.

Well all i really have running on this is sshd and samba 3.0.10 (not even a PDC). Do you think it would really be a big issue.

Also anyone else have any ideas on this USB issue?

No one really has anything else to add??? wow. Thought there would be at least one more post...


Oh well hopefuly someone will come along and know something.